The Seven Masters I Served

"Don't... speak out of turn!" He Jerked me to the side, tossing me to the floor. I heard something pop in my neck as he twisted my head, and I slammed into the ground. I passed out for a second, and came up in a blind panic. He was gone, out the door. It was over in seconds. We both sat on the floor, breathing hard, and Kate crawled over to me.

"You shouldn't have talked," Kate said through her tears. I picked myself up slowly, rubbing my sore neck and trying to calm my shaky nerves.

"I couldn't let you take the fall." I replied. Kate never showed much emotion.

"I know," She said. "But that's the most lenient he'll be with speaking out of turn. We need to pray he has a nice day at work, or he'll come back still upset that you spoke." I processed what she said for a second. He hated speaking out of turn more than anything. It was possible he would remember that through the whole day, and come back to punish us more in the evening. I had made things much worse for both of us than if I had just let her take the punishment.

"I'm sorry." I said. Kate shrugged.

"We'd better be especially on point tonight." She was monotone. Her expression never changed. "Thank you. It was very sweet to try." She rubbed my shoulder, uncharacteristically touching me.

"I had to." I replied. "We're in this together." I smiled, trying to reassure her.

"Yeah," She said, "I guess we are."

I'd like to say that outbursts like that were rare, but truly they weren't. During my time with him, I worried I would get seriously injured or worse. I had it worse than Kate, and more frequently, at least in the beginning. I didn't understand what William wanted as well as she did, so I messed up more often.

The worst times were the weekends.

He stuck to a consistent schedule on weekdays. To a T, it was everything I described. Breakfast, work, back from work, supper, sex, shower, bed. But the weekends were less structured. He hated it, and as a result, we hated it. Outbursts and rages were common on weekends.

The first weekend I spent with them I experienced the effect he had on Kate first hand. As part of our duties, the whole hardwood floor on the ground level was scrubbed daily. Kate had been stuck in one section by the door for several minutes, and I went to check on her. I watched with concern as she scrubbed on her hands and knees, working the same spot repeatedly.

"I don't think that's coming up," I said. "It's part of the coloring on the floor." She ignored me, I stood behind her silently, watching as she scrubbed over and over again.

"Kate? It's not coming up."

"Maybe we can cover it." She looked around wildly, as if a rug would appear for her to throw over that exact spot.

"I don't think so. If he's mad about that, we'll just have to endure it."

"No. We have to fix this. He'll be outraged." She grabbed the mat from the doorway, inching it over the top of the discolored portion of the floor. The new position left the mat awkwardly off-center of the door.

"That's worse. Just leave it." I suggested. Kate didn't move for a moment. I heard her breathing, short shallow gasps, and I noticed her body shaking slightly.

"Kate?" I called. She still didn't answer, so I knelt by her, trying to get her attention.

"It's not gonna get better..." I trailed off when I saw her face. She was pale as a sheet. Her eyes were fluttering rapidly, and her breathing was in short shallow gasps. I said the same stupid thing every body says in this sort of situation.

"Are you okay? Oh my god." She started to slump to the side, and I helped her sit with her back against the wall. Her eyes continued to flutter, and her breathing came quick and ragged.

"Can you hear me?" I held her hands tightly and knelt with her, watching closely. I began to consider calling for emergency help. Gradually, she started to steady her breathing and her shaking improved.

"Kate...?" I tried. She began to cry. Pulling her hands from mine and burying her face in them. I silently consoled her from arms length. "I'm, uh, here for you, if you need me." She shook her head.

"I'm so sorry," She sobbed, "This happens sometimes. A lot around the weekend. I don't know why."

"That was a panic attack. You just have to sit with it when that happens." She nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Okay." She said.

"Do you need anything?" I asked.

"I'm so afraid," she responded.

"... Can I hug you?"

"...Yes."

I held her, and she cried on my shoulder. Thus was my introduction to weekends with William.

It was a particularly bad weekend, several months into my time with him, that found us preparing for a charity event that was sponsored in part by his employer. The event was on a Saturday evening, at 8pm. Kate and I weren't informed ahead of time. We were both in an unused guest room, relentlessly hunting down every speck of dust we could find.

