I can't help but think about what she said all night, her words ring in my ears like a mosquito.
Could it be possible? Is that why master treats me so differently? And if it is true why hasn't he told me yet, we have lived together for five years now, and we have spent months with no guest around, weeks in winter stuck inside,days in his study working on accounts, so why hasn't he said anything yet ?
The uncertainty gnaws at me, leaving me restless and unable to find peace. I replay our conversations, searching for clues or hints that might have slipped past unnoticed. The thought of confronting him fills me with both dread and anticipation, yet the need for answers grows stronger with each passing hour.
Could there be a reason behind his silence, a motive that I have yet to understand? Or am I just assuming things and his mother just thought wrong? He never confirmed what his mother said anyways, but he didn't deny it either .The possibilities swirl in my mind, each one more perplexing than the last. Perhaps he is waiting for the right moment, or maybe he fears the consequences of revealing the truth. I felt the sudden urge to confront him but pushed it down into my subconscious.
I don't know when I fell asleep but eventually I slept off. When I woke up the next morning, I realized how stupid I was for considering something like that, master in love with me, he would rather love a chakra. I take a quick shower before walking off to meet the other slaves. I stop by the kitchen and grabbed a cart filled with food which was meant for the slaves.
I enter into the room and was met with familiar faces; I have met most of them the last ball we had. There was Mira and Mesa, katik slaves and Loma, Kara usually slave. There is a new slave around ; the ' thing' master spoke about . I walk in with the food and Mesa walks over to me.
" If it isn't our favorite firefly" she said pulling me into a hug . I hug her back. I have know Mesa since we were kids. We grew up in the same breeding home . " welcome back to the pen, piglet"
Mesa actually means piglet in quaris. When she first came here and I found out her given name was piglet, I began calling the slave cage , a pen. I never understand why the quaristins always name their slaves after animals but they do; Feria means firefly, Mesa means piglet, Mira means boar, and Loma means moose .
Mira and Loma stands at the side both giving me acknowledging looks . My eyes meet with the new guy, green eyes meet mine although his reddish hair covers his right eye. His look at me with an unnerving stare which feels like he is looking directly into my soul. I cough uncomfortably and his eyes shift from mine to Mesa, his eyes raise and I know he is asking for introductions.
" oh, silly me , firefly, this is Vista, Kara's new slave, Vista firefly but she prefers it if we call her Feria ", Vista meaning the green grass snake, interesting. I stretch out my hand for a shake and he hesitates before taking my hands, his hand was cold and rough, the hand of someone who has been through a lot. I could feel the scar that ran along his hand from the shake.
" no collar?" he says observing my bare neck with sober concentration, his hand tightened around mine. My other hand reach up to my neck where the collar should have been. I must have forgotten to wear it this morning, silly me .
Mesa's eyes move to my neck and she gasp grabbing both Mira and Loma's attention too, "I must have been too excited to see you all, it seems I forgot" , I add a toothy grin while scratching the back of my head.
" you rarely wear it" Vista stated, not questioned, stated . I narrowed my eyes at him before sarcastically asking," what gave it away" . "your neck is all the same shade"he answered, eyes still on my neck, I was wearing a v-neck dress today since the wounds were not as visible as last night. I smiled , luckily both my master and I predicted this, so we made adequate preparation.
Mesa laughed, " firefly's collar is a bit different, it isn't your usual collar." I leave them in the room so I could grab the collar cause I didn't need anyone else seeing me without the collar especially his mother I grab the collar from my little box and sat next to the small mirror as I worked on putting it on. It was a stringed choker held together by a thicker string with diamond shaped holes around it , a piece of the string went around my shoulders, from my left to the right, coming back to the front where it held a tag with the initials k with stones on it. It takes a while to get used to the weight and even longer putting it on but it was delicate, beautiful, special and best of all , it didn't matter whether I wore it everyday for the next ten years or I only wear it a day during these years, it won't leave any mark since it had a lot of spaces.
I walk back to the pen and join the guys for breakfast. We discuss how life was both in Qing and xing city, how preparation for the next ball is and who is breeding and who is dating who. I ask how other slaves I knew who were in Qing city were.
Zillow knocks at the door and we all turn to him. He informs me of master's call which reminded me of last night conversation between his mother and him. Which reminds me we were doing the accounts before his mother interrupted and we never came back to it.
I get up following Zillow out . He leads me till we reach master's study door and open it for me. Once I was inside, he closed the door behind me. Master stood next to the window watching the back garden. I stood near the door waiting for master to say something.
" I'm sorry, mother was rude to you, I ...."