The Duke's Handmaid (Book 1 of the Ascendancy Trilogy)

by Caprice Hokstad

  “You’re welcome,” she replied with a smile.

  Vahn pressed the map into her hand. timna gave it a quick scan to be sure she had no questions. She dipped her head in a final bow before slipping out.

  Chapter 17

  Captain Shil ambled to Rebono Keep in a jaunty mood. timna had just exited the gates and was on her way down the cobbled road toward him. He smiled as he approached her, expecting that polite dip of her head and the requisite “Good day, Lord Shil” she always paid. Instead, timna sank to her knees and bowed. He blinked, then stopped to stare at her. “timna, what are you doing?”

  “The ring, Master Shil. Anyone who wears it is to be treated the same as Master Vahn.”

  Shil looked at his hand and chuckled at being called “master”. Ah yes, the ring. He had dispatched his duty and brought back the treaty, the silver for the posse, and the ring. There was even the possibility he had a lead on King Brendax’s murder, but he had some research to complete before he discussed it with the duke. He felt rather proud for having accomplished so much in a short time. timna’s display furthered the fuel to his budding ego.

  He reached down and lifted timna’s face. Her skin was so soft. She looked so fresh and innocent, not to mention incredibly beautiful. She had called him “Master”. Would she obey him? Rumor had it that the duke did not bed his female slaves. Surely he wouldn’t mind if someone else appreciated them? “Ah, my little dove, timna. Come home with me and let me show you the heights of passion and ecstasy,” he whispered suggestively.

  timna gasped and paled as she lowered her eyes. Swallowing hard, she answered in a tremored voice, “timna is your slave, Master Shil. Command her as you will, but remember whose slave timna is when the ring is returned to its rightful owner.”

  What could he have been thinking? The very liege he had sworn himself to and was prepared to die for had trusted him. While bedding another man’s slave with her consent was minor, misusing the ring would have been a grave offense. Besides, timna sounded fearful of him. That was the last thing he wanted.

  He recoiled, sank to his knees, and looked up at her with pleading eyes. “Please, timna, forgive me,” he begged as he removed the ring and set it before her. “I am Duke Vahn’s captain and nothing more. I had no right to ask that of you. I am so sorry.” He bowed his head, not caring that he debased himself in public.

  timna looked at the ring and breathed a sigh of relief. She gave him a small smile. “Power is a difficult beast to capture, Lord Shil, and an even more difficult beast to train. timna is certain you will become its master.” She reached out and touched his arm. “Please, return the ring now, before it becomes lost or stolen.”

  Shil nodded, completely at a loss for words. He scooped up the ring, but did not replace it on his finger, clutching it in his fist instead. He stood and helped her stand. “You are a remarkable woman, timna. Maybe when you are free—” He stopped mid-sentence, discarding his idea as preposterous.

  “Maybe,” timna said with a twinkle and wink before she turned away.

  Shil blinked in amazement, shaking his head to clear cobwebs of uncertainty. He opened his mouth to speak, but she was already on her way. Besides, though his mouth was agape, there were no words forthcoming. He watched until she turned out of sight. Another year.

  Chapter 18

  Early forenoon found Keedrina in the woods near her henhouse, searching for some wild delights to serve for tea. She gathered mint leaves, a sweet lupta root, a bit of honeycomb (garnering only three bee stings in the process), and a bucketful of berries. She kept half of the berries and bartered the rest with a neighbor for some butter. Added to the bread and tea she’d acquired that morning, it was almost adequate. She knew it would be less than what timna was accustomed to, but it was the best meal she could assemble under the circumstances.

  Keedrina hurried about her personal corner of the henhouse, picking up strewn hay and straightening the blankets she’d been given. In daylight, they didn’t seem quite as nice as they had at dusk. There was nothing to be done about the threadbare areas and mice-chewed corners, but had she noticed earlier, she would have washed them. The odor and constant clucking could never be disguised no matter what she did. It would be embarrassing to have a guest here, but she’d endure over the alternative of passing the time alone.

