The Pride of a Slave

I smiled, "Mine too." I grew serious and began to take down my long chestnut hair, pulling each pin out and setting it on the bed.

My mother watched me and then reached forward and touched my hand softly, "I'm sorry Seraphina, if I had just ignored the announcement from the King you would not, perhaps, be in the situation you are in."

I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, "I would too, I just would be too dumb and brainwashed to know any better."

"That's what I mean Seraphina, for a slave, ignorance is bliss, and I took away your bliss before you even could walk."

I sighed and slammed my hands into my lap painfully, "I would rather KNOW what is going on and be where I am, than to be just another idiot walking around here thinking they are so important."

My mother grew quiet and we sat quietly before I finally laid down in the bed, on top of the bedding next to her small, frail form, "When do you think the pairing will happen."

My mother looked at me and reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, "I don't think you will get paired Seraphina, I think you will get mated."

My stomach dropped and I felt my hands begin to sweat, I would rather be paired with a family, I knew I would. The idea of being mated terrified me. The Administration would pick a guy and then would stick us in a room with our mothers and fathers and siblings, telling us the laws of being mated, and then would proclaim us married. If I were mated any chance at freedom would be gone, a woman in a mated pair had no freedom, no rights, nothing.

The mated woman has to be quiet and docile. She never leaves her home unless it is with her husband or his family, she is to stay at the home and clean, cook, and take care of the husbands parents, while he goes out and as a servant to a family of Administers or Immortals. She is expected to have one child a year for six years. The first ten years of her life she is sheltered because it is believed these were the prime child bearing years for her. Once her ten years are up, she becomes her husband's property. It is common for a man to barter his wife for goods, services or even to satisfy a debt.

It was a horror I couldn't imagine, occasionally though, mated pairs did fall in love like my mother and father had. But my father had died months before I was born, the victim of an accident at an Administrators home. My mother had once told me that she believed that my father's death wasn't an accident, because the next day the Administrator that my father worked for had propositioned my mother to stay at the house as his mistress.

When a woman loses her husband she has few choices, one is to become petition to the Administration to get paired to a family, get another mate or to work in the stead of the husband. What happenes more often than not, when beautiful women lose their husbands, Administrators would offer to make them mistresses and that would be the only option for them, because the Administrators would block them from getting paired or re-mated.

The Kings announcement had saved my mother from having to sleep with Joe's father, another reason I think he was obsessed with beating me to a pulp. My mother had put her name on the list and had also known that it would be crossed off by the Administrator that wanted her. Instead, she instead sneaked out over the border and went to see the King personally, which had not been entirely unheard of, but surprisingly bold. My mother explained that she wouldn't be on the list because of the Administrator but she believed she could help, being both an unused source of energy and being maternal by nature.

He thanked her and a week later my mother and I had moved into the Palace. My mother had nursed the Queen out of her postpartum depression and back to health by sheer will power. My mother's dedication to the Queen was something the servants talked about even now, and because she had become so dedicated I had been left with the same nurse with Dimitri. We learned to crawl within hours of each other, learned to walk a day later and once we had learned to toddle, Ryder joined us.

His mother was the Alpha of the Wolves, and it was tradition that the Heir of the Vampires and the Heir of the Wolves were nursery mates once both had started to toddle. It was a way that the original leaders could insure that the Wolves and Vampires would get along together without problems. It had only backfired once, when a female heir to the vampires and female heir to the wolves had become instant rivals instead of sisters, which had everything to do with their nursemaid than any true hidden animosity between the two, or so I believed.

The fact I was part of this special bonding was unheard of. Once it was found that I spent most of my time soothing the fights between the boys than being the source of the fights I was not only allowed to stay, but ordered to stay. Which meant when the Queen did, finally, die, instead of being thrown back to the fat, old, eager Administrator, my mother became a secondary pair for Dimitri's father, and occasionally a secondary source for Ryder's mother. They used her sparingly because it upset me greatly when my mother was in recovery, which, in turn, upset the two Princes.

