One

Lia, Chloris, and a couple other women were seated at the dining table when Vara, Isla and Ruby walked into the room. The women rose when Vara entered, and she nodded to them as she crossed the wide, window-lit room. She gestured toward two seats beside each other on the side of the table near Chloris. Ruby moved obediently toward the chairs indicated, reaching back for her sister’s hand as she went. Though she reached the chairs quickly, she did not sit down until Vara reached her own chair at the head of the table. The woman nodded down at her table, and Lia, Chloris, and the others sat down. Vara’s chair was pulled by Galen, who also kissed her affectionately on the neck as he pushed her in. Ruby saw Vara’s hand reach up and stroke the side of his face gently as he kissed her. Ruby’s gaze flitted away in embarrassment at seeing what appeared to be a private, intimate moment between lovers.

“Good evening,” Vara told the table as she settled into her seat more comfortably. She turned her head to look up into Galen’s eyes, placing her hand over his on her shoulder. “Bring the wine yourself and send Argos and Plato in with dinner.”

“Yes, mistress,” he answered, and his hand on her shoulder squeezed gently as he pulled away from her.

“May I welcome Ruby and Isla to the Temple Vara of Capitol,” Vara greeted after she sent her slave from the room. She gestured toward Ruby and her sister. “Isla is sixteen. Ruby is fourteen.” Her gaze swept over them, and she sent them a tight smile. “You already met Chloris and Lia,” she said as she gestured first at Chloris on her left side, and then down the length of the table to Lia, who was seated directly across from Isla. “I would also like to introduce you to some important friends of mine.”

Ruby expected the two women seated on the right-hand side of the table to be a couple other daughters, so was surprised to hear them labeled as friends. Galen returned while Vara was speaking, and he halted beside the door with the wine bottle in his hands, a wine rag draped precisely over his arm.

“This is Tethys of Capitol,” Vara introduced the woman seated across from Ruby. Tethys had long, straight red hair that fell down the middle of her back and cut off in an abrupt line below her shoulder blades. She had brown eyes below full black brows, and a mouth that curved naturally upward. There were a few lines at the corners of her eyes, but Ruby could not gauge her age.

Tethys gave a nod and offered Ruby a small smile.

“And this is Delta of e’Silea.”

The woman she presented had curled silver hair but was not nearly old enough to have hair that had turned silver from old age. In fact, the silver did not look like the gray associated with old age at all, but seemed to have a metallic shine Ruby had never before seen. The only conclusion Ruby could come to was that the young woman had somehow manufactured silver hair, though there was no reason Ruby could think of to do that. Her face was soft, but she had strong blue eyes, a gently upturned nose, and full, pink lips. Despite her apparent youth, this woman was the strongest of the two guests. Her beauty did not detract from the air of authority that surrounded her. Her dress was an ice-blue silk that draped to the floor. It had no sleeves, and it had cut-out triangles along the sides of the dress that showed skin all the way down her body. Her smile encompassed both girls, but when her gaze swept over them, she seemed to take their measurements and read their minds in an instant.

Vara motioned Galen forward as she said, “Tethys will be your instructress when you begin Classes. She teaches e’Silean history, values, law, and arts.”

The red-haired woman gave them both a smile. “I’m eager to get to know you both.”

Galen served the silver-haired young woman first, and then Vara, after which he served Tethys. Chloris and Lia were both offered a cup of wine, and they both declined. When Galen moved toward Isla and Ruby with the wine bottle, Vara cleared her throat and shook her head slightly at him. Galen withdrew with a smile at them and a whispered promise, “I’ll bring you some fresh juice.”

Before Vara could say anything about Delta, the girl spoke. Her voice drew the attention of the entire room, though she spoke neither loudly nor harshly.

“I understand you come from overseas. You were raised in a hamlet in the Foreland, I believe?”

Ruby glanced aside at Isla, whose head was down and her eyes staring into her lap. When she did not seem ready to speak, Ruby spoke up.

“Yes. Mother was a laundress in Louvel.”

Delta’s head tilted to one side, and her silver curls bounced on her shoulder as she did so. “She was quite young to own her own trade,” the woman said with a smile.

A flicker of annoyance scraped at Ruby’s chest.

“You’re very young your own self,” she replied tartly before she could rule her tongue.

