Author's Note:
On the 1st of January 2013 a story I submitted to Lit. was approved. The title was "Mercy" and it was set in a world similar to Europe in the 1800s. It is by no means historical fiction, so don't look for references that point out any major royal family member or recognizable landscapes – you may or may not find them.
As I wrote that short bit of erotica I began to fall in love with the character and promised myself that I would come back to her and I would write her past, and share with the readers what circumstances formed my dear submissive, but very strong and confidant Mercy. This is her story and I hope you enjoy it as much as I. ~ Red
1828
The stench of his breath forced her stomach to twist as he grabbed her chin and pulled her face closer to his. Mercy's gaze shot back and forth between the leering look of the farmer and her father's soulless gaze. The swollen lip and black eye she sported were signs that her father would no longer listen to her pleas and cries for aid. He had sold her to Henry Tatewater for land that bordered the Lewis farm and there was no turning back, even though she had been born free and had developed a mind of her own – she was a woman and that meant she was worth less than the land they stood upon.
"Get yourself in the carriage girl," Tatewater said before dropping his hand from her chin and stepping back. "We'll discuss your role in my life as we travel back to my home."
Mercy's lower lip trembled as a tear rolled down her dirty cheek. She had been working in the barn when she heard her father yelling for her. Not a moment was wasted as she made her way to his side and hurried to greet their guest. Henry Tatewater had stood there staring at her as if he would devour her without thought or care. And when her father explained that she was to go with the farmer and do his bidding, she knew her world would never be the same. Without thought to the consequences she turned away, hoping to run as fast and as far as her long legs would take her. The flight was cut short when her father pulled her back, turned her around and smashed her face with his fist. She cursed his name and another punch was delivered, breaking her lip. Tatewater had done nothing to stop the assault.
Once more she looked at her father and searched his face, hoping for a sign of parental love that would prove that she was simply having a bad dream. Surely her eighteenth birthday was not being celebrated by an introduction into slavery. "Go on!" Henry shouted and pushed her toward the carriage.
Mercy stumbled forward and walked the short distance that separated her from her father and Tatewater's vehicle. Her chest was tight and her palms were cold and clammy. She looked back and said a silent prayer, before turning away and racing toward the woods. "You fuckin' whore! I'll beat you till you're dead!" her father shouted. She looked back and screamed as he started to run toward her.
"Stop!" Henry shouted, while grabbing the old man. He turned toward his carriage and shouted out a name, "Matthews!"
Mercy ran harder, while spinning her head to look toward the carriage. A tall, thin black man jumped down from the vehicle and sprinted after her. It did not take him long to catch her. She was lifted up and tossed over his shoulder. Mercy screamed and pummeled his back with her fists, but no damage did she inflict. He was much stronger than he looked and when they reached the carriage, Henry Tatewater was there with the door open. Matthews threw her inside and she landed squarely on the hard wooden floor. She moved to crawl onto the bench, but was told to "stay put". She looked at Henry and knew the demand had come from him and that the look on his face told her that his word was law.
He ordered Matthews back to his post and then gave Mercy's father a gentlemanly nod, before climbing in and taking a seat on the cushioned bench of his carriage. The horses pulled away, taking Mercy away from the only parent she had and the only home she'd ever known.
She sat on the floor, tucking her feet up under her, while staring at the ground that peeked through the slatted wood. "Mercy, look up at me."
Mercy lifted her head and stared silently toward Tatewater. He looked like the same man she had seen coming and going from her father's lands for the past eighteen years, but there was a different air about him now that he possessed her. He was no longer a neighbor, or one of her father's friends, he was her enemy.
"I know you hate me," he said as she continued to stare at him. "But in time you'll see that living with me is not such a harsh life. My home is spacious, warm, and my larders full. You are young and with youth comes strength. As you know I have four children and they are in need of mothering and though I am not a young man, I am not a dead man." He saw her lift a brow and he chuckled. "Oh but you would like that wouldn't you? Me dead and you free. But before you begin planning my demise, let me explain your place in my world."
He cleared his throat, reached down and touched her cheek. Mercy pulled away, but he moved to grasp her chin. He held her firmly in place while he bent down and spoke softly to her. "You are nothing. You are a piece of finery that becomes just another trinket for my offspring to inherit. Now since my eldest is not yet of legal age that means a member of my family would be in charge of distributing my wealth and property. That relative is my father, a man that taught me everything I know and a man who has outlived six wives. Why do you think that is?"
Mercy swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and thought back over the rumors of Tatewater's father. His last wife had been killed while traveling to her mother's home. It was said that her horse stumbled, tossing her from its back and she fell to her death. A few years prior to her death, his other wife had died when she fell from the loft of their stables.
"I see the wheels are turning," Henry was saying. "Now, my father is currently married to a woman, who is twice your age. You are young, untrained and easy on the eyes. Do you think he would hesitate to dispose of wife number seven so he can take you as wife number eight?"
"And your wife – did you dispose of her?"
Henry smirked. "No, I did not, though my father believes I did. Jane passed away from childbirth. The babe lived and will be one of the four whelps you will be in charge of."
"I know nothing of children," she admitted, "and even less about being a wife."
"A wife?" Henry laughed. He reached down and cupped her right breast. She slapped his hand away. He laughed again, then slapped her face. "I don't want nor need a wife. I need a slut and a nanny."