Chivalry was dead. In fact it was locked in a trunk and hidden in the cellars. Not every damsel wants to be saved from her dragon.
It had started out as a normal day. The weather was perhaps a bit crisp as I watched the sun rise before attending my Lord. But that was the type of weather I preferred. It mad it easier to go about my duties without feeling sluggish and irritable. Things never ended well when I was irritable.
One of my greatest pleasures of the day was helping Lord Travanix dress. The man had a magnificent body and was a joy to watch in motion. It was very rare that I granted this privilege to any of the other tower girls. It usually was only as a reward for exceptional behavior, or because I myself was needed elsewhere. There was a subtle competition among the others related to such mornings.
But that morning it was my honor to be the one.
Many people think that a slave?s lot in life is harsh, and that all masters are inherently and exclusively cruel. This had never been true of Travanix in all the nearly two years I had served him. He showed a dark face to the world, but in the privacy of his tower he could at times be almost kind. One just had to know how to keep from raising his ire. It wasn?t hard really. Be swift and diligent, neat and efficient. Never make assumptions abut his mood. Be sure you have a damn good reason if you ever have to question an order, and then carry it out as instructed regardless. Those were just basics really that any properly trained girl knew.
My Lord was dressed for the day and had given his instructions before retiring to his office to begin his work. Part of those instructions were for me to retrieve a parcel from our favorite apothecary in the market place.
That man had a plan that I had yet to figure out, but he always gave me something extra when I stopped by his shop. Sometimes it was alive. Lord Travanix was amused by my growing collection of pets, each with some deadly quirk. My favorite was the Lover?s Last Kiss. A venomous little beauty she was, and it was her refined and strengthened venom that I was going to pick up this morning.
Some days I wished I could just remain inside the tower walls like the other girls, leading the relatively simple life of a household drudge. The constant air of perfection I was required to display in public could be quite wearing. The smallest slip of high-heeled shoe on the cobbles was enough to bring me near to tears at times. Especially when such an error was caused by others.
He was a tall man, easily a match for Travanix in height. Muscled like a fighter and wearing a worn set of leathers that fitted to him like a second skin. He had bumped into me not thirty feet from my destination, his inattention causing me to slip and skin my knee on the rough stone paving.
It had started out as a normal day. The weather was perhaps a bit crisp as I watched the sun rise before attending my Lord. But that was the type of weather I preferred. It mad it easier to go about my duties without feeling sluggish and irritable. Things never ended well when I was irritable.
One of my greatest pleasures of the day was helping Lord Travanix dress. The man had a magnificent body and was a joy to watch in motion. It was very rare that I granted this privilege to any of the other tower girls. It usually was only as a reward for exceptional behavior, or because I myself was needed elsewhere. There was a subtle competition among the others related to such mornings.
But that morning it was my honor to be the one.
Many people think that a slave?s lot in life is harsh, and that all masters are inherently and exclusively cruel. This had never been true of Travanix in all the nearly two years I had served him. He showed a dark face to the world, but in the privacy of his tower he could at times be almost kind. One just had to know how to keep from raising his ire. It wasn?t hard really. Be swift and diligent, neat and efficient. Never make assumptions abut his mood. Be sure you have a damn good reason if you ever have to question an order, and then carry it out as instructed regardless. Those were just basics really that any properly trained girl knew.
My Lord was dressed for the day and had given his instructions before retiring to his office to begin his work. Part of those instructions were for me to retrieve a parcel from our favorite apothecary in the market place.
That man had a plan that I had yet to figure out, but he always gave me something extra when I stopped by his shop. Sometimes it was alive. Lord Travanix was amused by my growing collection of pets, each with some deadly quirk. My favorite was the Lover?s Last Kiss. A venomous little beauty she was, and it was her refined and strengthened venom that I was going to pick up this morning.
Some days I wished I could just remain inside the tower walls like the other girls, leading the relatively simple life of a household drudge. The constant air of perfection I was required to display in public could be quite wearing. The smallest slip of high-heeled shoe on the cobbles was enough to bring me near to tears at times. Especially when such an error was caused by others.
He was a tall man, easily a match for Travanix in height. Muscled like a fighter and wearing a worn set of leathers that fitted to him like a second skin. He had bumped into me not thirty feet from my destination, his inattention causing me to slip and skin my knee on the rough stone paving.