Slave Girl 2: Chapter 23 (Patreon)

With Rosa bouncing on her place seated behind me I hurry to a general supply shop to pick up some vital essentials that would keep us going for awhile, food stuffs and a goodly amount of olive oil being the biggest things we needed.  Sacks, two boxes, and amphora are loaded onto the cart and roped down.  With no time to haggle I am forced to pay more than I should have.  As I open my coin pouch to pay I see the damage from the ‘fine’ that had been taken from me by the city’s lawmen.  They’d taken fully half of what I’d been carrying.  Lawmen?  Pah!  More like common thieves.  A good portion of the rest I hand over for the supplies.  I sigh with bottled up frustration at the sight of what is left.  Hauling in all of those items into town for trade and all of my work this afternoon had been for nothing.

Rosa comes up to my side with a small pouch of her own.  “We’ve got more if you need it Master.”

“Where did you…?”  As I look down to the purse in her hands the question answered itself.  That was the pouch Colly had bought this very day to hold her earnings.  It seemed that in her guilt Collywaddle had returned her share to me.  The sight of it touched me and angered me in equal measure.  That money hadn’t been charity, she’d earned it.  It felt like an insult to have it given back to me.  Though I knew her heart was in the right place.  “Just hold onto it.”

“Yes Master.”

The bronze lantern I had bought I have filled and lit before we leave.  I hang it to the front left of the cart with a nail which I then hammer over to affix it firmly.  With everything cinched down I ensure Rosa’s securely in her spot then I make hard for the gate we’d entered through.  I already knew my estimate on how much light we had had been optimistic but I wasn’t about to let Lady Nox stop me now.  I had to get out of this gods damned city.

Even through fading light of dusk I have not trouble following the well defined road home.  With Rosa holding on for dear life and a large amphorae and other potter on the back I couldn’t go too hard but the ride home is a swift and bumpy one nonetheless.  I just could not put enough distance between myself and Grumentum fast enough.  There was no opportunity for talk or songs or laughter this time which left me alone with my own thoughts.  And as I go…my anger and indignity stew inside of me.  Every time I wanted to scream out in rage at the world and at myself I would just grit my teeth, grip the handle tighter and pull the cart faster.

The dim, swaying light of the lantern and rising Luna’s wan illumination is all I had to work with by the time we are turning down the path to our broken down villa.  My mood had turned as foul as I could ever remember it by the time we roll to a stop beside Mercury.  Bending the nail back just enough to release the handle of the lantern I then carefully lower the handle, taking it slowly so as not to dump Rosa on the ground unexpectedly.  She feels her way away from the cart to stand nearby.

“Can you find your own way to the room?”

“Um…yes Master.”  She says, troubled by my brusque tone.  “Would you like something to eat before bed?”

“No.”

“Okay.”  A frisky yip comes from the shadowy bushes and I see the glow of our local fox’s eyes approach.  “Danae!”  Rosa laughs.  Kneeling down she holds out her arms to welcome the excited canine into her arms.  Danae happily licks Rosa’s smiling face and snuffles against her clothes.  “I missed you too!  Ha ha ha!”

It was adorable but in my dark mood I could only see frivolous nonsense.  Biting my tongue I busy myself with real work and unload the cart into our entryway.  I could organize it properly in the morning.  By the time the load was transfered Rosa was still petting and giggling and talking to Danae as if she hadn’t a care in the world.  To my ears their joy was a mockery of everything that had happened that day.

“Rosa!”  I snap.  “I told you to go to the room.”

She startles at the sharp tone.  “Quin?”   She pets the fox and kisses its head.  “What’s wrong baby?”

Trying my best to hold back my anger I say in a low voice.  “I gave you an order.  Go to our room.”

Rosa stands, silent for a moment as her sightless eyes search for me in vain.  Sensing the shift in mood Danae falls quiet at her side and eyes me up suspiciously.  Rosa then nods and says.  “Yes Master.”  Using the cart to gain her bearing she walks with her hands outstretched toward our front door.  Danae trots along beside her, shooting me foxy scowls along the way, before peeling off at the last moment to return to her night hunt.  Rosa’s steps become more confident the moment she steps across the threshold and soon she disappears into the darkness within.

Left alone in the night air I do my best to cool my spirit before following along.  I did not let it cool enough however for the moment I step inside of our private sanctum I begin to rave.

“What kind of city is this?  They stole from us!”  I march to the center of the room and turn to Rosa who sat at the foot of our bed platform.  “They were officers of the law!”

“I know Quin.”

Setting down the lamp I pace back and forth, my fists shaking with rising rage.  “They set me up!  They sent those men to provoke me.”

“It’s true.  I’m sorry it happened to you.”

“Who polices the police?  Huh?  Who could I even complain too?  I’ve got no friends, no family…who would believe a newcomer like me?”

“Let it rest Quin.  We know better now.  We’ll be wiser in the future.”

“Yeah.  I’m wiser alright.  I know that city is just a nest of thieves and bigots.  Like all cities!”

“That’s not true and you know it.”  Rosa’s serene, controlled tone was a complete contrast to my ranting.  “Come sit with me please?”

“We’re worse off now than when we went to that accursed city.”  I continue to pace.  “It’s not fair Rosa.  This isn’t fair!”

