The dining area reminded me of a school cafeteria in design, right down to the steam table at the end of the room. Katy escorted me to the serving line and placed items on my tray as I indicated them by pointing.

When I was finished she led me to a table already occupied by about half a dozen other people.

"Everybody, this is Charles. He's taken a vow of silence, so he can't answer questions." Katy explained.

Well that made as much sense as the truth anyway.

A big guy stood up and offered his hand.

"I'm Neils Pederson. I'm in charge of water safety." he said with a slight Danish accent

I shook it and was glad to still find all of my fingers afterwards.

A slim older woman with reddish hair was next to offer me a hand in greeting.

"I'm Emma. I'm the self defense instructor here", she said in a pleasant English tone

I bowed politely over her hand as Katy giggled.

"You must forgive Katy, Charles. The conventions of polite society are foreign to her." Emma scolded.

"Don't bother much with that stuff here," said another man in a harsh Texas rasp. "I'm Jerry Dodge, Chuck. Nice to meetcha. I'm the wrangler for this place."

"Katy tells me that you're going to be working here for a couple of weeks. What are you going to be doing?" Emma asked.

Katy intercepted the question again for me.

"The Queen wants him to spend time everywhere, and she asked us all to help shape him up."

She reached for my tray.

"In fact, I'll start right now."

She took the piece of pie I has taken and proceeded to hit me in the face with it.

"You are on a diet. Remember?" she snarled at me.

I sat with the cream dripping from my face. There were far more polite ways to remind me of that fact and most of them less embarrassing. I wanted to say something but I couldn't. I did however reach for the pie on Jerry Dodge's tray.

"You wouldn't dare!" she said as I picked it up.

I hefted it, measuring the distance and considering the results, and glared at her evilly. The rest of the group sat waiting for the strike. I didn't want an incident, but I didn't relish letting the insult go unpunished.

I gently set the pie slice down on Jerry's tray and wiped the remnants of my slice from my face.

Wordlessly I pantomimed bending her over my lap and spanking her.

The whole group broke out in laughter and Emma tossed me a napkin to finish wiping with.

"You guys sure take your vows seriously." Jerry laughed. "I mean turn the other cheek and all. I'd a hit her."

"He just knows how to control himself better than you do." Katy said. "Don't you?"

I nodded.

She was of Ay'esha, I knew that now from her speech habits.

In a natural motion I touched the medallion around my neck as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Finish up Charles. The Queen wants to see you after dinner," she said.

I ate my dinner in reasonable silence and was escorted to an office on the second floor of the building.

The Queen sat behind a large desk waiting for me. I knelt before her upon entering and heard Katy close the door behind me.

"Well I see you know what to do in my presence. I was watching that little incident in the dining room on the monitor camera. You did very well. Katy was under orders to try and break your silence. Katy and I are the only ones here who know exactly who you are. To the rest of them you are Charles Freeman. You have been sent here to survey our operations. You will tell them nothing else. You will follow the training program laid out for you. You will keep your conversations with the guests to a minimum."

The Queen got up and walked to my side of the desk.

"You will obey any orders that Katy gives you as if they were mine. Understood?"

I nodded in agreement.

"When you leave here you may speak again. GO!" she commanded and directed me towards the door.

I exited and found Katy waiting for me.

She took me by the arm and led me outside onto a balcony overlooking the sea.

"Would spanking me make you feel any better?" she teased.

"No Miss", I said looking into the night sky.

"It's Katy, not Miss. I have no title. Not Mistress, Master, or anything else. I still need to earn one. Perhaps you can help."

"What kind of help could I provide?" turning to face her.

"If you tried to escape, I could stop you. That way the Queen might be impressed enough to give me a title." she suggested.

"No."

"No what?" she pressed.

"Miss Katy, I'm not going to escape or even have it look as if I was trying to escape. I don't want to escape."

"Why?"

"Because I love my Mistress. I will not risk my returning to her to help you. You will earn your title as I have earned mine. By working hard." I told her.

She scoffed at that.

"What possible title could you have. After all you're just a slave."

"I am Mistress Minx's slave. I could ask for no better title than that." I replied proudly.

A gleam came into her eye.

"You have been instructed to follow my orders as well as the Queen's?" she confirmed.

"Yes Miss Katy."

"Then follow me . slave"