The Freedom of Slavery Ch. 07

Ok, more excitement, please don't be mad with the seriously annoying cliffhanger, I am going to finish it quickly! It will be worth the wait, as the REALLY good stuff is coming, as it is hinted about in the chapter. Enjoy!

*

Luckily, the evening market was much calmer than the morning or afternoon markets; mostly because all the food products couldn't last 8 hours in the sun, so all the food shoppers had come and gone. The evening market did have some food vendors, but these were treat vendors, such as candy and dessert vendors. Their wares would have melted in the day's heat, but as the temperature dropped slightly, the merchants had no such worries. It made it easier for Alza to walk around and enjoy the market's splendors. The group stopped at a candy vendor so that Alza could get her treats.

It turned out that candy meant either plain saltwater taffy or sugar crystal rocks, either on a stick or in pieces that could fill the palm of a hand. Alza got a pink hand crystal, a blue hand crystal, a rainbow stick of crystals and two pieces of the saltwater taffy. Then they went to the silversmith's store, which was in a different part of town in which the fastest way to get there was through the market.

When they got to the silversmith's shop, Alza took a good look at all the finely crafted jewelry on display. She saw leashes and collars, anklets and bracelets, chokers and earrings, toe-rings and body piercings, waist-lets and sword or dagger sheaths. All were ornately designed with flowers, big cats, mythical creatures, and some characters she hadn't come across yet.

"Masters, what do these symbols mean?"

Lezar leaned over to see what she was looking at, "Those right there are prayers to Zorcon, as they are asking for the blades housed within the sheaths to never fail their owner. These on the waist-lets are to both Zathena and Xixi, the protector of females and goddess of war and female warriors and the goddess of fertility and femininity. They are thanking the goddesses for the beauty of the female and asking that she forever have the choice of what happens to her body and who she shares it with.

These on the collar are also prayers to Zathena, but they are asking for the protection of a female ama and that she forever have the choice of what is done with her body and that she stays in the hands of good Masters."

"Does my collar also have prayers to Zathena Master Lezar?"

"Yes, you can look at it when we get home, but yours also has our marks on it, where as this one has no owner marks. Would you like a silver as well as a gold ama set? Or would you rather get something else?" Lezar asks.

"Can I see what our cubs would get when they are born Master Lezar? I assume as cubs must have leashes that they need something like what I have?"

"Good thinking Alza, their leashes should be a different color than yours. We can get silver leashes later, but cubs are given leather harnesses to wear, as cubs grow so fast that it would be harmful and expensive to keep replacing their collars if we got them like yours. As soon as you find out how many and the sex of our cubs, we will get their leashes and harnesses." Lezar replied.

"Brother, you forget, the magentes or fegentes brooch, she could help us pick a style for those now," Ilan reminded him.

"And would you like to see my selection of those Lezar?"

"If you don't mind, and when we have picked the style, we would like a pair of earrings in the same style with the stone chip additions," Lezar ordered.

The smith/merchant led them over to a display case. A wide selection of various styles; such as Celtic knots, flowers, paw prints, and various symbols that looked to be prayers; all were displayed in lengths of silver chain with a stone setting that was empty.

"Masters these look so small, how do they fit properly?"

"Once the magentes or fegentes is placed inside, it has a magic that changes the length to match the growth of whomever the stone belongs to. When the cubs are born, we will have a stone seller, probably Morgain, come with a wide selection of magentes and fegentes so that our cubs find their stone.

Then we will wait a few days, then come and pick up the necklaces or brooches and have the stones placed inside. Which reminds me; we should do that with your fegentes. Master Merrock, do you have any brooches for a medium fegentes?" Lezar asked.

"If I can see the stone for a moment, I will see which in the selection could support it."

With a look at her Masters, for which she got a nudge in reply, she handed over her fegentes which she had been holding onto since she got it. With a quick feel at the weight of it, and its size, he took a look at what he already had out and pointed out some of the more necklace length brooches. As she took her fegentes back, it guided her hand closer to one with mini dragons forming the links of the chain.