I was allowed to go to all the same classes that the boys went to, especially after we were separated for a week and the Princes both had tried to beat each other within an inch of their lives. I was taken from my overcrowded, hot, dirty slave school room to the cool, high tech, clean, high class school of my friends. And it had stayed this way, until we were teenagers, and again I was taken away.

I had tried to soothe my two friends when they grew so violently angry when I was put back to the slaves that it took only two days this time before I was yanked out and put into the middle school with them. We all went to high school together, which ended up being a relief to the Administrators and the schools, because I was no longer the anomaly in the school. Instead, they could treat me just like the slave I was, I went to the slave classes, had my locker with the other slaves, ate at the same time as the other slaves. But I was never part of them, they kept distant and were often more cruel than welcoming. I would go to school with Dimitri and Ryder, visit them between classes and would go to Dimitri's home to work on homework.

The united high school gave the school the ability to test the entire population equally and find the rare prodigy or genius among the humans and to elevate them. It had been my only chance to avoid what I was now forced to face, the fact I was a slave.

I heard my mother's gentle snores and I walked into the kitchen and called Becka, my only slave friend. She picked up on the first ring, "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me."

"Oh, " Her voice sounded disappointed, "Did I interrupt anything?"

"No, I was just...what's up?"

I rarely called her, she was a friend that I had during my classes, never after. She couldn't handle being around Ryder and Dimitri and while the boys were more than welcoming to any friend I had, she simply refused to spend time with me any place other than in class.

"It's unusual for you to call, what's up?"

I shifted uncomfortable and sighed, "I have a question for you."

"Me? Why not ask the Prince?" She sounded grumpy and I figured it was because it had gotten out about the confrontation between Ryder, Dimitri and the other immortal families.

"This is out of their depth." I said softly and I heard all the sounds from Becka's house dim.

"Oh." The attitude disappeared and she sounded worried, and a bit sad, "What do you need to know?"

I sighed and gripped the cord of the phone tightly in my hand, "I need to know when they do the pairing and the mating decisions."

Becka was quiet, "You aren't going to University?"

I couldn't help but to scoff, "I'm a slave Becka, what do you think?"

"I had hoped, well...I guess it was silly to think that they would have let a slave go to University." She sounded wistful which I never expected, "But I thought if any slave could do it, it would have been you."

"I don't know, I applied with Dimitri's and Ryder's families recommendations but I don't think it will help." I wanted to cry, and I could feel the tears building in my eyes. I took a few deep breaths to calm the feeling and waited.

"They will let us know who it is today, this evening. If you are paired you will be picked up by the servants of the family tonight to meet the one you are paired with. If you are mated you will get a hand delivered envelope with the name of your mate on it. Then you and your family should go and have dinner with his family." Her voice trailed off and she said very softly, "If you made it to University they will deliver a letter too. It will tell you stuff like which dorm you will live in, and then also it will tell you who your Guidance Counselor is."

"How do you know that and I don't?" I said teasingly, trying to release the stress and sadness between us.

"I wanted to know, what would happen to you, so I traded my stitching for information from a few girls from the Administrators side of the city."

I was shocked and thanked her no longer able to hold back my tears, "Thank you so much Becka."

"Anyway, call me when you know. I'll call you when I know too, okay?"

I nodded even though she couldn't see it and we both hung up the phone.

I sat down at the kitchen table and chewed on my thumbnail, my leg slamming up and down so hard it was knocking against the table. I had sat in this exact spot for four years, studying day and night, and I thought it was appropriate that I would find out what I was going to face in the future at this very spot.

I watched the sun dip low in the sky and I knew it would be any time now. My mother walked carefully through the door and sat down in the rocking chair just to the right of me. We didn't say anything to each other and I kept chewing my thumb, having moved from the nail to the cuticle.

The knock from the door startled me out of my musings and I jumped up. My mother stood up and put her hand on my shoulder, "Let me Seraphina, it is traditional that the head of the house greets the destiny of their child first."

