Amber's Enslavement Ch. 05

Chapter 5

Perchance to Dream

"Amber Michelle Willenberg! Are you going to sleep your entire birthday away?"

Amber rolled her head to look at her mother's face as it peeked through the door to her bedroom. Amber was comfortable under her covers and didn't want to leave the warmth of the down contained in her quilt to subject herself to the cool air of her room. She was only a daughter, after all, and not important enough to have her room heated against the frigid winter chill.

"So what if I do, Mom. It's my 18^th birthday; surely I can waste it away in bed if I want."

"Yes, you're right. If you want to spend it in bed, I suppose you can do that. But, honey, you're a late birthday. It's only one week until the lottery. Eight days from now you may not have the option of doing what you want, going where you will. You should make the most of your adulthood while you can."

Amber knew her mother was right. The dreaded lottery was a week after her birthday. If only she'd been born even two days later. If she had, then she'd have an entire year to live for herself. She wondered what would happen if she left and didn't come back. Would they send someone after her? Would she die, alone, in the wilderness that surrounded Kafta? She shuddered at both thoughts.

"Give me a couple of minutes to get dressed. I'm still not sure just what I want to do. Can you let me know what it's like now?"

"I thought you might ask. Yes, now that you're an adult, I can tell you all about it. I'll be in the kitchen."

Amber slipped out of her bed, shivering at the cold stones under her feet. She slipped her tunic over her head, letting it fall into place. Like all the girls in Billa, she wore no underwear; it just wasn't done. Her breasts were moderately full and sagged slightly when she stood. She took a minute to run a brush through her hair, getting the nighttime tangles out. She slipped her sandals on just before she walked into the hall.

The kitchen was downstairs. There Amber found her mother, naked as usual, stirring a pot of hot cereal. The milk, bread, and butter were already on the table. She could hear the men on the other side of the curtain that separated the kitchen from the dining hall. Her mother brought over a bowl of breakfast.

"Eat up, dear. I have to see to your father and his guests. Once they're settled, we'll talk."

Amber ate, thinking to herself. Her motions were automatic and she didn't really taste her food. She thought of her friends whose birthdays had come earlier in the year. They seemed so excited by the upcoming lottery. Amber was starting to believe that she was the only girl her age that was afraid of winning. What would it be like to be a winner? Maybe her mom would really tell her now.

Amber had finished her breakfast and her mom still hadn't come back. It took another 15 minutes for her mom to return to the kitchen. When she did, she looked flustered and a little out of breath. She sat gingerly when she sat in the chair.

"How are you feeling today; your first day as an adult?"

"I don't know. A little scared, I suppose. Mom, what's it like being a winner?"

"It's very hard, Amber. I've noticed that you aren't like your friends. You don't seem to look forward to the lottery."

"No, I guess not. Mom, are you happy with your life?"

"For the most part, yes. I have a good Master and he takes good care of me. I don't long for anything different these days."

"Did you use to?"

"Oh yes. My birthday was months before the lottery. I had a chance to see the world; experience the joys of freedom. For a long time, even though I was happy with your father, I longed for the chance to see even more than I did. Honestly, I think your birthday's a blessing. You won't know what you're missing when you win."

"What's it like; what goes on in the men's part of the house? For example, why were you so out of breath when you came back?"

Amber's mom sighed. There was no easy way to answer this question. "We've talked about sex, do you remember?"

"Of course. You told me how wonderful it is for both men and women. You also encouraged me to remain pure, untouched, until the lottery."

"When I went to check on your father and guests, they wanted to have me for sex. They took me one after another."

"You had sex with all of them! How could you?"

"Your father told me to. Never forget what I am in addition to your mother. I'm your father's wifeslave. Whatever he tells me to do, I do. That's the essence of life for a lottery winner."

"My God! That doesn't sound much like winning to me."

"Of course it is, honey. Do you know what happens to the losers of the lottery?" Amber shook her head with a little trepidation. "They're cast out into the void. You can either be a wife-slave or you can live alone in the void forever, Amber."

