Slave Girl Ch. 01-11

The physical effort felt good. Moving, carrying a load, working toward a definite destination, these were the type of things I was built and raised for. Perhaps too much so. My grandfather worried that anything outside of simple labor was beyond me. He worried about me trying to start and run a farm on my own. But mother had faith in me and I had faith in myself. With Ceres guiding me I could turn my hard work into success. I would work my land, I would find a wife, I would start a family, and I would prosper. I would do my father proud. Although with the way I had just squandered the money of my inheritance perhaps grandpa had been onto something. No matter. One foot in front of the other. Just keep moving forward.

By the time I was turning off of the main road onto the winding game trail to the camping spot I had in mind fatigue was starting to weigh on me as well. Not from physical effort but from the stress and length of my day. It doesn't take long before I find the secluded little clearing among the bushes a short distance from a burbling stream. The long grass was still flattened from my stay here the night before.

"Rosa." I say softly as I kneel down. "We're here."

"Mmm?" She surfaces and I feel her tense up momentarily as she gets her bearings. "Oh! I'm sorry. I must have nodded off."

"Understandable."

She steps back from me rubbing her tired eyes then looks around the area more than a little confused. "Here? We're resting here? In the open?"

"Yes." I take off my bulky pack and set it down between us. "There isn't much food left but you're welcome to it. I'll try to get us some fish in the morning." Pointing toward the sound of the nearby water I say. "The water is clean and cool, if you're thirsty or wish to soothe that burn."

Her wide nervous eyes scan the bushes around us, her ears tilt and turn trying to pick up any odd noise. In Luna's pale glow everything is in soft shades of gray, even Rosa's vibrant eyes were muted in the wan light. Though all was quiet I could sense her fear. She really was a creature of city comforts.

Reaching into the pack I pull out my sheepskin blanket. "It is a mild night. The cloak ought to be warm enough for you." I sit down in the grass and start to flatten out a wider area to lay down upon. "Sleep as long as you can. We have many miles to go."

"Y-you want me to sleep on the ground?" Just then there are a series of titters, like the tinkling of tiny bells, that ripple through the vegetation around us. Rosa squeals and nearly jumps out of her cloak. In the blink of an eye she is right beside me. "What's that!?"

"It's just the nymphs. Ignore them. They're harmless."

"Nymphs?" She spins to the left, trying to track the sound as it moves. "They're all around us!"

"You won't see them. They're too fast. They're laughing. They'll be gone in a moment."

"That isn't laughter. They're angry." She says as she kneels beside me and clutches to my arm. "We shouldn't sleep here. Maybe...maybe...maybe a farmer would let us stay..."

"Rosa. We sleep here." I say firmly. "The nymphs will move on soon." Even as I say the words their high chiming voices were already receding. "See."

Slowly her grip on my arms loosens and she sits back. She nods uneasily though she continued to glance about the area as if a Gorgon might burst from vegetation at any moment. I had no words to comfort her. I couldn't promise her that we were absolutely safe as there were potential dangers out here, wolves foremost among them. The likelihood of experiencing any was very slim but not none. This was simply a reality of the country and this city girl was going to have adapt if she was going to stay with me.

Rosa notices that I was on the verge of bedding down when she suddenly crawls in behind me and grabs my shoulders. Her hands grip and knead the tense muscles on either side of my neck. "Let me give you a massage before..."

Shrugging her away I look back at her annoyed. "Get off me!"

"Master..."

"You! There!" I point to a spot just on the other side of the pack. "Now!"

"But Master...I...we..." She was grasping for something to say. "W-we...should sleep together. F-for warmth. For safety."

"Together!?" My eyes widen in shock.

"Don't make me sleep alone." There is a long pause before she adds in a hushed tone. "I will pleasure you Master. In any way you wish. Please let me lay with you tonight."

I was glad it was so dark as the bright blush that was surely coloring my cheeks would have been visible a mile away. In my embarrassment annoyance turns to anger. "GO!" My bellowing voice rings out in the night. "THERE!"

"Yes Master!" She scrambles away on all fours to the spot I pointed at. Her body language is bent and submissive with her ears down like a guilty dog about to be whipped. "I'm sorry. I meant no offense."

"Sleep!"

"Yes Master." She curls into a tight little ball and disappears inside of the large cloak, even pulling her head in through the neck hole so that she were completely inside of it.

