Slave Girl 2: Chapter 2 (Patreon)

“Rosa?”  I stare at her trying to make sense of what I’d heard.  “What do you mean nothing?”

“I’m blind Quin.”  She gasps, barely containing her terrified sobs.  “There is nothing.  Nothing but darkness.”  She tilts her face up to face the sun.  “I can feel the sun on my skin but I cannot see its light.”  She stares straight into it.  “Not even the faintest glow.”

I shield her eyes from Sol’s brilliant rays.  Cupping her face in my large hands I lean closer and peer into her eyes.  Except for the opaline green haze clouding her wide pupils everything else looked normal and healthy.  The whites were pure, the magenta irises glimmering and lovely, and her lids and ducts clean and clear.  There was no sign of infection or disease or injury.

“I can’t see you Quin.”  She shudders.  “I can’t see you!”

“Th-th-this must be magic.”  I say.  “Somebody’s cast a spell on you.  Silas!  I knew he was no good.”  I scramble to think of what to do.  “I-I-I’ll go catch him and make him fix this.  I’ll go to town.  I’ll fetch you a doctor.  No!  A wizard.  I’ll find an Asclepian priest.  Th-th-they have medicines that can…”

“Master.”  Feeling up my chest she finds my face and strokes my cheek with her soft palm.  Even now, even while dealing with her own fears, Rosa cannot help but attend to my feelings.  In providing courage to me she found it in herself.  “Be calm.”  She swallows and blinks the tears away.  “Be calm my boy.  It’s okay.”

“Okay!?”  Frantic to do something, anything, I scoop her up into my arms and stand up.  “This is not okay.  I am getting you to somebody who can help.”

“Quin.”

I turn to run.  Run all the way to the city if need be.  “You just let me handle…”

“Quin!”  Her dominant tone stops me in my tracks.  “Put me down my love.”

“But…”

“Put me down.”

“Yes Mistress.”  I gently return her to her seat and kneel down in front of her.  “Let me help you, please.”

“Calm.”  Her sightless eyes scanning about she feels through the air with her hands until she finds my head.  Petting my hair her with one hand and rubbing my chest with her other her voice softens once more.  “Breathe.  I need you to be brave for me right now, okay?”

“Yes my Lady.”

“Be still my boy.”  Her hand settles over my heart.  “Show me how strong you can be.”

“Yes my Lady.”  I whisper.

“My eyes.  Tell me what you see.”

“They look the same except the blacks are like dark pearls.  Pearls the color of moss.”

“Green?”

“Yes.”

She pulls my head to her lap and holds me there.  Her delicate fingers trace the collar she had claimed me with the night before.  I settle into her, my cheek upon her soft thigh, as I gaze up with worry in my heart.  Having me there in her embrace and under her control gives her an anchor to find her courage.  She sits concentrating on controlling her breathing.  With long, deep, slow breaths in and out Rosa slowly tamps the panic that had to be coursing through her veins.  She blinks the tears that had threatened to spill away and her body gradually relaxes.  Among the chorus of summer birdsong my Lady holds me for many long minutes.

After an extra deep breath she lets out a sigh.  “It was worth it.”  She says softly as her fingers come to my face.  “You were worth it.”

“Me?”

She nods.  With her fingertips she follows the contour of my jaw down to my chin.  “When you were dying in my arms, in the harpy’s lair, I was desperate to save you.”

“I remember you telling me.”

“I beseeched any power, without or within, that would listen.  I begged and bargained.  I offered myself as sacrifice.”  She says, her eyes darting back and forth as she recalls that terrible time.  “Take me, I prayed, even if I might never see my love again.  Take what is mine so that his life is not cut short.”  Closing her eyes her other hand grip at my shoulder.  “I could not let you die Quin.”

“My Lady.”  I hug tight to her.  “You saved me.”

“I told you about the green light and how I passed out afterward.  I told you about the ache that I have carried since that day.”  She lays a hand across her chest.  “The ache is gone.  The sacrifice has been accepted.  The old green king heard my pleas and has taken his due.”

“Silvanus?”

“I believe so.  I danced for him in the vale.  I played my flute for him.  He helped connect me with my magic under the boughs of his mighty cypress.  Remember?”

“Yes, of course.”

“In his mercy…he answered my prayers.”

“Mercy?  How is this merciful?  You’re blind Rosa!”