Amber stared at her mother in horror. Everyone knew about the void. Billa was an island of normalcy in the gaping emptiness that made up the void. Each town on Kafta had a shield generator that kept the void at bay, letting the town survive. Most believed that the void was fatal, though there was no evidence one way or another. Some thought that anyone caught in the void would wander aimlessly in chaos, unable to escape and unable to die; to be driven slowly to madness.

"But why?"

"Amber, the town is only so large. There are only so many people the land can support. The excess have to be culled. Did you know that female births outnumber male births by ten to one?" Amber shook her head. "It's the strength and toughness of the men that allows us to survive this harsh land. In fact, we have an advantage over other lands. They have the opposite problem; too many male children. Some come here to settle when we fall short of the men needed to work the fields. They also come here to save some of our women. The more women they need in their towns, the fewer women we're forced to cast out into the void."

"But, to make them slaves?"

"It's the way it must be. If our women went back free, it would lead to conflict and jealousy between their native women and the immigrants."

"I won't do it! I won't enter the lottery."

"Amber! I'll hear nothing of that. You're already in the lottery."

"Wait, what about you? You didn't leave town, yet you're still a slave."

"Think for a moment, daughter. Can you imagine the scene if a few lottery winners stayed here as free women while the majority was shipped off as slaves? The fate of all the winners must be the same; so all the women who stay here are also slaves to their husbands."

"Do my friends know what's in store for them?"

"Probably, I can't be sure though."

"Why are they so happy?"

"Winning the lottery is the chance to live as women were intended to live. Why shouldn't they be happy with that?"

"But they'll be slaves. That just seems so wrong."

"Where did you get such a crazy idea? Slavery is the natural order of things. It can't be wrong."

"You raised me to be free! You made me proud of who I was. Now you want me to embrace being someone else's plaything? Was everything you taught me a lie?"

"Amber, Amber, Amber. You've misunderstood what I was trying to tell you. I want you to be proud of whatever you end up as in life. I was trying to prepare you for a life such as I live now. It's your destiny."

"I won't have it, I'll run away."

"Where will you go? Will you run into the void? Will you run to the towns that are going to be taking you and your friends anyway? I'll hear no more of this, young lady. You'll be a part of the lottery even if your father has to tie you up and carry you to the town square himself. Have I made myself clear?"

Cowed, Amber was only able to mutter, "Yes, Mother."

There was a call for her mother from the other side of the curtain. Amber's mom left Amber alone in the kitchen while she answered the call. Looking after her mom, Amber wondered how she'd missed so much as a child. It never occurred to her to question her mother's nudity in the house. Amber thought of her sisters (she had no brothers) and what they must be doing now. Were they naked with some man, serving his every whim? Were they happy like her mom? Were they as unhappy as Amber imagined she would be?

As a child, Amber wasn't permitted to venture much beyond the house and yard. The tall fence protected her from the outside world. Now she knew why. The truth was out there. She stood and walked to the front door. She was an adult now. She could leave the yard and see the town. Steeling herself for what she would see, she walked out of the house and straight through the gate.

The sight before her wasn't strange at all. She could see other fences enclosing other yards. A couple of women, naked, were walking down the street. They looked at her, nodding briefly. They continued on their way. Amber watched them. One turned into a yard through its gate. The other walked on without a backward glance. As Amber looked down the street, she saw buildings in the distance at one end. These buildings had no fences about them. She walked towards them, a little knot of nervousness building in her belly.

Once she was closer, she saw that the buildings were stores. Her lessons came to mind; money and purchasing of goods. She had no money and couldn't buy anything if she wanted. She'd seen her mother come back to the house with groceries; food and such. Amber wondered where the women would carry money. She continued towards the buildings. Picking one at random, Hasan's Butcher Shop, she entered.

There was a man behind a counter and two naked women on her side of it. Both were carrying baskets. One was being handed something wrapped in paper.

"Here you go, Ceciily, I'll add the charge to your Master's bill."

"Thank you, sir." Ceciily had her head bowed when she talked.

