“So, are these our reward?” Picking up one of the two shackles which I assume to be neck-collars from their size, Laulaia was once again chewing on her lip thoughtfully. “Who are they for? Does it mean whoever wears them gets to become a slave to the goddess?” Her voice softened as she spoke, eventually trailing into a silence for several minutes, before she softly muttered, “I’m not sure I’d really want to be a god-slave…”
“They’re not for you,” I told her, then hurried to correct myself. “Well, not specifically for you. They’re for us. We can choose who to put them on and who wears them. There’s two sets, so two of us would have to play the role of slaves, while the last person would have to be the owner…”
“I’ll be a slave,” Alaina volunteered, unhesitantly, interrupting me before I could explain further. “I know I wouldn’t make a good owner,” she stated matter-of-factly. Pulling her hair up from around the corners of her neck, she tilted her head forward and leaned closer to Laulaia.
“Don’t you even want to know what magics might be on the shackles before you offer up your neck like that?” I know my eyes were ready to bulge out of my head, her actions shocked me so badly! I’ll never understand these damn girls! Not one little bit!
“They’re magic?” Alaina laughed lightly, completely unperturbed as Laulaia leaned forward and deftly fastened the collar around her neck. One simple click was heard, then a small brownish-tan glow of magic, and the thick iron collar was snapped tight around Alaina’s neck. “So, what magic do they have in them?” Reaching up, Alaina slowly felt her hand back and forth across the cool metal, slowly getting used to the feeling of it.
“Umm…” It took me a moment to compose my thoughts, watching how easily she accepted everything. Is there truly that much trust between her and Laulaia? Can I put the same amount of faith in her? Or should I be the one to shackle Laulaia instead? “They’re supposed to protect from the heat and cold, the elements, and offer some sort of chain-style armor,” I informed Alaina, trying to keep myself somewhat focused and not lose myself in worry.
“That sounds wonderful!” Laughing lightly, Laulaia was quickly going about snapping the rest of the set unceremoniously upon Alaina. At first, I wondered how she could tell which went where so quickly, but after a moment’s studying, my slow working brain was able to start putting the pieces together. The waist shackle was, of course, the largest shackle and therefore easy to recognize. Made of what appeared to be some sort of solid, flexible metal, of ironish color, several smaller chains dangled from it, hanging down several inches like some sort of odd metal tassel, ending with quarter-inch thick circles attached to them.
The wrist shackles were just as thick as all the rest, and made of the same unknown material, with several small chains leading from them, up to rings which fastened around Alaina’s fingers. Small metal circlets adorned the centers of the wristbands, obvious places for which chain or rope could be attached for ease of future use.
Another oddly made set of thick iron-like shackles fastened around Alaina’s ankles, with long six-inch metal spikes extending from the back of them and towards the ground. At first, my brain thought they must be some sort of spur used for fighting, but then, once again, reality caught up to my muddled thinking. Casper had said, “the heels provide the same benefit” – she’d never mentioned anything about “the shoes”! Apparently slaves just wear the heels and not the shoes!
“Slaves aren’t allowed to wear any clothing except work clothes, or protective outerwear,” Casper told me, sounding amused in my mind. “When it snows, they may be given overboots to wear, if they have chores which require them to work outside. If it’s raining, or cold, cheap slaves are usually tossed a hooded wool cloak to wrap around themselves. If they’re particularly of importance, such as an overseer, or a trusted slave, they may be given as much as a simple robe for outdoor use, but it all comes off the moment they’re back inside and out of the elements.
“After all,” Casper chuckled lightly, “you don’t want the slaves to get a big head and start to think of themselves as being equal to free people, now do you? Even the poorest of the poor will try and cover themselves with something.” Once again, Casper was having fun watching my poor brain struggle with the extreme class divide which she described so casually.
“Now, be a dear and lift the back of your hair up a bit,” Casper mentioned, smoothly.
