Nora had to hold a hand in front of her mouth to prevent herself from laughing out loud. Oh, she had missed this! Audrey smiled a little as well, though tears still ran down her face. That sight made Nora get serious again.
"What are they doing to you?"
"They make us slaves. For real. You must have seen the shackles? I had those too, and while they are padded for a little more comfort, they are no less real. The collars especially. The keys in the Lady's belt are the keys to the collars. We are rarely left unsupervised, especially not in the beginning. And did you see the veils? Those with veils cannot speak. They are literally gagged. They are new, so not trusted to not speak up yet. That's also why you couldn't choose any of them to have in the bedroom."
"But you aren't shackled or gagged. Why don't you run away?"
"Many have tried, yet no one has succeeded. Besides, until I got back on tour this season, I didn't even remember the outside world. There was an accident, where another theow knocked me over to try something stupid, and I got a nasty bump on my head. I got amnesia and I suspect they took advantage of that to make me believe that what they said is the truth. A few memories returned over the years, but mostly the bad things."
"But before then, why didn't you try to run?"
"And how would we do that? You must have tracked us, to have come here. Without a vehicle, we don't stand a chance to run. We don't have anywhere to go. And no one misses us."
"I missed you."
"Yes, clearly. But even before the amnesia, there were times when I forgot about the outside world. They are very good at what they do. It's hard to describe. It is only on the train, when we are moving from one place to another, that we are out of our roles and back as ourselves again. And even then, we are chained to the floor, to prevent any of us from suddenly deciding to jump out or something. But the moment we are out of the train, it all goes back to how it was."
Nora found that very suspicious. Could this be a sort of drug? In the water maybe. She didn't want to speculate about that right now, though, she wanted to cherish these few hours she had with Audrey. But there was one thing she had to ask.
"Can you tell me some things now, or will you be unable to prevent yourself from spilling everything to the leaders here after we've left?"
"I honestly don't know. But they do seem to trust me at least somewhat. Probably because I really couldn't remember that this isn't all there is to the world. This is the first time since it happened that I am out on tour. Back at the castle, I sometimes even forget that I am still a theow. The line between me and the few freemen is rather thin."
"Why did you choose to go on tour now then, if that could lead to you needing to be chained again?" Audrey chuckled.
"You think I had a choice? The Lady decides whom she brings. And I was able to forget about it because I got used to how things were, not because I wasn't chained. I still sleep in the cage bed every night, for instance."
"A cage bed?" Audrey pointed to the bed Nora was supposed to be sleeping in. Or rather, to what was below it. Nora hadn't noticed when she first came in, but the reason the bed was so high up was that there was a literal cage under the bed. Had Audrey spent the last 5 years sleeping like that?"
"The ones we usually sleep in are a little larger, but it's the same principle. They lock us in them at night and we can't get out until they open the door. I am occasionally allowed to sleep outside of it if some of the animals are in labour, but that is the exception. I got used to it fairly quickly. The first few weeks though, I was in it for over a day, to prevent us from running out to warn new visitors."
"You mean there are some new people stuck in cages in the crew areas right now?"
"Yes. This is the third stop of this season, the last before we return home. I think there are at least 10 new theows. I suspect another one will join us tomorrow."
Nora marveled that Audrey could talk about this so calmly. Like this was totally normal. But for her it was. Now she was about to start crying.
They heard a sound from outside and they both froze. Audrey immediately retreated back to her role. It was sad to see.
"Send me to the kitchen to get something. That would explain why we are still awake."
Nora didn't understand at first, then it clicked. Audrey thought they had heard them, even though they had mostly been signing. Nora hated having to do this.
"Please go fetch me some more water. This has grown warm. I want proper cold water to drink."
"Yes, traveller." Audrey said at once and was out the door. She had been about to curtsey before managing to stop herself!
Nora sat down on the bed to collect herself whilst waiting for Audrey to return. This was worse than she had thought. And she hadn't even asked about Rita yet. Or asked Audrey if she would help them find the base. She suspected she would want to, but did she dare? She seemed terrified of these people and no wonder! She shed a few tears, but she couldn't cry yet. That would make it harder for Audrey to hold herself back as well.
Audrey came back with a whole pitcher of water and made a lot of noise as she sat it down on the table.
"I don't know how well they listen, but if it is anything electronic, that should make them lower the volume,"
Nora smiled. That was a typical Audrey thing to do.
"Thank you," she said louder than strictly necessary. "I will go to bed now."
"Let me help you with that, traveller." Audrey said, as if it was an automatic response. Didn't she say she had only done this once before?
"We train in how to behave in the bedchamber," Audrey signed. "It's also not that different from how we talk to the thegns and the Lady."
"What's a thegn?"
"The people just below the Lady in rank. Morcefres for instance, or Arthur who's in charge back at the castle."
"Who's Morcefres."
"The executioner. He's in charge of most of the punishments. He enjoys it. The Lady does too, but she prefers to watch."
Audrey found herself telling Nora more than she expected about what life was like here as they both made noises as if they were going to bed. She had missed her so much, but it was dangerous to talk about this. And what use was it for her to know? She hoped Nora wouldn't try to let herself be caught just to be with her. It wasn't worth it, and if the Lady found out that they cared for one another, she would use that against them.