The man looked up and saw Amber. "Good morning. Who are you? I haven't seen you around before."

"Uh, I'm Amber, Amber Willenberg. It's my 18^th birthday."

"Ah, you'll be in the lottery next week. Is there something I can get for you?"

"No, I just wanted to see what the outside world was like. I don't have any money anyway."

"I understand. As for money, if you want anything, just let the shop keepers know who you are and they'll add the cost to your father's account."

"Oh, okay. Thank you."

Amber wasn't sure what to make of what she'd seen so far. She left the butcher's and wandered some more. She didn't see anything sexual going on. Other than their nudity and the constant deference to the men, no one would have any idea that the women were in servitude. Two hours later, Amber found herself back home, standing outside the gate to her yard. She looked above, seeing the shield that protected their town from the void. Briefly, she wondered what it was really like beyond that protection.

Shaking her head, Amber went back inside her home. In the corner was the portal. Much of her childhood revolved around that portal. It was the gateway that let her see and visit her friends. Many of her lessons were at the hands of other mothers, each mother in her circle of families teaching what they knew best. As a result of her education, Amber was able to do math with ease, could read with great speed and understanding, was able to cook all kinds of foods, and could clean house as well or better than her mother. She knew the history of her society.

A colony ship from their mother world had crashed on Kafta. Surrounded by the void, the survivors of the crash labored to keep the ship's screen generators running and themselves safe. In their misfortune, the colonists were fortunate. The area they crashed in was bountiful; food wasn't a problem, at least not at first.

As Amber remembered her history lessons, she was aware of the holes. The lessons never mentioned the disparity in births. They only talked of the increasing population and the beginnings of shortages. The critical time came when one man was able to construct a new screen generator from the wreckage of the colony ship. The colony split, some staying and others, under cover of the new generator, left to find a new land to call home.

In time, there were ten towns, each with its own generator. The knowledge to build new generators was lost. Of course, even if it hadn't been lost, there was nothing left to make the generators from. Ten towns, each with a limit to its population, a limit that could only be exceeded by condemning the entire town to starvation. Thus was born the lottery.

All the children who reach their 18^th year by the week before lottery day were counted. All were entered into the lottery. Towns with shortages would petition for some of the excess from other towns. The lottery selected who was to stay and who was to leave (curious how the lessons never mentioned where they would have to leave to). The first winners stayed in the town, if there was room. The later winners immigrated to a town that was short. The losers simply left (cast out into the void, she now knew).

It'd never occurred to Amber to question her lessons. She simply accepted them as the truth. Now she knew there were lies embedded into the stories. Staying meant slavery. Only girls entered the lottery. Amber felt tears filling her eyes when she was embraced from behind.

"Amber, there's no need to cry," her mother said. "I'm certain you'll win the lottery."

"And then I'll be a slave."

"Amber, do I look unhappy?"

"No, I've never seen you unhappy."

"That's because being your father's wife-slave isn't a burden. We've come to love one another in the years we've been together. He's a kind man who treats me with loving care."

"He had you have sex with his guests. How is that loving care?"

"Amber, it's only hospitable to share me with his guests. It's not an onerous task. You'll find sex is a joy and a pleasure."

"What if you didn't want to? What would he do then?"

"That would never happen. I love being your father's. What he wants me to do is what I want to do."

"I hope I lose the lottery."

"Amber! Don't say that. I couldn't bear the thought of my youngest daughter wandering the void, undying and lost forever."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I'm scared. How did my sisters deal with the truth? You always sent me away on their birthdays."

"They were confused at first. They eventually saw that it had to be this way and came to want the lottery. The only one I grieve is Melinda; she didn't win and was cast out."

"I never knew. I've missed them all. Are they truly happy?"

"Yes, dear, they're all happy. They have husband-masters and are safe. You will be too, I just know it."

Amber refrained from contradicting her mom. Instead, she thought to herself how miserable she would be however the lottery went for her. For the rest of the week, she either wandered the town, seeing what life was like for the wife-slaves, or she sulked in her room, waiting for the executioner to slay her. Before she knew it, it was the day of the lottery.

