A Slave to the Servants Ch. 11

Thanks for all the votes and comments. If Preston didn't see the answer before here it is: I find the comments very motivating and read all of them. Nothing is more encouraging at 5 AM than what you all write in response to me. (I like to write before work. It's probably normal somewhere!)

Thank you again, send any feedback - good, bad, or indifferent - It all gets read.

A very special thanks again to my excellent proofreader who tries to keep me consistent. Thank you, Steve150177, for hours spent looking for my mistakes. Trust me, the reading is much smoother when he's done with it.

Thank you for encouragement Wilby99, you know it's appreciated!

English is italicized when it appears.

Enjoy! DW

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It took time, but I got strong again. I think it took longer because I no longer swam. My fake Masters were quite clear that the mark on my stomach could not be exposed. They even bought a thicker panel for my front that further disguised it.

Instead of swimming I started walking the beach. The area we were allowed to roam, was quite large. I tried to run, but my large breasts made that uncomfortable. Instead I played games on the beach and paced the area every afternoon.

Forty seven days later, my cycle came again and my Masters did just what they said they would. They left me alone in their rooms. For the first time in forever I was left to my own devices.

When they came at lunch the first day, I think they were surprised I was still there. They fed me and left me for the afternoon. Grateful they had not locked me in the box, I would have done anything to make them happy. I picked up the apartment, made the bed, and did all the things I imagined the House Cleaners usually did.

The men were thrilled their area had been cleaned. They ordered me to clean every day I was left here alone. In a small closet I had never seen they showed me where the brushes and buckets were. That was what I could use to clean.

I was good at cleaning. At my Mom's house I'd been the only one who cared if dishes sat in the sink or if the floor looked nasty. The job of making the house livable had fallen to me. In the motel, it was my occupation. It was my job once again.

My owners realized I could save them money, as well as, make them money. They told the men they paid to clean up they no longer needed them. I would secretly be doing the cleaning.

The story my owners made up was quite believable. The cleaners had interfered with a delicate experiment, my owners wanted to do their own cleaning now. It was an oddity in the compound, but as a rule, my owners were an oddity. They only demanded that the supplies be brought to them once every eight days.

During the day I still went to the Keepers, but at night I was truly their slave. Once we were back in the apartment they stripped me of my one outfit and I was put to work. I scrubbed and cleaned the apartment top to bottom as they engaged in their research.

My temporary owners had carefully debated if I really needed to go to the Keepers at all. They could save that money entirely if I just stayed in their rooms. Lucky for me, they decided that would be too obvious. The other slave owners might notice if I disappeared altogether.

The men brought out the brown outfits early one morning and I squealed with delight. They found the sound annoying and told me never to make it again. The smile never left my face despite the scolding. We were going to see my Masters.

Their transport went faster than the other transports in the area. Several Warriors raced them as we headed to the mountains. These men had made the transport they owned far superior to anyone else's. I knew that it pleased them to win the little races, in their own way, they were very competitive.

I clasped and unclasped my hands waiting anxiously for the time I would get to see my owners, my friends, and my lovers. I wished I had a gift for them. If I'd thought about it I could have sewed their symbol onto a piece of cloth and given it to them. Quite quickly I rejected that idea, it would be in the wrong colors.

The transport slowed and unlike the last time I bolted for the door. My temporary owners stopped me and made me wait for them. They started the fire and inspected the little dwelling. It took forever in my opinion, but they finally removed my outfit from me.

Before my collar came off I wished them fun with the women in the mountains.

"Five days we have without you, slave," one of them said sounding happy. "Five days of women and fighting, we are very lucky men. I have no idea what you do for Damien and his Brothers, but I assume they are happy to have these five days also."

With that said he removed my collar and they left.

I paced the little room for several moments. I tried to kneel, but I was too excited. After checking outside for the third time and letting the hot air out, I decided to try to do something.

The cabin was ill used. Men must come here occasionally, but not often. I found the little room with the cleaning supplies and started to sweep. Soon I was singing and cleaning to my heart's content. I decided the cabin should and would be nice for my Masters.