Isla let out a defeated breath beside her, and Ruby slapped a hand over her own mouth in surprise. But again, Vara laughed at Ruby’s meager display of temper. Delta and Tethys also laughed, as did Chloris. Lia smiled and reached across the table to rub Ruby’s hand gently.

“Yes,” Delta agreed on a laugh. She moved aside automatically as Argos placed a filled plate in front of her—serving her first again. “I am quite young. I was eager to begin Classes at far too young an age, and my mother was much too busy running trades and leading the country to argue with me. Like her, I finished in record time and began in her Trade; she believed I was too young to apprentice away from her. Once done with that Trade, I began another. Actually, I got lucky and apprenticed to a woman who practiced two trades. I had to count hours separately, of course, but I was able to walk away from her temple with two extra trades in my hands.” She smiled at Ruby’s expression of confusion. “Don’t worry. Tethys will teach you about everything I said. At any rate, when my mother retired, I was called before the e’Silean Council and asked to represent the interests of the people of e’Silea as their queen.”

Ruby blinked in surprise, and Isla’s head shot up.

Vara nodded in confirmation of the woman’s claim. “Delta of e’Silea is the e’Silean Queen. I think you will find, though, that queens in e’Silea differ greatly from rulers in Foreland and Mainland.”

When Galen leaned forward to refill the Queen’s cup, Delta reached up and placed her hand on his face. She met his eye from the corner of her own and shook her head ever so slightly. Vara chuckled lightly, and said, “Delta is also the Trainer of my slaves. That does not, however, give her the right to handle my slaves.” She shot Delta a playful scowl, but the silver-haired woman’s eyes danced, and she deliberately continued stroking down the man’s chest before pushing him away.

“Obviously, I am testing his loyalty to e’Silea,” she insisted, with a tone of merriment in her voice.

“Incidentally,” Chloris spoke up, breaking into the conversation of the other women. She looked down at Isla and Ruby. “It is actually considered very rude to touch another woman’s slave without permission. It’s not strictly against the law, but it’s unwise. Women are tetchy about their men.”

Isla’s chest rose and fell heavily, and she returned her gaze to her plate in fury. Ruby, though, speculated on Chloris’ warning. Once, when she was a very small girl, she got distracted in the market by a doll in a shop window. A man stooped to speak to her in a friendly way, and asked her about the doll. He offered to give her a doll that was much better if she went off with him. Then, he took her by the hand in a kind way. They only made it a couple yards before Mother found them. She saw the man’s hand clasped around Ruby’s and shrieked at him to unhand her daughter. “She’s mine!” she shouted at the top of her voice. “Don’t you ever lay a finger on my children again!” Ruby never forgot the black look the man shot Mother as he ducked between two market stalls and disappeared. She never forgot the panic-stricken look in Mother’s eyes as she wrapped her arms around Ruby and asked her repeatedly if she was alright.

“A little like touching someone’s child without invitation,” Ruby said aloud into the room, and met Chloris’ gaze. It was Vara, though, that spoke.

“A little, yes. In general, it is safer to keep one’s hands to oneself.”

Two

Delta gave a tinkling sort of laugh and shook her head slightly as she picked up her fork. “I assure you, I do not go ‘round e’Silea manhandling all women’s slaves. I have a trick, actually. I only sell to women who will allow me to continue handling the merchandise once it’s been placed.”

Ruby did not completely understand her words. But Isla’s head shot up again. Her tone was as cold as a mountain storm, “So, you owned Galen before Vara? You sold him to Vara?”

Ruby’s eyes widened at her sister’s tone, but also at the idea that a person could be owned in e’Silea. It was a completely foreign concept to her.

Delta did not answer immediately, and when Vara seemed ready to speak, the young queen placed a gentle hand on her arm to halt her.

“No,” she answered at last, not looking away from Isla for a moment. “Galen was Trained in the illustrious Temple Gaia. Gaia sold him to Vara. But I was there when he was Trained for service. I was there in the temple when he learned about his divine right and his role within the True and Natural Order.” At Isla’s snarling expression, she went on, “I would like you to understand, Isla, though I do not expect you to accept it right away: Galen was very much like… a brother to me. We were raised together. In the same temple, we learned about our roles and our responsibilities. In the same temple, we were taught, raised, disciplined, loved, and trained. Both of us. And I cannot speak for him, but I was raised quite happily.”

