Chapter 6
First Lessons
"Master, it's time to wake up, Master." Justilia gently shook Inclon as he sat face down at his desk, scrolls unrolled beneath his head.
Inclon's eyes opened. He was suddenly aware of hunger pains and a dry mouth. He pushed himself up in his chair and rubbed his face. Sometime during the night someone, most likely Justilia, had capped his ink bottle and put his quill away. As he finished waking, he remembered what he'd been doing the night before.
Amber had fallen asleep two days ago, saddening the entire house. Inclon was convinced now that there was something wrong with the memory potion; something that allowed Amber to remember enough of her past, if only subconsciously, to create a dread of slavery so strong that she would rather, in her heart of hearts, die.
In the light of day, after his body forced itself to catch up on its sleep, the conclusion he'd come to seemed preposterous. Yet, there could be no other explanation. Alchemy was, like all magic, a precise science. The proper reagents mixed in the proper way would have the results they were supposed to have. The potion
should
have worked to subdue every memory, and every connection to those memories, that Amber had of her past. The only way it could fail was if the potion had been made with the wrong mix of ingredients. Inclon had even calculated the most likely wrong recipes that would allow a captive to access memories in some way.
The problem was that the memory potion wasn't made a dose at a time. One batch could last for over a year's worth of captives. If the potion Amber had taken had been mixed wrong, it would've been wrong for the last seven month's of captives. That meant that whatever the problem was with the potion, it was one that only affected some of the captives. That's where knowing about Calufrax and the conditions that Amber was taken under pointed the way. The potion was just a little weak. In normal captives, the memories stayed unreachable. In Amber, with the extremely strong associations her recent memory had, there was enough bleed over to allow a sense of her memories to come through; enough to give her those strong feelings of
knowing
.
So, Inclon had drawn a dose of the same batch that Amber had been given and tested it. It was perfect. There was nothing wrong with the potion in any way. All the reagents were present in the correct amounts. The forensic stone showed that the mixing methods had been textbook. The potion should've worked perfectly, blocking all access to Amber's memories. Yet it obviously hadn't. Inclon found himself on the cusp of having to accept the impossible. On another world, what he was faced with would have been called Occam's razor. He'd eliminated every other possibility. The only one left was so improbable as to be unworthy of consideration. However…
Knowing only one way to test this impossible solution, Inclon rose and left the room. Justilia looked perplexed as her Master left without a word or acknowledgement of her presence. She knew something was seriously wrong and followed after Inclon. He would need her, she was certain.
*****
"I want to live! Please, let me live." Amber's cry seemed wrung from the very core of her being. Leesha, tears of joy filling her eyes, rushed to Amber's bed and drew the captive into a fierce, protective hug. Amber sobbed on Leesha's shoulder for several minutes. When she finally stopped, waking more fully, she pulled back a little, keeping the slave's arms in her hands.
Memories flooded her mind as the dreams of her past solidified. Amber was scared of her memories. She knew that slaves on Destran had no memories, yet hers were there, plain as can be. Whatever magic had stolen her past had failed. She remembered everything; growing up in Billa, the lottery, the truth about Ravenshore, the Venturer, the beating, escaping, accepting slavery here to escape the cruel slavery there, drinking the potion. Amber knew she could never let on that she remembered.
"Leesha," Amber whispered, "I want to be a slave of Destran. Is it too late?"
"Amber, I'm so happy for you. I don't think it's too late. But, this has never happened before. No one has ever woken from a collaring sleep."
Amber chuckled. "I guess I'm one for breaking all the rules. There was never one who was so sure that slavery was wrong. No one ever fought against it as much as I did. Now, no one ever woke up before."
"I don't know what will happen, but I do know slaves aren't to wear clothes. Let's get you out of that death tunic." Once they'd stripped the gown from the collaring ceremony off, Leesha continued to think. "We should go see Garth. He'll know what to do; or at least who to ask. When we get there, kneel like this." Leesha showed Amber how to kneel with her legs spread and her hands resting on her thighs.
Leesha walked Amber through the maze of corridors, holding Amber's hand as they went. The first slaves they encountered stared in shock; a ghost walked among them, the ghost of a slave. Soon the word was spreading throughout the complex; Amber, the captive that slept was awake and collared. Only Leesha's quick pace and direct route saw them to Garth's quarters before the news.
"Master, may I enter?"
Garth's tired voice sounded from inside. "Yes, Leesha. I assume that Amber has…" His question went unfinished as his jaw dropped at seeing the awake form of Amber kneel before him, beside Leesha. "Leesha, what's this?" The question sounded lame in light of the evidence of his own eyes.
"Master, Amber woke minutes ago, screaming, 'I want to live.' She tells me she wants to be a slave now." Leesha couldn't keep the grin off her face as she related what was to her, fantastic news.
"Amber, is this true? Do you wish to be a slave now?"
