It's a Slaves' World - Chapter 2

Deep red walls, a massive four-poster bed and burning incense dominated my senses. What in the world kind of place is this? Another slave popped into my vision for a split second, she was wearing white but then disappeared before I could see anything else. White blurs flit in and out of my vision as slaves rushed about their business. No messing around in this place is there. We stood in the center of the room, I kept my eyes down but could see her gesturing and another white clad form walked up to us, bowing low as she walked up to us. "Take the new slave to change." With a wave of her hand in my general direction, she walked away from us with a smooth and long stride. Before she even left the room I was being hauled towards a curtain. We quickly disappeared behind it into a room packed with beds stacked against the walls. Out of sight out of mind I guess.

"This is where we sleep." She gave me a once over with her eyes. "Big hips, small waist, a little bit small breasts." She circled around me with a serious stare. She picked up a piece of my hair, turning it over in her hands, "Brown. Not the best color." Turning around she started digging through a pile of white cloth, pulling out pieces that looked like rags. "These will be your clothes until we have time to make ones that fit." Half throwing them at me rather then too me, she set off across the room leaving me scrambling after her. I hate this getting established crap. You are so confused and upside down, do they really expect the transition to be flawless? We moved into another room, past scurrying slaves. "You know how this works. Keep quiet, don’t look at them, and do your damndest to do what they want before they even know they want it." I struggled to keep up with the sturdy woman, pushing her way past everything with a stout elbow. "You have two minutes to change then I will be back for you." She pushed past another curtain and I stopped in mid-stride.

Damn-it! I looked around the crowded room. Damn-it! This is not the way I wanted to start my time here. I started to pull off the clothes I was wearing hoping to change without attracting attention from the men seemingly focused on the task at hand. I pulled the dress over my head, fumbling to hold it against myself with one hand and trying to open the new white dress with the other. "Has anyone seen…" I turned around to face the curtain where a man was staring open mouthed at me. I tried to wrap the dress around me farther. Damn-it! I was worried about the other slaves, now I have just guaranteed myself some problems in the future. He blinked at me a few times before closing his mouth. He pulled himself up taller and took a step forward. Shit! I took a step to counter his forward, dropped my gaze to the floor and closed my eyes. Please don’t see me. Please ignore me! I clutched the dresses to my front and squeezed my eyes shut with excessive force.

A grab at my elbow and I found the sturdy woman from earlier dragging me through a doorway, away from the stare of that man. He was young. Much younger then I would have expected. "Don’t go near him. He owns this house and he owns you. Make him mad, and you will if you go near him, and you will be shipped off without a seconds’ hesitation." I glanced over my at the figure still staring at my retreating form. Gorgeous brown hair, wide shoulders, narrow waist, toned everything and his eyes! A deep and rich brown. He looked deep into my eyes and that’s when I realized that I was looking at him again. I dropped my eyes and felt a hot flush creep across my face. As soon as we rounded a corner we stopped long enough to pull the dress over my head. This is really not starting well.

•••

I stared in absolute awe at the frothy, miracle bubbling out of the water in front of me. I reached forward with a finger and tentatively poked one of the bubbles. With the slightest ‘popping’ sound the bubble disappeared leaving only its rich floral scent behind. A magic show in a bathing tub! A sudden splash of cold water across my back shocked me out of my silent contemplation of the bubbles. I spun around to find a slave with her head down and holding a now empty bucket, next to the timid slave stood the woman from earlier giving me a glare that made my stomach drop to my toes. Her piercing blue eyes seemed unnatural. I stood there gaping at the woman for another few seconds before I realized that I was just digging my hole deeper. I dropped my head and bent over in my most submissive and pathetic groveling pose I could. I do not want to get beat this early in.