The bedroom was as bad as the main room and I cleaned and straightened it. Since I was alone in the bedroom, I was still singing my song. A sound stopped me cold, it didn't sound friendly.

I turned and looked into five sets of eyes I barely recognized.

Master Damien and his Brothers looked horrible. Their clothing was still fine and nice. Their features just looked angry and tried.

"Masters, I'm so glad you're here," I said putting the broom behind me. "I wanted the cabin to be nice for you, clean..."

They stalked toward me and I dropped my eyes. I couldn't look at them without thinking how awful they looked.

The collar clipped around my neck and the other metal bands were affixed to my wrists and ankles. Master Damien jerked my chin up and glared down at me.

"What are you doing? Don't you know you should not look at men that are not your owners? What is an uncollared slave worth?" he asked.

I was stunned and then it hit me. My neck had been without their collar when I spoke to them. If it had been anyone else I looked at, I would have been in trouble.

"Your mark is always on me, Master Damien," I said soothingly touching my stomach. "I know that you care for me everyday. It never occurred to me that without your collar, you would not think of me as yours."

They were silent and I chanced a glance up. Their eyes were softer as Master Kein placed the jewelry in my nipples. My argument had worked.

"We are not Master in this room, Ciara. Did you forget that?" Damien asked instead.

"Hello, Damien," I smiled looking up at him.

I touched the lines of strain around his eyes and they softened slightly. I pulled on his shoulders until his lips came down to mine.

"I love you, Damien," I whispered before I kissed him, "I have missed you."

Walking in the room I greeted each of them with a kiss and spoken affection. They relaxed and took off their weapons. Still dressed they settled on the bed and pulled me down with them.

We talked on the bed for a long time. Well, they talked, I listened. I only spoke to get more detail or to agree. Otherwise, I stayed silent and gave them someone to talk to.

They hated the women and their new life. Damien did not want to be a General. A General led the men, Damien didn't mind that. He hated knowing every order he gave came from the women. They were slaves to the demands of the women and they despised it.

"Do they harm you?" I asked concerned.

The level of dislike they had had to stem from something. Perhaps pain and humiliation was at the root. Slaves could be treated in any way at all. I had to help them, so I had to know what I was dealing with.

"No," Evan grunted sprawling across my lap, "we are not hurt."

"Do they feed you?" I asked stroking Evan's hair. "Are you kept in a comfortable place?"

"It's not that," Kein complained and I ran a hand up his arm in comfort.

"We don't wish to be stationed in the mountains with them. We don't want to be sold to their cousins in the afternoons," he said. "We were not meant to be slaves."

"We were free," Christof said laying back and throwing a hand over his eyes.

"We could fight them," Bane said, "perhaps we could be free again."

I was in an impossibly strange situation. Slavery, at it's root, was wrong. Fighting it would be honorable, but it would probably get my men killed. The women would overpower them, I was sure of it.

The sight of that massive woman in the street overpowering ten men still haunted me. She had not even been deterred by the men's show of force that day. I imagined the mountains were loaded with women. My five men would never win.

"Sometimes," I started, "fighting is not a good answer. There may be other ways. Perhaps you could barter with them."

The men looked at me strangely for a moment. Evidently what I had said made no sense to them. Damien lay back and stared at the ceiling.

"You think the women would kill us," he said morosely. "You think it is not a battle we can win."

I didn't answer him, but the truth was probably written all over my face.

"They would win," Kein agreed watching me. "The other men in the mountains, I talked to them. There have been uprisings before, the men involved are killed if they cannot be broken. You have all seen the women, how they outnumber us."

Evan snorted and stared at me as he spoke, "It is weakness not to fight, whether we are outnumbered or not. We should fight them to our deaths, it is the only honorable way to end this."

I shuddered in fear and gripped his hand. "Evan, I have seen the women fight. Their weapons are terrible. Don't choose to die like that. There must be..."

"There is only this and death, Ciara," he said looking over at me. "Those are the only choices."

I could not lose them, so I bargained.

"Perhaps you are spending time doing reconnaissance work now. Perhaps you learn things so you can find a way to escape them," I said almost pleading.

