A Slave to the Servants

Hello, Lit!

Glad everyone seemed to like the last chapter. Hope this continues to entertain!

Many thanks to Steve150177 for his work reading and rereading! His work makes the finished product much more polished.

The next chapter is due out May 16.

Fair warning: my "bun in the oven" is due to be done baking at the end of May. I think I'll have everything set up so we can stay on the same schedule for ASttS . I expect 4 more chapters after this. Would have been nice if I could have timed it better... I know. I'm just enough OCD I won't leave my story hanging. It would make me crazy to see it unfinished and lose all the readers.

Please vote and comment!

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Gunth's gruff voice broke through the intimate moment. He and his family looked angrily at Damien and his Brothers as he spoke.

"You are not to be with that female," he said harshly. "We will remove you if-"

I cut him off and moved several steps away from my family. "It was not intentional, Gunth," I said politely. "During the excitement I jumped on their transport. Their only choices would have been to shove me off or take me with them."

Gunth moved through the men with his family after I moved away. He'd come from a different part in the tunnel. He was monitoring the events above ground using a pad like the one Kennedy had given me. Once it was safe to move up, he'd signal all of us waiting below ground.

"We felt The Great Spirit for just a moment after you all came down here," he announced, "but the sensation faded. What has happened?"

The men around us looked sheepish, but stayed silent. One of Abram's Brothers called Gunth over to show the Administrator the reason for concern.

"He was bitten by a scar outside. We breath for our Brother," Abram explained. "The human, Ciara, did it first and showed us how. We will do it for as long as we need to."

Gunth's family turned to look at me and I just stood stoically. "How did you get near an injured man with his family here?" Gunth asked, plainly confused.

Evidently the way Abram and his Brothers had acted was normal. Tapping into Damien's memory I suddenly knew that was right. I should not have been able to approach him.

Healers had to be respected to get near an injured man. Only a family of Healers with great skill, or those under the tutelage of a skilled family, would be allowed near the injured. I was not of that caliber when it came to healing.

"We trust Ciara and let her through," Abram said quickly. "She convinced us this was the right thing to do."

Men around us quietly agreed with the statement and I was shocked. It was a lie, a blatant, outright lie. My family had forcibly restrained Abram's family giving me the chance to help. I waited for someone here to say that, nobody did.

Gunth's Brother indicated action on the pad and the Administrator's attention was diverted. I looked at Abram who looked at Damien and then me as he smiled.

Christof's voice was gentle in my mind. The confusion was evident on my face. It would be considered a heinous crime to force his Brothers away from one that was dying. That was a sacred time when they had to be close. What Damien and the family had done should be judged very harshly. The other men's forgiveness was shocking.

"Stay here until we let you know it is safe," Gunth ordered looking around. "Continue to do as you are doing for Ruse. We will get you out of here quickly."

The men around us all agreed and promised to continue to help the injured man. Gunth took one last look as Abram breathed into his Brother's mouth before boarding his transport. The Administrators glided away into the caves, intent on checking on another group of men waiting below ground.

The silence was very uncomfortable for a moment. I stepped back toward Damien and ran a hand down his arm. He smiled back at me and was glad for the contact, but we said nothing. The only sound was Abram and his family breathing for their Brother.

"We don't think it is wrong if you stand near Damien's family," a man I'd only met once said quietly as he sat down on his transport to wait.

Murmured agreement all around us told me that no one here objected to me being with Damien. He'd done what I wanted, at his family's grave peril. Obviously the men they called "slavers" didn't think of us as slaves anymore. They'd listened to me, at great personal risk, and that was notable.

Basin and his family were getting the same treatment as my men and me. No one objected if Rose wanted to be with them. They'd listened to me, a human, and risked the wrath of the whole camp. They obviously respected us.

Rose and I both took the opportunity to be close. As I hugged Damien and his Brothers, Rose hugged Basin and his family.

We sat on the transport and I sat on Damien's lap.

"How long will that man stay like that?" I asked Damien softly.