He burst into the room, snatched the can of furniture polish from my hand, and threw it at Kate. He grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently.

"Why the fuck aren't you ready? We leave in half an hour!" He shoved me firmly, and I stumbled backwards trying to catch myself. I landed hard on my butt, shooting pain up my back. He wheeled about and bolted out of the room. Cursing me the whole way and slamming the door behind himself. I looked over to Kate, who was rubbing a spot on her head where the furniture polish had hit her.

"How should I have known?" I whispered. She shook her head.

"That's his way of letting you know. Come on, let's go get you ready." She moved over to me, offering a hand. As she helped me up, I sighed in frustration.

"Ready for what?" I asked.

"He was wearing a white button up shirt and his dress shoes. I don't know what, but you'd better dress up." Kate's monotone observations were analytical in a way I never could be. This was not the first time she'd had to figure out his plans with poor hints like these.

She took me to our room, where she helped me into one of her dresses. It was black, tight, and very short on me. We weren't the same size. I was significantly taller and bustier than she, but it had to do. It's honestly a miracle I fit in it at all. William hadn't thought of what I would wear, or bothered to tell me I would need something, so I prayed he would be happy with what we had.

"You'd better hurry." Said Kate, ushering me out of the room. "He'll expect you to be in the car waiting for him. Here, take this. He likes lipstick." She slipped a tube into my hand. "I saved it. It might earn you some points." I accepted it graciously.

"You're the best, Kate." I said, holding my arms out for a hug. She hesitated briefly, but yielded a quick, friendly squeeze.

"He'll be dangerous tonight. He hates this sort of thing. And I won't be there..." She hesitated. "...You know, to take care of you." I hugged her back, squeezing hard.

"I'd be sunk without you. Thank you so much." She pushed me off.

"You need to hurry."

"Thank you." I said again as I left, applying the lipstick while walking away. I smiled back at her as I walked out. She didn't smile, just slumped against the door frame, sighing hard. She looked exhausted.

I waited in the back seat of the car. He always wanted us in the back seat, so I made sure...

He climbed into the driver's seat, sighing deeply. He rubbed his forehead and spoke slowly, as if explaining to a toddler why they shouldn't touch a hot stove.

"You... are supposed to be... in the passenger seat." He had literally never wanted us in the passenger seat ever before. My insides boiled. He would probably punish me for this later. I hated him so much.

Wordlessly, I climbed out of the back, walked around the car, and climbed into the passenger seat. He reached over slowly, and though I wanted to flinch away from his hand, I knew better. He gripped the back of my neck, squeezing tightly.

"You're so fucking stupid." He said. I didn't reply. "The dress you're wearing is clearly too small." My neck hurt a lot from where he was squeezing. My instincts told me to break his hold, but I forced myself to endure it quietly. Tears started to roll down my cheeks. The pain was intense. Eventually he released me.

"The lipstick was a good idea." he said, turning the key in the ignition. As we rolled out of the driveway, I silently thanked Kate for turning away at least a small part of his wrath. My stomach was all twisted up with dread. Tonight would be horrible.

We valeted at the front of the event center. A young slave boy in a well-fitted suit accepted William's keys and left with the vehicle. William held his arm out, and I assumed I was to wrap mine around his. I was correct, mercifully, and he escorted me into the large, opulent building. The place reeked of wealth. Every person there had at least one slave with them, many had two, and some were followed by a veritable entourage. People all had glasses of expensive looking champagne, mingling with each other and laughing a bit too loud at certain jokes. As we walked through the venue, I recognised several people. Movie stars, politicians, and the magnate, Isabella Morgan, rumored to be the richest woman in the world. I knew we were amongst people with big money. All gathered in this large ballroom. On one side was a stage, and above the stage hung a banner with the name of the charity.