I let out a huff and unfurl my blanket with a hard flap. I lay down and turn my back to my impudent slave. The nerve of her to suggest such a thing! I am stewing as I settle in and close my eyes to try to get some sleep at least before the dawn. We had days of hard travel in front of us and would need the rest. As I lay there my anger cools and I find myself wishing I hadn't shouted at her. It was common knowledge that you had to be firm with slaves or they would become a problem...but raising my voice to a frightened woman wasn't how I was raised. It just didn't sit right with me.

As I lay there struggling with my conscience I hear behind me, just barely, the muffled sobs of Rosa.

***

Chapter 5

I turn to lay on my back, the starry heavens above a glorious sight to behold, yet all I can focus on are the tears of my slave. She tried mightily to hold the noise in but in the silence of the night she cannot mask it entirely. I let out a sigh and sit up. Across from me all I could see of Rosa is a trembling lump in the middle of the paenula.

I get up and go the pack between us. At the sound of my movement I hear a gasp and some hurried sniffles as Rosa redoubles her efforts in hiding her crying. As I get close I could see her form tense up as she readied herself for a beating.

"Rosa."

She draws in a sniffling breath and tries to settle her voice though it still warbled with fear. "Yes Master?"

"I will never strike you." I say firmly. "I promise you that now."

Her form relaxes a little. "Yes Master. Thank you Master." She didn't entirely believe me but the words helped.

I pull my nearly empty waterskin out of the pack and walk through the bushes to the nearby stream. There I take a drink, splash a bit of water on my face, dump out the old water and refill it with fresh. When I return Rosa is sitting up with just the top of her horned head peeking out of the cloak. I pass her the skin and she takes it gratefully. Sitting up straighter she unstops it and takes a good long pull of the cool thirst quenching water then lets out a great breath. "Thank you."

Taking my blanket I move over to set up beside her, though still at an arm's length. "I didn't mean to be so cruel. I'm not used to...this."

"I'm sorry for crying Master."

"Don't be. I understand." I say. "How is your hand?"

She looks at it. "It hurts, but not so bad anymore. I heal quickly from burns."

"Yeah. I guess you would."

She wipes the wet from her cheeks. "I'll be okay Master. Don't worry about me. I won't be a problem."

"You don't have to talk like that. I don't know how to do this master-slave thing. Just...be yourself." I say in a warm gentle tone. "I can't imagine what this day has been like for you."

She didn't quite know how to take that. "Master...?"

"Just call me Quin."

She studies me for a long moment before taking another sucking pull from the waterskin. "Oh that's good." She whispers. "Thank you Quin."

I nod and summon my courage. Speaking with women did not come naturally to me. "My...my mother says a burdened heart can only be lightened by sharing its worries. If you want to talk I...I can..." I shrug. "...listen."

"Your mother is as wise as your father."

"More so." I motion to the pack. "As I said, I have food." Then I correct myself. "We. We have food. Eat if you're hungry."

She continues to look at me, as if trying to read my heart. It made me uncomfortable but I endure it. Reaching over she pulls the pack closer and begins looking through it. It doesn't take her long to find the small bundle. Unwrapping it she finds olives, dried fruit, a bit of sheep cheese, and stale chunk of flat bread. She breaks off a bit of the bread and goes to close it again.

"Don't be silly." I say. "I know you're hungry. Eat as much as you like. You need to regain your strength. Take it all."

"I couldn't take your last..."

"Eat. I insist."

"Thank you again." Bringing the bundle with her returns to my side. Sitting cross-legged she devours the food with relish right down to licking the tips of her delicate fingers and picking the crumbs to nibble them one by one. Though I don't watch her I glance over once to catch that her canines were a bit longer and more pointed than normal. Another sign of her demon blood. I sit and listen to her eat as I lean back and stare up at the spectacular sky above. "Mmm."

"They probably didn't feed you so well." I say as she is polishing off her meal with another drink.

She dabs the corners her mouth with refined mannerisms that were wildly out of place out here. "Just a thin gruel when I got it at all. It was terrible." She takes in a deep breath and as she breathes out it was as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. With her hunger sated and a far more friendly atmosphere between us Rosa could finally let her guard down, at least a little. She whispers. "I don't know how I can ever thank you Quin."