It only took a few seconds before I felt the sting of her stick across my back. The cool wetness of my dress was a mixed blessing, the cool soothing after the burn of the hit was a godsend, but the wetness caused the dress to cling and made the stick burn with a vengeance. After a few seconds the sting was lessened and I started to think that I was going to get off with a warning. A slight whistle in the air was all the split second warning I got before another burning line was drawn across my back. Another few seconds and my back exploded in pain again. She is being deliberately taking her sweet time to try and set an example. I grunted in my throat slightly as a fourth blow bit into my back. I sat there screaming insults in my head, waiting for another burst of pain. After a few more seconds I heard a slight splashing behind me and risked a flicker of my eyes to see what was happening. The woman that had been beating me was now standing naked in front of the foaming water. She was slim and toned with no real curves to her, and her once black hair was streaked with grey. She had one foot in the water for a few seconds then with a curt nod she climbed the rest of the way in, leaning against the back of the tub, her eyes closed. She is a lot more trusting then my past masters.

I slowly stood up and crept away my drenched dress clinging to my body making it hard to walk. The freezing fabric had not yet warmed up and I thought my lips had probably turned blue. I made halting progress towards the sanctuary that the door way seemed to offer, when a large form stopped in front of me. I tried to step sideways to let the figure pass but the stretched an arm out to block my way. I thought I would die on the spot. The door was so close! A gentle warm hand rested on my shoulder turning me around to face the tub and my recent assailant. A gentle push and we were moving closer to the tub. My eyes squeezed tight as we got within a few steps of the bathing woman. Damn it! Why do I always end up in these situations?

"Are you enjoying your bath?" A smooth rich voice came from the figure standing next to me. Oddly relaxing.

"I am. Thank you nephew." A slight splash came from the direction of the tub and I flinched slightly back against the warm hand still in place on my shoulder.

"Seems you wasted no time terrifying the help." His deep chuckle making me weak knee for a split second before I pulled myself together. This man is not being nice, he is finding entertainment. "This one seems to have been quite the trouble maker judging by what you left her looking like." His gentle hand turned my back to the woman. Picking at my dress he seemed to be rather amused. "Her dress torn in two different places. Her back soon to be black and blue." His warm hand gently applied only the slightest pressure but agony shot through me as the memory of the pain surfaced anew. My whole body tensed as he turned me again to list off more of why apparently amusing shortcomings in appearance. "She is soaked from head to toe. Shivering and her lips are actually starting to turn blue." He picked up a piece of my hair in his fingers. "The only thing you didn’t do to the poor slave is cut off her hair." A slight chuckle at his thought and he dropped my hair. "What have I told you about your nasty welcome presents for your slaves? If you don’t smarten up you will go too far one of these days and you know how I don’t like having to replace my property." His hand dropped from my shoulder, the warmth quickly replaced by another chill. This is humiliating to put it nicely. I could feel moisture gathering behind my closed eyelids. "You must learn to play nice with my toys or I won’t share."

Apparently the conversation was over and I was being grasped around the wrist and hauled after the man at scrambling pace. Dragged down the hall I was suddenly pushed sideways into an alcove hidden by a tapestry. Startled I stumbled against the wall, eyes squeezed shut against the groping I assumed to be next. A gentle thumb brushed against my cheek and a firm finger lifted my chin, tilting my head back. I kept my eyes closed tight, I will not give him myself willingly. "No damage done." His smooth voice was low and his hand on my chin. "It’s alright. You can open your eyes now." A comforting tone and that damn gentle thumb brushing against my cheek made me blink open briefly then close again as I realized what I was doing. I don’t want to know who is doing this to me. "Open your eyes." His other hand brushed my hair out of my face. Is it at all smart to ignore an order when trapped by your owner? I blinked a few times then looked up at the face of my tormentor. It was him! That man that caught me changing earlier. Same sweet brown eyes and same broad shouldered frame. I took a step back to try and put distance between me and those eyes. The wall held me firmly about a foot back from his chest that showed all its muscle through his shirt.

He raised his hand towards my face and I flinched away. "I am not going to hurt you." Famous last words. Or something to that effect. I cringed slightly at the thought of what’s to come. "Just wanted to make sure you were ok." His hand dropped to his side and a smile brightened his face. "See no one is hurting you. Just try harder to not give people a reason to beat you." He moved the tapestry out of the way with his arm. "It would be too great a sin to see you damaged." He turned and left me standing open mouthed.