Chapter 27: What Was That?

Master is occupied in his desk writing a letter. There’s this wide grin on his face that won’t go away; the type of expression that surfaces whenever he’s thinking about Rosalia.

Because I keep staring, Master hands me some gold and instructs me to have fun elsewhere. He ushers me out of the door and slams it behind me. What to do? This is my first time strolling out in the open by myself. I’m not sure where to go exactly I decide to rent a boat.

“Just by yourself today, Miss?” Maybe due to coincidence, but the same man who assisted us two days before takes on the task of rowing me in the canal.

“Yes,” I answer as I take his hand and get on the boat.

“Where would you like me to take you?”

“Hmm…” I tell him to drop me at the blacksmith store as it’s the first place that comes to mind.

I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear as the man begins to row the boat. He’s repeatedly stealing glances at my direction. Is this his first time seeing a slave walk out in the open by herself? I wish he would stop. It’s starting to get awkward, yet I still feign ignorance to his repeated glimpses. Thrashing him here would cause Master some big troubles. So I just place my hands together on top of my thighs and enjoy the peaceful ambiance in this canal.

While the rowing continues, the day when Master purchased me involuntarily comes back in my mind.

We had a visitor: a man with the same color as my eyes, but his were a shade darker. There was that curious glint of compassion too that separated him from the other customers. I couldn’t explain what it was, but I felt some sort of connection bridging the two of us when our skins touched. I remembered Leila, one of the other slaves, described a feeling like this before she was bought. It turned out that man who bought her wasn’t any different from the rest, but he did gave her some proper treatment before he asked her to perform her duties. In the end, it wouldn’t change that our job was to pleasure men. I expected my turn to come. I couldn’t hide behind the others forever.

However, when my ownership was transferred to my new master, I was freed from the shackles that had bind me to that wretched place. I thought — no, prayed — for a moment that he would release me, but then I realized our contract was completed. There was no need to keep me shackled. The two of us were bound until death.

I didn’t know if I should be laughing or crying. The man who bought me is young. He looked about the same age as me, perhaps a year older or two, yet I couldn’t understand what was going through his head when he offered me his robe. But I donned it and trailed behind him in the busy crowd. Those were his orders

I guessed he wanted to bed me immediately, as we headed straight to his inn. Master introduced me to several new people before having me cleanse myself. Then a lady was kind enough to give me a change of clothes. It was a little loose around the chest area but I wore it anyways. When I returned to Master’s side, we both had dinner together. It was my first hot meal in a while. The food reminded me of my village too.

Surprisingly, that night, it seemed like we’d be using separate rooms. That eased my mind a little. At least he wasn’t thinking of touching me everyday. But Master followed me to my room and instructed me to sit on the bed. He watched me, he stood there, and studied me carefully. I was more than terrified for the first time in a while. I thought I had gotten used to those types of faces, but I was wrong. However, I didn’t show it on my face. Although I was foolish to believe that my facade would last. He sat beside me and asked me question after questions. He didn’t like my nodding, so he gave me another order: to act more openly from now on.

Come to think of it, that was when I first thought my Master is an odd man. We’ve gone a long way since then, but there’s still a lot of things we need to do. As he always said, we’re not even halfway done yet. I think I should be fine. And I’ll protect my Master as he protects me. I don’t know the real reason why Minerva left me this medallion, only that I would need it in the future to help my Master in her place. She had told me not to tell Master about it before she left, but should I inform Master after all?

I lift my head when the rowing halts. The boat stops at the edge of a wooden dock and the man jumps off, reaching out a hand to me. I accept, allowing him to pull me up on my feet. “The blacksmith here is good but he’s a little grumpy I think I should head with you inside.”

I grumble something as a reply and make my way to the door. But the man stops me on my track and opens it for me instead. Even though I pride myself for easily reading men’s expression, he’s flashing me a smile that I couldn’t read. I don’t understand this sudden feeling in my chest. It’s like fear has rooted on my legs, and it’s consuming me. It's warning me not to go there. But as I stop and think, two strong hands push me inside the building. I stumble and fall. Twisting my face away from the wooden floor, I look around me. There is nothing here except for the wooden crates that filled the room. This isn’t the blacksmith store!

“Just stay there if you don’t want to get hurt.” As this words reach my ears, the cold and sharp tip of metal grazes the back of my head.

