A Slave to the Servants Ch. 23

LOYAL READERS, PLEASE READ THIS IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!

First off, I apologize. I need to take about 4 weeks off from the posting schedule. I promised a chapter a week and I thought I could do it. Unfortunately, I did not anticipate the PREGNANCY.

I was fine with the changes for the first 4- 5 weeks. Now, I'm suffering from a form of morning sickness that lasts all day. The nausea and vomiting is taking a huge toll on my health. I've really been struggling the last 4 weeks. Frankly, it's hard to feel like writing erotica when you want to puke 24-7. Give me 4 weeks and I will be out of the first trimester and this should end.

I assure the Lit readers this is NOT because I got strong feedback from the last couple of chapters. I like the fact you guys are so into my story. The feedback has been well thought out and provocative - I enjoy it. It's been a bright spot in what's become a very trying time.

A Slave to the Servants will NOT stay half finished. I would not do that to this story - it's my baby, too (and it's never made me sick) so it's my favorite child at this point. I want the next chapter to hit the shelves on Nov 30

As far as how much is left...I'm long winded. Looking at my rough drafts, probably another 12 chapters to go. I'm into happy endings, but I made my poor characters work for it.

As always, thanks to Steve150177 for proofreading, his help makes for a better product.

Comments are welcome - good, bad, or ugly!

Please return at the end of my little pause and thanks to everyone for understanding. DW

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Smiling fondly I watched my men stride out of the Keepers'. They walked with poise and confidence, not the least bothered by the trouble with the Administrators. They would make their point whether anyone else appreciated it or not.

I was happy and pleased my men had decided to stand up for me in front of others. It really meant something to me. The gesture was huge in my eyes.

The Keeper made a sound to get my attention and I followed him down a large open breezeway toward the ocean. The Keeper told me I could swim. My work from the morning had been saved and I would do more tomorrow.

We entered into a large room bordered by columns. The sand and sea sat just outside the wide columns. Girls lounged around or danced with one another. Beyond the confines of this space there were others on the beach and in the water.

Fuji and Rose approached as soon as I entered. It seemed all eyes were on us. I did not like the attention one bit. It gave me a bad feeling. I wanted my friends and me away from there.

"I'd like to go to the shore," I said softly to Rose motioning to the beach behind her.

She nodded and grabbed my hand as we went in that direction. We were stopped by a lovely, tall girl and her equally beautiful friends. I thought they might be from Earth, but I wasn't sure.

"So you have the babies," she said looking me up and down.

"I must apologize," I murmured politely. "I am not permitted to speak on it."

Rose squeezed my hand lightly in agreement.

"It's not really surprising," she sneered. "You look like someone that has birthed many children."

I made a noncommittal sound and shrugged. The girl was obviously poking fun at my generous curves. Part of me wanted to be hurt, but I knew there were five men that had worked hard for this lush figure. Her cutting remark barely even stung.

"It doesn't make you better," she sneered stepping closer to me.

"No, it doesn't," I said simply and continued to watch her eyes.

I released Rose's hand and stood staring at the other girl. She was taller than me and I bet she was strong. I did not imagine her Administrators had ever formally trained her to fight, though.

A slow smile crept across my mouth as I thought about the fast moves I could use to hurt her. The Keepers wouldn't be able to stop the first few blows, I was sure of that. I'd get a couple good swings in.

"You know, if you hurt me, you'll get the whip," she threatened with a superior look on her face.

Again, I shrugged, "I've been whipped before," the look in my eyes did not change.

My unfaltering stare and complete disregard of her threat seemed to surprise the girl. She sputtered, grasping for something to say. Frankly, I was done with her and walked past without a backward glance.

Rose and Fuji reappeared at my sides as we walked down toward the sand. None of us said anything, we needed to find a private place to talk. A shade tree grew near the water with several low benches arranged beneath it. No one was there, so we headed for that. Just as we settled down I heard a familiar voice

Mia, the girl from Fredrick's shop, approached us smiling broadly. She arranged herself on a cushion and continued to grin.

