Willing Slave, Unwilling Master Ch. 02

And yet, he wants to free me. He almost seems excited at the prospect and I don't understand why. Freedom is a fate worse than death, at least if you're killed everything just ends. To be free is to be sent out into a cold world, with no one to care for you, to set your boundaries. Your mind slowly crumbling as the thousands of choices slowly wear away at your sanity until you are nothing but... I don't even want to think about what you would be.

Not wanting to think about the horrors of freedom anymore I focus on Master's heartbeat, like I used to when I couldn't sleep amongst a pile of my sisters. I wonder if Master understands how special physical contact like this is to me, I've noticed he and his sister don't hug. In fact they don't even touch each other, as far as I've seen. Humans are strange.

"That's cuter than the clicks." Master comments, "Though, don't tell Emily."

His voice catches me off guard, and I blink up at him confusedly.

"You're purring sweetie." He winces as if he said something he regrets, I don't know why 'sweetie' is a term of endearment, the doctor at the compound always used to call me sweetie.

My eyebrows crease as I try and think if I've ever heard the term purring and what it might mean. I didn't realise I was doing anything other than laying against my Master. After a few seconds of desperate thought I'm forced to admit the truth. "I don't understand Master."

"The sound you make here." He points to my throat, "It sounds like a cat's purr to me."

He thinks I sound that terrifying amber eyed demon?

"All my sisters do it Master." I look away, not wanting to see an angry look on his face. The sound is completely involuntary, it doesn't even come from the same place as my voice. If Master dislikes it I will be punished for something I can't control, and worse than that, he won't want to cuddle with me anymore!

"I can't help it." I say apologetically, "I just make that sound when I'm happy."

"Hey, I'm happy you're happy." He tucks a stray lock of hair behind my ear gently, causing an uncontrollable happy rumble from my throat.

"Will you tell me about your sisters?" He asks softly, his blue eyes fixed on mine.

"What would you like to know Master?" I don't really want to think about my sisters, I miss them, even if I do have an owner now.

"Well, whatever you want to tell me really." He sounds nervous, "You all grew up together I take it?"

"Yes Master, there were seven other girls. But once we reached selling age my sisters and I were separated and taken to a new room just for us."

"Why weren't you sold?" He asks tentatively.

"I don't know Master, the wardens never explained anything." And it would have been complete and total disobedience to ask, despite the fact we never would have gotten an answer anyway.

"They didn't interact with us much after that," I continue. "No more lessons, or excise time. The only thing that stayed the same was the doctor. Though after we were moved she came to us, rather than us visiting her lab."

He nods slowly, a flicker of puzzlement crossing his face. "How long did you stay in that room?"

"About a year Master."

"You spent a year underground locked in a single room?"

I nod, then frown as a sudden crazy thought flashes through my mind. It's dangerous, but if it works? "Master, may I ask a question?"

"You don't need my permission to ask questions."

I take a deep breath. "Will I ever see my sisters again Master?" I ask, my owner has many books on Lower Vil, perhaps he knows some circumstance in which someone is allowed to see their siblings? It's worth a shot, even if all I get out of this is a spanking.

He bites his bottom lip, "I'll see what I can find out, but I can't promise anything, okay?"

"Yes Master." I nod, it's a far more than I could ever have hoped for. His attention once again drifts to the view screen and I roll back over, snuggling my head into his chest as I curl up in his arms.

Happy and safe I begin to doze in and out of sleep. Master's show must end because he wakes me long enough to dreamily brush my teeth and slide into one of his shirts before falling into bed.

"Master." I whisper, half asleep. "If I'm really well behaved may I have a collar?"

The warm embrace of sleep takes me before I have a chance to hear the answer.

...

Dan

Punching my pillow in frustration I roll out of bed. It's just no good I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes I see Rose's face smiling up at me or hear the ghost of her purr, lost in the shadows. Somehow in only a few short hours of interaction I've gone from not wanting her, to a longing for the girl that's almost indescribable.

Damn it! Struggling with an urge to go and wake Rose up I climb dejectedly out of bed. Flipping on the lights in the spare room that for the last two nights has been my sleeping quarters. I need to do something, anything to get to take my mind off things. It's too late to go outside, and I'm definitely not in the mood to study. Mindless television it is then. I suppose I could use my tablet but what's the point when there's a perfectly good - and very large - screen in the family room.