Isla snapped, “You were raised to be free!”

Vara scoffed, and Chloris’ eyes darkened. But Delta only laughed. It was not a scornful laugh. It was gentle.

“Oh no, child! I was never raised to be free. Honestly, I have never known what that word meant. As a child, I belonged to Gaia of e’Silea every bit as much as Galen did. I was not given a blank canvas of choices, and neither was he. When he made a mistake, he was scolded, as was I. When he earned an infraction—”

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The man interrupted her in a scandalized tone, “I never earned an infraction!”

Delta laughed again, and said playfully, “Hush, you! I’m making a point.”

He pulled a face. “Not very well.”

Vara shot him a glance Ruby did not understand, but he gave a slight shrug and stepped back from the table under her gaze.

Delta went on. “If he had earned an infraction, he would have been punished, just as I was when I earned an infraction. Tell me this, Isla: did your mother never punish you?”

Ruby remembered her own punishments very well. But she had always been more willful and less controlled than her sister.

Isla seemed to be grinding her teeth. All she said was a tight, “Of course she did.”

Delta gave a single nod. “And did she let you make any choices you wanted? Did she give you the freedom to do anything you wished?”

Again, Isla ground her teeth around the words, “No, of course she didn’t.”

The e’Silean Queen gave a single nod. “I train slaves much the same way, Isla. They are not free, anymore than I ever was, or you were. They are taught my expectations, just as I’m sure you learned your mother’s. Just as my children learn from me. When slaves are punished, it is not because I am some sort of evil dictator: it is to teach a lesson. When I raise my daughters, I look for their strengths and I help them develop their skills to be successful in life. When I train my slaves, I do the same thing.

“Freedom is a false precept created by people who spend their time with the outliers of society. I am not for one moment saying there are not slaves who are mistreated and abused. Just like, as I am sure you know, some parents abuse their children.” The silver-haired young woman pressed a hand to her heart. “But, and listen carefully to this, Isla, because this is what I am most passionate about in my life: Happiness is an emotion. It ebbs and flows. Galen does not always feel happy, and sometimes his unhappiness is because of the way he is treated. But, I think if you examine your own happiness, you will find the same experiences. The way I am treated, or mistreated, affects the way I feel and my level of happiness at any given time.”

Delta straightened in her chair slightly, sitting taller and somehow more regally than before. “I cannot base my decisions on happiness, as it is unpredictable. But order can be established, and does not have the intransience of emotion attached. While you are trying to decide whether to fight for the cause of ‘freedom,’ I urge you to think about this: e’Silea is founded on the principles of order, safety, balance, harmony, and family. Because of this, e’Silea has virtually no poverty, crime, or illiteracy. e’Silea has no abandoned children—no orphans—no beggars. e’Silea has no prisons. In e’Silea, there are no women, no men, no children who do not have a place, a purpose, and a home. Can you say these things about Foreland, whose countries are built upon precepts of freedom? I’ve been to Foreland, Isla, and to Mainland. I would never claim that people cannot be happy there. Of course, happiness is an emotion everyone can feel, no matter where or who they are. But, when I walk the streets of cities in Foreland, I do not see safety, order, balance, or harmony. Many times, I don’t see family. In e’Silea, I never do not see these things.”

She drew her wine glass to her lips, took a sip, and then smiled over at Vara. “Sorry, Vara. I never intended to spend your dinner preaching e’Silean values. What would you like to talk about?”

Ruby, though, could not concentrate on the conversation at the table. Her mind was full of the words order, balance, family, safety, and harmony. Her brain tried to comprehend a place with no crime and no poverty. She assumed when she looked around the house that Vara was very wealthy, but was this simply the standard for living in e’Silea? Did everyone here enjoy this much beauty and relaxation?

While she thought, she ate the food on her plate. She finished her entire meal without really tasting it. She could not concentrate on anything except the queen’s words about how she and Galen—a slave—had been raised the same way. But, if that was true, why was he serving the table instead of eating at it? It was too foreign an idea for her to try and wrap her mind around. Somehow, it just seemed as though she might have had an easier time accepting this if the roles were reversed.