No one in my family knew. Damien called to men across from us and asked them. Would this family live forever breathing for their Brother? I shuddered thinking what horror I might have just created.

"When the women are bitten," a man called back, "they feel ill and weak. It only lasts a day and then they are better."

There was murmured conversation around us, perhaps men were the same and this would only last a day. A man had never survived the bite of a scar, so there was no way to know. This was a unique circumstance.

I sat quietly with my family. The strange new bond pulsed and ran between us. When I wanted to, I could dip into it and be one with my family. Unlike before I could also pull away from them, mentally, and have my mind to myself.

"It's so strange," I whispered against Damien's neck and I felt them all feel surprised.

"It isn't strange," Evan whispered, pulling my legs until I sat on his lap, "we always knew we were family. This is how it should be between us."

I nuzzled his neck and kissed his lips. This bond, this closeness, was wonderful. It was what I had always wanted. It's what we had always wanted.

A man I didn't know well approached and my family all stood, pulling me up with them.

"I am Mund rescued from the Barnas compound. The Administrators must be made to see reason," he said watching us.

"Ciara, from Earth and they won't," I said bitterly. "They can't understand how Damien and his family see me. They can't understand how I see them."

The man and his family stood considering. They must be powerful because I sensed Damien's desire to protect me. He was fighting the urge to pull me away. Instead he stood calmly and I stood next to him. Basin's family joined us and we all talked. No one knew how to explain this to the Administrators without telling them what Damien's family and Basin's family had done.

Even if the outcome was good, it was still a crime the Administrators would want to sanction. Fighting within the camp and pulling a dying family apart were two separate crimes. The other men seemed sure the Administrators would be angry at Damien's family and Basin's family, just because it was them. Administration had much hate for slavers and may not understand they were changed men.

It took a while, but we were eventually told we could leave the tunnels and return above ground. Except Abram's family and all those who came to help at the alarm, we went back to the field to collect our day's work. We could not leave the day's pickings to rot on the ground. It was very late by the time we got back to the camp.

Rose and I freshened up in our room upstairs and walked to the evening meal. It had been a long, eventful, and strange day. We were looking forward to a nice, quiet evening.

The dining room was in turmoil when we got there. The men that had witnessed Damien's actions earlier had decided the isolated families should join the camp completely. They insisted Damien, Basin, and Stayne join them for the evening meal in the dining hall.

There was yelling and arguing. Finally the powerful man, Mund, from earlier stood on a chair and made a proclamation.

"The Great Harmonious Spirit is not about division!" he argued. "We have taught our cousins and they have learned. The Spirit calls us together and we must answer!"

As Rose and I had already learned, that was the correct

rhetoric

. The men couldn't argue that The Spirit was wrong. It quelled the room to quiet grumbling as everyone got their food.

We got in line with everyone else and picked out a healthy, full meal for ourselves. Rose and I were both quite hungry and took filling items. I could tell by the aromas alone that the men leading the cooking tonight weren't as adept at it as Abram and his family. Those men would be missed until they returned.

We chose our regular table and scooted close to one another. An extra family or two may join us. It would be rude to take up too much space.

"We really should have thought of that sooner," Rose mumbled, building a makeshift

sandwich

out of her food. "I can't believe we never thought of it before, although it feels like we are using their religion against them."

"Not really against them..." I said mixing the flavors on my plate how I liked. "Some arguments just get to the heart of the matter."

We sat and talked, barely noticing the room around us.

"May we sit?" a deep voice asked and I looked up.

We had not heard the group of men approach. The now familiar faces of Mund and his family were holding their plates and waiting for permission.

"Of course," Rose smiled up at them, "take a chair."

We had a pleasant meal with the other men. They were hunters, usually, and brought in most of the meat we ate. They had been called to the field today to help protect the men there when the scars attacked. Neither Rose nor I was very familiar with this group of men.

"Family likes to be together," Mund said quietly as we were all finishing up. "We enjoy our quiet time at night with one another."