Christof huffed loudly and stared at the ceiling. "We are learning they are more powerful than we will ever be," he said solemnly. "They have weapons we cannot best."

"Ah, yes, the venom," Bane said looking contemplative, "Remember when we saw the man as he angered his Mistress and she dropped a bit of her venom on him?"

"The man that died screaming before the moon shifted?" Evan asked. "I remember. We had to hear the misery of his family as they died one by one. It was awful."

"They have venom?" I whispered.

"In their teeth," Damien explained. "Nu-reeh told us they do not waste it on men, it kills us every time. They use it when they fight one another."

"Why?" Christof asked, "Why raise us free and then take us and tell us we are slaves? It makes no sense."

"You know why, Christof," Damien scoffed. "They like us to have spirit. Have you seen the women when they come back from the couplings with the free Warriors? They love it. They come to us now for specific reasons, but do you see the same joy on their faces when they are done?"

The men murmured agreement. The women liked to go to the couplings with the free men. It was a pleasurable experience. The men they kept in the mountains didn't bring out the same fire in them.

"I wonder why they don't send you back to the compound?" I asked out loud.

"Nu-reeh promised us a certain number of times as payment to a group of women," Damien said and continued to explain. "She owns us. Our owner mines the mountains and she wanted to mine a certain tract. We are valuable to her when we are available for sale every day."

It made sense when they explained it. They were being trained so Damien would be a General, eventually. For now they split their time between learning and satisfying their owner's debt.

"Do you have free time to enjoy yourselves?" I asked.

I knew how much they loved chuke. If they couldn't play that confusing game, I'm sure it would upset them.

"The evenings are ours," Bane told me. "Sometimes we go to the arena. Other times we stay in our rooms or walk in the mines."

They talked about their quarters. It was much like the compound, but the rooms were cut into the old mines. There was almost limitless space, so much of it wasn't used. Damien and his Brothers spent hours wandering the forgotten shafts.

The men were depressed. I didn't think the small dark room we were in was helping. It probably reminded them too much of their new home.

"I want to go outside," I said pushing Evan off my lap and springing off the bed.

"Why?" Christof asked sullenly.

"I want to be in the sun," I said pulling at Bane's boot, "and you need to be outside, too."

"Why?" Christof asked again.

"The sunshine is good for you," I said with authority, although I didn't really know. "You've been moping around for too long. Get up and come walk outside with me."

Damien cocked an eyebrow at me. My tone was completely inappropriate, obviously, but nobody else noticed.

"Well, if you aren't going, I'll go myself," I stated heading for the door.

They didn't stop me. Christof sat up, at least.

I watched them through the huge arched doorway to the bedroom as I donned my long brown leg covers and two brown outer layers. Now it seemed like a dare, they were all sitting up on the bed looking at me. Stopping would probably be a good idea, but I didn't.

I turned toward the door and put my fingers on the handle. Perhaps it wasn't smart to anger them this way, I thought. I turned to face the bedroom and they were all right beside me.

Their countenances each held the same blank look. It was the same look they had the night they decided I should go to the village for escaping. Suddenly I knew walking away from them had been a mistake.

"Going somewhere?" Master Evan asked.

"Outside, Evan...Master Evan," I answered, shuddering lightly.

"You seem to have become quite independent," Master Kein said.

Master Damien took Master Evan's place in front of me and I felt my stomach drop. I must have pushed them too far and they were angry. The color drained out of my face and some sort of an answer squeaked out of my mouth.

Master Damien's face broke into a wide grin. "Do you plan to stand in the threshold all day or are we going outside?" he asked.

Grinding my teeth a little because they fooled me so completely, I opened the door and stalked out. They were slapping each other on the shoulders and laughing at my reaction.

"I like the noise you made, Ciara," Master Kein joked as we walked. "Can you make it again?"

"Only if you scare me, Master Kein, and I won't fall for that again," I said kicking a small stone.

Master Kein took a running start and kicked the same stone. It landed a couple hundred paces away. He turned to grin at me.

"I could do that, too," I said raising myself up to my full height.

