Alright, now for chapter 4, and I am writing chapter 5. Hope you enjoy this story so far, encouragement keeps the muse going, so please let me know what you think.
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"Ama Alza, do you agree to the terms as follows for the price of your memories: You will be adapted to have cubs or your Masters will adopt. You will have all of your scars removed, and you will train to be an ama-healer and assist your Master
Malzan
,
carzan
Gobin Shadow-bane in his clinic. You will have the locket you left behind replaced in memory of the child you lost.
Your Masters have graciously agreed to three additional items: one day of freedom, which will be in public or private in which you will be a
carzan
for a day, and will be allowed to ignore ama protocols as well as wear clothes.
You will go with them during border patrols, but only after you are deemed ready, but until then you will be taken to explore the area as preparation. You will also have bedroom outfits made to your specification, of which you are allowed two now, and one a year afterward."
"Yes Your Sacredness, I have made an informed decision and willingly agree to have my memories altered, though I will have to relive them."
"You also came up with possible scenarios that could replace the memories?"
"Yes Your Sacredness, I was happily married to a man, and we lost all the children we were expecting due to me being a carrier of Ta-Sachs, as well as one of them dying due to birth defects from severe Down syndrome.
Her name was Nancy, and she was to be the one that would have survived and be loved no matter what, hence my deep attachment and the locket. After she miscarried, my husband committed suicide. I chose to move away from the bad memories and start over, and the rest is history."
"I like this scenario of yours, it is simple, it explains everything, and it seems like it would cover the bad memories perfectly, as it is sad but has no terror or torture. Alright, you will have your scars removed first, and then I will remove your memories and replace them with your suggestion."
"Yes Your Sacredness, thank you."
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Her scars were removed, and it amazed her how much better she felt now that proper blood flow got to her hands and feet. She also felt weird because she had no idea that she had any nerve damage at all. It was painless, as the nerves were not severely damaged, it just tingled a little as nerves re-grew in the damaged areas.
"You will get your adaptation surgery and treatment tomorrow, after your new memory has had a chance to solidify and you have gotten used to your new role here."
"Yes doctor."
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The memory removal was just as painful as expected, as the
tsarzan
could not shield her from the pain of having her brain rewired, but also because he had to dig through every neuron of her brain to make sure the memories were gone. All that could be done was to shield everyone else, and only Lezar, the
tsarzan
, the
walzan
, and both
sarzans
were in the room. Lezar was there to comfort her, everyone else to shield the room and everyone in it.
The
tsarzan
needed his full power and concentration to remove the memories. It was dusk by the time it was finished, they had started the removal process at noon, and they had arrived at the palace at the dawn. Alza was still a little shaky, but the
tsarzan
had figured out that her agreeableness at being a slave came from the knowledge she had learned through her years of torture and the stories of suffering from others.
So he had to tweak her memories a little more to make it so that she had only heard of all the suffering she and others had endured, but had not actually lived it. In the end, Alza's scenario was perfect for him to build on, and the result was that they still had an ama worthy of the
tsarzan
leaving the palace, with a danger level of 1.
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When the brothers arrived back home, it was time to make dinner and enjoy an evening of entertainment, or sleep like the dead. While dinner was being made, Alza was introduced to Ara, the rag doll house cat her Masters owned. They cut up small chunks of meat and fish for Ara, which barely made her move from Alza's lap. The vitamin shake was made for Alza, as well as a small platter of fruit and a small garden salad.
The brothers ate what looked like a full rack of beef ribs, two shoulders, both hind quarters, all the normal cuts of beef, as well as most of the internal organs of a cow. They gave her two well-done flank steaks and some milk. They ate in silence, apart from the braking of bones to suck the marrow.
"Masters, what creature is this, it looks and tastes like beef, but it is at least twice as big?"
"This is a jungle bull, which is just like your Earth bulls, but more along the size of your water buffaloes. One jungle bull can feed us for three days on patrol, but we like to eat more regularly than once every 3 days, so you will not see us eat this much in one sitting often. If we are eating 3 meals a day, it can last us up to 2 weeks. Especially if Ilan gets a fair catch of fish," Lezar said.
"Well Masters, I am sorry I can't finish all this food, but it was so good."
"Don't worry Alza, we have many of the appliances you are used to on Earth, but they are more advanced. We can put this in the fridge for breakfast," Kalba said.
"Brother, you forgot that Alza is having her surgery tomorrow. She just ate her last meal for the next 18 hours," Gobin reminded.
"Does that mean not strenuous exercise either?" Jahar whined, with a wink and a smirk at Alza.
"Whatever she feels up to for the next week. I am glad that the Royal Physician is performing the surgery, as he has the healer's touch. It will make the procedure much easier for him," Gobin commented.
"Master Gobin, what is the healer's touch?"
"It is an ability to instinctively know what is wrong with a patient or what the best decision for treatment is or what the likely recovery is. He may have less experience with humans, but his instincts are still usually right. He just prefers to back it up with some tests when the
tsarzan
asks for a consult on a judgment."
"So, Alza, what do you feel up to?" Jahar asks.
"Master Jahar, I think I feel up to 2-3 hours worth of strenuous exercise. But I want to give you the images of the first two outfits first, and the locket, in case I forget them tomorrow after the surgery."
"Well then Helius, by all means, let us see what our ama wants to order," Lezar said, with a smile.
So, Helius picked the images of a belly dancing outfit, a two piece bra and shredded skirt with gold coins dangling off the skirt strips and bra. It was made of a royal purple fabric, with cymbals, a matching veil and matching scarves as additional accessories.
The other image was straight out of a porn store, and it was a naughty nurse outfit, complete with the stethoscope. Then came the memory of the locket, which was a silver locket with NANCY written in calligraphy across the front, and inside was a lock of hair that came from Alza.
"I must admit Alza, you have good taste, and I for one want to see you dance with that dancing outfit on," Jahar said in a husky voice.
"We shall order them tomorrow, while you are in surgery," said Lezar.
"Now let's go exercise, as I have a lot of tension to work out," said Jahar.
"I want first round, after all, I was down for the count a good portion of the trip," said Gobin.
So they all ran into the sleeping area, where a giant nest of pillows and cushions was evident.