"It was just a bit of food." I quip, trying to deflect away from the heavy topic and lighten the mood.

"Quin."

"I know Rosa. I know. Just...you don't have to think that way. You don't owe me anything."

"Your parents did one heck of a job with you." She says. "You are certainly not what I expected in a master." She sets the water to the side. Bringing her knees up she hugs them to her chest. I wished she didn't look right at me like she was but it seemed to help her. I gave her a focus that wasn't the big dark scary world around her. Feeling her eyes on me I continue looking up at the sky. She looks up then back at me. "They're pretty aren't they? The stars."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess."

"Do you like pretty things?"

"Err, I mean, as much as the next guy. I don't give it much thought."

"Hmm." She hums. "What do you like Quin?"

"Like? I don't know. A good day's work and good food I guess." I shift uncomfortably. When I suggested she talk I hadn't expected her to start asking questions. As she became more relaxed and conversational I was becoming more tense.

"Work and food? That explains why you're so strong." She says. "Is this your favorite flower?" She tilts her hand to show the back side. "The rose. Do you like roses?"

"Uh, I guess. It was just something I drew. I made it up on the spot."

"You made it up right there? Just for me?" She says. "It's very pretty."

"Er, that's not exactly how it...well, I guess so." I grumble. "It was just a quick sketch. I didn't know what to put."

"How old are you Quin?"

"Twenty."

Out of the corner of my eye I catch a little smile play at her lips. "So young. The fire is still burning bright in you."

"Um...how...old..."

"How old am I?" She asks. "How old do you think I am?"

Looking over I very briefly glance at her pretty face. "I don't know...twenty...three?"

"Older."

"Twenty...nine?"

"Your half right." She says. "Thirty nine."

"Thirty nine!" My snaps back to look at her smooth youthful face glowing in the moonlight. I look away again quickly, blushing yet again. "I mean...I knew...with your demon...it's just..." I shake my head. "Your as old as my mom."

"I'm in good company then." She yawns adorably and rubs her tired eyes. "Though I can't claim to be as wise. Most of my life was spent in one building."

One building? My curiosity naturally begins to grow. "Your accent. You aren't from Rome, are you?"

"No. I'm Alexandrian." She says in a low voice. With a full belly and her fear subsiding her blinks were getting heavier and slower each time. "I lived there all of my life. Well, most of my life. I came to Rome last year." It was not hard to hear the regret in her voice in that last sentence.

"You're from Alexandria? Wow." Alexandria! To a simple man of the earth like me she might as well have said she came from Elysium. While Rome was larger no city was as renowned for its sophistication, education and cosmopolitan population as the legendary Alexandria. She and I could not have come from more different backgrounds. "You weren't a slave, were you. You were a free woman."

"Free?" She says softly. "It depends on what you think that word means. But no, I wasn't technically a slave Quin. Not until now."

That confirmed my suspicion. So many more questions were buzzing about in my mind.

"There is something you really ought to know about me." She says, sidling a little closer. "Please don't get upset."

"What is it?"

"My profession." She says. "I am, or I was, a meretrix."

"A meretrix?" I pull back. "A prostitute? You were a prostitute!? That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"Your curse." I say. "Forgive me but, no man would willingly be with an Amazon in that way. And they certainly wouldn't pay for it."

She smiles a kindly patient smile. "You would think that by our reputation. But some men act very differently when in public and when in private. Some women too. You see the real person when nobody is there to judge them." She says. "In Alexandria there is something for every taste."

I look over to see if she were fooling with me but her expression showed no sign of deception or humor. This was hard to take. She looked so...innocent. I shake my head. "No."

"It's true I'm afraid Quin."

I shift uncomfortably. "I-I didn't buy you to be a p-pleasure slave. I-I never...I never thought..."

"I know Quin. It's okay." She says in a calming tone. "I just thought you should know that up front." She shifts a little closer...and I shift a little away. "Have you been with a woman before Quin?"

My blush returns with a vengeance. "That is none of your business!"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that." She reaches out and very carefully lays a hand on my foot. "It's okay Quin. I didn't mean to upset you. There is no shame in it either way."

"I'm not upset!" I snap back, though my sharp words revealed the truth.

Without asking she begins to unfasten my sandals. She unties the long leather twine and unwraps it from my ankle.

"W-what are you doing?"