Heck, while I'm at it I might be able to figure out what to do with Rose tomorrow. Our first full day together, perhaps I should take her down to transport hub to hand out leaflets. "Here sir, take this anti-slavery pamphlet. Oh, her? Don't worry about her, I'm not a massive Hippocratic. Really!"

The view screen is turned on when I enter the room, which is a little strange, given it's gone midnight. What's even stranger is seeing Emily, clade in pink pyjamas huddled on the sofa. So fixated on the screen that she doesn't seem to notice me. I have a moment to marvel at how odd her spiny scales look beside the pink flannel of her shirt, before she looks up at me and nearly jumps out of her skin.

"Relax, relax!" I say desperately, "It's me!" The last thing I need is for my dad to find me terrorising his servant.

"Master Dan, I'm sorry."

"Don't be." I drop onto the sofa beside her, as she slides gracefully into a kneeling position on the floor at my feet.

"Are you allowed to be out here?" I ask, frowning down at her.

"Yes sir."

I'm dubious to say the least. My father isn't the kindest of people when it comes to dealing with me or my sister, let alone his slave. I saw her spanked and otherwise cruelly humiliated more than once as I was growing up. Leading to my ambitions but ultimately disastrous attempt to free her when I was twelve. I just can't see him letting her lounge around in front the TV late at night.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes sir, I promise!" She keeps her face turned to mine as she speaks, "Master says I may watch the television so long as I do not disturb him and I am able to perform my duties in the morning."

"Well," I pause, I'm not sure I've ever heard of such generosity from my father. "That's good. Now get back up here. Honestly Em, like I would ever make you kneel on the floor."

"It's how I'm trained sir." She mumbles apologetically, bouncing back onto the sofa again.

"What you watching anyway?" I ask, peering at the paused image of what looks to be one of the African protected zones. Until relatively recently people would hunt the animals that lived there for reasons best known to themselves. Now entire areas of land are closely monitored, using ex-military tracking fields no less, and the local wildlife has been much better for it.

"I enjoy seeing the animals." She says nodding at the screen. "Those are elephants." There's a certain amount of pride in her voice as she points to the grey animals.

I had no idea she had an interest like this, but I'm pleased. We spend an enjoyable hour together talking about the creatures on the screen, she seems to know an extraordinary amount about each and every mammal, reptile and insect we see. I wonder if Vil have shows like this, I mean there must be things other than themselves and the Lower Vil living on their planet. Most of what was observed during the invasion has been redacted by our government on the orders of the highly secretive aliens.

"How's Rose getting on?" Emily asks as the credits begin to roll, fidgeting in her seat.

It takes me a few moments to come to my senses, I've never known my father's slave to ask a direct question without prompting. Not wishing to lose the moment I tell her about cuddling on the sofa and her wish to see her sisters again.

"She shouldn't get her hopes up." Emily says sadly, "She won't see them again. It's better to try and forget."

"You have brothers and sisters?" I ask. It never occurred to me she had family somewhere.

"Sisters, Lower Vil are never born alone and a litter is always all girls or all boys, never mixed."

"I didn't know that." I say quietly. It's disconcerting to discover that despite dedicating a great deal my time to studying and battling to end slavery I still know very little about the slaves themselves.

"I only know from what I've overheard sir." Emily points out, blushing a little.

"Well, I know Rose likes to be cuddled at least." I smile.

Emily nods. "We enjoy being close to our Masters. Rose is used to having physical contact with her sisters, you are kind to indulge her during her transition."

I nod. Relaxing with a pretty girl was hardly a chore, and if I can somehow help alleviate some of her grief at the same time then all the better. We talk a little while longer, mostly about things I can do to help Rose adjust to her new life. However we reach an impasse when Emily brings up the need for physical punishment as well as comfort in order to give Rose boundaries to work within. It's an argument that I'm not going to back down on and Emily is too timid, or perhaps well trained, to retort.

She goes to bed with a smile on her face though, after I promise to ask Rose if she would like to watch Emily's shows with her. I sit in the quiet room a while longer, silently planning what I hope is a fun day for me and my slave girl.