"So you've made quite an impression," she said motioning toward the grouping of girls still staring at us from inside. "No one ever stands up to Vesa. Her owners are the head Administrators. She is used to be treated as the most special slave here."

I grunted a laugh and Mia looked strangely at me. I shook my head as I spoke.

"We're still all slaves. The idea of a hierarchy for us is pointless. We are the lowest thing on this planet."

"That is not how they see it," Mia grinned gesturing.

Mia was pleasant and knowledgeable. She sat with us as we talked for a while. Having me here disrupted the carefully built class system this group of slaves seemed to work under.

I was a breeder and no one could figure out where that put me. My presence rocked their system to it's core. It wasn't clear whether a Warrior's breeding slave was more or less important than the head Administrator's slave.

I would have enjoyed continuing to talk to Mia, but a Keeper approached. Damien had told the man I would swim, so I should be swimming. Evidently he misunderstood the concept that Damien was giving me permission, but not an order.

I was stripped and it was demanded I get in the water. Saying good-bye to my friends I swam in the inlet and inspected it.

In a way it was good I was forced to swim, it relaxed me. The quiet water was soothing at it always was. Still, I wished I could talk to Rose, so much had happened lately. When Fuji came up beside me in the water, I nearly screamed.

Fuji's idea of getting my attention was to slide her freezing cold hands up my legs as I inspected a tiny plant in about six feet of water. I jerked around to face her and then surfaced for a breath. She was standing on the bottom and talking to me from under water.

I plunged my head beneath the surface and found I could actually hear her. She somehow could transmit sound through the water. It was remarkably strange.

"Come closer to shore. Rose found a place in the water she is willing to be. She wants to talk to you," Fuji said.

I nodded, dumbstruck as Fuji walked underwater back toward the shore.

Swimming back toward the compound, I saw Rose in the water. She sat in a small tidal pool that was separated from the main swimming area by a natural rocky boundary. As I got closer she smiled at me and motioned I should stay in the bay.

"If you hold the edge of the rock,"she said, "and kick your feet, the Keepers will think you are swimming. That way we can talk."

I looked quizzically at her. "You could just come into the deeper part of the water," I told her.

Rose shook her head and looked around, ensuring it was just the three of us.

"I will swim when my owners are with me, because I feel safe. It is not something I enjoy if they are not here," she said quickly.

"Why?" I asked stupidly.

Rose hesitated a second before she spoke. "I was held beneath the surface of the water several times when I was younger. With Basin and his Brothers, I feel no fear of that happening...without them, I am not sure."

I felt like ajerkfor asking. It was obviously something she didn't want to discuss. In the back of my mind I realized there was a great deal I didn't know about Rose.

We sat and talked about things for a while. I told the girls we could speak, so long as Damien and his Brothers knew what I was saying. Rose was as impressed as I had been at the fairness of that.

As we sat and talked a Keeper approached us with a strange contraption. It looked like a large mobile shade device. He set it up so Fuji was sitting out of the sun. That seemed to make her happy. These Keepers seemed even more interested in us than our old ones had.

"Do you burn, Fuji?" I asked as she stretched out in the new shade.

"This place is too hot for me," she said. "It will be better for me when I go with you to the mountains. The temperature is more like my home planet."

Rose and I both looked surprised. We had no idea Fuji would go to the mountains. Fuji acted like she hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

"Slaves need companionship," Fuji continued as though stating fact. "You will go the mountains many times. There is concern you will be without companions for long periods of time. You may fall ill and become sad. Humans sometimes suffer physically when they suffer mentally. Your enjoyment of our friendship has not been ignored. Our owners will go with yours each time you are taken. They will work for their owners and we will stay with you."

I was motionless in the water and Rose sat staring at Fuji.

"We both go?" she squeaked.

"Yes, we both go to assist in Ciara's care. They will not breed us, though. You are not able and they cannot breed with me," Fuji said.

The question came out of my mouth without any thought behind it. I asked Rose why she couldn't have children. Her eyes flashed in anger and I saw her look down quickly. Feeling like I'd put my foot in my mouth again, I apologized profusely to her.