  She hauled water from the stream and set some to heat in the cast iron skillet over an open fire. She scanned the horizon. Seeing no sign of timna, Keedrina walked to Lord Patkus’s field, carefully avoiding the planted rows.

  The nearest worker was bent over with a sickle in hand. Keedrina cleared her throat as she approached. The worker looked up and removed his hat. “Good day, lass,” he said as he wiped his brow.

  “Good day, milord. Might I trouble you to deliver a message for me?”

  The Elva youth looked worried. “I’m working right now. Is it an emergency?”

  “No, there’s no hurry. Just the next time you see Lord Patkus. The message is for him.”

  “Sure, lass. What is it?”

  Keedrina studied him, wondering if he would follow through. This was very important—at least to her. “Tell Lord Patkus that the Itzi Keedrina has a business proposition for him. Something for sale if he’s interested.”

  “Business proposition. Itzi Keedrina. Something for sale. Got it,” he repeated.

  “Thank you,” she replied and turned toward home.

  “You’re welcome,” the lad said to her back as she heard his sickle swish again.

  Keedrina looked up from traversing the planted rows of Lord Patkus’s field. She saw a tall figure approaching in a silver and black dress. She grinned and ran to meet her guest.

  Chapter 19

  It was good to be out of the damp, dark dungeon, and even better to be far away from Mistress Saerula. timna had not been outside Ny’s gates since her banding. While cobbled streets were easier on bare feet than the rough rocks and cockleburs of the countryside, she delighted in the fresh air and open spaces. Her fine crisp dress and shining silver bands drew a few raised brows along the way. However, she didn’t feel the normal tension associated with being Duke Vahn’s optimess. Rural folk might not even realize whose house colors she wore.

  timna recognized the charred remains of a home before she saw the excited Itzi running from the adjacent field. Lady Keedrina looked happier than she had the day before. timna attempted a respectful bow only to find herself embraced. She blinked back her surprise that a freewoman would disgrace herself like that in the open. Lady Keedrina bubbled with excitement and put her arm around timna’s waist, preventing any possibility of obeisance.

  Inside the henhouse, timna did her best to keep from gaping at the squalid conditions. Chicken dung and wet feathers perfumed the place and the Itzi farmgirl had less than timna could have imagined. Yet, her shaggy old blanket held a large spread of food. “You didn’t have to do all this, Lady Keedrina. timna came to help you, not to be your burden.”

  Keedrina motioned timna to sit, then disappeared out the door. She reappeared with a frying pan full of boiling water. “No, timna, please be my guest. I have very little to offer, but what I have is yours. I am only sorry I cannot do better for one who will be my optimess.” Two scorched, chipped cups were filled from the iron skillet. Keedrina poured the rest of the hot water in a bucket, then mixed it with colder water.

  “Your optimess? Then you’re joining Master Vahn’s house?”

  Keedrina dipped a raggedy cloth in the bucket and knelt at timna’s side. She swabbed timna’s dirty feet with the wet cloth. timna tried to take over the degrading task, but Lady Keedrina wouldn’t relinquish the rag. timna sighed and gave up in light of the revelation.

  “Yes and no,” Keedrina answered. “I have decided that I want to, yes, but I must wait three months because of a vow I made.”

  “A vow?” timna asked as she absently steeped a rickety tea infuser in her cup.

  “Yes. I made a vow to the Nymphs and my mother to
wait three months before I became a slave. So even though my mind and heart are set, I cannot commit yet. Please, don’t tell the duke, other than to say I have responsibilities I must attend to first. I don’t want him to think it was a difficult choice, when indeed it wasn’t. I think this may be what I was born...” Keedrina looked at timna’s frown and stopped mid-sentence.

  “Are you saying that you want to be a slave, even though you do not have to?”

