A Slave to the Servants Ch. 28

I was still quite embarrassed, but everyone seemed aware I had been sad to the point of wishing to end my life. Privacy was a privilege I wished I could earn back. Nothing about me was a mystery on this planet.

Taking a breath, I asked Tosu if my stomach was the right size. I admitted I feared my child was too small. Perhaps something was wrong and I should do something different.

Tosu reassured me quickly.

"Boys are smaller than girls," she soothed. "Your little one is the right size. It will be an easier birth."

"Thank you, Mistress Tosu," I sighed stroking my rounded belly. "I worry for him, for his future. I know I have no control..."

"He will be born a slave," she said very softly and I looked into her eyes, "but he will not stay that way."

I couldn't keep the shock off my face, but it did not stop her.

"I believe freedom is a right, Rachel, you will be free again. I promise you. This will end," she said with whispered fierceness. "We are close, so very close."

It had been so long since anyone had called me Rachel. The strange men at the cabin had and she had in the past. I barely recognized it as my name. My mouth opened and shut, but nothing came out.

"It is your free name," Tosu said laying her hand on my arm. "I will not sully it while you are in bondage. Remember it, little human, you will answer to it again."

I sat shocked into silence by her statement. Tosu just smiled and wished me a good afternoon as she walked away.

For a long time, I sat at the little table and stared after her. It was only when Rose approached me about doing our afternoon work that I finally roused myself. Slowly I moved to sit with her and Fuji.

We were making stories for the young boys again. It was a chore that Rose loved, so she hated it when I interrupted her work.

"What was your name before?" I asked Rose.

She looked up and smiled. "I supposed they won't care if I tell you now, will they?" she asked rhetorically. "It was Ruth, Ruth Ann Marshall. I've decided that my husband's name was never really mine. That was my maiden name."

"Ruth," I repeated, trying the name out. I'd have to remember it.

"And you Fuji?" I asked watching her. "What name did you have before your Masters named you?"

Fuji looked confused for a moment, like what I'd said made no sense.

"I had no name," she said simply. "The owner of a female names her on my planet. If the male wishes the female to have a name, he gives her one. I was granted my own name to use by Master Stayne and his Brothers. It is the only name I have ever had."

Rose and I both sat and stared at Fuji.

"You never told me that," Rose said, almost accusingly.

Fuji sat and thought for a moment before she shifted and spoke. "Master Stayne and his Brothers demand that I speak honestly with my friends, because I wish to. I have never been given this directive before."

Rose and I started to speak at once and had to take turns. What Fuji had said made almost no sense. Either you spoke freely or your said what your Master demanded. It took us a while to understand that Fuji didn't feel she could talk, unless they gave her permission. Still it was impressive she wanted to talk to us.

"You are changing Fuji," Rose said with a smile. "The girl I have known all this time would not have asked her Masters for anything."

Fuji just grinned at us.

Kennedy and Hannah visited several times during my pregnancy. We had to be careful, because we could not walk and talk. Nu-reeh demanded we stay in the space she had made for me.

Since we couldn't leave the ever present cameras the girls didn't say much. We knew that the cameras didn't transmit sound, but it was unnerving to be watched. Although Tosu had no issue speaking freely to me here, my daughters were wary. I appreciated their caution.

I used the pad in secret every day. My family and I continued to learn about the world, so we would be knowledgeable when we left. All of us were bent on escape from slavery.

At some point my stomach finally grew to what I considered acceptable size. The little boy in my womb was active and playful. He liked to kick and stretch. My bladder must have fascinated him, because he pummeled it all the time. I shuddered to think how active he would be when he came out.

The contractions started one morning after breakfast as Rose, Fuji, and I sat talking. No one was in the rooms, besides us, so I didn't give it much thought. The men would arrive for lunch and I would just tell them then. For now I just paced and breathed through the steadily increasing cramps.

