A Slave to the Servants Ch. 25

I'd never been so surprised in my life. She smiled at me and left the room to follow her Sister. The men had noticed none of it.

Damien was the first to remember me laying quiet and shivering on the warm stone. As Christof rocked the baby the rest hurriedly fixed me up. Apparently this delivery had been tougher than last time. I had a tear.

The placenta was delivered just as the Healers arrived. These new men marveled at the warm mass of flesh that had been inside of me. They would not have believed it came from where it did.

"Could we take it?" the lead Healer asked.

Since we didn't know what else to do with it, Damien let them have it.

I was treated with some strange device that stung terribly, but knitted the tissue together rapidly. The Healers also had a powerful cream they applied with gloves to my insides and over my stomach to help with healing. I felt myself literally tighten up as it was spread around.

The room was suddenly split with an earth shattering wail. Kennedy had been quiet, but now she was thirsty. Damien carefully removed their crest from my nipples and pocketed the little metal pieces

Christof handed me ourdaughterand the Healers watched entranced as I fed her for the first time. She had trouble latching on and it took several minutes of trial and error for her to take her first gulp ofmilk. Kein shooed the men out when they wanted a sample of that also.

"It is for the female child only," he said literally pushing them from the room. "Leave them alone now. Your job is done and they must rest."

Bane lifted me and my daughter off the warm slab and walked us to the bed. She watched him with wide eyes but never stopped feeding. It almost seemed to me she wanted to smile at him.

Once I was settled on several pillows and nursing comfortably, Christof spoke gently.

"What do we call her?" he asked sitting beside us and stroking her cheek.

I had thought of names, but seeing the little girl decided me. This probably should have been a task I shared with her father, but I knew Christof would not know how to name a child.

"I would like to call her Kennedy," I told him looking down at her. "It is the name of a powerful family on Earth."

The men were fine with that and practiced the name. Nu-reeh would be pleased the girl had a ruler's name. It was a good thing to call her.

I didn't tell them what else it was. My grandmother had raised beautiful Kennedytea rosesin her garden. This girl was named after my best female friend, but only the three of us had to know that.

After a nap the men pulled Kennedy and me into the bathing room. They had filled the tub with warm water and helped me step into it. Christof carried our little girl in for her first bath.

Kennedy was as enamored with the water as Hannah had been. She touched at it and giggled as it moved under her hand. Our little girl quietly told Christof many of the things she knew about water. He listened to her and praised her, which made her smile broadly.

Christof held Kennedy while Bane and Kein used soft strokes to wash her tiny body. Gentle fingers cleaned every nook on the baby. Their touch was so soothing she fell asleep on Christof as Kein washed her wings.

Damien and Evan rubbed me in the water until I felt as relaxed as my babydaughter. Both of us were unbelievably pampered. I looked into Evan's bright eyes and saw an excitement I did not expect. He grinned broadly and looked around.

"We won," he whispered to me suddenly.

He looked animated and so did Damien. Bane was grinning ear to ear and nudging Kein. I could see the strain on their faces. They looked triumphant, like they wanted to yell and shout. The men were reigning in their celebration around the sleepinginfant.

"I'm sorry, my loves," I finally admitted. "I don't know what you're so happy about, but congratulations."

I was so tired and utterly at ease. Lucky for me they were too excited to keep the secret for long.

"You did notvomit," Damien informed me grinning. "Even with the days we spent in the punishment cave there was no sickness."

I chuckled and laughed softly. They had won. I'd not gotten sick once during my pregnancy with Kennedy. Like Damien had told me, they knew me very well.

"So what's the prize?" I asked sleepily. "Loser sleeps on the floor?"

The men scoffed at that. They'd slept on floors before. Who wants to reward the loser anyway?

"How about, winners get to sleep next to the new family first?" Bane asked eyeing a lightly snoring Kennedy.

I smiled and nodded at their enthusiasm. Tonight Bane and Kein would surround Kennedy as we slept. Tomorrow night it would be Damien and Evan.

"She'll wake you when she cries," I warned them. "You remember how often Hannah liked to eat. You'll have to wake up every time she does to give her to me."

Evan chuckled as he pulled me out of the water and wrung the water from my hair. "We woke every time Damien'sdaughterdid. She was family and we could not comfort or aid her. For that child we were worthless, that will not happen to us again."

I looked up into his face and was shocked. They had felt powerless with Hannah and they didn't like it. Being part of her and unable to bond with her had hurt them.

Evan dried me carefully, avoiding being too rough on the tender places. Bane agreed with Evan's assessment.

"We worried sometimes that this child would shun us also," he said matter-of-factly. "Hannah was correct in her assessment of us. Slavery was never something we should have been a part of."

"Dishonorable," Damien muttered helping Christof wrap Kennedy in a warm blanket Kein had retrieved.

Putting a hand over Damien's I looked into his eyes, "and forgiven," I insisted. "You are forgiven for making a mistake-"

"Many mistakes," Bane cut in tracing a finger down my back.

I knew the invisible lines he traced. They were the ones the whip had made cutting across my skin. I still remembered where they were, even if no one else could see them.

"Still forgiven," I insisted tracing the scar Hannah had left across his chest. "We are family and family makes mistakes. None of us is perfect."

"It is difficult," Christof said handing me our sleeping and bundled daughter, "but we speak with Basin and Stayne. We try to help them see the horrors of slavery. The way they act is no different from..."

He let the statement hang, but I knew who he meant. Having a slave meant being like the women and no one wanted that.

"They will see the truth one day, as we did," Damien said guiding me to the sleeping chamber. "We will make sure that all Paterians see the truth," he said softly as they lay Kennedy and me down.

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