Slave Girl Ch. 53-65

"Yeah."

She looks to the cave entrance, the light is so dim now that the vibrant colors of her hair and eyes appear nearly gray now. I sense the fear in her. I watch as she consciously settles her nerves.

"I will sleep with my dagger tonight." I tell her. "I will be between you and the entrance."

She nods. "Thank you Master." Looking about the stone floor she says. "It'll be the hardest bed I have ever slept on."

"Same." I say. "I should have gathered some sort of bedding before it got dark. Ah well, it's just one night."

I take the food scraps outside so as not to attract animals as Rosa lays out out blanket along with any other bit of padding she could find, which isn't much. I use my folded up tunic as a pillow and she uses her capelet. I lay on my side facing her, wanting to drink her in for every last second of light Sol would give me. I loved this woman with all of my heart. I couldn't get enough of her. She had done so much for me in our short time together. My life simply could not be complete without her in it now. It was agony knowing that she didn't love me back but it was something I was going to have to come to grips with. If this is how I had to have her, so be it. The alternative was unthinkable.

Rosa lay on her back staring up at the ceiling with intense concentration. She holds her right hand up and her eyes narrow as she lets out a snuffing breath through her nose.

"What you doing?" I whisper.

"Trying to create light." She says.

"You're trying to use magic?"

"Yeah. Papa used to do it all the time. He would make these little red candle flames float around in the air." She sighs. "I don't have a clue how to do it though. At least with the bracelet I have something to focus on."

"Well...are you feeling something at least?"

"I don't know. Maybe." She glances over to me. "I bet your feeling something."

I blush. "My butt is sore."

"I bet it is." She smiles. "You were so rough with yourself."

"It's kind of a good sore though. I'm okay."

"You men are so...rough." She giggles. "You really were incredible. A little scary even. But I liked it."

"Thank you."

"Just, maybe use some oil next time." She says. "I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Yes Ma'am."

"I can't imagine what that felt like. Both giving and receiving."

"It was...I can't even describe it. Weird. Good, but weird."

"I bet."

"You could try someday."

"Mmm, I don't think so." She rolls over and kisses me. "My boy provides for me now. You are all I need and all I want Quin."

I blush again and say in oh so quietly. "Thank you my Lady."

Back at Peisandros' she had told him, quite proudly, that she was monogamous. After a life as a meretrix, having been with who knows how many men and women over the past two decades, she seemed more than satisfied with settling down to just one man. I was blessed to be that man. I wanted to say so much more to her but I hold it in and watch as she returns to trying to conjure light from nothing.

I was so glad the mood had relaxed again. I wanted Rosa to be happy, I wanted that more than anything. I lay there and think of ways of how could I make her even happier. Remembering back to the advice Aemelia gave me I recall her saying something about if my Lady enjoyed nurturing me, to approach her and allow myself to be nurtured. Not just for my sake, but hers as well. I certainly could use a bit of nurturing right now.

"Rosa."

"Mmm?"

"Hold me?"

She stops at her attempts at magic to turn her head toward me. "You okay baby?"

I shake my head no. "I'm feeling...anxious. Could...you hold me?"

"Quin...of course I will hold you!" She slips an arm under my neck and pulls me in. "Come here my boy."

I shift closer and lay my head on her upper chest as she wraps her arms around me. Her left hand strokes my bare back as her right runs fingers through my hair. I move the blanket to cover us both as best it could then lay my free arm across her warm soft body. We lay in silence for a time as Rosa holds me close and pours her affections onto me. Closing my eyes I am soothed by the sound of her beating heart. She kisses me. She caresses me. She hums soft songs for me. She makes me feel like her precious man like only she can.

"You're worried about getting there." She whispers. "You're anxious about arriving."

"Yes." I confess, while it wasn't the foremost thought in my mind that was a worry I carried with me. "I don't know what we're walking into. I don't know the people. I don't know the area. I don't know the land."

Rosa kisses my forehead. "I don't know these things either, but do I know you Quin. We're going to be fine."

"And what if...things aren't fine?"

"Mmm, I guess we cram everything back into that old pack and head on down the road." She says. "Maybe you can get a job at a restaurant, that was some fancy platter you made me back there."

I giggle. "That's so mean."

She pinches my ear. "Made you laugh." She hugs me tight. "As long as we're together Quin, everything else will sort itself out."