“CLICK!” Before my brain had even fully caught up to my body, the sound of metal fastening around my neck echoed in my ears, and a strange electric warmth caressed all the way around my neck. Blinking confusedly, I slowly let go of my long hair and felt the metal around my throat. Reflexively, I’d done as Casper had asked, not even thinking about the action in my addled state.
“You… You bitch!” Startled, I cussed Casper in my mind, but dead silence was my only reply, as Laulaia fastened a cool band of metal around my waist.
“Let me have your hands next.” Smiling brightly, Laulaia’s eyes twinkled as she held out one of the shackles with several small rings attached.
For a moment, I hesitated, trying to bring my raging thoughts under control, but then my body moved on its own and presented both my arms out to her. “What the hell?” All I could do is blink and stare at my own body stupidly.
Sliding the rings over my fingers, Laulaia slowly reached around my wrist and fastened the shackle in place there. “Is something wrong?” Biting her lip slightly, Laulaia quirked an eyebrow up worriedly.
“I… I wasn’t entirely certain I was going to wear these,” I told her, still in shock to see myself half-shackled and my body obeying her commands.
“Oh!” Blushing brightly, Laulaia leaned forward and quickly started to tug and feel around the edge of the collar around my neck. “Let me get this…”
“OH!” Blinking repeatedly, Laulaia bit her lower lip hard enough in shock to draw blood. “The Lady of Life is talking in my mind!”
“Uh-huh.” She answered something which no one else could hear.
“I didn’t know that!” Eyes wide, Laulaia blinked repeated, before barely whispering, “The goddess says the shackles can’t be removed until Spring. You had a deal with her?”
“We didn’t have any deal,” I snorted. “She’d offered one, and I was considering it, but I hadn’t agreed to anything yet.”
“Uh-huh,” Laulaia nodded, chewing her lip furiously, as she spoke to the goddess mind to mind. “The Lady says you agreed when you held up your hair and offered your neck.” Poor Laulaia looked like she was about ready to cry. “I thought you were offering to wear them too, like Alaina,” Laulaia sniffled, tears beginning to leak down the corners of her cheeks as her lower lip trembled.
“I’m sorry!” Suddenly sobbing horribly, Laulaia tossed herself forward, wrapped her arms around my neck, and cried uncontrollably in my arms.
“It… It’s okay.” Unbelievably, I somehow found myself comforting Laulaia, even though I was the one who got shackled! Patting her back, and stroking her long hair gently, I struggled to try and sort out my own thoughts in my head. I couldn’t really blame Laulaia for her actions, after I’d obviously been tricked by that damn goddess into imitating Alaina. And, apparently there wasn’t any way to take the damn things off, now that they’d been shackled. Wearing half a set was probably even worse than wearing the whole set – who knows what the hell the people we met would think seeing me as I was now!
“It… It’s okay,” I repeated, once again, forcing myself to take a deep breath and slowly release it. I hadn’t completely ruled out the idea of wearing the damn things anyway, and Laulaia was just as much a victim of the damn goddess’s machinations as I was. I wasn’t going to blame her for anything, though I’ll be damned if I’m not going to find some way to get even with that damn bitch Casper! I wonder how damn odd it is, for one of the gods own Chosen Ones to end up hating them and working against them? If they’re all like Casper, I can see why the people might would’ve rose up and enslaved her children, in the past!
“It’s okay,” I repeated once more, for Laulaia, while steeling my resentment against the hussy Casper. “You may as well finish putting the rest of them on, Milady,” I sighed deeply. “They won’t be coming off for several months, anyway.” Slowly unwrapping my arms from around Laulaia, I leaned back and held my one unshackled arm up in front of her.
“Are… Are you shure, you want me to be your miss tiss?” Snuffling slightly, Laulaia slurred several words as she wiped large tears from the corners of her eyes.
“No one I’d rather have in the world than you,” I told her, trying not to cry myself.
