"I'm going to get you a drink. Just stay there."

I did as I was commanded and didn't move. Even the thought of a friend of Lydia's wasn't enough to cause me to budge.

Katy returned with a squeeze bottle of water and let me suck on it slowly, saying nothing, just looking down at me.

"I want to know why someone would be interested in hurting you?" she asked firmly.

I hesitated for a moment. I promised to obey. But if she was in league with Lydia it was just as likely I would be put back on the machine and left until I was dead.

"Mistress, I can't tell you. The Mother of Many told me not to." I said plaintively.

Katy looked at me intensely.

"You know the Mother of Many?" she asked.

"Yes Mistress. She gave me my medallion." I said with pride.

"I will not ask you to violate your promise to the Mother of Many. But if there is danger to any one else around you, I must know."

She was right. I had been warned not to trust people, but I couldn't let someone be hurt because of my silence.

"Do you know Lydia?" I asked carefully.

"I've heard about her. She doesn't care much for men at all. I guess that's why Clair likes her."

"Lydia has left Ay'esha. She disagreed with the Mother of Many and left with some others."

Katy looked at me in disbelief.

"But why? It makes no sense. She would have been the Mother of Many someday."

"She and Mistress Minx disagreed about me. My Mistress feels that men can be trained to serve willingly without brutality. I offered myself for punishment to spare Mistress Minx for an error I made, and Lydia thought I was a fool. She claimed that my willingness to suffer in place of my Mistress proved that men were unworthy to survive without being under control."

"And were you punished?"

I took a deep breath and another drink of water.

"Yes. And Minx whipped me herself. It was her right as my Mistress to punish me. She was going to be punished for my mistake and I couldn't let her do it." I said quietly.

"But as a slave you are an animal. If you make an error, you are not responsible for it." Katy objected.

"And that is why Lydia left Ay'esha. I insisted on taking responsibility for my actions even when I didn't have to. I refused to be a dumb animal when it meant pain for my Mistress.

"I love Mistress Minx with all my heart."



Katy sat silently, considering my words.

"What would happen if Lydia found you?"

I looked her in the eye.

"I would be killed by her." I said.

"You're not serious?"

"She is. You didn't see the expression on her face. She really does want to kill me, and I don't want to die at her hands." I said shaking at the memory.

" I shall leave Ay'esha." Lydia swore. "And you, slave. There will come a time when you will regret this meeting. I shall not kill or harm a sister, but you will pay for your foolish ways."

Katy touched me softly.

"You mean it. She would kill you."

"Like you might swat a fly." I said.

She shook her head.

"Not here. I won't let it." she said protectively.

"You can't watch me all the time Mistress. ", I said quietly.

"When you are not working or in class, you will stay in your room with the door locked." she ordered.

"Yes Mistress. But I don't think it will help." I said docilely

"At least whoever tried will have a harder time." she observed.

"Or an easier one. If I'm always in one place, I'm a sitting duck."

She sighed.

"Do you always argue with your Mistress?"

"No Mistress, I'm sorry Mistress." I said cringing at the rebuke.

She patted me on the head and tugged me by my chain.

"Come along."



The Queen was less than amused, but agreed with Katy that the possibility of an innocent bystander being hit outweighed the security aspects.

"Steps will have to be taken to increase security. Make sure he does not roam after dark without an escort." The Queen instructed. "The rest of the time there are enough people around to make an incident unlikely."

"What about at night?" Katy asked.

The Queen's lips quirked in a small smile.

"I believe your current sleeping arrangements will provide enough security for him."

I blushed and Katy didn't.

"I know everything that goes on in this house. Never doubt it." The Queen warned.

I didn't doubt that for a moment.



Katy led me back to my room and pushed me into the shower to get me cleaned up from the earlier activities.

When I stepped out she threw my work clothes at me and ordered me to report to the kitchen.

"Back to work for you slave. When you finish I will meet you here. You will not go to the gym or anyplace outside of this building after dark without an escort or telling me."

"Yes Mistress." I said getting dressed hastily. The tone of her voice conveyed her annoyance and dissatisfaction with the Queen's decision.

"And stop calling me Mistress. If you have to call me anything formally, stick to Miss Katy."

"Yes Miss Katy. Please don't worry." I asked.

"I want you to leave here. It's not worth your life." she said.

I reached out and touched her arm gently.

"I have nothing else to do. I don't have a home, a job or anything else Miss Katy. I've been a prisoner for, well I'm not really sure how long. My friends probably think I'm dead. So what do I have to go to? At least here I have something like a home and people who do care about me."

"I'm sorry." she said.

I took a deep breath.

"I'm not. I was much worse off before. At least I know someone loves me now. I had forgotten that I could be loved."

She kissed me softly on the cheek.

"Never forget that."



Even though I felt like I needed eyes in the back of my head, I actually avoided making any errors than day as a waiter. In fact the only unpleasant moment came from Miss Clair who asked if I had enjoyed my exercise earlier.

"Yes Miss Clair. Thank you for asking." I said without a trace of sarcasm.

Rudolfo spent sometime during the lull between lunch and dinner showing me how to make a plate attractive.

It really is an art form to place the parsley sprig just so and to cut the tomato so it forms a rose. I'd never really appreciated that fact until I watched a master chef do it.

"Now Pisano, you try one. Make a rose for me." he said handing me a knife and a ripe tomato

Eight tomatoes later he stopped me.

"Well now I don't have to chop tomatoes for the sauces tonight." he laughed. " Practice makes perfect. You can practice a little everyday until you get it right. "

He swept the remains of my efforts into a pot and wiped his hands.

"Well I guess I'm not very good with a knife." I apologized.

"Ah, but you are with a sword. Mrs. Hoffmann was commenting on how good you are." he said.

"She hasn't said anything to me about it. I guess she doesn't want my head to swell." I replied.

He chuckled.

"I wouldn't worry. She'd just pop it like a balloon."

Now that was a scary thought.



The dinner service that night was light and one of my tables was Janice and Amanda.

They both ordered the steak and shrimp dinner and I felt privileged to be able to help Rudolfo make it look good.

I delivered the meal with a flourish and a polite bow and asked if there was anything else I could bring them.