We didn't panic until I sat on the lacquered pot to pee and my water broke about mid morning.

"This is your third," Rose said worriedly. "It is coming quickly."

The contractions started to come faster and more regular. Rose and Fuji finally decided someone had to get the men. I told them how to get to the sorting room and Fuji bolted out. Rose elected to stay with me, because she knew more about human child birthing.

This was happening so quickly this time. I took off my dress and my boots in the birthing room and crawled up on the warm slab. It had never occurred to me Nu-reeh and her Sisters would watch the camera for that room. They arrived before the men did and shooed Rose out.

My family barely made it to the birthing room before the birth. Kein crawled up behind me and supported me, so I could wrap my arms around my belly and grab my legs. It took only three pushes and my son slipped onto the slab.

Damien and his Brothers stood transfixed staring at our boy as Nu-reeh picked him up. I saw them try to grab the child, but Dinah pushed them back.

"Stay," Tosu demanded, "let us check him. We will not harm him."

Much like before the cord was cut and seared shut. Unlike any other time, Nu-reeh treated this infant like a precious gift. She held him gently as he started to cry and inspected him thoroughly as she dried him.

I stared at the little boy in Nu-reeh's hands. He had hair, that surprised me. Wet, blonde locks hung past his shoulders on all sides. When he was calm and still, my boy was pale, like me. As he started to become upset with the cold and the handling his skin took on the prominent stripes of a Paterian male. It relieved me to see the change, although I hated to hear his upset. Watching Nu-reeh it was obvious she was not trying to hurt him, though.

The only thing Nu-reeh did that horrified my family was circumcise the child quickly with a talon. Damien and his Brothers yelled and tried to get past Dinah and Tosu, but the two women held them back. It was necessary for cleanliness, Tosu patiently told them.

Seeing the mens' distress, even I tried to tell Damien what she was doing, but he refused to listen and cursed Nu-reeh. She barely noted the inappropriate commentary.

"It will be healed by the next nightfall," Nu-reeh said absently, while swaddling the little boy tightly. "Each of you had this done as did every other male. Do not upset yourselves."

My son was up to a full fledged wail by this point. He sounded like a small cat caught in the rain. When Nu-reeh finally handed him to me it was such a relief.

The men huddled around as I brought his tiny mouth to a breast. Instinct took over the moment the firm tip of my nipple met his lips. He rooted around and latched on right away.

"Like Hannah," Damien said proudly.

In that way, yes, he was like Hannah. Feeding seemed to come naturally to him. This little one wasn't shy and took what he wanted. The hair was very different though, long and blonde.

A moment later his eyes opened and I knew this was not Damien's child.

The child's eyes were huge and blue. The irises took up the entire space, giving him a surreal look. Nu-reeh looked down and I saw her mouth curve into a wide grin.

"Most certainly Evan's first male offspring," she announced to her Sisters.

"Good man," Dinah said patting Evan's back.

I looked up and Evan was stunned. Fingers traced the little boy's brow as Even stared down at us.

"We will send in Healers," Nu-reeh said in a business like manner. "Feed the boy as often as he wants. He will begin to look for his Brothers soon. We believe he will find them. All boys born to us seek out their Brothers."

"He must have them," Dinah commented, "all men do."

As my young son suckled contentedly I spoke without thinking.

"He has them already," I said watching his little face. "I felt them when he was inside of me. I've heard their heartbeats for many turns of the moon."

The room was silent as I pushed a wet, sticky lock of hair back from his face. It would need to be washed soon. It would never be cut, though, that much I knew.

"You heard them?" Nu-reeh said sounding surprised.

"Humans cannot..." Dinah started to say and stopped.

"Most humans cannot," Nu-reeh said and I looked up to see her looking quite pleased, "I chose my breeder well. This human's mind is well suited to this world."

The men looked perplexed, which I suppose is why Nu-reeh continued to talk.