“Then… Then… Then you can’t complain over being my slave for now,” Laulaia snuffled.
As a strange electric warmth slowly leaked from around the edges of the neck collar, I fretfully feared she was right. When she’d demanded my hands, I’d been forced to present my arms out for her. Now that she’d demanded me not to complain, I had the strong impression that trying to do so might not be the best thing in the world. Direct orders, while wearing the shackles, apparently aren’t something which a slave can just choose to ignore. Domination must be another of the enchantments the shackles offer, and one which Casper just so casually forgot to mention.
Truly, I think I’m beginning to hate my damn goddess!
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It didn’t take long after the last shackle was firmly clasped into place, for me to learn a little about being a slave. As Laulaia fastened the last ankle shackle in place, a deep weariness settled over my whole body, and I soon found myself deeply asleep. How much time passed while I was asleep, I have no real way of knowing, but when I awoke, Laulaia was pacing back and forth across the stone floor around the pool, chewing on the ends of her hair as she twirled and played with it in her hands.
“Is something wrong?” Her behavior was odd enough to almost instantly raise warning flags in my mind, causing me to glance around nervously.
“The Lady of Life came and spoke to me in person. In person!” Laughing nervously, Laulaia stopped her pacing and stared at the rest of us incredulously.
“And what did she want?” Almost instantly, warning bells went off in my head. I might be Casper’s Chosen One, but the more I learn of her, the less I actually trust her. The woman moves for her own amusement, not for the betterment of her followers, or the world in general.
“To gift me a few things,” Laulaia frowned, looking worried. “The first was a ring,” Laulaia held up her left hand, showing off a simple golden band on her index finger, “which apparently can store and preserve items in it. If I can ever sort out the requirements for using it, that is.” Sighing deeply, Laulaia heavily chewed her lower lip in frustration.
“What’s so hard about using it?” Yawning greatly, Alaina was obviously just now waking up as well. Apparently, slaves aren’t allowed to see the goddess in person — this is the second time Casper has visited in person, and also the second time she’d put the servants and slaves to sleep.
“One has to imagine an invisible room, imagine putting or taking items from that room, and remember the exact position of everything,” Laulaia sighed, obviously frustrated. “Perfect details are required, or else the ring won’t work. I just don’t understand it,” Laulaia almost cried. “The Lady of Life said it was so the wearer could organize the contents, but who cares about that?! Just put something in it, then when you want it, pull it back out! I’ve never heard of a item of holding that required organizing and tracking its contents!”
“Sounds stupid to me,” I agreed, conveniently ignoring that I might have been the one to ask for such a feature — though not implemented in such a manner! I was imagining that it’d be some type of automatic magic which let you toss an assortment of various marbles in it, and then just pull out the blue ones, when needed. Apparently, we both had different visions for how it’d work, and Casper had settled on the lame-ass version.
“We also discussed the local terrain,” Laulaia sighed, obviously annoyed. “I wanted both of you to hear everything so you could ask questions and help sort out what we wanted to do next, but the Lady of Life wouldn’t allow it.”
“She’s a real bitch,” I agreed, wholeheartedly.
“So what did you learn?” Alaina stretched heartily, moving her body lithely to help limber her muscles. Frowning heavily, I forced my stiff and aching body to follow suit. Just how long had we been sleeping, anyway?
“There’s a small village about two weeks walk,” Laulaia informed us, “if we just keep following the river. The people there are all human, like us, but they don’t speak our language. They’re supposed to all be poor, and have a strong fear of wizards, so if I just make a small flame, they shouldn’t bother us. Lady Life said we could stay there for the winter and learn from the people, but we’d have to be careful. She warned there’s a great evil shadowing over the kingdom they’re part of. We don’t want to draw its attention, no matter what.”
“That doesn’t sound the best,” Alaina grimaced, touching her forehead down against her outstretched ankle.