"Yeah."

In the short time we had snuggled I could feel Rosa relaxing, her stress easing, just as much as me. Just as with the dominance and submission Rosa got just as much from this as I did, only in her own way. I let out a long breath.

"We should sleep." I say in a tired voice. "We have a hard day tomorrow."

"They're all hard days." She gently pets my hair and gives me one last kiss. "Sleep well my boy."

"Good night my Lady."

Chapter 65

"Good morning Master."

Oh how I loved hearing those words. Words I hoped to hear for the rest of my life. "Good morning Rosa."

Rosa sits up and immediately cringes. Rubbing her back she tries to stretch out the ache. I knew exactly what she was going through, I had experienced it not that long ago. Sleeping on solid stone was not something I would recommend to anybody, though at least it had been smooth. Rosa hadn't done so bad but I got a lousy night's rest. The combination of the too hard bed, the fact that I had to remain on guard for any potential threat, and, most of all, the churning emotions from my rebuffed declaration of love had combined to make for a poor night despite the wonderful cuddling I had gotten beforehand.

"How's your butt?" She winks.

I chuckle and shake my head. In the light of day I couldn't believe what I had done the night before. "I'm good, thanks for asking."

We had no breakfast but, as was our routine, Rosa and I freshen up before she sits me down for my shave.

Carefully scraping the razor across my oiled cheek she says. "This is a big day, isn't it?"

"Yes." I watch her pretty eyes as she attends to me. How could she care for me so adoringly yet not love me? It was eating me up inside no matter how I tried to rationalize around it. "There is a fishing hole not far down the road from here. I'll try to get us a quick breakfast to give us strength. After that...we move quick and quiet."

Rosa nods. "Yes Master."

"We cannot play around today. We are as far from civilization as we can get in Southern Italy. I need you to follow my lead today."

"I understand Master. I'll do my best."

"I know you will." I raise my chin so that she could start working on my neck. "Rosa."

"Yes?"

"I've said it before but...I'm really proud of you." I say. "I hate to say this but, back in Rome, I never thought you'd make it half this far."

"All thanks to my patient Master." She smiles. "You would have been there already without me slowing you down." She stops to look me in the eyes. "You gave me a chance. You believed in me. You showed me that I have strength and fortitude and determination that I didn't even know I had. This silly little slave girl will never forget that. I will be there every single day to help you become the man you are meant to be Quin. Unlike most who use it, you have truly earned the title of Master."

I close my eyes and hold back the words I wanted so badly to say. True words, but words that would only hurt us both. Instead I whisper. "Thank you Rosa."

We pack up and leave our cave behind. We climb the stairs and are soon back on the road. The day was overcast and the chance of rain looked high but at least we wouldn't have the sun beating down on us. The fishing hole I had been told about proves fruitful and we enjoy a hasty meal of trout and mountain blueberries. No more than an hour later we reach the fork in the road we had been talking about. We don't rehash the decision, we both knew what it was. Taking the right option we set off down the shortcut to Grumentum.

It is more a foot path than a road, certainly nothing a chariot could travel. This was trail for pack donkeys and those on foot. It isn't long after when the trees and bushes make way for the open alpine of the high mountains. The views are absolutely stunning. Below us we can see the dark forest stretching off to the East. Beyond the mountains form hazy ridges, like ocean waves locked in place, poking up from white cloud and fog. Had the weather been clearer I swear we might have seen all the Persia. To the South, not far away, a great snow capped mountain towered even above our high altitude and more like it could be seen beyond.

"Wow." Rosa gasps under her breath.

"Yeah."

I put my arm around her and the pair of us steal a small moment to take in the natural majesty. I could actually see where we needed to go now. The distances were vast but I think I can just make out the mountain pass we would be travelling through. Beyond it would be a grand verdant valley of rivers and lakes and fields and villages. Somewhere in that valley...was home. The massive peaks we were now viewing from the North would become familiar sights looked upon from the South in the years to come. We were so close!

Yet so far. As my eyes scan closer I saw the rugged wild lands we would be traversing. Cliffs, crags, boulders, rocks and crevices. Steep climbs and tricky descents. Much of it out in the open too. This would be the hardest stretch by far. We weren't home yet.