Amber looked down, her hand coming up to finger the collar around her neck. "Yes, I do. It's better than dying and it's better than what I had before." Only once she'd finished her answer did she realize her mistake. Fortunately, Garth himself gave her an explanation.
"I suppose that knowledge is as sure, without knowing why, as the knowledge that slavery was evil?"
"Yes."
"Amber, if you're to be a slave, you need to address me properly."
"Oh, I'm sorry, Master. I wasn't thinking."
"I'll let it go this once. In the future, you'll have to be punished."
"Yes, Master. Thank you."
"Amber, this has never happened before. We don't have any protocol for slaves waking from a collar sleep. But, you wish to be a slave and I want you as a slave for the house. It's better to be punished for doing what you thought was right than for doing nothing. Leesha, take Amber to Bressala. Amber is now a slave in training."
Leesha and Amber both smiled, though Leesha was smiling wider. Leesha rose quickly, pulling Amber with her. They'd gone several hundred feet before Amber could get a question in edgewise.
"Leesha, wait. What's the big hurry?"
Leesha stopped in the hall. "Amber, Garth's making you a slave. He's taking a chance, a big chance. Lord Grantlo might have decided to uncollar you instead. But once you start training, it'll be harder to make that decision. I need to get you to Bressala as quick as possible."
"Take my collar off?" Amber's hands flew to the collar. She recalled asking Leesha if the collar ever came off. "Oh no, if it did, I'd die," Leesha had answered. "No! They can't take it off. I want to live."
"Exactly. Let's get you into training. The sooner the better."
Soon the two slaves were outside Bressala's curtain. Leesha led Amber in to find Bressala and her trainees eating their morning meal and talking excitedly. Carli saw Amber first and gave a squeal as she jumped up and threw herself into Amber's arms.
"You're alive! I couldn't believe it when Luce told me you woke up." Carli's smile drooped a bit. "Amber, are you going to be a slave?"
Amber nodded. "Yes, I want to live and while I was sleeping, I think I came to believe that being a slave on Destran is better than what I had. Leesha brought me to start my training." Amber looked down at her feet, remembering her training from the Ravenshore slave brothel. "I'm a little frightened of training. Will it hurt much? How much does pleasure/pain symbiosis hurt?"
Bressala joined Carli and Amber. "Amber, there'll be some pain. You'll probably be punished sometimes. Symbiosis will be painful, very painful. But you don't start there. Be as obedient as you can and the punishments will be mild and infrequent. But the joy of pleasing your Masters makes it all worth it, I promise. Come and join us for the morning meal. We'll start your training right away."
"Okay." She turned back to Leesha with tears in her eyes. "I'll still be able to see you, won't I?"
"Of course you will; unless I'm placed with a Master or Mistress."
"But that would be a good thing, right?"
"Yes, a very good thing. Amber, you're going to make a wonderful slave. I've got to go. Listen to Bressala, she's the best trainer around."
Leesha dipped back through the curtain, leaving Amber with Bressala, Carli, Yolanda, and Thebes. Amber turned back towards her trainer and fellow trainees. She was trembling with nerves, uncertain of what to do. Would it truly be different from Ravenshore?
"Come, sit by the table, Amber. Your first lesson is this. Slaves eat after Master or Mistress. While you're training, your trainer, that's me," she said with a wry smile, "is your Mistress. That means you have to wait until I finish eating before you can. I've already eaten, but let's let you see how it works."
The other slaves were sitting on the floor next to the low table and hadn't returned to eating their meal. Bressala took a few bites of cheese and fruit while the others waited with slightly bowed heads. Amber noticed and tried to copy their positions. One thing she noticed was that none of the slaves, not even Bressala, sat or knelt with their legs together. Their pussies and cocks were visible, as were the female's breasts.
After a few bites that she really didn't need or want, Bressala pushed the tray away from herself a little and nodded to the trainees. As one, the started picking up food and eating. The conversation that had been going on before didn't resume.
As Amber began to eat, Bressala commented, "That was very good, Amber. You noticed how the others were sitting and tried to do the same. Now, there's no formal position for casual eating, but let me show you some ways that Masters will find pleasing." Bressala rose and gently moved Amber's body while she ate, putting her in several positions that opened her up even more than she had been.
*****
Garth took his time with his morning meal. He wanted to give Bressala enough time to have Amber fully immersed in her initial training routine. Once he'd taken all the time he could, he walked towards the Lord's manor. His path took him up several flights of stairs and down a long corridor. A guard stood outside the large, ornate, double doors of the mansion. The guard was a shorter, yet more muscular creature that, in spite of its stature, would never be mistaken for a child. He carried a sword at his side and the only visible attire was a shirt and leggings made of a fine chain mesh.
"Tekal, My humble apologies to the Lord, but there's a matter of great importance that I need to bring to his attention."
The deep, rumbling voice of the man Garth knew was from a race that was called dwarves, answered him. "Garth, is it truly something that can't wait for a formal audience?"
