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 Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2005 4:57 pm
Viecada pushed open the doors leading to her house. It certainly wasn't a compound like many of the influential women had, but the place was quite respectable, and she had a separate building for the slaves quarters entirely. One might even call it a small estate, for that was what it really was.
She beckoned without looking behind her for the young girl and the slaves to follow her. Normally she would have made the slaves open the door, but since this was the first time Abwyviel was to be here, she wanted to personally show her the place. After a few paces into the room, she elegantly turned on her heel and peered down her nose at the two slaves. "Begone." With a simple command, they left, as any sensible slave would have.
Her cruel attention was then turned to Abwyviel, whom she had just aquired. The girl was an orphan of sorts, and was now Viecada's... responsibility. The mere thought brought a cold smirk to her lips, and her eyes, which were reminiscent of a dead fish, at least in spirit, narrowed ever so slightly. When she spoke, however, the tone of her voice was full of life, sugar, and honey. "Now dear, this is going to be your new home. I'll show you around this place, explain the rules of living here, and what your duties are to be. It's unfortunate that you are a non magic mongrel, but such is the way of the world." Obviously, Viecada knew nothing of her dragon heritage, but why would she?
The entire thing must have been entirely imposing on the young girl, but Viecada could have cared less. Well, not really. "This way dear, no time to dally. I fully expect you to be working before the night is through. This room, of course, is the lobby of our modest manor." A wave of her hand showed her the room that has fine taste in decorations that were probably of moderate expense- decorations which were there from the previous owner who was now quite dead.
Stopping in her tracks, Viecada turned and peered at the girl. "Before we go any further, do you have any specific questions?"
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 9:00 pm
Abwyviel looked around the lobby slightly in awe, her deep blue eyes wide; it was much fancier than any of the she was accustomed to where she came from. As the slaves departed, the small girl felt very alone - and a bit frightened. Her new mistress's somewhat cold manner made her apprehensive, but Viecada's tone when she spoke alleviated this fear slightly.
The dark little girl also held the lady in reverence. Here was a woman who had it all, it seemed. A magnificant palace, many slaves at her beck and call, and on the way there she had even overheard somebody boasting of Viecada's thriving business and growing wealth. This was definately someone to look up to.
There were very few people whom Abwyviel looked up to, for very few people had given her any reason to. Most of the people she knew treated her only somewhat higher than garbage, and cared not a wink whether she died or lived. There had been one person who had been extremely nice to her, but then things had gotten in the way and she never saw the kind lady again.
And then Viecada had come along, not quite as nice as the first lady, but at least she noticed her. The girl wondered what her new life was going to be like in her new home, with her new mistress. Though somewhat nervous, she was also quite hopeful that her life was finally going to take a real turn for the better.
At the moment, however, she was more interested in viewing the rest of the grand estate. Too shy and intimidated by her mistress to speak any of her thoughts aloud, though, she merely bit her lip silently and shook her head.
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Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2005 10:55 pm
Of course, that was how Viecada wanted to be seen. She really wasn't nearly as influential or powerful as she aspired to be. Everything she had was simply left behind and she snapped it up. She was merely making better use of it than the previous owner.
Seeing as how the girl had nothing to say, Viecada turned swiftly, her dress dancing around her ankles. "Very well, this way then. That over there," She gestured lazily, "Is the kitchen. You have not much business to be in there, but i'm certain in time you'll take more interest in it than I care for. Still, I see no point in deterring you, so explore it on your own time if you're so inclined." She paused a moment, then pointed to a different room. "Or, if you're a civilized being at all times, you will wait for your food to be delivered to you at meal times like the rest of the household in the dining room." Of course, the household didn't consist of the slaves, just the two women. They were the only citizens who lived there. Abwyviel would certainly come to realize that soon.
Beginning the track up the stairs, Viecada said nothing, keeping a somewhat stony silence. When she spoke, it was certainly pleasant enough, but everything else about her seemed to forget the act of pleasantness. Reaching the top, she began to walk past various rooms, listing off their function as she went. "A guest room, dear. This is a lavatory, this is the master's chambers, which means it is my room and you are not to enter it without permission, this is the library. You may do as you please with it, perhaps you'll learn something valuable, just take care not to damage the books. They might be precious. I don't really know, they hardly interest me. Ah, here we are, your room, Miss Abwyviel."
Opening the door, she revealed a room that was fairly moderate in size. It had a fireplace, a decent four post bed, shelving, and not much else beyond basics such as wallpaper and carpeting. It was a fairly cozy looking room if one were to fill it with personal possessoins, but at the moment, it just seemed bare, though full of potential. "Well? What do you think?"