"You are born into sets determined by a force outside of our control," she said conversationally. "Most female breeders feel it the moment each of their offspring's Brothers connects. Your slave's ability to adapt to our world is quite impressive. I am glad we chose this slave. It was a wise decision, Sisters," the last two comments were directed to Tosu and Dinah.

The women were talking about this, so Christof took the chance to clarify.

He spoke softly and let the question hang without pushing the women. "You chose this slave for us, Mistress?"

"Your Brothers wanted a human slave," Nu-reeh answered him, "we saw this slave and knew we would give her to you all. We sent you to the auction and we...assured no other Paterians would bid on her. She was paid for before you first saw her."

It felt so strange to be reminded I was just a thing the women traded at will. My very existence was theirs to play with. Ever since the moment I left Earth, my life had been theirs to control. I was swept by the old feelings of abject helplessness and that depressed me greatly.

The conversation continued as I stared down at my baby, but I did not hear it. I felt the comforting hands that Evan and Damien laid on my head and shoulder. They understood how this made me feel. Gratefully, I rubbed my cheek on Evan's hand as it lay on my shoulder, as I fought the tears that wanted to flood my eyes.

The women left and the Healers showed up after the placenta had been delivered. Once again, they wanted it. Damien still found it an odd request, but he didn't see any harm in it.

My lower body was dried and then coated inside and out with a generous portion of the powerful healing salve. I felt my flesh tighten after the application.

"He is so small," Evan said as Bane picked me up.

That was accurate. The little bundle in my arms was tiny compared to both Hannah and Kennedy. It could have been Evan's genetic makeup or it could be that's how boys were, I just didn't know.

"His hair is all stuck together," Evan continued as Bane walked us toward the bedroom. "We need to bathe him."

"Patience," Damien warned pulling back the covers on the bed, "let them rest a little, like we did with our other children. You don't need to rush, Brother."

Damien's words seemed to impart some calmness to Evan and he allowed us to be settled on the bed. He tucked the covers around my feet and helped Kein prop me up with the pillows so our son could finish feeding. The child and I were made absolutely comfortable as he finished and I burped him.

The other men went to clean up the birthing room, but Evan would not leave. He was fascinated with the tiny boy now sleeping in my arms. Nu-reeh had wrapped the child tightly, but his head was exposed. I watched transfixed as Evan tasted the boy's ear and licked his cheek.

"It tastes of you and me," he said curiously, "but I taste him also."

"Do you want to hold him?" I asked.

Evan did. He held the sleeping child and practiced rocking him as I'd done with Hannah and Kennedy. I let my eyes slip closed as I heard Evan murmuring to the boy.

I woke on the bed with Evan still beside me. Our son was nestled in the covers between us. I looked down to find the little one sucking loudly on Evan's smallest finger.

"He started to make loud sounds," Evan said, "and I put my hand near his mouth. Now he is happy."

"That will work for a bit," I assured him, "but if the child is hungry, he must eat."

I sat up and picked up my wide eyed baby. He was absolutely voracious when he found the nipple again. He had been practicing on Evan's finger for quite a while it seemed.

"Do you know his name?" Evan asked suddenly. "You have not told us this one's name yet. I wish him to have a name."

Evan's eyes bore into me as he watched our son feed.

"Well," I said hoping this decision would not offend his Brothers, "do you have a name you would like to call him? Is there a name you've heard that you like?"

Evan looked confused. "I wish to call him by his name, not the name of another. What is his name?"

I smiled at Evan and remembered how new this was to them. The name would be mine to choose.

On Earth I'd helped my cousin pick out baby names. We'd gone through books and books of names for her child. One had always reached out to me.

"His name," I said with authority, "is Jonathan."

Evan repeated the name several times as he grinned down at our boy.

"Jonathan," he said still smiling.

It didn't seem anything could take the happy look off his face.

The rest of the family came in and sat on the bed around us.

"He is Jonathan," Evan informed his Brothers proudly.