Rose seemed to regain her composure and looked calmly at me. For a moment nothing was said and the sea sounds predominated.

"I am not to talk of my home planet," Rose finally said and then took a deep breath, "but I will accept punishment if it comes."

Rose continued and the story she told was awful. She had been married to a man on Earth when she was only eighteen. He had been the son of a well respected preacher. The man beat her mercilessly and raped her frequently. No one believed he would hurt her, so no one would help her. Rose finally got the courage to run from him.

He found her in a field and beat her. Using a sharp knife he drove it into her abdomen several times. Right about then was when the slavers appeared. Rose lost consciousness as the aliens bound her husband and inspected her.

The slavers repaired most of the damage and salvaged Rose. Even injured and beaten as she was, they thought she would sell well. They had been right.

Basin and his Brothers had to bid high for her, she remembered the auction. Her men had been fascinated with her tiny fingers and delicate build. She had known they would buy her the moment her tray stopped in front of them.

The slavers prevented the Paterians from getting too close to Rose before they left. They had believed Rose may not survive, even with the fixes they had done. Basin and his Brothers were kept arm's length from her until the moment they brought her here.

"They tried," Rose whispered, "to use me when we got to their rooms here on Pateria. I panicked and my mind faded to the quiet place I went to when my husband raped me. When I woke up they were all staring at me with the strangest looks. They had never seen an earth creature respond to stimulation like that. They had stopped trying to arouse me and called the Healers."

I was standing in the water and staring at Rose. She reminded me to kick my feet so the Keepers would be happy. Dutifully, I kicked the water as she continued.

"The Healers found the minute scars the slavers had tried to hide. They had a device that saw the damage done to me inside. I was repaired, but use of me now would reopen the wounds. The Healers felt the slavers had tricked Basin and his Brothers. They were angry. The strange device the Healers used told them organs had been removed. The slavers had taken parts from me here," she gestured to her lower abdomen, "I assumed they meant myuterus. It must have been damaged."

"The Healers congratulated Basin on his attention. The Healers also studied...the rest of me. They found the old scars from prior...rapes. Basin thanked them. Once they left he made me tell him and his Brothers what had happened."

"I'm sorry," I whispered, unsure of what to say.

"No need for that," Rose smiled, "Basin was confused why a man would have hurt me to have sex with me. I am so small, only a brash and untrained man would do such a thing. He and his Brothers were neither. He saw fear in my eyes and understood it now."

"How did you ever get over that fear?" I asked stupidly.

Rose smiled a sly smile. "You know these men, Ciara," she chided. "They could beat us to death with a single finger, yet they employ gentle seduction, because we respond better to it. It took time and I healed, soon I learned they would not hurt me. They gave me pleasure and simple encouragement. Basin and his Brothers handled me with great care. I had never been treated like something precious. When they finally used me, I was so grateful for their kindness, I didn't mind. It seemed a fair trade."

I tread water and considered Rose's story.

"I can't imagine a Warrior on Earth being as kind as these men are," I said bluntly. "It seems an unlikely mix."

Rose laughed out loud.

"My second cousins," she said, "were soldiers. They treated their things in such a way as to have them functioning at their highest capacity. I remember seeing them clean their boots andguns. These men are the same."

"I don't see..." I started to say and Rose cut me off.

"They want you to be a confident and healthy slave. They like us to look our best at all times. If they beat you daily, you would look downtrodden or black and blue. They give us what we need to look healthy. It isn't surprising," she said.

Rose was right.

"I'm glad you survived," I told her seriously. "I don't know that I would have been that strong."

She shrugged and watched the waves.

"Your husband," I suddenly said, "what did the slavers do with him? Where do they sell males?"

Rose looked wicked for a moment and a strange look lit her eyes.

"He damaged Basin's property, even though I wasn't his at the time. My owners went back to the slave house and demanded reparations. Basin was angry the slavers had hid my injuries. My husband was given to Basin as a gift, at no cost. It sealed his fate. You must understand; if he had no price, he had no value."

"I didn't want to see at the time, but they took me once. It took a full moon for him to die, they tortured him so slowly..."

