Chapter 1
Awakening
The girl started to wake up. She was young, at least in the eyes of some cultures. In the eyes of others, she was well into adulthood. On her home world, she was considered to have just barely reached the age where she could make life altering decisions for herself. The people who brought her here always took those who were
legal
on the world they came from as well as here, on this world. For this girl, that was 18 years as measured in a distant world, in a distant dimension, that called itself, Earth.
The lightly tanned body stirred under the furs. Red hair spilled across the pillows, spread about by the inevitable motions of sleep. As her mind climbed towards awareness, it was aware of something not being right. The room wasn't very large, having just enough room to hold the sleeping pad the girl was laying on; a small table upon which was a lamp, a cup (clay) and a pitcher of water; and a walkway that split to end at two curtains.
The sound of her waking caught someone's attention. A man pulled one of the curtains aside, just a little, and peeked inside. He eyed the light chain that ran from under the covers to a spot on the wall. He knew that the presence of the chain was the most sensitive part of her introduction to her new life. Some captives didn't react well to being chained, even with the preparations that were taken. He saw her eyes flutter and pulled back, letting her waken and adapt, if she could, on her own.
The girl looked around herself and drew a sharp breath. Nothing looked familiar! She was in a strange place and could see nothing that she should be seeing. It was then that the confusion hit. She sat up, the furs falling clear to reveal her body. She wore no clothes. Her unblemished skin was visible in the glow of the lamp. Looking around excitedly, she tried to think of what she should be seeing, but drew a blank. She couldn't remember where she was supposed to be! The longer she thought, the more panicked she became.
"Where am I?" she asked herself. "Where…?" Her hands clasped to her breasts as the reality hit her. "Who am I?" The girl had no memories of a time before waking in this strange room. "This could be home, for all I know, yet it seems so strange, unfamiliar. What's happened to me?"
She threw the covers back, exposing her naked body. Like a shot, her eyes were drawn to the chain that was attached to her left ankle by a delicate looking cuff. The metal tinkled as she brought her foot close enough to touch. There seemed to be no way to loosen the cuff from her ankle, nor the chain from the cuff. Several tugs confirmed that the metal was stronger than its delicacy indicated. Looking, she saw the other end of the chain, where it was attached to the wall. Like the connection to the cuff, the wall connection had no visible way to be released.
"There must be a hidden mechanism," she whispered to herself. She didn't know why she was whispering, it just seemed the prudent thing to do. "I'm someone's prisoner. Am I a criminal? Am I in the hands of a criminal? I have to escape!" The last wasn't whispered, as her excitement and fear were causing her voice to rise. Realizing what she'd done, she forced herself to be still, listening for signs that someone had heard her.
The man, still hidden by the curtain, had, in fact, heard her. In fact, he heard everything she said, even the whispers. He smiled and breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that she was not going to panic and start screaming. The others always took it badly when someone new started their time with panic and screams.
The girl, satisfied that no one had heard her, or at least didn't care about the sounds she made, slipped off the bed. Moving with as much stealth as a dragging chain allowed, she explored her small domain. The chain stopped her short of one of the curtains in the room (the one hiding the man). The other curtain led to a much smaller room. The furniture inside would have been recognized by anyone from any human culture; toilet, sink and vanity.
"Primitive," she thought. This was followed by, "How'd I know that?" Trying to concentrate, she couldn't even think of why she thought it was primitive. "Weird, it's like I know some things, but not why I know them," she said to herself. "Like how to speak."
The sight of the facilities made her aware of her need to use them. She relieved herself. The cloth beside the toilet was clearly for wiping herself off. It was only as she wanted to wash her hands that she noticed the lack of any way to get water into the sink. Her hands hovered above the back of the sink, as if there was supposed to be something there, something that would produce water. Frustrated, she leaned against the sink, her fingers over the edge. Water began to flow out of the sides of the sink to accumulate.
In shock, she jerked her hands away, only to watch the water stop and drain out. She tentatively put one hand into the sink and watched, amazed, as the water began to flow out of the sides again. There was nothing that looked like a hole for the water to come from. It was as if the water was simply appearing along the sides. She swirled a finger in the water and watched soapy suds appear. Wetting both hands, she discovered that the water was soapy and worked just fine to clean her hands.
Holding up her wet hands, she watched the water drain again. More water appeared when she put her hands back into the sink, this time, clean enough to rinse with. She looked around for a way to dry her hands and noticed that the cloth by the toilet was no longer damp. She sniffed at it, startled, yet not truly surprised, to find that it smelled fresh, as if just washed. She dried her hands off and watched the cloth for a minute after she had returned it.
There was a flicker and the cloth was suddenly dry. She knew, again without knowing how she knew, that this wasn't normal. Shaking her head, she walked back out into the bedroom, as she'd begun to think of it. Her stomach growled. She poured a cup of water from the pitcher, not surprised to see it refill when she set it down. The water was cold and caused one of her teeth to hurt.
