((Closed))
The young woman known simply as “Slave” walked quickly n slippered feet through her master’s mansion. She’d been told that it was too dangerous to go outside, so she was taking her usual after lunch walk indoors. This walk was a new thing that had been implemented by her master’s lady friend, Lady Venus Aphrodite Taraguan. Lady Venus believed heartily in good exercise and had insisted that the young slave begin taking walks regularly in order to maintain her slim figure. According to Lady Venus, the earlier Slave started a regime of good exercise, the easier it would be to maintain such a flattering and beautiful figure. Slave enjoyed her walks. They were the one time a day, aside from bedtime, that she had all to herself without having to worry about any of her duties.
Slave remembered well the day Lady Venus had arrived nearly six months ago. She and her master, Lord Gregory Carth, had not been home very long when the Lady arrived, claiming to have heard many stories about Lord Carth’s adventures. Master Carth had like the gorgeous lady immediately, though at first, Slave thought that was only because Master Carth liked all pretty ladies. A month or two later though, Carth was making excuses to convince the Lady to stay at Kanoth Springs. Lady Venus had accepted and now it had been quite some time.
Another thing that Slave liked about Lady Venus was that she wanted to teach Slave how to read, write, and do arithmetic. Slave had been in the other room when she heard Lady Venus convincing Lord Carth to allow slave some education. She had claimed that it was “atrocious” and “barbaric” not to allow someone of Slave’s age at least a rudimentary education. As a result of that conversation, Slave now had school three hours a day with Lady Venus. One hour was devoted to each subject of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Even after such a short time, Slave was able to read somewhat, could print her own name and sentences clearly, and could do simple math. All in all, she was very proud of herself.
Unknown to Slave though, unrest stirred the town of Kanoth Springs. She had not heard about the church’s declaration of the king being an illegitimate ruler and that anyone that supported him was to be overthrown. She did not know that this was the reason she’d been told she had to stay indoors. Most of the townsfolk knew that Carth was extremely protective of his personal slave and he did not want her to get hurt. Slave happily walked at a brisk pace through the mansion, unaware that her world was on the brink of destruction.
~*~*~*~
At that same time in the local inn, a small crowd had gathered. At first the crowd had been small, but as the silver-tongued speaker went on, he gathered more and more people to his cause. The local priest had asked him to speak to the people and get them riled up. The church, of course, could not do this themselves, else the people would see through it.
The man spoke at length about the hard times the people endured year after year, but failed to acknowledge that the current lord was much better than the previous one. The walls that protected the town from their lord’s rivals became prison walls. The part of the harvest that the lord took for his own household, became an unbearably large amount, despite the fact that no one had gone hungry in Kanoth Springs for many years. By the time he was done, all but a very few of the man gathered in the inn were muttering about how much he was right. They looked at him once more as he gave his parting words.
“The nobility class has taken advantage of us for too long! Isn’t it time we ruled ourselves?”
Leaving the people to ponder his question, the young man climbed off the table he’d been standing on and returned to the temple. The priests had provided a room for him that they swore would be safe from Lord Carth’s soldiers. The Carth family had a reputation for not putting up with people that would incite the masses against them and the man had insisted on the best protection he could get before agreeing to help the church.
~*~*~*~
Inside Carth Manor, Lord Gregory Carth walked arm in arm with the lovely Lady Venus. Everyday he found himself more and more enamored of her extraordinary beauty. Long, blonde hair cascaded in soft waves down her back to her small waist. Every curve of her body was perfect, though she would not yet allow him the joy of exploring those curves in private. Her eyes were a dazzling green. From the moment they first laid eyes on each other, those emerald eyes had cast a spell over the young lord; a spell that was renewed every time he looked at her.
Carth led the beautiful woman along a stone path that wound through his gardens. A large variety of flowers grew there, tended by the best gardeners he could find. Smiling at his beloved, he carefully picked a flower and offered it to her. She took it with a shy smile, neither of them aware of the events that were starting to unfold just a few blocks away from them.