"Looks like we found the one, if you could set it for us, we will browse some more and bargain at the end." Lezar stated.

As the smith/merchant left to set the stone, the brothers and Alza debated over a few choice designs.

"I like the idea of continuing the dragon theme, seeing as how Alza seems to like them," Kalba commented.

"But I think we should wait till we know whether we have males or females or both. Dragons may not work if we have a cub that is more feminine, to which a flowery pattern would look better. We could also have a cub that could be of our strength and so has the crossed swords like we all did," Ilan said.

"I think we should just go with the paw prints, which work for either gender, and have the leashes be engraved to fit the personality of each cub. We all know that every cub born has a cat, so it isn't like necklaces won't be appropriate," added Jahar.

"I like that idea Master Jahar; I think we should go with that."

"Well, Alza has spoken, and as the mother-to-be she would know best, so we shall ask for those when the time comes," Lezar said.

"Here are some empty earring sets with paw prints, I think these will be perfect for our mother-to-be," Gobin said.

At that moment, the smith/merchant came back with the brooch, as well as the locket they had originally come for. He also had one of those contracts she had seen when they had purchased her healer's kit. Just like last time, Ilan took over the bargaining, and her healing services were offered.

"I was hoping that this purchase could be used to get a new war bow at your shop Lezar, is that not on the table?"

"At the moment, Alza is still in training, and she is to be proclaimed tomorrow, as well as she is to go into heat soon. We want to train her when we can, and this is only the second bargain she has seen, so we were hoping would be willing to let her practice her bargaining skills with you?" Ilan asked.

"In that case, the pre-orders of the cubs' necklaces and her earrings I will gladly bargain with her on, or would it be easier to bargain the whole purchase?"

"The locket was part of her altering price, so we must buy that separately," Ilan said.

"She had her memories altered as well as her body, but on orders from the tsarzan, nothing is to be said that would indicate she had her memories altered for at least a week, and it has only been three days," Gobin cautioned.

"Ok, the locket is 20 silver. You can pay that up front while I bargain with your ama for the rest of the purchase. Your brooch is 20 silver, to pre-order the cubs' necklaces is 5 silver for a minimum order of 4, for which upon purchase they will be 10 silver each. Your earrings are 5 silver; which brings your total to 45 silver."

"My Master Gobin would have to watch over my appointments, as I am not fully trained yet, but I am willing to do 2 appointments at 20 silver each, with the extra bonus of a possible third appointment to cover the upon purchase price. Whatever is left, will be paid in coin at purchase, in three weeks. Does that sound good Masters?"

"Why three weeks, I should be able to get it within two, as you will know how many cubs you will have by then?"

"Her heat is going to last two weeks," Gobin added dryly.

"Dear Zorcon, ok three weeks it is, with 2 appointments confirmed for me or my brothers, with the remaining balance to be determined upon purchase of the number of necklaces. That works for me, but does she have a signature?"

"We haven't had time to show her, or get her symbol stamp, but if her name will suffice for now, as well as our family symbol, we agree," Ilan said.

And so, Alza signed her very first service trade contract, and was given her first purchase receipt. It was a major step toward becoming a trained ama, and so to celebrate, the brothers decided to let her pick out the toys they would use during her heat at Ilan's shop, which was just a few blocks away.

@@@

While Ilan's selection was very small compared to Earth's standards it did have a surprising variety. Though Alza had not seen anything that would have indicated they knew how to make motorized anything, she saw at least two or three different vibrators. She saw four sizes of dildos, what appeared to be anal lube, harnesses and play whips, blindfolds and limb restraints made of cloth, rope, and metal.

"Masters, are those vibrators, I didn't think you were able to make such things?"

"We have primitive batteries, but they are solar powered and have three hours of use before needing an hour or so in the sun. They are really only used in novelty items such as these, as they naturally make whatever they are used in vibrate. Let me guess, a favorite from back home you never thought you would see again?" Ilan queried.

"Vibrators and dildos on Earth are known as a girl's best friend, and are often used as substitutes when their sexual partner is gone or not available, Master Ilan, so yes, I had quite the selection for when I didn't have a man in my life."