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Immediately, a line of sweat drops down from my left cheek. “What do you want from me?”

He pushes his blade forward, and it hurts, as if I’ve been struck by a scorpion’s tail. “Don’t even try it. Unnecessary deaths are not our goal, but I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

“Kill me? Don’t tell me… Are you after Master? Tell me!”

This calm yet intimidating aura — I have felt it before. It was that single time when Master confronted that Azure Dragon to protect Minerva. But I thought Minerva left to get us out of this mess she involved us in? I have known my Master is different from all the others, yet not to the point where powerful beings such as Dragons would fear him enough to sabotage him like this. What does he even plan to do with me? I’m nothing but a discardable slave.

Then I hear the man sigh in the middle of my musings. “I see no harm in telling you, but only if you behave.”

He got me there. Resisting here seems like a bad choice I stop struggling altogether and take a deep breath. “Fine, I’ll behave myself.”

I shrug my shoulders and raise my hands in defeat.

“Good.” The man throws a crystal for me to pick up. I look into it, and the light reflecting into my eyes reveals a figure — it’s Master.

Master’s still planted in front of his desk. That’s good. But then he turns his head to the door, like someone knocked, and he goes there. Master opens his arms wide when the door opens. A woman comes into the circle of his arms and kisses his cheek. Master guides her into our room with his arm circled around her waist, to his bed, and he sits beside her. Then Master hugs the woman out of nowhere and dips his head down on her blonde hair.

JUHGKDGEH!!!  Master, what are you doing? That woman’s your enemy! It’s hard to tell exactly, but she seems to be enjoying it too.

They exchange some light kisses before Master says, “What’s wrong, baby? You couldn’t handle a single day without my little guy or what? Still, you could’ve told me you’d be visiting. That way I could’ve ordered some food for us both. How did you even know I’m staying here?”

“I have my connections.”

“So, let’s take a bath together first?”

“That’s not what I came here for.”

“Oh, so straight to bed? I like that. I like that about you.”

Master, you need to extinguish that grin on your face! Can’t you see she’s plotting something? But it’s too late. Master’s already consumed by his desires. It’s showing on his face — on his widening grin!

“Dude, the elder has decided your verdict. As a person, we do not deem you dangerous, but your abilities are.”  

“Babe, you've got to explain this in detail. I don’t understand what you mean?”

“Dude, would you like to know how many times I tried to kill you when we were making love?”

“So you mean, those weren’t love bites? I thought you were just being kinky.”

What is this familiarity between them two? I feel so left out I almost want to cry.

The woman breaks from his embrace and stands in front of our glass window. “You have it with you, don’t you?”

“Have it with me? Laura—”

“Stop playing games, Dude! Hand me the sword!”

Finally, this evil witch has shown her true form. But Master remains in his position. He fishes something out of his pocket — a thin stick — and puts it in his mouth. He lights it up using some sort of imaginative tool before resting his foot on top of his thigh.

“It’s a shame, Laura. I’ve started to like you, you know? I’m guessing you having the confidence to show up here and demand these things mean that Fia’s in your possession somewhere?”

“Yes, that’s right. So hand me the sword if you value your slave.”

“Laura, you know how easy it is for me to kill a Dragon? If something were to happen to Fia… well, I’ll leave it to your imagination.”

Awww, Master. Now I’m having a hard time hating on your weirdness beforehand.

“Dude, you should know that we came here in peace. But we needed reassurance. As long as you comply to our demands, then we’ll give her back to you safe and sound. You have my word.”

Master shrugs. “You’re not giving me much choice here.”

"My apologies, but please understand."

"Alright. It's the sword you want, it's the sword you'd get. See how easy I am to convince?"

Master waves his right hand into thin air and pulls out a sword even bigger than he is.

“No way… So he does have it with him after all,” the man behind me says.

“Have it with him? What do you mean?” I ask.

“Look at him again. I’m afraid to say your master’s not human. He’s something else entirely.”

Something else entirely? Those last words entice me to narrow my eyes into the crystal again.

“What…” For a moment, for the first time, I see a strange thing — the silhouette of a woman with a snake as a lower half — looming above my Master’s figure.

It can’t be. It’s this man’s fault that I’m seeing weird things. I rub my eyes and look again, and the snake woman slowly turns her head to me. And then, the woman smiles.

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