My skin prickled as I watched Rose's face. Knowing what the women could do, I shuddered at what the men would do, especially if they had incentive. The man must have looked at death as a gift.

"The slaves here at the time all saw him. It was a lesson in why not to anger the Warriors. We were all very good for a long time after that. None of the slaves wanted to be treated that way," she finished.

I stared off into space as I contemplated Rose's story.

When Rose spoke again it startled me, "I'll be punished for the story, but I wanted to tell you."

I shook my head and looked quizzically at her. "I'm not going to tell your owners," I said.

Rose looked back at Fuji and I followed her gaze. Fuji made a sound and rolled onto her stomach on the cool sand. She made patterns that looked like her owner's symbol.

"Master Stayne and his Brothers know your story," she said. "There is no new information to tell them. I only tell them about new things that happen."

Rose and I both rolled our eyes. Fuji was so well trained it was really ridiculous.

"When do we leave?" Fuji asked pulling a foot back into the shade.

I tried to explain I didn't know and she seemed to find that silly. Fuji had control of when she could bear young. I tried to explain I didn't know and she snorted. Probably the most unladylike thing I'd seen her do, only second to her reaction to the worms.

"The Healers will know," she said sounding bored. "You should ask your owners. The Healers are supposed to be watching you to know when. We will leave as soon as they know."

Well, that made sense. Those annoying exams the Healers kept doing were more logical now. They were checking fertility.

I shuddered thinking how later it would be checking for conception.

I dunked my head to hide the tears. Such a clinical term for the start of my next heart wrenching adventure. Making up some lame excuse I swam away from my friends.

I swam and thought about my children. A boy that was taken as soon as he was weaned was the worst thing I could imagine. I refused to think of what would happen if it was a little girl without wings or strength. Theircomputerswould have determined that wouldn't happen. I prayed they were right. So many horrible things and it would happen too many times to keep my sanity.

I swam as far as I could and looked out into the ocean. Drowning had been torture, I thought clinging to the metal that separated the inlet from the sea. At least it had ended quickly, a small voice whispered.

Looking out into the deep blackness of the ocean, I found myself with horrible thoughts. Shaking myself out of the depressing reverie I swam quickly back to shore. These thoughts were not acceptable.

That evening I asked after dinner. We were all sitting around in our nighttime outfits. The fire was low and we had been playing a card game. It seemed a simple question to me.

"When will I be fertile?" I asked putting my cards down.

The men refused to tell me. Damien even informed me I didn't need to know when I was fertile. All I had to do was stay healthy and they would handle the rest. They would take care of me just like they always had.

"Now wait," I argued. "This is still my body. I may have decisions I want to make about this. You need to tell me what's going to happen so I can discuss it with you."

"There are no decisions," Damien said calmly. "They will be made for us. We follow our directives when they are handed down"

I laughed mirthlessly. "This is MY body," I informed him. "I have a right to know and help you make the choices."

The stunning silence that met that statement chilled my blood. They looked at Christof to answer, so I knew I wouldn't like what they had to say.

My brain knew the answer. I stood up and stalked away, internally denying the truth of it. I stopped at the wall near the bedroom. Finally, I turned back to face my family. They looked solemn.

Christof stepped toward me and seemed to be composing his thoughts. I didn't give him a chance. Whirling around I aimed my fist at the wall, as Damien had often done. It was my body and I wanted to hurt it.

On Earth I would have made contact with the wall, but on Earth I wasn't surrounded by superhuman Warriors. They had sensed my action before I'd taken it. When I turned toward the wall, they were out of their chairs. As my arm drew back, they were half-way across the room.

Christof's hand caught my fist and protected it. He allowed me to complete the motion only so I wouldn't get a spasm from being stopped. With fluid simplicity they limited any further movement by dragging my arms behind me and holding them.

Foolishly, I kicked at them aiming for their sensitive parts. Soft rope bound me from mid thigh to ankle. When I continued to fight with my arms, those were bound behind me. Bane picked me up and we went back to sit around the fire.

I cursed and screamed. I couldn't live like this. Giving up my children was too much to ask and I would never survive. The panic started to overwhelm me.