“There’s another village only about a week’s journey inland,” Laulaia continued. “From what the Lady of Life said, they’re not human, and they’re generally aggressive to people. They won’t kill any of us, as long as Stef remains a female, but they’d probably eat Shadow and keep us all prisoners until we each delivered a newborn for them.”
“That direction’s definitely out of the question,” I said, nixing it completely.
“The only other option would be going back down the waterfall, backtracking around the coastline, with no use of any magic, while the corruption builds back in us again. If we’re persistent, we’ll eventually reach the other edge of the great cliff, and then we can build a raft and sail around the coast for about a week, before arriving at a trading port. The people there are part of a different kingdom, and we wouldn’t have to be as cautious of trouble there.”
A week back to the waterfall. A good month, or two, back to where we washed ashore. Slow travel in the opposite direction, dodging those damnable storms and relentless heat, followed by a week on the ocean. I’ve been learning to float, and swim lightly, in the pool as a woman, but who knows how I’d fare out upon the rough seas. I certainly can’t say I’d savor the prospect of ocean travel at all.
“So we can travel to human lands, where we don’t even speak the language, and beware some hidden darkness; travel to monster lands, and be kept prisoner until we give birth; or we can brave the storms and attempt to travel halfway around the world without any use of our magics. All great and lovely choices!” Sighing deeply, I was once again reminded of how harsh this new world was. Seldom does it offer us good choices. All we get is to choose amongst the suckiest Life has to offer.
“Dealing with the nearby humans sounds like the best bet,” Alaina decided. “The Lady of Life said we could stay and learn there, if Laulaia simply just shows them her magic. We’ll just have to be on our guard and avoid getting into trouble.”
“Not knowing the language is probably going to draw unwanted attention and get us into trouble,” I warned.
“We can always trade something to the Lady of Life, or offer to do another quest for her, in exchange for her teaching us the local language,” Laulaia suggested.
“Trade what?” I really don’t think we have anything which would interest a goddess.
“Your knife,” Alaina said, surprising me. “It was crafted in a different world. She might find that worth trading for.”
I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose at the idea. That knife was the last real memento I had from my wife. “Maybe we could check on doing another task first,” I suggested.
“I’ll ask,” Laulaia said, doubtfully.
“Ask her why the heck she’s not talking to me now, too.” Not that I really minded the Goddess of Hussies ignoring me. In a way, it was nice without her being in my mind and pestering me.
“You’re a slave for now,” Laulaia blushed, still embarrassed by her mistake. “The gods and goddesses don’t speak directly to slaves, without first having to get their owner’s permission. Casper said it was the most basic of manners,” Laulaia explained. “After all, even little children are taught not to play with other people’s toys without permission, she said.”
“So, we are just toys in their eyes,” I murmured under my breath. Stupid gods! Stupid goddesses!
“Oh, great and mighty Goddess of Life, please tell me if there’s a task which we could perform with your chosen child, for you, in exchange for being able to communicate with the locals.” Laulaia was much more polite and faithful sounding than I’ve ever been. Maybe Casper should choose her to be her Chosen One, instead of me. Stupid goddess!
“Uh-huh.” Laulaia was once again staring off into space and nodding her head stupidly, listening to a voice that no one else could hear. Did I look that idiotic when talking to Casper? I’m going to have to make a note to stick to mental communication with the idiot goddess, once these stupid shackles come off, come the spring.
“That’s great! We’ll do it!” Half bouncing, Laulaia laughed happily, turning her attention back to the rest of us.
“We’ll do what,” I asked, wearily? I really don’t have any faith in that stupid goddess anymore.
“Oh, there’s a few rules if we take the task? Like what?” Laulaia’s attention was almost instantly yo-yoed back to the divine voice in her head. I almost feel sorry for her; I certainly remember how difficult it was, trying to adjust to that sudden disruption of thought coming from out of nowhere.
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” Laulaia agreed. “We can do that.”
Do what? Do what? Curiosity was eating me alive!