"I guess that we will be needing quite a few sets of batteries once our batteries are dry, right Alza?" Jahar said with a leer.

"Yes Master Jahar, one clit vibe and this larger dildo here, as well as a few days worth of batteries should last me through the dry spells," Alza replied with a wink and full body shudder.

"I want to also get some cloth and metal restraints, but Ilan, where are the clamps?" Lezar asked with disappointment.

"I keep them hidden, because very few of my customers ask for them and most are repulsed by them. A full set Lezar or just the nipple clamps?"

"A full set, plus the sparker," Lezar replied with a mischievous grin.

"Lezar, you are getting as bad as Jahar, but all right. We don't want to use the sparker often, and definitely not once we know she is pregnant," Gobin cautioned.

"Masters, what is a sparker?"

"It is used to give a mild electric-like jolt to the clamps, mostly the clit clamp. Because it uses the body's own electric field to set off the "spark" to is mostly a once a session sort of thing; as it can cause permanent harm to the body's electrical flow, to the point that it can stop the heart if used too often," Ilan answered.

"It could kill the cubs if I am pregnant, couldn't it?"

"Alza, we promise to only use it once during the beginning of your heat, we would never endanger our cubs. But if it still makes you uncomfortable, we will not get it, ok," Helius told her.

"I guess as long as we use it safely, and I can use it on some nipple clamps on you, I am ok with it Masters."

"I like this idea, it has potential," Jahar said, imagining Alza teasing them with it after they had used it to give her a massive orgasm.

"Jahar, save that kinky shit for next week, and speaking of kinky shit, we need cock rings and harnesses for us," Kalba said.

They finally agreed on all the toys they needed; a clit vibrator, a full set of limb restraints made of cloth as well as a set made of metal, a medium-sized strap-in dildo, (which was something Alza had never seen before), a full set of clamps and the sparker, six cock rings, a large dildo that could be attached to the wall, and a mounting rack.

The last item was for her comfort in cat form, as it supported her weight and took the male's full weight off her hind quarters. It had a platform for her to balance her upper torso that was cushioned, and it had a platform on top, that the male spread his weight over so that his full weight wasn't on top of her.

"Kali got a look at the mounting rack and said thank Zathena you decided to get that, as we will need it."

"After hearing that we will be fucking like mad for 2 weeks, even we will need a little help balancing our weight after that!" Jahar said.

At that moment, everyone's stomachs started to protest the late evening hour at the same time.

"Ok, let's go feed our ravenous selves, then do a run through of the proclamation ceremony, how does that sound?" Lezar stated.

With that said, they all went home to prepare for the momentous ceremony tomorrow.

@@@

Even with the practice run last night, Alza and Kali were still nervous. Their Masters had explained that the tsarzan would give a brief introduction of who she was, who her owners were, and what he thought she could contribute to the den-site. She would be in the middle of the arena wearing a black cloak, the color of death.

She was to wear this as a symbol of the death of her old life and identity. She would not wear her ama jewelry or her leash and collar while in the arena, because as soon as she was asked by the crowd to prove her worth, she would shed the cloak and transform into her cat, and then battle the sarzan. As the tsarzan was male, and she was female, he would have an unfair sex advantage.

All she had to do in the battle was show her abilities, minus the empathic one, and last as long as she could in physical battle with the sarzan. She was a strong empath with no training, so the crowd would have no issue not seeing that, as her lack of training could cause others to be effected.

"Masters, what about my poisonous claws? They don't drip, and they can kill upon entering the bloodstream, Kali told me so."

"Just show what you can without causing permanent damage. The physical battle is the important thing," Lezar told her.

So, there they were, in the middle of the arena, their Masters in a ground level box seat, waiting for the crowd to finish getting to their seats and the arrival of the tsarzan and sarzan.

"Males and females, citizens of the den-site, may I have your attention. We have gathered today to proclaim the new citizen status of a female ama. She will be given the title of ama-calzan, but her actions here today may warrant warrior training. Her name was ama Alza of the brothers Malzan Shadow-bane. Her new name shall be ama-calzan Alza of the brothers Malzan Shadow-bane.

