Tara sat gingerly on the edge of her bed in the slaves' shared sleeping rooms. Now that the adrenaline from her session with Liam had faded, she was left aching all over with an especially sore backside. She wished Siara was there, but her bed was unmade, her green robe thrown on the floor and she was nowhere in sight. And Katya, it seemed, had no interest whatsoever in talking to her. She had barely even glanced up when Tara arrived.
Tara tried to take the girl in without staring obviously. She looked to be about Tara's own age with porcelain skin and jet black hair that fell around her like an ebony curtain. Her bedsheet covered her from the waist down, but Tara could make out a fine curve to her silhouette and could see that her bare breasts were perfect white globes with blushing pink nipples. With her slight build and delicate features, she reminded Tara of a doll she had seen once in a shopkeeper's window. There was something else vaguely familiar about her that Tara couldn't quite put her finger on, but what drew her curiosity the most was not how Katya looked, but what she was doing. Lying on her side with her head propped up in one hand, Katya was reading a book.
It had never occurred to Tara that women were allowed to read or even capable of reading. It was a pass time for men, not for women and certainly not for slaves. It had never concerned her much, as she couldn't begin to imagine what might be of interest for her in any of the dusty old volumes she had seen in her old Master's chambers. An image popped into Tara's head of herself sitting behind his large desk, reading important documents, while a slave girl knelt at her feet. It was so ridiculous that Tara almost laughed out loud. She must have made some sound, as she realized that Katya's inky cat eyes were fixed on her, but still she did not speak and it made Tara increasingly more uncomfortable.
"Can... Can you really read that?" she said finally, nodding at Katya's book.
"Of course," Katya replied. "Can't you?" Her sarcastic tone would have been clear to anyone familiar with sarcasm, but Tara was not and took the question at face value.
"No!" she exclaimed. "Well, my mother never taught me anyway. I supposed because nobody taught her. Is it very difficult?"
Katya merely rolled her eyes and went back to her book, but now that the uncomfortable silence was broken, Tara was in no hurry to go back to it.
"My um... my training today was with Sir Liam. He's the one with red - "
"I know who he is," Katya cut her off without looking up.
"Well... I hope I pleased him," Tara said a little lamely. "He went pretty hard on me though. I don't know how I'm going to find a comfortable position to sleep in tonight, I'm so sore!"
"He barely touched you," Katya said flatly.
Tara's mind flashed to the afternoon she had spent with Liam - the paddles and the rope and the sting of the crop and the radiating pain of his hand spanking her while the other hand... Tara flushed with the memory and with indignation.
"He certainly did!" she said, trying to keep the pitch of her voice from rising.
Katya fixed her with a withering stare and then turned over, sitting up slightly so that her sheet fell away, exposing her buttocks. Tara gasped as she took in the large red welts covering Katya's pale skin. She unconsciously touched a hand to her own lower back and realized suddenly that despite how long and how hard she thought Liam had worked her over, her skin wasn't broken and although tender to touch, was barely even bruised. She wanted to say something to Katya but when she opened her mouth, no words came out. She waited for Katya to speak or turn around, but she did neither. Finally, Tara turned away from the marked backside and lay on her side, facing the wall. I wonder what tomorrow holds, she thought as her eyes fluttered closed.
Tara was shaken to her senses the next morning just as the sun was coming up. Her entire body ached and as she stood to stretch the stiffness from her limbs, she thought how good a nice long soak in the stone pool was going to feel. She followed Siara to the bathing room, but there was no bath drawn for her today. Instead Siara presented her with a bucket, a cloth and a chunk of soap root.
"You have ten minutes to get yourself cleaned up," Siara said.
The water was cold and the cloth rough, but Tara did the best she could. When she was done, Siara used her robe to pat the shivering girl dry and pulled her hair back, securing it tightly with a small band.
"Alright, let's go," she said, turning on her heel and heading towards the curtains that separated the inner chambers from the entrance.
"Wait!" Tara cried. "I'm.. I'm not ready. Shouldn't I get dressed at least?"
"Dressed in what?" Siara replied. "The rags you came in? I don't think so. And I'm afraid you have yet to earn yourself a robe so naked you are and naked you'll stay until Mistress Leanna says otherwise. Besides, you're serving in the kitchen today. It's going to get messy."
The kitchen at Blackmore Estate was bright and noisy and there seemed to be several things going on all at once, from the stable boys shouting out back, to the servers scurrying upstairs to the main rooms and downstairs to the cellars, to the cook arguing with a woman selling chickens. The wonderful smell of baking bread filled the room and Tara inhaled deeply, feeling her stomach rumble as she realized how hungry she was.
"And what is this scrap of a thing?" Tara looked up to see a large woman wearing an apron with a shock of red hair pinned under a kerchief staring down at her.
"Good morning, Ma'am," Siara said, bowing slightly. "This slave is in training and Mistress Leanna has asked if she may of service to the kitchen today, if it pleases you."
"Ah yes," the Kitchen Mistress replied. "Liam told me about this one. Well, come closer and present yourself to me properly little wench. Let me see my boy's handiwork."
Tara's mind barely registered the command before her body was moving to obey. Almost instantaneously, she found herself on her knees, legs spread,chest out, hands clasped behind her neck, eyes down.
The Kitchen Mistress circled Tara, remarking, "My goodness, there's barely a mark on her!" Then turning her gaze on Siara, she said, "Saving his talents for someone else perhaps."
Tara's eyes darted up to see colour rising in Siara's cheeks, but when she spoke, her tone was even. "Please, Ma'am, I am called to attend the Young Master's guests on the hunt today. May I take your leave?"
"Yes, my dear," the Kitchen Mistress replied and with another little bow, Siara was gone. "As for you," she said, turning back to Tara, "Your post is there." She nodded towards a woven mat in the corner beside the door. "You will be quiet, obedient, and stay out of the way. You will present yourself and service anyone who wishes to make use of you to the best of your abilities. If there is no one about, you may rest on your heels, but don't get lazy. If you miss a chance to serve, you'll regret it later. Do you understand?"
Tara wasn't sure if she did understand, but she answered immediately, "Yes, Ma'am. Thank you, Ma'am."
She had barely taken up position on the mat when a young paige came down the stairs into the kitchen. He picked up an apple from a large basket of fruit sitting on the cook's table and was about to bite into it when he noticed her and his eyes lit up.
"I know her!" he said. "I brought her up the slave quarters two nights ago. She's new, isn't she? Do you think I could give her a try?"
"She's there for the taking, boy," the Kitchen Mistress replied. "Do what you will with her."
The paige dropped the apple in his pocket and approached Tara. He touched her hair lightly and then ran his fingers over her pert breasts, causing her nipples to harden.
"You can look at me," he said. Tara looked up at him and he smiled almost shyly.
"Would you fancy sucking me off?" he asked.
"Yes, Sir," Tara replied, although it felt strange to address the boy that way,
On her knees before him, Tara tried to keep her hands from shaking as she undid his pants. Her eyes widened as his cock sprung into view. It was so small! Without thinking, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around the base, feeling it swell and harden more.
"Ahh," the boy sighed with pleasure. "That's nice. You can use your hands and your mouth together if you like."