William hated all of it. He was cranky, yanking me around every direction he wanted to go. I was grateful for the flats Kate had lent me, I would have fallen frequently in heels. He cursed his way up and down the room, stopping at a small round table. On the way, a few different people tried to speak with him, and I was privileged to see a side of William I'd never seen before: He pretended to be decent.

"Oh yes, lovely to see you as well. Fantastic evening we're having." He said to one lady. Another partygoer asked if I was new.

"Why yes, I just picked her up a couple months back. As you can see, I purchased this one for her body." They laughed with him.

It was so bizarre seeing him like this. He smiled, shook hands, complimented people's clothing or slaves. He talked about his life like he was a normal person and not evil personified. But as soon as they'd walk away, he was back to being his hateful self. I guess he didn't like speaking to others at the party, because once they left, he'd act out some small cruelty on me, pinching me or squeezing my arm too hard. He was petty and hateful to the core, but smart enough to fake it.

Once we found our table, he sent me to fetch drinks, taking his seat with an angry huff. I'd spotted a bar on the opposite side of the room, so I made my way there. Working through the crowd, I eventually reached the bar, calling for an attendant and ordering on his behalf. Another slave joined me at the bar.

She was a few years younger than I, with freckles and hair in a ponytail. The dress she wore looked like it cost more than the car we had arrived in. It was a black satin material that hugged her body immaculately. Her neck was adorned with pearls, and I don't know much about pearls but I'm guessing her necklace costs more than I do. For a slave to have a necklace like that, it was a status symbol for the master most of all.

"Hi there. What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Winnie." I whispered. "I'm not sure my master would want me to speak." she wrinkled her brow and looked at me sadly.

"Oh. Okay. I'm Margaret. I'm here if you'd like to talk." I glanced around the room, searching for William, Henry. I didn't spot him, so I pushed my luck.

"Margaret." I whispered.

"Yes?" She whispered back.

"Is your master kind?" I asked. She nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly.

"Yes. Yours is not?" She asked. I hesitated, and she knew exactly why. I couldn't say that. She reached her hand to me, grasping my fingers gently.

"Oh dear. I wish I could help you." Her master interrupted us, and warned me to get my drinks to the table. We were fortunate to sit next to each other, and her master was kind enough to switch seats with Margaret so I could sit next to her. She whispered to me occasionally through the night, telling me funny little bits about her master or telling me about her training. I didn't risk replying. William Henry was too near for that. As the speakers wrapped up, my master stood from the table to talk with Margaret's master. Margaret lingered a moment to speak with me.

"If... if I can help you," She began, and then trailed off. "Can I try to help you?" She asked. William looked in my direction. He saw me with Margaret, and beckoned angrily. I knew if I didn't follow him, he'd be enraged, but I stayed a moment longer to speak with Margaret. Frantically, I nodded.

"Yes. If you can. But how?"

"My master could try to purchase you. If you're okay with that." I thought of the young man at the bar. The only thing I knew about him was that Margaret said he was kind. I trusted her; she had kind eyes. Not that I needed trust, almost anyone would have been better than William Henry.

"Yes." I replied. "Yes I'd be grateful." My master had stopped, and was turning to come back. I knew there would be consequences for speaking with Margaret.

"Thank you," I whispered to her.

"Good luck," She replied.

William was angry that night. He took it out on me mostly, but did go to Kate's room, and made sure she knew I was a colossal fool and she deserved to be punished for it. I despised him so completely that night, I thought about trying to sneak into his room with a knife. But I remembered what Margaret had said. That she might be able to help me. So I waited, and resolved to be patient. Luckily, I didn't have to wait long.

Master #7, You

You know how it goes from here. You showed up the next day, and made some arrangements with William. You explained to him that I had gotten along well with your slave at the dinner the previous night, so you wanted me. William was hesitant, but you offered more for me - more than I could ever be worth. He couldn't say no.

I'm appreciative. You were very kind to do that, and when Margaret wakes up - it looks like she's asleep on the couch there - I'll thank her too. Both of you have been so kind. I don't deserve it, and it's...

I'm just being plain selfish to ask more. But I can't sit by and do nothing.

Will you go back for Kate?