"Ow!"
The man pulled the curtain aside. "Amber, are you all right?"
"Too cold…," was quickly followed by her looking up in fright and shock. "Who are…wait, is my name Amber?" She grabbed the fur off the bed to cover herself.
"Yes it is. Don't be frightened. I'm not going to hurt you."
"Where am I? Who are you? Why am I chained? Am I a prisoner?"
He held up a hand to forestall her stream of inquiries. "I'll try to explain everything. First, are you hungry?"
"Yes."
"I'll fetch some food. You can eat while I explain what's happened to you."
The man disappeared through the curtain again. Amber caught a glimpse of a room similar to hers, though it looked larger. It didn't seem to take long for him to return. He set a platter of food on the small table. It contained a selection of fruits and cheeses. Amber kept the furs over her body to hide her nakedness while she ate and listened.
"This will go quicker if you don't interrupt." Amber nodded. "There's no getting around the first part of what you need to know. You're a captive. You were taken from your own world and brought here to be a slave." He paused, giving her a chance to respond. When she didn't, he nodded and continued. "There is no way for you to return to your world. I suppose it's physically possible, but with your loss of memory, there'd be no point. It'll be as foreign to you as this world is. The life you once knew is gone and can never be regained. The amnesia is permanent. It was, in fact, induced. When you were brought here, you were given a potion that erased your memories and put you to sleep.
"This world is called Destran. You're in the Helshenti Empire. I won't bore you with the political details, you won't have any need of that information. What you do need to know is that you're in the house of Grantlo. Thabian Y'Grantlo is the Lord of the house and holds absolute power over you. If he gives one word, you would be killed.
"House Grantlo trains slaves. More to the point, we train sex slaves." Again he paused as her eyes opened wide and she choked on a piece of cheese. He watched her force herself to stay quiet. He smiled at her self control. The report from the Venturer indicated that she was capable of being very focused. "The Helshenti Empire doesn't have need of slaves to do things like heavy lifting. We have long since mastered the arts of magic for such mundane purposes. Slaves, then, are for more sedate purposes, things that can't be accomplished by magic. Pleasure is one of those purposes. House Grantlo trains the best sex slaves in the empire. You're destined to be one of the best, if you accept your fate."
His pause was more pronounced, letting Amber know that he'd finished, at least for now. She didn't show it, but she was terrified. The idea of sexual slavery struck a visceral chord, reaching deep into her sense of being. She
knew
that wherever she came from, slavery, especially sexual slavery, was an evil. She didn't want to be a slave.
"I have a choice?"
"In a manner of speaking, yes. All slaves here choose to be slaves. However, there are only two choices. You may enslave yourself or you may opt to be killed."
"That's a choice?"
"I didn't say it was a good choice, or a fair choice, just that it's a choice."
"Does anyone ever choose death?"
"Yes, some do. They're rare."
"Who are you?"
"Most girls ask that first. My name is Garth. I'm your overseer. Ultimately, your training will be my responsibility."
"Do I have to choose now?"
"No, in fact, you can't choose now. There'll be a ceremony in three days where you'll make your choice before Lord Y'Grantlo himself. Between now and then, you'll be shown what a life of slavery is like here. By law, your choice must be an informed one."
"Three days. This is so evil. How can anyone stand for this?"
"Slavery isn't evil. Unwilling slavery is evil. If you choose slavery, it'll be because you are truly willing."
"Truly willing? Death or slavery doesn't make for willingness, it's simply the least of two evils."
"You don't understand. The choice you make isn't one of words, it'll be one of intent. If you choose slavery merely to avoid death, you'll die. To avoid death, you must truly want to become a slave."
"Then I'm doomed. I'll
never
want to be a slave."
"Every captive says that, yet the vast majority come to embrace slavery and live."
"I want to be left alone. Will you leave?"
"For now, I'll return in two turns to start showing you what slavery is."
Amber, not even sure that was really her name, turned as he walked away and wept into the furs.
*****
Garth stood just outside the curtain, listening. Her sobs weren't a surprise and he turned to the occupant of the larger room. Unconcerned about Amber hearing him, he spoke to the naked woman kneeling on the floor. The enchantment on the curtain would keep sound in this room from being heard in Amber's room.
"Leesha, opinions?"
"Master, she's reacting normally. I expect that she'll accept slavery." Leesha fingered her collar as she spoke. She recalled her collaring, the happiness she'd felt at becoming a slave. "She doesn't yet understand how joyful slavery is. Once she does, I'm sure she'll embrace it."
"The first day will be hard on her. Be ready to comfort her tonight."
"I will, Master. Will she be open to intimacies?"
"The Venturer's report indicated that she has not lain with a woman before, but was not repulsed by the idea either. She should respond well if you're gentle about it."
"Yes, Master. I assume she'll be seeing punishment at some point?"
"Yes, it's best if that reality is dealt with first."