“Shhh.”  She pets my hair a scared little smile playing at her lips.  “He allowed me time to find our home.  He let me see this stunning land and our incredible estate.  I got to see my boy wearing my collar.”  Her smile grows.  “And you looked so…so…beautiful.  These are memories I will cherish forever.”  She nods slowly.  “Yes, he is merciful.”

“It isn’t fair.”  I whisper.  “You never should have…”

She presses her fingers to my lips.  “He only took what I offered freely.”

Her fingers return to my face where she tenderly caresses my nose, my eyebrows, my eyelids, and all around the ear.  The look of concentration told me that she was summoning images of me in her mind to sear into her memory.  A lifetime was a long time to go without seeing, especially for a demon.  Even in the shock of this moment my Lady had the forethought to etch the most important things into her mind.  She looked so full of grace yet so very vulnerable.

She pinches my earlobe.  “You’re worrying about me.”

“Of course I am.”  I kiss her thigh.  “You are everything to me.”

“Mmm.”  She runs her hand down my neck.  “Until I learn to manage on my own you will have to be my eyes my boy.”

“Yes my Lady.”

“Do you remember what your father said to you?”

“My father?”

“About learning from the past but not being able to change it?”

“Yeah.”

“How did you put it?”  She says.  “Regret and anger won’t help a damn thing.  All we can do is get on with living.”

“Yeah, he used to say that.”

“Once more we should heed his wisdom.”

“His wisdom got him killed.”

“His wisdom produced a noble man like you.”  She kisses me.  “This will only make us stronger.  You’ll see.”

“Yes my Lady.”

She was being brave.  She was being philosophical.  But I could sense how afraid she really was.  She was coping with the loss of her sight as best she could, being strong for my sake and hers, but there was a twinge of desperate denial in every taut word she spoke.  From nowhere and all at once Rosa had just lost one of her senses.  How could it not feel like a violation?  It would for anybody, but for a woman who liked to be in control this must be terrifying.  She had already overcome her fear of being outside of a city but now she had to contend with a rural life without the aid of her sight.  I do not know how she was handling this so well.  And worst of all…there was no hope.  If this truly was a sacrifice to a great god like Silvanus there was no power that any mortal healer or magician possessed that could bring her vision back.  It might have been her magic she used but it was only with his help that she had been able to tap it so deeply.  Only she and the god himself could strike down the bargain.  But for that she would have to give up what she had gained.  My life.  It truly was hopeless.

Taking a deep breath she gathers her wits.  “Alright.  This is how it is.”  She ruffles my hair.  “And how are you doing my boy?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you silly.”  She says way too casually.  “We had quite a night last night.  Are you well?”

“I am well my Lady.”  I answer glumly.  “Sore, but well.”

“Good.  Now cheer up.  We have a lot of work to do.”  She says.  “The first thing I should do is learn the house.  After a good bath of course.”

“You should take it easy.  Just let me look after you for a little.”  

“You will not.”  She bristles.  “I am still your slave.  I am still your Lady.  I will not be coddled.”

“Of course.”  I say.  “Are you sure you don’t want a doctor?”

She shakes her head defiantly.  “No Master.”

“Rosa…”

“Master.  You’re worried.  I know.”  She says firmly.  “But I need us to…”  She clenches her fists.  “…endure.  This will change things, but not the important things.  We are here.  We are alive.”  She offers her hands and I take them in mine.  “We are together.”   She squeezes my hands.  “Now.”  She straightens up.  “Tell me about this Silas.”

“Huh?”

“You mentioned a Silas a moment ago.”

“Oh.  Yeah, he was a soothsayer.  He stopped by this morning.”  I say.  “He was in a hurry though and I wanted to let you rest.  He’s gone already.”

“Did you get a reading?”

I hesitate before saying.  “Yes Ma’am.”

“And?”

“Just nonsense.”  I reply.  “He’s gone mad.”

“Diviners often do.”  She says.  “But what did he say?”

I didn’t want to lie to her.  Every fiber of my being told me not to lie to her.  Yet how could I hit her with news of a curse after what she’d already been through this morning?  I would tell her the whole truth later.

“He said that I will get my greatest desire. And that he hopes we thrive here.”

“Your greatest desire?  That’s incredible!”  

“Yeah.”

Her hands glide up my arms.  “You are so tense.”

“It should have been me.”  I sigh, my heart full of guilt.  “Not you.  It was my life.  He should have…”

“My boy.”  She hugs me then sits up again.  “Kneel.”