Not passing a single other traveler we hike through day in near silence, though the whipping mountain winds provided a constant drone. About midday it starts to rain, more of a cold mist really, making the path muddy in the earthy sections and slick on the rocky ones. Stepping carefully we plod forward. The road is even more difficult than I had been warned. Each mile was hard earned. Rosa stays right behind me the whole way as I set a pace I felt she could manage. I keep my senses keen, keeping a lookout for any dangers. When we come across the decomposing remains of a wild goat it sharpens my attention that much more.

However, try as I might to remain vigilant, thoughts and emotions continually surfaced inside of me. Why didn't she love me? How could I love her so deeply yet she not feel even remotely the same? What was wrong with me? Why couldn't she love me? Was it something I did? Something I hadn't done? Would she come to love me? Or was that a fools hope? In my growing torment even the twisted words of the mad Ignatius start to come back to me. Could demons even love like humans could? Was this just a game for her? Was I simply a boy of convenience? Why didn't she love me?

Stopping I bow my head and shake it. These were unhealthy thoughts. Poisonous thoughts. They would consume me if I let them. But they were thoughts that I could not shake. Thoughts that were distracting me at a time I most needed to stay sharp. Though it might hurt to hear the answer, I simply had to ask.

"Master?" Rosa says from behind me. "Why are we stopped?"

The patter of a light steady rain fills the air. Around a green expanse sloping up toward the peak our right and down into a steep valley to our left. Great tomb like boulders jutted up from earth here and there. I let out a long breath then stand tall and turn around to face my Lady.

"Rosa...why don't you love me?"

Her curious look turns dark. "This is not the time nor the place."

"Yet here we are. I must know, before we make our home together." I say firmly. "Please, just tell me. You say I am young and foolish, yet I know in my heart that I love you. I know it more than anything else I have ever known. If you are so wise help me to understand why you do not feel the same."

I see growing anger flash in her eyes. "Quin. We are not talking about this now."

"It has to be now." I close my eyes and take another deep breath, letting go of my walking stick I then fall to my knees right in the muddy road front of her. "I love you Rosa."

Her nostrils flare and she bites her lips, holding back what she really wanted to say. After a moment I see that cold detached Lady from last night come over her. She laughs. A false laugh, hollow and mirthless. "You are such a silly boy." Leaning down she offers me her cheek in that way she had that I loved so much. "Kiss me." I kiss her cheek. "Good boy. Now let's go."

That wasn't enough this time. "No."

"Stand." Her voice is firm. The voice of my Lady in full control.

I knew the secret now, thanks to Aemelia, and I knew the power might be hers to wield but it was mine to give.

"No." I say. "I know I will punished. I know the answer will hurt. But I must know. Why don't you love me?"

Her eyes flare with barely contained anger. "Get...up...now!"

I bow my head and take on the soft voice of her boy. "I love you my Lady."

She hurls her walking stick to the ground next to mine and they clatter together. Her small hands ball up into fists, they shake with impotent frustration. "I will go on alone then." She steps off of the path and walks around me. I turn with her, the cold mud mashing into my sandals as I moved. Once on the other side she snaps. "Get up! Come along boy!"

I lower into a full bow, groveling at her feet. "I love you my Lady."

"Quit...saying that!" She yells.

"Why don't you love me?"

"That is not a question one asks of a woman, be it Lady or not. You are out of line Quin. This is not becoming of a boy or a man."

"I'm sorry." I say. "I...don't know what else to do."

"Obey me!"

"I want to! Please...just answer." I raise back to Kneel and sit up nice. "Don't I at least deserve an answer?"

"You...HRRR!" She snarls a wicked wild snarl. Her small fangs had never looked so sharp nor her horns so ominous. She paces up the slope then back down again. She hisses and mutters angrily to herself, her vibrant magenta eyes glaring my way from time to time. "You really want me to say it, don't you? You want me to hurt you, is that it?"

"I just need an answer."

"Fine." Her brows furrow. "I don't...I don't...Fuck! Get up!"

"No."

Her fists balled she raises them and lets another snarl.

"Rrrahh! You young foolish boy. Don't you see? Haven't you figured it out?" She yells. "Everyone I have ever loved...every single one...is dead. Mama, Papa, Danae. All of them. Dead. Dead and gone forever." She says more quietly. "It is fate. The people I love die. I can't...lose...you...Quin. I can't...bear...another." She gulps in a sob before it can escape. "I couldn't bear that. I'm not that strong Quin. I can't."

"You won't."

