In The Rough - The Chronicles of the Diamond Prince
Chapter 1 - The Destined Lady
Content warning:
Death, mourning, grief, child loss
Lady Danica Accarin was affluent, born into wealth, seemingly raised in the most perfect environment possible. The finest education and care that money could buy. Her parents had been pure, free people for too many generations to count, amassing wealth from dozens of ventures both legal and not. What was now her rescue center had once been a breeding facility. The corporation bred pure slaves like a 'puppy mill', with dubious regulations and often, falsified papers.
Though all the slaves remained pure, often, the papers were manipulated to appear as though the relations were much farther apart than reality. The conditions, though appearing for all intents and purposes clean and in regulation, were less than. The emotional, intellectual and physical needs of the slaves were often neglected. Though often shielded from the direct effects of the neglect of the center, Dani began to figure out what she was living above. She knew what each of the trucks that arrived was for, and she would watch them come and go from her bedroom window, and she would inwardly mourn every time the black one came to collect the dead -- no more than carcasses taking up space.
She grew up the 'little Mistress' of the house, as her parents rarely appeared, always off on some business or pleasure venture across the globe. And thus -- Dani grew up raised by slaves and servants. They took her in as one of their own, in particular, a retired breeder turned house slave named Eloise. The woman was descendant of an ancient race, not often found in this part of the world. Considered exotic, she'd been bred as many times as her body could take, yet never held a single one of her children in her arms.
Her jet-black hair had a tinge of grey to it, and dark circles under her yellow eyes showed the exhaustion of her life. She moved slowly through the house, wandering in a haze. The others let her be, taking on her share and hiding her condition as best they could. Then, one day, she was shaken from her trance like state at the sound of a crying baby. She followed the sound upstairs, moving more quickly than she had in years.
She slowly opened the door to the master bedroom, uncaring of the insolence of the action, and there she found Danica -- barely a few weeks old, screaming for comfort. The girl had dark, blood red hair, shimmering gold skin, and deep forest green and chocolate hazel eyes. Eloise picked Dani up and held her, rocking her, pouring decades of love into a little free child whose 'busy' parents had left earlier that morning, forgetting to assign a caretaker before they whisked off on some other trip.
And so, Dani grew, raised with the love of a slave mother, and a family of forgotten people. They taught her what they knew about the world collectively, worked together to make sure she thrived. They made sure to keep the servants on top of her parents -- they sent money and forms for school and all she needed. They stopped in at home a few times a year, and in those times, she would stay with them -- acting as a proper young lady of high society should, as the slaves had taught her. She called her parents "Mother" and "Father" and tried to be a daughter to them in any way she knew how, but even in their presence she felt like she didn't belong to them. She called Eloise 'Mum', and that was where her heart called home.
The day Eloise passed, Dani was fourteen, and away at boarding school. She held herself high, weeping at night for weeks, but never showing anyone else her pain. She wished with all her heart she could go home, mourn with her friends and family, but there was no way to explain to anyone that her absence was to mourn a dead slave. So, she carried on, grieving to herself for years.
Dani was in her second year of university when she received the news that her parents had passed in some sort of private plane crash, and it was only then that she was able to show the pent-up pain she held. She allowed people to think her tears were for her birth parents, but because of the passing of Eloise and several other slaves close to her heart over the years, she need not fake her hurt for them, and she thanked her slave family for that.
Upon returning home for a leave of absence to deal with her parents' affairs, the house felt so empty. There were a bare minimum of house slaves and servants, with the masters of the house gone so often, it hardly made sense to have a full staff. The breeding center was still in full swing however, and it made Dani sick to her stomach to think about. After meetings upon meetings with lawyers and judges and CEOs of various companies -- weeks and weeks of continuous work, Dani was finally able to take control of her parents' finances.
She immediately sold all her shares in every company that her parents had held, resigned her name from any board or company she was attached to, sold off the breeding company, on the condition it be moved off her property, and kept only a skeleton crew at the manor. She moved back to university, not returning for the next two years. She worked hard, taking as many extra classes and credits as she could. Not needing to worry about finances, she had time enough to get multiple degrees. The other rich students in her condo building found her odd, having no servant or slave with her. They 'couldn't live without one.' They'd all say, and she found it ironic, but knew it was true. She doubted that any one of them had so much as poured their own glass of water in their life.
Of course, Dani had learned to be self-sufficient from an early age, living among her slaves as opposed to above them. The mundane tasks of cooking and cleaning reminded her of home, the home that was the people that had cared for her when she needed them. By the time she stepped foot in the manor again, she felt like she had cleaned her slate, and began rebuilding her life the way she wanted it. She was now able to live her own way, and no one had the right to tell her how she should run her house, or her business. With determination that she could change at least one slave's life for the better, she founded Diamond Rescue, and contracted renovations to the manor and former breeding center immediately.
The medical wing was created with state-of-the-art equipment, the breeding center was turned from a sterile environment to a comforting dormitory for intakes. The kitchens were changed to accommodate not only free people and guests, but slaves and servants in a social and dignified manner. Permanent slave quarters were improved to increase quality of life, bathrooms and the gym were updated. Though the slave quarters held their own little common room, gym and bathrooms, Danica expanded the manor's facilities to accommodate slaves there as well. She felt that if they wanted to use them, why shouldn't they? Taking care of themselves only benefits those whom they serve.
She hired two free people as heads of household, training them thoroughly on her views of how slaves should be treated and how she wanted them organized and worked. She hired a full-time day nurse for the medical wing and contracted a doctor and another nurse for on call situations. She hired a full-time personal trainer and a nutritionist to work with her staff and slaves on the health and fitness of the household, and of course the rescues. And of course, she hired a team to run the rescue with her and co-ordinate volunteers.
Once she was satisfied that everything was ready, she contacted local law enforcement and the court of slave legalities to co-ordinate rescue missions. Once the ball was rolling, all she could do was wait for paperwork to process, and so she took the next few weeks to work on a more personal project. She set up a workshop where she could go about her jewelry making which had started as a hobby, but she had grown to love, and had begun a gemology degree on the side of her business degrees.
Finally, the day came. In her twenty fifth year of life, Danica was about to conduct her first rescue. The team was ready, the manor was prepped, and she was anxious. She had coordinated with other rescues, fosters, and government facilities, but was likely going to take most of the souls in herself, for now. It wasn't a raid like she wanted, but it was a start. They were heading to a low-end auction to pick up as many at-risk slaves as possible. They were going to use the startup donation from the Accarin Estate to get this one started, as they were yet an unknown rescue, they had very little in the way of outside donations. She hoped to bring attention to her rescue with this mission.