I sit back and rest my hands on my knees in the position she had trained me to take when given that command.  I had to confess the familiarity of the order and that natural feeling of submission goes a long way to quelling my fears.  Her exercising her authority works similarly on her.  Her dominance and my obedience was a touchstone of control and order that we could reach to whenever we needed it.  Leaning forward she reaches out and finds me again.  She feels along my shoulder and down my arms to my knees.  She feel the angle of my head then stands so that she could come around to run her hand down the slight arch of my back.  Then she steals a little grope of my butt before a gentle pat to the backside.

“Perfection.”  She whispers proudly.  Sniffing the air she crinkles her nose.  “You smell like sex.  I am sure I do too.”

“It was an amazing night.”

“Yes it was.”  She says.  “Stay.  We will go bathe by the river and then we can get to work.”

“Yes my Lady.”

She straightens up to stand with a dignified air about her.  It would have been humorous in another time considering her she was standing with her tits and dick out.  She feels her way around the sofa and points herself back in the direction of the bedroom door.  She takes another deep breath and begins to walk forward, hands out in front of her.  Her angle was a bit off but good enough to find the door frame and get inside.  Keeping a hand against the wall to follow it she slips out of sight and a moment later I hear clink of a foot hitting broken clay.

“My Lady!”

“Stay!”  She calls back.  “I’m okay.  I’m just putting something on.  I can manage…OUCH!”  Another clatter of pottery and the bang of something wooden hitting the floor.  “Ohhhh.”

“Gods damn it.”  I spring to my feet and rush into the room.  Wanting to let her sleep the main bedroom hadn’t yet been cleared of the refuse.  I hurry to her side and bend down to check on her delicate feet.  She was okay, just a stubbed toe.

A look of hurt crosses her face that had nothing to do with her toe.  “You disobeyed me.”

I bow my head though I knew she could not see it.  “You needed help.”

“You disobeyed me!”  I could hear in her wavering voice that whatever composure she’d managed to muster now threatened to crack because of my insolence.  I had broken our trust, even if it was for a noble reason.  “I told you to stay.”

“I’m sorry my Lady.”

“If I required help I would have summoned you”  She snaps.  “I’ve lost my sight, not my wits!”

“I am sorry my Lady.”

She lets out a low and wicked cat like growl, her pointed ears lowering back.  “Do you still wear my collar Quin?”

“Yes my Lady.”  I say. “Proudly!  But, Rosa, please.  Right now isn’t the time to…”

“Not the time?  Now YOU decide when to obey and when not to?  You do not trust your Mistress anymore?  You cannot serve a blind woman?  Is that it?”

“No, I mean yes, I mean…Rosa, please.”

“You wish me to wear the collar perhaps?  Now that you think me helpless.  It doesn’t fit well on you?  You are ashamed to wear my collar?”

“Rosa!”  Her words are a stake in my heart.  I treasured the lace collar around my neck more than our magical bracelet or my father’s dagger or any other item I owned.  It symbolized her love and her domination of me.  To me it was priceless.  She knew that too.  I knew it was the misdirected fear from her sudden blindness coming out in another way, but it still stung.  “No, of course not my Lady.”  I say meekly.  “I just didn’t want to see you get hurt.  Forgive me.”

All at once her shoulders slump and her head drops.  “Come here.”  I step into her and she pulls me down to embrace me again.  Into my ear she whispers.  “My precious Quin.  Tell me you love me.”

“I love you!”

“I’m sorry baby.  I’m not being a very good…g-good…”  The brave facade cracks.  And with that single crack the deluge of emotions comes bursting out.  My Lady collapses into my arms as her body is wracked by grief for the life that could have been.  In my embrace…she weeps.

“No more sunrise.  Nor more clouds drifting through the azure heavens.  No more full moon nights.  No more smiles.  No more lover’s sly winks.”  She clings to me.  “No more art or reading or colors or seeing the nymphs dancing among the grass.  No more…”  She lets out a great heaving sob.  “…no more beauty!”

“Oh Rosa.”  I hold her tight.

“I don’t regret it baby.  I would do it again a thousand times over.”  She trembles.  “But…I’m scared Quin!  I’m so scared!”

“I know Rosa. I know.”  Like she has done for me so many times I hold her and stroke her and let her know that she is not alone.

As I hold my weeping Lady in my arms I look to sky painted upon the domed ceiling above.  The gods meddle in the lives of men, the old priest had said, it is their nature.  But how could they be so cruel?  After all we’d gone through, this was supposed to be our happily ever after.  Silas’ words echo in my ears.  ‘The gods enjoy watching a good tragedy.’

Chapter 3