Actually no, I could not do that. I had no idea what made me claim I could. They took me up on it.

Master Bane ran around and picked up small stones all about the same size. He lined them up and then looked expectantly at me.

"What will you give us, Ciara, when you lose?" he asked.

"A kiss, Master Bane," I said realizing I had very little to offer otherwise.

"Fine," he smiled, "let's begin."

"Wait," I demanded. "What do I get if you lose?"

"Perhaps the same thing?" Master Christof offered into my ear.

"Sounds good," I said watching his mouth with breathless anticipation.

I was forced to prove I was weaker than them five separate times. They each had some random bet with the others about who could kick farther. Master Evan won the entire contest.

Master Evan took payment on my lost bet first. He wrapped his hands in my hair and pulled me against his chest. Our mouths met and he wasted no time on pleasantries. Master Evan tasted my mouth completely before releasing me to Master Bane for his payment.

When they finished I was ready for sex, but they were still having fun outside. Now they were having a throwing contest. Seeing the joy on their faces again, even for such a simple reason, made me feel good. I encouraged each of them as they noted who threw better.

We ended up walking between two large stone walls, so the men had a long straight passage to throw in. Much further down the rock walls turned, but here it was straight. They tossed stones of varying weights to determine the winner. They would throw and then run to their stone to mark its distance.

When it came to upper body strength, Master Damien usually came out on top, but it was close contest with Master Bane. I was the prize for throwing longest and kissed Master Damien deeply. Resting my hands on his chest once I was done, I looked up at him. He had completely befuddled me with his kiss.

The five of them were beautiful sex gods. Even better, they were fully vested and trained in pleasing women. I didn't know what the matings were like, but no wonder Nu-reeh wanted to sell them every day.

I looked at the fine clothes they wore and knew she treated them well. They were kept men, but perhaps not in the way they thought.

"You aren't slaves," I said suddenly getting everyone's attention. "You're courtesans, Masters."

I could tell by the look on their faces they wanted to be depressed, but they were curious.

"That is a word from your first language, Ciara," Master Christof told me. "We do not understand it."

"It means you are companions to society's elite. You are paid to provide sexual services to the people in charge, Master Christof," I said.

"We are slaves, Ciara. We are not the word you just said," Master Kein argued.

Perhaps they were right, but I chose to see this my way for their sake.

"You stay in a nice place?" I asked instead. "The bed is made like it was at home, Masters?"

"Yes, it is a nice place in that regard. Our furnishings are very comfortable," Master Bane said looking at the other men for agreement, which they gave.

"Do you clean it yourselves, Masters?" I asked, hoping they did not.

"No, other men have that job," Master Damien told me.

"You have days off from your work, Masters?" I pushed.

"Of course," Master Bane said motioning. "We are here are we not?"

"Do they pay you?" I asked next and held my breath for the answer.

That was the crux of this argument and I wasn't sure. I thought they must be, because Master Damien and his Brothers still seemed to have funds.

Master Damien huffed and the other men made disgruntled sounds.

"You seem to still have money, Masters. I assumed you must get something," I pushed feeling my argument falling apart.

"It is worthless," Master Christof explained, "the shiny stones we use to trade are the cast off from what the women mine. They found we liked it and would use it to barter with one another. It has no inherent use."

"So they give it to you still, Master?" I asked.

"Nu-reeh always gives it to us. Once she found we still wanted it, she brings us pieces regularly," Master Kein said staring at the long rock walls beside us.

"Then you are paid, Masters. You are servants or courtesans, you are not slaves," I said decisively.

"It doesn't matter," Master Evan said. "We do not want to be there."

"Well, tough luck, Masters," I blurted out, taking a breath I continued. "You are servants. You may not like your job, but you must continue to do it well. It is dishonorable the way you are acting, Masters."

I felt the cool wind blow between the stone walls and for a moment I wanted it to take me away. My owners stood and faced me with mixed looks of anger and shock.

It was pure selfishness on my part. They protected me. Even more than that, I loved them and I wasn't willing to lose them. They had to change their mindset. No going back now, I decided.