It was a strange comment, but all Mund's Brothers agreed. They liked quiet evenings by the fire. I smiled wistfully remembering quiet nights with Damien and his Brothers.

"We have had your families' lodgings moved near ours. It was many of our friends that saw what happened today," Mund said quietly. "Come visit us tonight and we will not notice where you go when you leave our company."

"It is a private alcove," Mund's Brother said under his breath. "Our friends and I enjoy peace and quiet in the evenings. No one bothers us once we have retired there."

I blinked stupidly at Mund until Rose thanked him. She got directions to the place he lived just before the men got up and left. Understanding dawned on me and I was shocked.

"He's going to let us-" I started to say and Rose cut me off.

"Visit him tonight, Ciara. We will visit with our new friends," she said firmly, "Now come, we both smell and we should bathe before we visit with...Mund and his family."

Rose and I bustled out of the dining hall and stopped short when we ran into Fuji coming in. It had been many days since we had seen her. On Earth I would have said

weeks

. Fuji's hunting kept her outside, so she was rarely at meals.

Fuji looked amazing. Her skin glittered brilliantly and her bright red hair was thick and lush. That strange wicked tail was out moving powerfully behind her. She walked with confidence and poise.

We greeted each other and that tail flicked forward trailing down my front and then Rose's front. Fuji's eyes narrowed and she stepped right into my face. Her aggressive stance was not lost on me.

"You were with them!" she accused angrily looking between Rose and I. "I sense them on you. The rules must be followed. They are for your own good!"

Fuji's tail was sensitive as well as deadly. I assumed she "smelled" our male family members on our clothing. Rose and I had freshened in our rooms, but not changed our attire.

Rose and I rushed to explain how we had leapt onto the transports and ended up with our respective families. It had not been intentional and there was no reason to worry. It had happened in the middle of a mass scar attack.

"Slavery is wrong," Fuji said firmly. "What those men did is wrong. The way they think is wrong. You cannot go back to the way you were. I will never go back!"

Rose and I both sought to shush Fuji. Luckily the dining hall was a slightly chaotic place and no one was watching us.

"Fuji," I explained patiently, "if you remember my men tried to stop being slave owners long ago, so did Rose's family. I know Stayne and his Brothers-"

"Have never respected me," Fuji growled. "They continued a lie I was told my whole life. I was born to live free. Your men never respected you, either."

The argument continued and got slightly heated. Fuji didn't seem to be listening at all. She was adamant in her beliefs about slavers. Eventually Rose and I had to say good-bye and left Fuji. She refused to listen to us. There was no use arguing with her, so we ended the conversation as politely as we could.

Rose and I scrubbed ourselves in the warm water of the communal bath after washing our clothes and leaving them to dry. Tonight was the first time we would see our men in a place we could freely be together. Neither of us said it, but we both expected to be intimate with them. We wanted to be clean.

Rose and I walked slowly to the place Mund said he and his Brothers stayed. It wasn't on the main corridor like our room. Some men disliked the busy thoroughfare and wanted a place to be close to their friends, but away from others.

Women had dug a few deep pockets in the side walls of the mountains. Inside these pockets would be a small complex of twenty or thirty rooms with their own set of lacquered pots and a large communal fire pit. I thought of them like small villages. The men that lived that way tended to be similar in demeanor and very close to one another. It impressed me that men like that had invited our families to join them. It was essentially like opening their home to someone.

I felt Damien and his Brothers as we walked. They were talking to the Mund and his friends. My men had never experienced the absolute openness that these men allowed.

Tyle and his Brothers, as well as, Arnold's family had just come to stay in this place, too. They were glad to be re-accepted into the camp. It turned out both families had not enjoyed being ostracized, but they'd done it out of loyalty. Damien was thrilled they were no longer cursed by his presence.

As the men sat around the large communal fire pit and talked, Damien was shocked. Men from the camp didn't guard their family's secrets around other families. Mund's Brothers feared the scars and freely admitted it. The idea of suffocating terrified all of Mund's family. As Damien and his Brothers sat and conversed they experienced a closeness they'd never shared with other men before.