  “Yes,” Keedrina admitted, “that’s exactly what I’m saying. In fact, that is what I must prove to my mother and myself over the next three months—that I am doing this because I want to, not because I have to. I will give myself to him as a Freewill Slave so there will be no doubt of my motives. I could live here and raise chickens, rebuild a house, eventually get compacted, but that was Mother’s path for me. Mother is gone. I don’t have to throw my life after hers. You said so yourself.”

  timna stared at Keedrina, dumbfounded. Maybe Itzi were as stupid as she originally thought. Or maybe this poor girl had lost her mind because of recent traumatic events. timna berated herself for having given Master Vahn’s house such a glowing report. At least she was waiting three months. That should give her time to recover and see things more clearly. There was an uncomfortable silence.

  “Lady Keedrina, there are things you should know that timna didn’t mention before. timna thought you had no other place to go. She thought you could not survive unless you were banded. timna was only trying to help you find a good house because she thought you had no other choice. She was trying to make a hard thing less painful...”

  “But I have learned since we talked. I went to the ITC—”

  “You WHAT?” timna blurted out.

  Keedrina shifted on the straw and retrieved a scroll, then offered it to her guest. She beamed with pride. “See? I have been reading about this.”

  timna shook her head. “Lady Keedrina, that place is not what you think it is,” she said, trying to ignore the goose bumps coursing her spine.

  “What do you mean?” Keedrina’s innocent blue eyes mirrored concern.

  “timna cannot explain it, milady, but you wouldn’t want to go there. They strip away your will and break your spirit. Trust timna, it is not a pleasant place.” She shuddered.

  “But it didn’t last long, right? And was it not worth it to become the duke’s optimess?”

  “It lasted three weeks, and timna would do anything to never have to go there again. That is what they want, after all—to make you so afraid you will behave and obey your owner.”

  “But I will obey him anyway. I wouldn’t accept his bands to stir up trouble.”

  “Why take bands at all? If you’re not in debt, you could be a free servant.”

  “He didn’t offer that to me,” Keedrina said quietly. She was looking down, fingering a piece of straw.

  “Master Vahn is a reasonable man, even kind. However, you didn’t meet Mistress Saerula. Even if you do everything she says—” timna gulped and shook her head. “She has a deep hatred of Itzi, but timna cannot please her either. Mistress beats us with a crop when Master Vahn isn’t home. Look,” she said, turning her leg to expose the calf.

  Keedrina looked at the marks then bent over and kissed them. timna couldn’t allow herself to be sidetracked by the gesture. “Master Vahn did that too, but it doesn’t take away the fact timna and the others were beaten for no reason. It doesn’t take away the pain or the humiliation.” timna looked down and fidgeted with a blanket’s frayed edge.

  “I’m sorry. We don’t have to talk about this.”

  “No. It’s all right. There is no one else timna can talk to. timna always has to be strong for the rest, since she is optimess. timna could use a friend.”

  “I want to be more than a friend. I want to be a member of your house—a sister.”

  “Lady Keedrina, you are hurt right now. Your family was murdered. It is good you made that vow. Give yourself time. We can be sisters of the heart without these things.” She sneered the last word as she tugged on the silver band around her neck.

  “I will wait three months, but I don’t think I will change my mind. Please, speak freely with me. I want to sell the henhouse and move to Ny while I wait. Would you teach me in the meanwhile?”

  timna thought for a moment. A light dawned. Perhaps if she could show Keedrina the cruel and harsh reality of slavery, maybe she would be dissuaded from this foolishness. “timna would be happy to, milady.”

  “Well, you could start with not calling me ‘Lady,’” Keedrina offered.

  “That’s right. As a slave, you would be neither ‘Lady’ nor ‘Keedrina’. You’d be whatever silly name your owner chose. Since you have no owner, timna will just call you ‘Slave’ instead.”

  “I would be much more comfortable if you did, thank you.”

  timna frowned. She had hoped for a little more shock, perhaps some repulsion. Nevertheless, she wasn’t ready to give up. “No, that’s wrong too,” she said in a strict, condescending tone. “Slaves are never to use the words ‘I’, ‘me’, or ‘my’. They must be completely removed from your vocabulary.”

  Keedrina nodded. “Slave is sorry, timna. Thank you for your correction.”