"No! This ends now." She stands tall and imperious. "Boy!"

"Yes my Lady?"

"I am your Lady and your slave and nothing more. Mistress in the house, servant outside. That is all I am to you. That is all our arrangement is. Tell me you don't love me. Tell me now."

I look up at her in pain and confusion. It killed me to continually disobey but...I could never say those words. "No." I say softly.

"What did you say to your Lady?"

"No." I say as I reach for her foot, though she pulls it away before I could touch her. "I do love you Ro..."

She slaps me, hard, across the face! I hold my cheek in shock at the strike. That wasn't punishment, it was an act of violence! The difference between the two as clear as night and day. She hit me! Not her Master, like she had when I abandoned her by the road with the merchant, and not Quin. She had struck her submitting boy as she stood tall as his Lady. I couldn't believe it. It felt...a betrayal of everything we had built together.

"Take it back."

"Nooo."

She seethes at my insolence. "I don't love you! I don't love you Quin and I never will. There, I said it! Are you happy now?"

"Noooo." I whimper.

"Tell me you don't love me. Tell me! I am not the type of woman you love. Need, yes. Love...no. Tell me that you will never love me."

"But...that's not true. I do love you Rosa."

She slaps me again. "You are bad! You are a bad bad boy!"

Never...NEVER...had anything hurt me more than these words and slaps did just now. Coming so unexpectedly from my beloved Lady...I simply hadn't the fortitude to hold back the tears. I cry. I cry the way a man isn't supposed to cry. Openly, tears flowing down my cheeks. I try to supplicate. I try to submit. I mewl and beg. I try everything I knew but my Lady's rage would not subside.

"Are you my boy?"

"Yes. Please..."

"Then obey me boy! Tell me you don't love me!"

"I...d-don't..."

"Say it!"

"Nooooo." I whine. "I can't. It would be a lie."

"You are bad! You are a bad boy! Your Lady is very disappointed in you."

"Don't...say that." I sob, my heart being torn to pieces by my beautiful Lady's cruel words. "It hurts. You're hurting meee!"

"Y-you cannot love me Quin! You cannot! I can't...lose..." Her voice clips off as her fists shake. "Do you know how many men I've called boy? You think I love you? You think I could ever love a common boy like you? You would have fallen in love with any pretty thing that showed you attention."

More withering blows to my heart. I never knew anything could feel this bad, worse even than the loss of my father. "Why are you saying these things?" I weep and wail. "Whyyyy? I don't understand."

"You do not need to understand, you need to obey. OBEY! You are a bad boy. You are disobedient and disrespectful and BAD!"

"I...I...I...I'm not bad!" I shout back at her. "I...I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Stupid boy! Bad boy!" She hits me again. "Say it! Say you don't love me!"

"NO!" I scream. "You said...you said...we had to be honest. You said... a Lady and her boy...trusts each other." I gasp between my sobs. "You said that. You said that! I won't lie to you. Not even if you order me to." I suck in a breath and cry out. "I LOVE YOU!"

She raises her hand in anger again. I whimper and shrink away from her in fear as I ready myself for another blow. All of a sudden...she freezes. She looks down at me with wide horrified eyes, as if just waking to what was happening here. She slowly lowers her hand and brings it to cover her mouth. "Oh gods...what have I done? What have I done!? My boy..." Reaching for me I flinch away from her, half expecting a slap. She pulls her hand back as if I were fire. "My beautiful beautiful boy. What have I done to you? What have I done!? Nooo, baby." A tear rolls down her smooth cheek followed soon by another fat tear down the other cheek. "I'm sorry Quin, I'm so sorry. I...never..." She gasps and shakes her head. "I don't deserve you...I never did. I...never did."

With that she spins and runs up the slope away from me. I could hear her crying as she went.

Wiping my own tears from my cheeks I reach out for her. "Wait. Please..."

"KREEEEE!" My voice is drowned out by the deafening shriek of the harpy. Swooping in from behind me the great shaggy beast passes right overhead, the wind from its mighty wings nearly knocking me backward. It ignores me completely, all of its focus on its prey. Rosa spins at the sound just in time for it to descend upon her! Like an eagle with a bunny the monster grasps Rosa's petite form in its huge talons and lifts her from the earth in one swift motion.

"ROSAAAA!!!" I scream, reaching out toward her as she is violently hoisted into the air.