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 7:43 am
Her eyes open wide, Abwyviel followed after her mistress, soaking everything in. It was all such a new world to the little girl, and she didn't want to miss a bit of it. As they walked about, she noticed how pretty the dress looked upon her master as she turned, and wished that someday she would be able to wear such beautiful garments herself. She was used to wearing mere rags, and certainly wasn't accustomed to such luxuries as multiple sets of clothing or bathing. She was eager, however, to learn how to fit in at her new home. She would learn quickly.
She noted with interest where the kitchens were located; it would be helpful to know where everything was for future reference. She was surprised that Viecada would allow her to enter the kitchens if she wanted to, and gazed up at the woman with an expression of amazement. She wasn't used to anything of the sort. So much in this place was new to her.
The small girl also took note of what Viecada said about mealtimes; she was going to have to remember the rules and adhere to them, for in no way did she want to upset her mistress. Though her voice was warm, the lady's cold demeanor did not seem like it would let anything slip by her unnoticed. Abwyviel was going to have to be careful. At the same time, she ignorantly wondered who else was in the household, and when she would meet them.
As they ascended the stairs, the girl marveled at the beauty of the wooden staircase. Surely such steps ought not to be walked upon, she thought. As they passed the various rooms on the next floor, she tried to imprint them each on her memory, so she wouldn't mess up and accidentally enter the wrong room. She hoped she would never find herself entering Viecada's room by accident. She could only imagine what the lady would do to her, and her mind conjured up the most frightening images of being whipped and thrown back out onto the streets, left to die. She did have a rather naive and imaginative mind.
The library didn't really pique her interest very much, but she resolved to peruse it later all the same. And then they arrived at her own room. Her own room! The thought almost made the girl dizzy, it seemed so foreign to her. She had never had such a thing in all her life. A whole room, all to herself!
Though empty, the chamber felt more inviting to the lonely little girl than anything else had in all her life. She had but few personal belongings, and those were only tiny trinkets she had found on the ground or in the trash and wiped off. But she didn't care - all that mattered to the girl at that moment was that she now had a home. Overcome with emotion, Abwyviel threw her arms around Viecada in response to the latter's question. "Oh, thank you," she murmured quietly, her face buried in the woman's dress, with not a thought given to what the seemingly cold lady would think of this action.
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 3:56 pm
Of course, if the girl did enter Viecada's room, her imagination as to the punishment was a bit extreme. Viecada would only whip her, there would be no wasting of valuable human resources by trhowing her out.
When the girl hugged her like that, her concentration was thoroughly broken, and a wide range of mixed emotions went through her. Her first reaction was to stiffen up, and her arms were raised slightly, the fingers curled into claws, a disgusted look on her face, hidden from view by being overhead. However, she quickly relaxed, her face going slack as she stared down at the head of the girl. She was so confused by this that she didn't know what to think. She hadn't done anything that she considered special, after all, it would have been unseemly to have the girl live with her and not even have a room. Delicately, she placed a thin hand on her head and stroked her hair. "Ah.... Yes... That... That's enough of that, now, dear. It isn't proper to display affection like that when a slave might be around. It destroys discipline, you know." She cleared her throat as she came up with the likely sounding excuse.
"Speaking of which..." She disentangled herself from the girl, still a bit thrown. "Your job is to train slaves and oversee them. I'll have to show you the proper way, of course, but i'm certain in no time you'll be able to do it quite well. It is essential that this job is done, do you understand? If it isn't, my business will fail. If my business fails, we starve." She fixed a stern look on her face, looking for understanding in the girl's eyes.
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Posted: Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:26 pm
((sorry for taking so long! sweatdrop ))
Slaves. Discipline. The girl of course knew about slaves and their role in society; one could not possibly have grown up in Feretris and not known about the institution of slavery. From what little she had seen of slaves, she thought they had not been all that different from her own state of existance as an orphan. She had even felt a little sympathetic towards them.
Abwyviel listened intently as her mistress explained, her blue eyes gazing curiously into Viecada's brown ones. As she listened, a desire to please this woman who had acted kindly to her swelled up within the girl. She decided that she would do her best with her whatever tasks the mistress would give her in the future. Better to serve her well than to face the consequences of doing the opposite, anyways.
And if that wasn't enough, the final sentence was the clincher. She had felt the nagging pains of hunger before, had seen what happened when people starved. Some orphans hadn't fared so well as she had. The girl's face showed plainly that she understand, and she nodded, seriously and silently.
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