  “It is correct that you apologize. In addition, slaves may only speak when offering to serve or when spoken to. Questions are permitted if they are not an interruption, unless you have been ordered to silence. You will call timna ‘optimess’ while you are training. This will remind you that she is nearly mistress to you at this time. Understood, Slave?”

  “Yes, optimess,” Keedrina replied, dipping her head.

  timna resisted the urge to sigh. She looked at Keedrina for a while, shaking her head. “Slave, you are not permitted to sit that way in the presence your optimess. Kneel now.”

  “Yes, optimess.” Keedrina knelt.

  timna stood and circled her trainee. “Head up. Eyes down. Chest out. Arms at your side...” timna barked. Keedrina did whatever she was told. “Strike that. Arms behind your back.” timna had an idea—one of the first training exercises she had endured at the ITC. Surely, it would frighten and humiliate Keedrina enough to get her point across.

  timna reached down and grabbed a length of baling twine. She tied Keedrina’s wrists, making certain she left a bit of slack for safety. Keedrina remained passive and silent. timna pulled on the twine, lifted Keedrina’s bound hands backwards, then dropped them. They slapped Keedrina’s back. Keedrina cringed but neither moved nor spoke.

  Without another word, timna left the henhouse. She could hardly stand herself for stooping to this and she had to retreat before she lost her nerve. Wasn’t she left alone in the same position at the ITC? She rationalized she was leaving to duplicate the training exercise.

  Chapter 20

  Keedrina remained motionless. The pain in her wrists eventually dulled to a numb bearability. Her arm muscles ached. Was this what owners did? Bound their slaves for no apparent reason, gave no instructions, and then disappeared? Was she expected to get up and work like this? Or was she supposed to wait? She thought back to what timna had said. “Kneel now...place your arms behind your back.” There had been no mention of what to do next.

  More deep thought. “Questions are permitted unless...” there was an exclusion. What was it? Her mind whirred with the possibilities. Unless the question was stupid? No, she would have remembered that, since all her questions were likely to be stupid. Unless the master was busy? That seemed reasonable, but did leaving the room amount to being busy? She had no idea.

  Keedrina imagined herself moving and attempting chores. She could get to her feet with her hands as they were, but what then? She couldn’t very well pick up leftover food, except maybe with her mouth. Once she bent over to grab something in her teeth, could she stand again? Every way she imagined it, Keedrina could only envision falling on her face. Cleaning up the tea was impossible. The next chore would be watering the chickens. Carrying a bucket handle in her mouth seemed feasibl
e, but if she fell in the stream, she’d likely drown. It just didn’t seem plausible to work with her hands tied like this.

  Since the last order had been, “Kneel now...” and countermanding it seemed to risk embarrassment or injury with very little chance of success, she decided to wait. Her knees grew cramped, then numb; her arms throbbed. Time passed slowly. Perhaps the point was to see how she would manage for several days like this.

  timna’s words about Mistress Saerula echoed in Keedrina’s thoughts. Why would a noblewoman beat her own property for no reason? Surely, timna did something to provoke it. But even if timna were telling the truth, two little welts didn’t seem that bad. Mother had done far worse the last time Keedrina and her sister fought in the henhouse and broke a dozen eggs. The memory of the nasty switching quickly melted into the commiseration they shared afterward. A lump lodged in Keedrina’s throat; she willed the thoughts of her sister away before tears could come.

  Eventually, Keedrina worried about timna. Where had she wandered off to? The goal to the training was still a mystery, but whatever lesson she was to learn would be moot if timna were torn apart by a zupwolf or attacked by marauders. Keedrina bit her lip in concern and held her position.

  Chapter 21

  timna had been close, just outside the henhouse, watching the garden suns’ dial as it slowly marked off the hours. The object of the test, as she remembered it, was that the slave not question the trainer’s right to bind her and thereafter refrain from complaint. timna had lasted less than forty minutes before begging to be released. She couldn’t fathom why Keedrina wasn’t begging as well. The four hours she waited for Keedrina were more painful than the forty minutes she endured at the ITC. timna fidgeted, pacing and praying that Keedrina would call.