Janice just looked at me and smiled.

"Yes. Feed me my shrimp with your fingers."

I was a bit uncertain of what I should do, then decided that an order was an order.

I took the first shrimp and dipped it into the sauce as directed and she nibbled her way up to my fingers as Amanda watched in a mixture of amazement and amusement.

"Would you like him to feed you too?" Janice asked her.

Amanda looked at me with interest and then nodded.

I spent the next ten minutes feeding the two women their shrimp before being released to return to my regular work.

Saul, the headwaiter, looked at me aghast as I went back into the kitchen and I waited for his wrath to descend upon me.

"Would you like to tell me exactly what you were doing with those two ladies?" he snarled.

"I was feeding them shrimp, sir." I said honestly.

"You were feeding them shrimp." he mimicked. "And while you were feeding them shrimp, other people were waiting for you."

"Yes sir."

"And you have nothing else to say?" he said shortly.

"No sir."



He rolled his eyes back and then waved at me to go away.

I went back on duty and finished my shift with no further disruptions in service, but more than a few odd looks from the other patrons.

Saul called me into his office after dinner was over and gave me what he called "the plain, unvarnished word."

"I expect you will treat all of the guests with the same level or service and respect. I don't know what transpired with you and the two ladies, but do not let it happen again."

"Yes sir." I said.

Katy caught up with me just as I left Saul's office.

"Janice told me what happened. What where you thinking?" she asked.

"I wasn't. I was following the orders of a Mistress of Ay'esha. That's what I do."

She shook her head violently.

"You can not just follow orders blindly. Everybody was staring at you. Now what do they think?"

"Was I supposed to care?" I asked, actually a bit uncertain.

"Serving a Mistress of Ay'esha privately or in a small group of the Daughters is one thing, but in a public place is another one entirely." she explained.

"But, if I don't make a habit of following the orders now, I might forget and make a mistake later." I objected.

She groaned in frustration.

"I know it's been said that a male slave only has two brain cells, but I hoped you'd be the exception to the rule." she swore.

"I'm sorry. Am I being a bit too careful about serving properly?" I said.

"Yes, perhaps you are. None of the Mistresses here have the right to punish you for making a mistake. Only the Queen and I have the right to do that. And even when you return to your Mistress, she is the one who has the right to punish you. No one else." she said patiently.

I sighed in a mixture of relief and embarrassment.

"Am I in trouble now?" I said, looking down.

"No, silly. But there are a lot of people who are wondering what Janice and Amanda did to get you to do that."

"I was only following orders?"



She sat in a corner during my fencing lesson and watched as I did my Errol Flynn imitation with Mrs. Hoffmann.

When we took a break, Mrs. Hoffmann suggested we change from fencing foils to sabers.

"I think it's time you changed to something a bit more challenging." she suggested.

I was still a bit pumped up from the earlier practice, so I agreed.

The saber was a bit heavier and it took a bit more wrist and a lot more control to handle it.

The difference became very apparent in the first few minutes of practice and Mrs. Hoffmann demonstrated that by "killing" me multiple times.

"You need to keep the blade higher, Mr. Freeman." she said as she penetrated my defenses again.

I started becoming angry and my performance worsened even more.

A few minutes later she stepped back and lowered her sword.

"Well, if someone attacks you with a saber, you die. We'll try with an epee tomorrow. That's a bit lighter and probably more controllable for you."

"I wish you had a katana blade. I think I'd actually do better with that." I said hanging my saber up.

Mrs. Hoffmann looked at me intently.

"I do. But you do understand that I will bloody the blade before I put it away." she warned.

"If you can." I said confidently.

She smiled and left the gym.

"Are you crazy?" Katy asked as I hung up my mask." Bloody the blade?"

"Yes. You don't draw a katana blade without putting the blood of an enemy or your blood on the blade."

"No.", she said.

"Excuse me?" I said

"No. I forbid it." she said.

Mrs. Hoffman walked back into the room at that point carrying two katana swords.

"What were you forbidding him to do?" she asked.

"I don't want him using a real weapon. Someone could get hurt." Katy protested.