We turned into the area and many men were sitting around a large smokeless pit. I saw Damien's family and didn't more than notice the rest of them. My feet carried me to my family and I was in their arms before I knew it.

It did not matter we were in the middle of perhaps twenty curious families. I kissed each member of my family and hugged them tightly. It had been much too long since we had been together.

"What is that the women are doing with the mouth?" I heard Mund ask. "Why do they grab the men that way?"

Tyle happily informed him what a

kiss

and a

hug

were. Mund's family found the activity interesting, they had not seen it before.

I couldn't keep my hands off my family. My family couldn't stop touching me either.

"Do you have a bed here?" popped boldly out of my mouth and I saw Bane's face split with a broad grin.

"Are you tired, little Sister?" he asked wickedly and I punched him in the shoulder.

"I am tired of waiting,

husband

," I stated, knowing they would have access to the meaning of that word.

The word

husband

slid quickly through my five men and they liked it. We were mated and

husband

was a word I associated with mated. They were happy to use the term.

Kein grabbed a hand and tugged me toward one of the openings around us. I noted their symbol was carved just outside the doorway. I felt their joy at seeing it there.

My family had lived for many moons on the outskirts of this camp. They never stayed anywhere long, because no one wanted them around. Having a stable home that was theirs would be such a blessing. They were grateful to Mund and his friends for the lodging and acceptance.

"I didn't know," I said stopping just inside the doorway. "You never said you all were living like that."

I felt horrible. While I had been comfortable and cared for, my men had been tormented day and night.

"Do not pity us," Evan said gruffly, pushing me farther into the large room as he entered. "What we did was wrong and we were punished for it. We have come to understand the indignity you suffered for many, many moons at our hands. My Brothers and I suffered far less. We had our family."

"And our freedom," Kein said tugging me close to his chest and pulling my lips to his.

Our tongues met in a fierce tangle and I felt devoured. I accepted the voracious kisses from each of them. The excitement was overwhelming.

"If we are

husband

what are you?" Christof asked.

Wife

was the word he was looking for and I gladly wore the title. In my mind I envisioned a

wedding

and what that would entail. My men found the idea very interesting. They'd never seen a ceremony like the one I imagined.

Pulling away from my loves I explored the space we were in. It was much like my lodging. The main room was markedly large with a fire pit and a doorway led off into a darker space, the bed space.

I undressed slowly in the area between the two rooms. I slipped off the boots first. My top and skirt came off and I saw the men eyeing my underclothes lustfully. I undid the bra and my heavy breasts swung out.

"So lovely," Kein breathed out as he stared at my chest.

The other men down here never looked at me the way Damien and his Brothers were right now. It was a special feeling to be wanted so badly. I felt lucky to get this much attention. I didn't realize how loudly I was projecting those thoughts.

"If it is only attention you want," Bane laughed taking off his shirt, "the other men would give it to you willingly. They only let you and Rose alone because the Administrators told them to after the first night. Arik and his family complained you had thought them evil for wishing to mate. The Administrators forbade the other men from asking to be intimate with you."

"Many would like a taste of your treasure," Evan grumbled sounding sour. "They bragged to us each time you had dinner with them or helped them in any way."

I was surprised and it showed. Except for Arik's strange request the first night, the men here never looked at me.

"Some are curious and those men look all the time," Christof said standing before me completely disrobed. "What I think you are offering us now, they want very badly."

"You are all I want now," I told him.

They grinned at the authority in my voice.

"Show me the bed," I demanded tilting my chin. "I want you. I want to fuck you all."

Damien grinned at the tone and Evan's teeth dropped in excitement. They'd found they liked it when I was aggressive with them in the bedroom. Any remaining clothing was dropped to the floor as I grabbed Christof's hand and pulled him into the sleeping chamber.

Kein lit the small torches around and the room brightened. The circular bed sat right in the middle of the tight space. Carved into the walls were five sets of shelves, much like in my room.

"This is your room now," Bane said hesitantly, "as long as you are in it and as long as you want to stay."