Author's Note:
This is my first story in this genre; a bit outside my normal fare so please let me know what you think. All comments are welcome. Needless to say this is a work of fiction. All characters are adults. Thank you for taking the time to read! Many thanks again to the author Karaline for her thorough review and suggestions.
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Ree set the porcelain dinner plate in front of The Master, careful not to scatter the array of silverware that framed the lace-trimmed linen place mat. It wasn't easy; the oak dinner table was three feet high and she herself was a little under four feet, plus the plate was heavy and laden with food and she knew she wasn't to spill any onto the floor or table top.
She took two steps back and absently smoothed down her black and white maid's uniform, then stood straight and still as she'd been taught, awaiting any command from The Master. The white-haired human wore dark trousers and a white shirt with a gray vest over top.
Wearing human-style clothing had become almost second nature to Ree, although it had been a struggle to accept at first. There were certain clothes that had to be worn at certain times, washed with different frequencies and stored in different ways. Humans had so many rules about clothing!
There was a worrying silence as Master surveyed the food on the plate but made no move to pick up his napkin or fork. Ree quickly reviewed the entire process in her head, the food preparation, the cooking, the setting of the table and the serving of the meal. What had she forgotten? Humans had so many rules about food and it was hard to keep them all straight. If she had missed a step, she couldn't imagine what it might have been. She could only wait and see.
But Master surprised her. "Well done, Ree."
His words triggered a strange sensation inside her. A lightness in her chest, almost like a pleasant swelling. Ree tried to identify the feeling but somehow it eluded her, as it had so many times before.
Goblins were simple creatures with just three emotions: hunger, fear and lust. All through her juvenile years, hunger and fear had been enough to see her through. Then she'd been taken by human hunters and sold to Master and she'd come into adulthood as a part of his household. Suddenly there were a thousand Human Rules to learn, overwhelming to a creature accustomed to a simple life. It had been a confusing transition, compounded by the awakening of her twice-monthly Mating Heat, a sexual craving so undeniable and all-encompassing that Master had commissioned a magical silver ring to damp down the urges. She wore the ring at all times on the middle finger of her right hand.
She stood quietly, not looking directly at Master but watching him from the corner of her eye. She had to be ready if his wine needed topping up or if he accidentally dropped food onto the floor. So many rules...
"Are you losing weight?" Master asked, in between bites. He sounded concerned.
Ree liked questions like this, where the correct response was easy to guess. She bent her knees in a well-practiced curtsy as she responded.
"Yes Master."
She saw the corners of his mouth raise briefly and felt relieved; that usually meant she'd guessed the right answer.
"Remember I said you don't need to curtsy each time you answer a question? Only when you greet someone."
She didn't know how to reply, or even if Master expected an answer, so she remained still and quiet. Oftentimes if she didn't move or speak, these problems resolved themselves. The Master's tone was light and she knew he wasn't truly scolding her. And he was right, as always - he had reminded her many dozen times over the years. Humans had so many rules about speaking!
"Why are you losing weight?" he asked.
She winced at the question - there was no telling what the correct answer was supposed to be. Ree didn't like questions where the answer could be anything. She liked questions where the answer was 'Yes Master' or 'No Master'. Especially 'Yes Master' - those questions were the best of all.
The silence grew long before she ventured a response.
"I hope The Master is pleased. I will always work hard to please The Master." She knew it probably wasn't the reply The Master was looking for, but it seemed a safe enough response.
To her relief The Master didn't question her further, at least not right away. He continued to eat, making occasional noises in his throat that signaled his enjoyment of the meal. Ree felt the return of the mysterious lightness and swelling inside her at the thought of The Master enjoying the food she had cooked. It had been hard work, made even more difficult by the hundreds of Human Rules involving food.
Goblins had no such rules. Find something edible and put it in your mouth - that was the Goblin way. Not so for humans. There were Human Rules about what you could eat and they didn't make much sense. Quail were edible but not mice. Rabbits but not cats. Crabs but not spiders. And even when something was deemed edible, not all the parts of it were eaten, especially not heads. Humans were very opposed to eating heads for some reason. And human food couldn't simply be eaten, it needed to be cooked first. But not cooked too much, only a certain amount, with plants added to the meat - but again, only certain plants and only certain parts of those plants.
And when it was cooked and served, the humans ate it in the slowest way possible, picking it to pieces with silver tools. They didn't even crunch the bones afterward, instead leaving them behind with tiny morsels of meat still left over! With such complicated eating habits, Ree often marveled - privately - that humans were as numerous as they were.
"Are you nervous about me going away?" Master asked.
Nervous meant the same as scared, she knew. Humans had many words that meant the same thing. And the thought of The Master leaving for three months DID scare her.
She caught herself about to curtsy and put a stop to it. "Yes Master."
"Is that why you're losing weight? Are you not eating because you're nervous?"
She paused to consider. Was that the reason? She realized it was true - the idea of Master going away was in her thoughts so much that she sometimes forgot to be hungry. It amazed her that The Master could know what was going on inside her head; he was truly a wise and powerful man.
"Yes Master."
"Don't be nervous. My nephew will be here to look after things. He is very kind, and will treat you well."
It was another situation where Ree wasn't sure if Master was expecting an answer so she stayed quiet.
The Master had owned her for four years. During the first two years there had been lots of fear and frequent scoldings as she un-learned the Goblin way and tried to absorb the alien language and customs of the humans. The third year the Mating Heat had struck, causing more confusion and making it difficult to focus on what The Master was patiently trying to teach her. It was only in the past year, with the help of the silver ring, that she'd started to make sense of her job as the housemaid. She understood many things now. Master hardly scolded her any more and frequently praised her instead.
And now he was leaving for three months, and a Young Master would be in charge. Ree had never met The Young Master and wasn't keen on a return to the uncertainty and fear she'd only just escaped.
"I don't want you to lose any weight - you're already thinner than you ought to be. Remember to eat three or four times a day. Do you want me to remind you?"