*****

The sky was clear and the weather not too cold. 20 girls, all 18-years-old, stood on the platform that had been erected the previous night, Amber one of them. The headman, hereditary leader of the town, was standing next to an urn within which were stones with each girl's name written on it. The entire town seemed to be gathered to watch the proceedings. Amber could see her mother and father near the front. They looked so at peace standing there, as if it were the most natural thing in the world to send your daughter into slavery.

"My fellows, it is the time of the lottery. Every year we must cull from us the excess population that threatens us with starvation. This year, 18 girls, newly adults, must leave our town. Two may stay to become the wife-slaves of these two boys, newly men." He pointed to two youths that were walking up onto the platform. They came to a stop next to the headman. "Anthony Galdera, do you accept the responsibility of owning your wife-slave to be; to protect her, provide for her and discipline her as needed?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Steven Boltin, do you accept the responsibility of owning your wife-slave to be; to protect her, provide for her and discipline her as needed?"

"Yes, sir, I do."

"Anthony, select your wife."

The boy reached into the urn and selected a stone. Turning it a bit, he read the name. "Vanessa Redmane."

One of the girls in the line gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. Amber turned and saw that she looked very happy. There was a low murmuring from the crowd.

"Vanessa, come and accept your new status."

Vanessa walked up to her new husband and pulled the tunic she was wearing over her head. Naked, she knelt before her husband-master and raised her hands up. He tied a thin string around her wrists and beckoned her up. Smiling, he led her away.

"Steven, select your wife."

The lad pulled out his own stone and read the name. "Julie Marks."

Julie ran forwards with a squeal and pulled her tunic off so she could also kneel before her husband. In short order, her hands were tied and she was being led off by Steven.

The headman addressed the crowd again, though it was clear everyone knew what he was going to say, having heard it before in years gone by. "The remaining 18 girls will be leaving us. 16 will be joining our neighbors, leaving with these four men to be taken to their husband-masters." He paused as the meaning of his words sunk in to the girls themselves. "Two will have no place to go and must be cast out into the void." The sorrow in his voice was plain for all to hear. The 18 girls on the platform looked around nervously as the reality of their situation made itself known to them. Two of them were going to die today; cast out into the chaos that surrounded their town.

The first of the men was called forward to select his six girls. Amber watched, unsure of whether to be happy or sad that her name wasn't picked. The next two men selected four girls apiece, none of which was Amber. The last man only selected two names. He called out the first name.

"Theresa Young."

Theresa ran forward, eagerly stripping her tunic off and kneeling to be bound by the string. Amber and the remaining two girls, twin sisters, stood; the two beside her weeping at the realization that one of them would die. The man, his name was Gavin Smythe, pulled his second stone.

"Amber Willenberg."

Amber stood in shock, not really expecting to hear her name called by now. She turned to the sisters, one arm reaching out. They shied away, not wanting to be separated from one another.

"Amber, come and accept your new status."

"No, please, let one of them go."

Through their sobs, one of the twins cried out, "No! Don't take her from me. I'd rather die with her than live without her." The nodding of the other confirmed they were of like mind on the issue.

"Amber," the headman whispered. Having moved next to her, he encouraged her, "leave them, it's for the best. Neither will make a good wife knowing the other has perished. Accept your blessing."

"Is it really?" she whispered to the headman's confusion.

Amber walked to Gavin and stripped her tunic off. Kneeling, she gasped as the twine was tied to her wrists. As she was prodded to her feet and led away, she could hear the headman beginning to explain their fate to the twins.

"In one hour, you'll be led to the barrier. You must leave into the void that no man knows the truth of. It breaks out hearts to have to…"

As they left earshot of the proceedings, Gavin spoke to Theresa and Amber. "Come, girls, we have a ways to travel. The trip will seem a little unnerving, but have no fear; I've made it plenty of times. We'll be perfectly safe."

"Sir," Theresa spoke up. "Where are we going? How are we getting there?"