“I know baby.  Life isn’t always fair Quin.”

“I’ve never been arrested before.  How dare they!”

“It’ll be okay baby.”

“I doubt it.  We probably burned our bridge with Lydia.  Her husband thinks you’re a bad Lady because of my stupidity.  I lost my collar.  People saw me get arrested.  Lots of people!  Our reputation is shot Rosa, before it even had a chance to begin.”

“Reputations recover.”

“I just…I just want to…AHHH!”  I let out a scream that echoes off the domed ceiling.  “I hate this place!”

With infuriating calm she says.  “It was one bad day baby.  It’s going to be okay.”

“No!”  I shake my head.  “It’s not just one bad day.  I’m…I’m going to sell this place and we’re going to go home.”

“This is my home.”

“No, I mean home.  My home.  My family home.  Where things are the way they’re supposed to be.”

Rosa crosses her hands over her lap.  “If that is what you wish.”

“I’ll let grandpa do the business and I will just work the fields again.  I was happy then.  Back home I can just be the big, stupid ox that I am.”

“Quin…”

“I’ll build us a nice little place.  Real nice.  Just big enough for two.  Not this big…palace.  I don’t belong in a place like this.  At home Mom will be there to help us.  She’ll know how to look after you.”

“I do not need looking after.”

“Yes you do!”  I cry.  “Rosa, you’re blind!  And your owner doesn’t have a fucking clue what he’s doing!”  I turn shake my fists in the air.  “What if those charges would have been pressed?  Huh?  What if I’d been sentenced to years in prison?  What if my possessions would have been seized?  That would mean you too Rosa!”

“We would have found each other again.”  She says without a hint of doubt.

“How can you be so calm about this!?  About all of this?”

“Because I have you back.  And that is all I care about.”

“Rosa…life isn’t just about love.”

“Mmm.  I’m not so sure.”  Spreading her legs she pats the space left between them.  “Please baby, come sit down?”

With a snort and a huff I flop down onto the floor and rest my back against the bed.  Rosa wraps her legs around my body and her arms around my shoulders.  Her head resting against mine…she hugs me.  In a long, tight embrace she says nothing.  As the tiny flame in the lantern gradually fades she simply holds me close.  Her soft demon body glows with that special warmth to melt the tension in my muscles as her enduring love quenches the fires of my anger.

As the flame flutters out leaving me in the same darkness as she I whisper.  “I was scared.”

“I know.”  She kisses my head.  “So was I.”

“I don’t really want to go home Rosa.”  I sigh, leaning back into her.  “I want to stay here…with you.  I want to show them that I can be strong.”

“You are strong Quin.”  She says  “And I am so proud of you.”

“I was such a fool.”

“You stood up for Colly.  You stood up for somebody who couldn’t stand up for herself.”  Her hands grip my pecs.  “You stood up when it really counted.  Very few would.”

“And I almost ruined everything for doing so.”

“We would have found a way.”  She centers a palm over my heart.  “A man, a real man, must do what he knows in his heart is right.”

Searching my heart I find…guilt.  “Rosa…”  I swallow.  “….I’ve…been lying to you.”

“Oh?”

“I know I need to be responsible but…um…”

“You think lying makes you responsible?”

“Well…I need to protect you.”  I say.  “I need to look after you now.  You said you needed a break to deal with your…affliction.”

“Baby.”  She hugs me tighter and nuzzles into my hair.  “Whether I am your Lady, your girl, or your partner we carry our burdens together.  My blindness doesn’t change that.”

“I…I never told you the truth about the soothesayer.  He told me this land was cursed.  He said that I would get everything I desired then have it all taken away.  He told me that we are simply playthings for the gods.”

“Okay.”

“And…when…when I took control in that hallway…when I gave you that handjob…”  I let out a breath.  “…I didn’t feel good about it.  It felt wrong.”

“Oh baby, I’m sorry.”

“I like it when…you are in charge.  I like being your good boy.” I confess.  “I miss my Lady.  I miss her so much.”

She kisses me.  “I know baby, I know.  She misses you too.”

“This isn’t how it was supposed to be.”  I whisper.  “I’m the Master in the day, out in the world, and you are my Lady at home and at night.  Remember?”

“I remember.”  She says softly.  “Have faith my lover.”

“I do.”  I gently grip her arm.  I let out a long sigh.  “Here you are soothing me again.”

She hugs my head to her chest.  “You are still young and full of life.  I knew what I was getting into.”

I kiss her arm.  “I don’t know what I’d do without you my love.”

“Just be a dumb ox by the sound of it.”  She quips.  “What a waste that would be.”  Her right foot then glides down my stomach and presses down over my manhood.  There…it begins to rub.  “You know.  I’ve had a tough day too Master.”  She licks my ear.  “A very hard day.”

“Oh?”  

“And you are going to make me feel better.”  She softly thrusts her groin into my back where I could feel the bulge of her cock.

“Oh really?”  I say, smiling for the first time since the city.

“Really.”  She nips at the edge of my ear.  “You are going to make love to your slave Master and make her feel good again.”

“Am I?”

“Yes you are Master.”  She coos.  “If you don’t want a grumpy slave girl in the morning…you are going to do exactly as I say.”

My smile grows.  “Yes Ma’am.”

Chapter 24