In the middle of a pair of conversations between Tethys and Lia, and Vara, Chloris, and the queen, Ruby burst out with, “Did Galen get to choose whether or not he wanted to be a servant?”

Choice seemed to be the only hinge left in the casket of her fears about e’Silea.

The room silenced around her. Vara’s eyes widened in amused surprise. But Delta said, “No. Not really. But then, did you decide to be who and what you are?”

Galen cleared his throat and stepped forward. With a look at Vara, he asked, “If I may…?” She raised a stern brow at him, but gave a nod. Galen turned then and smiled at Ruby. “Mistress Ruby, they can’t force me to do anything I don’t want to do. In an attempt at brutal honesty, Mistress Delta can claim I did not choose my life, but I did.” His gaze flickered toward Delta, who looked quite surprised. “Forgive me.” He looked back into Ruby’s face. “Every day, I choose to be this person. I choose to serve Mistress Vara, and be an asset to her temple, and a string in her heart. ‘Slave’ is just a word here, a noun that denotes my gender. Some people want it to mean something vile. But for me, it is not an ugly word. It means I have a mistress who loves me and wants me, and keeps me satisfied, healthy, and occupied. I don’t dispute that happiness is an emotion, but I can say with all honesty that I am happier much oftener than I am unhappy. And, as a man who was raised in Mainland as a lad, and experienced plenty of freedom, I can competently say, I’m happier and more content here in e’Silea.”

Ruby’s heart continued to fill with hope, and she begged him, “Really? And you don’t mind doing the laundry, and stuff?”

Galen grinned. “I detest laundry, actually, but that doesn’t matter, because Argos does the laundry.”

Ruby had a feeling he was teasing her, but his words made her relax a bit more, even if they seemed to have no effect on Isla whatsoever. Isla, in fact, became stonier and cooler with every word.

“Do you ever get to do what you want to do? Or are you stuck doing chores all the time?”

Vara spoke up at this. “How filthy a temple do you think I have, little girl? My slave complement is plenty large enough to accommodate education and relaxation times for my slaves. I bought that piano in the library for Galen’s use. What, did you think I kept him chained in a basement when he isn’t serving table?”

Ruby’s lower lip trembled, and she cried out, “I don’t know! I don’t know how it all works!”

Lia came around the table and wrapped her arms around Ruby’s slighter frame. She scolded, “Honestly, Vara! Stop teasing her.” She stroked Ruby’s head and spoke soothingly, “You can ask any questions you want, Ruby. And your question was a good one. Galen and the other slaves do many things during the day, and not all of them are service tasks. Just like you may have attended school in Louvel—it might not have always been your favorite thing, but it was your responsibility. Same for them! He does do the laundry sometimes, when he’s needed, and he doesn’t always love it, but it’s his responsibility. We all have activities we would rather be doing than the tasks we are required to do. The slaves are people, too. They have needs and desires, and ambitions just like you and me. But Vara does not abuse her slaves. She loves her slaves. And they love her.” She looked up. “Don’t you, Galen?”

Galen’s expression of adoration when he looked at Vara could not have been faked. If he had truly despised or feared Vara, he could never have caressed her name when he said, “Serving Mistress Vara is my highest privilege.”

Ruby let herself be held against Lia for a moment, then she looked aside at Isla, who was watching her with clouded eyes.

Boldly, Ruby insisted, “I want to stay here, Isla.”

Three

Isla’s expression cooled further, but she did not have a chance to say anything. Vara spoke up. “You are staying here, Ruby. Both of you. Because you belong to me. It is my right to love you and keep you.” She snapped her fingers sharply at Galen. “Dessert.”

“Yes, Mistress,” he exited the room without a backward glance and, watching him, Ruby could not see any displeasure or resentment in his face or body language. Lia squeezed her again and returned to her own seat.

Once dessert was served, and everyone was back to conversing cordially, Ruby hissed under her breath, “I think we need to give them a chance, Isla. No crime? No poverty? No orphanages!”

Isla turned her head very slowly and looked Ruby in the eye. “Well, I won’t leave you, Ruby, and I would never try to drag you away unwillingly. But I’m not nearly as drawn into all this as you are. They can dress it up all they want, indoctrinate their men to believe they are servants, and tell everyone this is the ‘natural’ order. But it won’t work on me. It will never work on me. I keep thinking about Mother.”