She looked so frail as she walked the short distance to the door. She had cancer, and while she was still, offically, being used by Ryder's mother, in reality she wasn't because Mariah loved my mother so much she didn't want to see her put in a hospital so she said she was, she had become weaker and weaker over the last month. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping for a servant to a family I was paired with unable to think about what I would do if it were just a delivery carrier.

My mother opened the door and I opened my eyes and saw the long white envelope and flung myself backwards so hard I pushed the chair back and ended up toppling feet over head. My mother thanked the man gracefully and closed the door and waited for me to right myself.

She was smiling and shaking her head, "Your first impressions are not getting anymore graceful."

I ignored her attempt and humor and grabbed the letter with a shaking hand. I touched it having visions of marrying someone like Joe and I nearly ripped it apart. After a deep breath I reminded myself that my father and mother had met this way and my mother spoke often of how much they had loved each other. So I carefully popped the soft wax seal and stared at the letter head.

I froze, stunned and after a few minutes of not moving my mother sighed and grabbed the letter, "It can't be that horrible Seraphina...oh my!!"

I stood up and grabbed it from her and stared at the letter head again, it was for University.

We are proud to accept you as the first slave class student among our ranks. Your recommendations from both personal and school were impressive, and with your grades being high enough to adequately and comfortably compete with the other students at this institution we are proud to offer you not only a spot to further your education but also to offer you a full ride scholarship, created by our proud, magnanimous, and successful rulers of the immortal colonies, so that you and future generations may be able to follow in your footsteps.

Your housing is still being discussed due to your uniqueness to our population.

Your counselor is the Lady Harrington of the lead Alpha Pack, and Madam Aleckzaner of the royal family.

Your enrollment has already been processed so further efforts need not be met by you or your family. You will meet with both your counselors tomorrow at noon to pick your classes and future major, also you will use this session to discuss your housing arrangements.

The dean,

There was an illegible name written on the bottom but I didn't care I was gasping at the letter, "I made it! I MADE IT MOM!!!!"

I burst into honest, full tears and my mother stood up and ran outside and to the neighbor's house I worried only briefly about her running then ran myself to the phone and dialed Becka's phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, is Becka there?"

"Oh, yes I think I can catch her hold on..." I heard the woman called to Becka and I heard Becka run to the phone out of breath.

"Sera, I got paired, not mated!!"

"Becka...IM GOING TO UNIVERSITY!!!" I held the phone away from my ear as she screamed and then her whole family screamed in the background.

I heard an echo of the scream and pulled the phone from my ear and listened to the neighbors run outside screaming that I had made it into the university. I felt choked up for different reasons this time, I had never thought about how much me getting into the university would mean to the people around me. I had labored long, and hard, night after night and I remembered the breads that were handed to me as I jogged to the border, the lunches that were on my doorstep when my mother was too sick to go shopping or we didn't have enough money to shop.

My door burst open and my mom dashed in, her cheeks flushed in the first sign of health I had seen in her in such a long time. She hugged me crying and was closely followed by the families of the houses next to us, who I had never had enough time to get to know, but had known about me. They hugged me and my mother cheering and carrying on, and suddenly food began to appear on the table, cakes, pies, and deserts, all using the sparingly found sugar.

Suddenly the open door was crowded by guards who looked around upset, "What's going on here, a gathering? A meeting?"

A neighbor turned and beamed at the three guards, "A celebration!"

The guards looked at me and humped, "What, did she get mated with the Administrators?"

The crowd erupted in hoots and hollers ignoring the agitation starting to show on the face of the guards. My mother stood on a chair and looked at the guards and yelled, "No, MY DAUGHTERS GOING TO THE UNIVERSITY!!"

The guards jaws fell open as the crowd started changing, "U-ni-ver-si-ty, U-ni-ver-si-ty!!"