"I'm just taking your sandals off. It will feel better, no?" She says.

"Well, yeah. But I can...do it myself."

"Or you can let your slave do it for you. Let me serve you. Let me do this for you at least." She pulls my shoe from my foot. The fresh air did feel good against it. Then she moves on to the other. "Tell me about my new life Quin. Where are we going?"

I hesitate a moment before answering. "Lacania. I inherited a parcel of land along the banks of the Aciris river."

"Would you like me to rub your feet Master?"

"No!" I wave her away. "I'm okay. Thank you."

"Land on a river. That sounds nice. It is farmland?"

"I assume so. I've never actually seen it."

"You've never been there?"

I shake my head. "I never even met the uncle who left it to me. I hail from Brutium. My family is there." My eyes wander southward. "I've never been this far from home before."

"That makes two of us." Rosa lets out another big yawn.

I sense another question coming but cut it off. "You are exhausted. Sleep. We can talk later."

"I'm okay." She insists, though her eyelids told a different story.

"Sleep. You'll need it." I say.

She nods and lays down beside me, facing me. "Thank you Quin." She says softly. "For everything." Reaching out she touches my hand with just the tips of her fingers. My instinct is to pull away but I could tell that that tiny bit of human contact helped calm her. I continue to sit, propped up by arms behind me. It is not long at all before I hear her breath slow and deepen.

When I am absolutely sure she is asleep I look down at her curled up beside me. In the light of the gibbous moon her face is at peace. Gods she was pretty. I pull my hand back and rub it where her fingers had been touching me. Part demon, part Amazon, small, delicate, nearly twice my age, a lifelong city dweller, a foreigner, an Alexandrian, and a high class prostitute! What would my mother think of this? Had I ever set out to purposely buy a slave to help me with my farm Rosa would have been the exact opposite of what I would have purchased. And yet here she was. If I ever needed proof that the gods had a sense of humor this was it. They would be having a good laugh at this poor mortal right now.

***

Chapter 6

I am back in the slave market. The blindingly bright baking sun is at its zenith. The noise and smell and sights of glorious Rome all comes flooding back. I am naked, on my hands and knees, a heavy collar attached to a chain around my neck. Around me citizens in their long togas stand facing me. I am on the platform!

Reaching up I feel the rough iron ring encircling my neck. I frantically pull at it but it is too strong. "I'm not a slave." I beseech the hard uncaring faces looking at me. "There's been a mistake. I am a free man! I don't belong here!" I look left and right to see that it is only me and that wicked man in yellow up here. I try to stand but the chain snaps taut and forces me back to my knees. I plead with the slave master. "I'm not supposed to be here. I am not a slave."

From out of his sleeve he produces a familiar piece of parchment. "You signed the contract boy. You should have read it all."

"You said no tricks!"

He throws his head back and laughs a booming wicked laugh.

Cutting through the din of the crowd I hear a familiar voice. "I warned you. He never should have left the farm. Strong of body but weak of mind."

"Grandpa?" I turn to see standing well back from the platform among the others my family huddled together. "Mom!" I cry out...and then I see who is standing beside her. "Dad? Papa, you're alive?" I pull against my chains but it is no use. None of them speak but in their eyes I see deep disappointment. "Mama! Papa! I was tricked. I'm not a slave!" As one they all turn their backs and leave the square. "NO!"

Moving into the space they vacate is a towering figuring, head and shoulders above the others in the crowd. It is a woman with the muscular build of an imposing Amazon warrior. It takes me a moment but I recognize the violet to pink hair and pointed ears. "Rosa?" Her eyes glow with a light of their own, her skin is crimson, and the horns at her crown are jagged and a foot long. She wears only a tight breast wrap and loin cloth, both bulging heavily.

She leers at me and licks her shark-like teeth. "How much for the boy?" She growls.

"One hundred and sixty!" The auctioneer says.

"I will have him." She says and throws him a purse full of coin. The crowd parts as she strides through them. Coming up onto the platform in one great step she towers over me with the blazing sun just over her shoulder.

I squint up at her and grovel at her feet. "Rosa. Help me."

Her huge powerful hands reach down and snap the collar from my neck as if it were sewing thread. Then, wrapping her long fingers around my neck, she forces me down onto my back right there on the platform. "You wanted a pleasure slave boy, but it is you who will pleasure me!"