It was time to move on. Audrey already knew that the group didn't stay long in any area, now she understood why. If they stayed for too long, someone would start searching for missing members.
Audrey had been given a short rundown of the important members of the Lady's court. Other than the executioner, the barber, the scop, and Ædven, the one she hadn't met was the wizard. Ædven was the one who called him that. Audrey suspected he was the computer person, the one who hacked into the phones. He didn't seem to interact with the rest of them much. Was he trying not to think about what was going on here, or was he just uninterested? Or was he forced to do this, the same as the rest of them? Audrey found that hard to believe, as he had to have access to computers. He could have communicated with someone, if he was forced to do this.
Ædven claimed that she had always been here, and from the way she talked, Audrey believed her. Yet she was not called a woman of high status, like the Lady. Ædven seemed to prefer being what she called a wif, a free woman of low rank. If she had ever had a husband though, he wasn't here. Ædven had also told her about the different things that theows could be asked to do, but that there would be time to train her in that when they got to their new destination.
Breaking down the burh took a surprisingly short time. Since everything was made of wood, it was easily disassembled. The churls seemed quite good at this; they had probably done it many times. Audrey was mostly left in charge of making sure that none of the animals escaped their pens and disturbed the work. One of the chickens ran off as she opened the small gate to give them food and she was given 5 lashes of the whip for it, after the chicken had nearly caused a churl to drop his load of wooden rafters. Audrey made sure to keep all the animals controlled after that. She had only just been allowed to have her feet free of restraints, she didn't want to have to go back to that!
Kaneez had been hanging in the sack up until today, but that morning she was lowered to the ground and given the same type of shackles Audrey had worn. It took Kaneez several hours to even get enough strength in her legs to get up, it seemed her body hadn't reacted well to being tied up for so long. Audrey saw her test the strength of the restraints, yet she seemed just as unable to get out of them as Audrey had been. All other theows, except the thief, who was still in the jougs, were busy running back and forth, or walking fast, for those with leg restraints. Most of the ones with restraints were eventually gathered with the animals, as they were too slow. Audrey conscripted a few of them to help keep the chickens from running all over.
As the outer walls came tumbling down around her, Audrey saw more of the desert landscape around them. But how were they going to move? There was no way that all of this would fit on the bus. To her big surprise, she saw a train in the distance. Had they made the train and the tracks themselves? That was unlikely. Maybe it was an unused track. But how were they able to use them without anyone noticing? Audrey didn't know, and she knew better than to ask. It wasn't her problem anyway. If someone noticed, she would be freed from this sooner. Why didn't that possibility fill her with hope anymore? Didn't she want this to end some day?
All the theows were gathered up like a herd of sheep and their hands were tied behind their backs. Even Audrey, who hadn't needed restraining for days, got a standard rope tie around her upper body and arms. It wasn't very uncomfortable, but it wasn't pleasant either. Kaneez tried to resist anyone touching her, so she was forced to walk with her hands tied over her head. The thief was hogtied with both ropes and chains, and placed in a sack that some of the strongest churls took turns dragging, as they all started moving towards the train. It seemed they had several trucks to move things with, but all the people, including the Lady, walked. It wasn't very far. The theows were then placed in one of the train cars, chained to a line that went through the middle of the car, and told to sit still and behave. They heard the trucks driving back and forth several times, before it all seemed to be ready, and the train started moving.
***
It took several hours before I seemed to come to my senses. In this train car, we don't need to pretend. It was like the reality of the situation suddenly came over me again. Why was it so easy for me to just go along with this? Is the Lady right, that I was always meant to be here? My mind is divided. One part of me, the rebellious part, as the Lady would say, still refuses to believe it. Humans aren't meant to be treated like slaves. On the other hand, once I got up from the very bottom, things got a lot better. I look at the other people around me. Most of them are in the same position as me, allowed to walk around freely, some even without a bit. Only Kaneez still has the full slave treatment. She is also the only one who had her hands restrained in here as well. The rest of us only have our feet attached to the middle chain. Probably to avoid anyone trying to jump out.
Over the chugging sound of the train, I suddenly hear a rattling of keys. Is someone coming? Maybe they will give us something to eat? We haven't eaten or drunk anything since the train started moving.
It's Ædven and the scop. They bring food and water. It doesn't taste like the water we had at the burh, but I'm not complaining. No one complains. It's like we're all back in our roles as soon as someone else is present. Well, except Kaneez. She starts complaining, demanding to be released, telling them all the laws they are breaking. After she was done complaining, Ædven simply said.
"Please don't make me have to gag you on the train as well. This is meant to be a time where you can relax and not have to worry about all that needs doing. Don't ruin the peace for everyone by acting like Karen."
"Who's Karen?"
"She was the theow I mentioned," I murmured. "She died because she constantly complained and never shut up."
Kaneez looks affronted, but Ædven ignores her. Since I am next to her, I offer to give her some water and bread, since she can't hold a cup with her hands restrained.