“That shouldn’t be a problem either,” Laulaia confirmed, nodding her head up and down slightly. “But I don’t know about the timeline,” she frowned, and lightly bit her lower lip.
Not a problem? Timeline? ARRRRGGHHH! Come on! You’re killing me here!
“Oh! That sounds excellent then,” Laulaia beamed a brilliant smile, her face lighting up brightly. “It sounds like we have ourselves a deal.”
Yay us! Now, can we hear about what type of deal we have? Pretty please.
Grinning broadly, Laulaia half bounced as she finally turned her attention back to Alaina and me. “Great news! I’ve just successfully negotiated with the Lady of Life! We have a new task.”
Successfully negotiated? My ass! All she did was agree to whatever the goddess asked from her! That’s not a negotiation. Thank goodness nobody can read my mind at the moment, or else they might not want to hear the thoughts I’m having to fight back to keep from saying right now!
“All we have to do,” Laulaia laughed lightly, “is go a little distance from the temple, and outside the city, and into an old tomb. We need to cleanse it, and bring back an old amulet from inside, as proof that the task is done.”
“That doesn’t sound too terrible,” I admitted, wondering what the catch was.
“I don’t think it is,” Laulaia agreed. “Only thing is we’ve got to gather up some herbs from the boogermen first, and you have to remain a female except when performing the Ritual of Soil and Seed. You and Alaina both need the proper herbs for a slave, so you won’t stand out from any others in the land, and the Lady of Life thinks this would be a good time for both of you to adjust to having them. You’ll both have to do the task as precious little slave-girls.”
“That shouldn’t be too difficult,” Alaina shrugged, completely non-pulsed by the requirement.
“And you’ve done agreed to this?” Sighing, I knew the answer even before hearing it. After all, I’d heard her agree to the terms myself, just a few moments ago.
“Yep! And we’ve got up to a whole month to do it in,” Laulaia laughed happily. “And, for each week we manage to do it faster than that, more than one of use will get the reward. If it takes a month, one person gets the reward. If we do it in three weeks, two people get the reward. If we manage to do it in two weeks, everyone will get the reward! The faster we are, the bigger the reward will be!”
Not to be a killjoy, but I had to ask, “Wasn’t you asking for all of us to be able to understand the local language, even from the start?”
“I was,” Laulaia agreed, “but the Lady of Life wanted the whole task completed by the next full moon, which is in about 16 days. Like this, we still have about the same chance to get the reward for everyone – we just have to do it in 14 days, instead of the original 16 she was asking for – but we also have a chance to at least get a partial reward if it takes longer than that.
“It’s not an all-or-nothing task,” Laulaia laughed, “and I was worried about that. You two have gotten really good at purifying the boogermen, but it’s still all hit-and-miss with what type of plant we cleanse. I was really worried that we might not be able to get the proper herbs in time, and we wouldn’t get any sort of reward at all, but now we’ve got a lot more leeway with that than before.”
Cleansing more stupid boogermen, just so I can collect the herbs to make myself a proper slave. Yay me! Completely disgusted with this stupid world, I staggered up the steps and towards the exit. Just another idiot problem I’ve got to deal with – stupid ultra-high heels! It doesn’t matter if they’re magically and make walking on mud, or rough terrain, just as smooth as walking on flat pavement. I can’t even walk in them on the damn flat pavement!
“Come on, Alaina. Shadow. Let’s get started on hunting these stupid plants. The faster we finish this task, the better the reward.” And the faster I can go back to being a man, I thought to myself!
“Coming, Stef!” Laughing lightly, Alaina grabbed up her spear and quickly bounced up the stairs past me. Apparently, I don’t even rate a, ‘Yes, my lord-husband,” anymore in her eyes. Hell – I’m not even a Steffen anymore. I’m just the pitiful little slave-girl Stef now.
Refusing to cry, I struggled to keep my balance as I hurried up the steps as quickly as possible behind her and Shadow.