She has an empathic ability that has not been trained, her cat can imitate other cat coats, though her coat is non-patterned black, and she has poisonous claws. She will be trained as a healer, as her training before becoming an ama was that of a mind-healer. Her trainer in this and her empathic abilities will be Malzan, carzan Gobin Shadow-bane.

I think that she will bring to this den-site a capable healer of the body and the mind, an ama worthy of going through patrols with her Masters and being a battle healer along side her Master Gobin Shadow-bane, and a potential mother of gifted cubs. Let her now prove my words."

Those were the words that Alza and Kali had been waiting for. They had already decided to show the same coat pattern that she had finished with during her transformation, and to keep the poison from their claws. Now it was the time for Kali to prove the tsarzan's words, and be worthy of her Masters and her den-site.

As soon as the tsarzan said the words, they whipped of the cloak, and within the blink of a second, Kali stood before the crowd in all her unique glory, and roared like a lion. The sarzan then stepped into the arena, amid cheers, and shifted into full cat form, roaring a reply to the challenge, though everyone knew it was a losing fight for Kali.

Kali was a magnificent specimen of her panther species, but the sarzan was a Siberian tiger, which as a female she could weigh up to half a ton. Kali was only a tenth of that, at 100 lbs, so while the sarzan had brute power, Kali has speed and agility. The sarzan was not allowed to use any of her abilities, except in defense, but Kali was expected to show that she was capable of defending herself and able to put up a decent fight.

Kali made the first move, as was expected of a potential warrior, and ran in a frontal charge at the sarzan. The sarzan braced herself for impact, but at the last second Kali jumped over her and hamstringed her left hind leg.

While the sarzan was pleasantly amused, she would heal nicely as Kali had done a very clean cut; the rest of the crowd cheered with impressed elation. Gobin, who was not ten feet from the action, could see that Kali had cut the tendons clean through, which he had not taught her how to do.

Kali then turned her coat into a full lion coat, matching the color of the arena floor perfectly as she trotted around to face her opponent. That brought startled gasps, as the tsarzan had said nothing of chameleon blending, because neither he nor her Masters had known.

When the dust had settled, Kali moved in a slow stalk toward the sarzan's right flank, as if to hamstring both back legs. That wasn't her plan at all. She wanted the sarzan to pivot to protect her right rear leg so that she could instead go for her left front leg, and give it a clean break.

As the sarzan did what Kali hoped, she rushed in, did a back flip over the sarzan to land on her unprotected left side, and gave her a clean break to her left front leg. She also gave her a claw wound on her shoulder upon impact.

Even though the sarzan was impressed, she was not in the mood for clever battle tactics being used to kick her ass, especially when an untrained ama was doling it out, so she ignored the pain and before Kali could move away, she fell with a controlled drop onto her. With Kali carefully pinned so as to cause no broken bones or other damage, the sarzan gave a roar of challenge, trying to convince Kali to admit defeat.

"Bitch, you win this time, but that was a low blow. My next move was going to allow us some dignity without making it seem like I was throwing the fight. All you would have had to do was give me one good swipe of your paw when I leap back over you and I would have landed on my back so you could do the choke-hold. I guess getting laid for the next two weeks while under your roof by my six hung Masters will just have to work as the perfect pay-back."

"While I should tell your Masters that you have quite a mouth and no sense of respect for authority, I like your spirit and I know you are right. When I first saw Lezar I hoped he was my mate, but that was not to be, as my mate died on patrol along the Felicanid border before I could ever meet him.

Luckily, I know he will be reborn soon in the den-site, so I can wait. Good show by the way, I am impressed, and I will be among those who will speak for you to be allowed to become an ama-halzan once you have been trained."

"Lezar, your ama is impressive, but I want to see her as a patient as soon as she is healer trained. If she is this good in battle, and her battle prowess was barely mentioned, I want to see how good her real talents are. I will pay half price, the other half being my word that she is worth going to as a healer. I will also mention that I believe she is worthy of becoming an ama-halzan at her training tests."