Ruby was puzzled at her sister’s reaction. “Me too! I think she would want us to be here, Isla. I think she would want us to be cared-for and surrounded by family.”

Isla shook her head, as if weary with Ruby’s naivety. “If that’s so, why didn’t she tell us about this place? If she considered these people to be her family, why didn’t she ever write to them? Why didn’t she talk about them? Why didn’t she bring us back here herself after father died, if she wanted us to be here?” She shook her head. It reminded Ruby of their mother, the stubbornness. Isla hissed, “If e’Silea is so good and wonderful, why did Mother run away in the first place?”

Ruby could not answer that question. All she knew was that she felt relaxed and loved for the first time since mother died. She did not want to worry about the things on Isla’s mind. She wanted to feel at peace again.

“My heart sings for this place,” Ruby told her sister urgently. “It’s like I found a piece of myself I never knew was missing.”

Isla scoffed and shook her heavy head. “And for me, it’s like I discovered a dark and shameful secret I never knew I had.” She pushed her plate toward the center of the table without tasting the pudding Galen served her. Argos removed the plate as soon as her fingers moved off the rim.

“Tired?” Vara asked down the table, looking intently at Isla. “You’ve had a long day.”

“Yes,” Isla replied with little kindness in her tone. Though, in its softness, people who did not actually know her might not have been able to pick up on her dissatisfaction.

Vara rose to her feet. “Excuse me, then, Delta, Tethys. Chloris can take you through to the sitting room. I’ll just tuck the girls in and come right back.”

The idea of being tucked in made Ruby feel warm inside. But Isla let out an exasperated sigh that could not have been hidden by even the densest of watchers. “We are well-grown young women, Aunt Vara. We do not need to be tucked in like little children.”

Vara did not let the scolding words stall her from her intentions. She tugged Isla’s and Ruby’s chairs back from the table and said gently, “Not needing and not deserving are two different things. A child does not need a spanking for being disrespectful to her temple keeper, but she might well deserve one. And a child does not need to be tucked into bed, and kissed, and loved, but every child on the Goddess’ green earth deserves it. Come along.”

Just as she had when she’d brought them into the room, she bundled the two of them out of it. And Vara was true to her word. She sent Isla into her own room, while she went into Ruby’s with her. After helping her out of the bizarre, immodest dress, and helping her into a bizarre, immodest nightgown, Vara peeled down the covers of Ruby’s bed and sat on the edge as Ruby climbed in. It did remind Ruby of the way her mother sat at her bedside when she was a small girl, but it did not bother Ruby.

As Vara pulled the covers up to her chin, she smiled down at Ruby and said, “I still tuck Chloris into her blankets some nights. If it wasn’t against the law to break into another woman’s temple, I would probably go tuck all my daughters in and kiss them goodnight.” She leaned over and kissed Ruby softly, just as Mother used to do. Ruby’s eyes burned with tears.

“Why did Mother leave here, Aunt Vara?”

Vara’s eyes took on a distant, haunted quality, and she answered simply, “I don’t know, little girl. I ask myself that question every day.” She smoothed Ruby’s hair away from her forehead, leaned and kissed her again.

“Good night, angel. My room is at the end of the hall, if you need me in the night.” She rose smoothly, checked the counterpane was covering Ruby up to her chin, then closed the curtains around the bed with the tug of a single silken cord. The sheer curtains dropped around Ruby on all sides, surrounding her in a cocoon of softness.

“Sleep tight,” Vara said as she slipped from the room, leaving the door ajar. But Ruby popped up in her bed and tugged the curtain aside slightly to watch Vara cross the hall and enter Isla’s room. She shook her head slightly, knowing that Vara would not be as welcome in there as she was in this room, but hoping that Isla would not resist the affection their aunt so obviously wanted to give them.

Ruby’s mind was full of what she had seen and heard tonight. It was full of Aunt Vara’s wealth, and Queen Delta’s smiles. It was full of hopes and possibilities for the future. She fell asleep smelling island flowers through the windows that had been left ajar. And somewhere, off in the distance, she heard the slap of water on the sand, whispering promises in her ears.