A dark windowed car pulled up and everyone turned as Becka flew out of the door and ran up the stairs. I met her at the door and crushed her into a hug, both of us crying. She had been afraid she would be mated like her mother and two older sisters had been, and I had the same fear. But she quickly explained she was being paired to a Duke who had just moved into the area to teach at the University. She explained that in order to teach, he had to be paired and that was why Becka had lucked out and been plucked from a sure destiny of breeding.

The guards began to encourage the neighbors to return to their houses reminding them of the curfew, but did it with small grins on their faces, and they did it kindly. As the last of our neighbors left and Becka was back in her dark car driving away to her pairing, the guard's radio crackled and they raised it to their ears to listen.

They looked at me after a moment and then the leader confirmed into the radio and reached up and grabbed my coat from the coat hanger, "Might as well put this on, you have half the Alpha's and Vampires on our borders pacing in anticipation. I'm just glad we got good news for the lot of them."

I turned to mother who was sitting down shaking but smiling, "Go, I need to get to bed, I was over eager and now I'm exhausted."

I smiled and kissed her cheek and put my coat on, following the guards out. I stayed with them smiling and waving to the heads that were shot out of a window that yelled to me. One house after another's phone rang, there was yelling and then they were sticking their heads out of their little houses to congratulate me. I had a very hard time keeping myself from crying and just kept smiling and waving as the tears dripped down my cheeks.

We crossed the invisible line and were walking through the Administrator's part of the city. The sounds of cheering and celebrating could still be heard as we walked down the dark, silent road but it soon faded leaving nothing but the sound of our feet on the road.

The walk didn't take long and eventually we turned a corner and I saw the bright lights of the border. There on the other side sat a large group of partying Wolves, wearing the bare minimum of clothing and to the left of them were Dimitri and his father and a few of their immortal servants waiting, wearing party clothes, looking like they had also left a celebration to be here.

The wolves spotted me first and they all began to howl causing everyone to turn and face me, including the very nervous border guards. I also saw a few of the Administrators by the border pacing back and forth agitated at the commotion but having to bite their tongues because not only was Dimitri's father there but Mariah, Ryder's mother, was there as well.

I cleared my throat and let my tear stained face lose all of its joy and instead dropping my head down, I couldn't help myself, I didn't get a chance to play a trick on Ryder and Dimitri often. One of the guards seemed to laugh but hid it as a cough behind his fist. Everyone got quiet when they saw me and I walked briskly but with my head down to the border. I was through it quickly and swept up in a hug by Ryder and then released only to be hugged by Dimitri.

"We know it was not a pairing." I nodded and held up the letter, hiding the wax seal, showing Ryder.

He gasped and sat down with a loud thud onto the ground, "H..how bad is it then?"

I wouldn't talk knowing I wouldn't be able to hide the joy from my voice. Dimitri's father grabbed my hand and I was very surprised he didn't know what was going on, "We are sorry this is the way of things Seraphina. If the University didn't accept you of their own accord, there was nothing Mariah nor could I have said or done to force them."

I looked up and noticed Dimitri's angry eyes narrow suddenly as he grabbed my chin and turned it to him, ignoring his father's sound of protest. I tried not to look directly at him but I still didn't work, instead he grabbed me in a breath eliminating hug.

"You got in!!"

I laughed and hugged him before I was passed to Ryder who hugged me also but vowed revenge for the trick into my ear. I beamed at the whole group and flipped the letter over and showed them the clear, soft, wax seal. Both Mariah and Dimitri's father Victor were stunned.

"My, my, my, will wonders never cease." Mariah and her whole loving pack hugged me congratulating me before bounding off back to their revelries, Ryder stayed with me instead of going with them.

The look on Victor's face wasn't as joyous as I would have thought, but he seemed glad. If anything he was glad for me but seemed bothered by the Universities decision, the face of the ruler replacing the face of my best friend's dad.

"May I read your letter?" I nodded, handing it too him and then distracting myself with telling the two boys what the reaction of everyone around me was.