“Enjoy your peace, little witch. You won’t have it for much longer.”
When his brothers have left with their new women, Sidney dismisses us all back to our quarters.
I want to stay and talk, to tell him about Frensen, and about his brothers’ infertility, but he sees me waiting and shakes his head, leaving through a different door at the opposite end of the room.
Surely he must understand that what I have to say is important? Why couldn’t he just wait for a few minutes?
With a heavy heart I follow our much dwindled group out the door, and across the yard to our rooms.
It’s strange with half the group gone. The room feels larger. Emptier.
I feel bad, heading off to my own private room, and so I instead I reclaim my old bed, unslept in these past few nights. Stacey seems pleased. The other’s don’t even speak to me. Nancy’s two loyal companions have been left without their leader, and they seem lost without her, as though they can’t even make up their own minds as to how to act, or what to do.
Darla comes to see us as we file in, silent as she sees who’s returned, and who hasn’t.
I feel like prey, narrowly escaping their predator.
I know absolutely nothing about Frensen, aside from the rumours of his violent tendencies.
How much influence does he have over Sidney? And if not influence, then control?
If what Sidney told me is true, then the moment it’s discovered that Stacey is pregnant, he will be a target.
The other women head to bed, but I don’t feel the slightest bit sleepy, so I venture into the kitchen for a cup of tea, hoping to catch up with Darla.
She’s at the sink, washing the last of the dishes.
“Are you still doing this job?” I ask in surprise. “I would have thought there’d be less, with all of us gone.”
Darla laughs. “We had a much later dinner than usual tonight,” she says. “Cooked up something a bit special, seeing as there were only the four of us.”
I feel a twinge of envy, and push it away.
“I was just about to head to bed,” Darla continues. “But I’ll stay for a little while, if you’d like the company?”
I nod my appreciation, and make us both another cup of tea.
“I see who has gone,” Darla says. “What happened?”
I shrug. “We danced, and had a huge feast, more food and courses than I’ve ever had in my life, and we talked, and then the brothers made their choices, and we left.”
Darla raises an eyebrow. “Short and to the point. So, Sidney let them choose whoever they wanted?” She takes a sip of her tea.
“Not entirely.” I shake my head. “One of them wanted Stacey. Sidney told that brother that he had paid for four of us, and he had the right to veto a choice.” My voice breaks, and I lift my cup to take a scalding mouthful.
“And someone wanted you?” Darla asks.
I close my eyes, taking a deep breath, before opening them to answer.
“Frensen knows I’m a witch. He said he has a loyal servant on the Master’s staff, who knows that one of us is a witch. Frensen used his powers of observation to determine that it’s me.”
“You didn’t admit to it, did you?”
I shrug. “What could I say? His points were obvious. Everyone there was scared, except me. He told me I looked like I was in complete control of the evening, or something like that.”
Darla peers at me. “You were scared. You were just as scared as the rest of them. You still are.”
Inside my chest, my pounding heart is agreeing with her.
I glance down at my hands, clenched in my lap. “I guess I’m just better at pretending I’m not.”
Darla nods. “So Frensen wanted you, and the Master refused. There’s not much he can do about it now.”
I shake my head. “Sidney refused to give up Stacey, first. Frensen saw that, and he didn’t even select me. But as he was leaving he told me his favourite challenge is taking something that someone doesn’t want to give. I can only assume he means me.”
“Oh, Lauren.” Darla reaches out to take my hand. “These walls are fairly well protected, you know. And if Frensen has a spy on the inside, well, I can only say that it must just be the one. Sidney is a fair master, most of the time. No one likes to be a slave, or a servant, but we all recognise when we can’t get out of a situation, and when we should be grateful for what we’ve got. There’s not many here who would go against him.” She gives my hand a squeeze. “What I’m saying is, Frensen couldn’t just wander these walls, and take you. He’d have to do it by brute force, and I just don’t see him going against his brother like that. The other brothers would all turn against him, quick smart.”
I drink the last of my tea, and force a smile. “Thanks, Darla. I appreciate the chat.”
“Anytime, Lauren. I’m always here. Not like I can go anywhere else,” she adds with a laugh. “Off you go, get some sleep. There’s been enough upheaval just recently, let’s hope we’ve seen the end of it.”
The last six days of Sidney’s mourning period pass slowly.
We women have nothing to do, and with nothing to do, we’re getting on each other’s nerves.
Nancy’s two friends, who I now learn are Sally and Nina, start arguing with one another, slamming doors and calling names. The other two women fall into a grump, barely speaking at all, but complaining about everything when they do.
Only Stacey seems immune from it all, humming as she goes about her chores.
She laughs when I point it out.
“I didn’t even realise!” she says. “I don’t know what it I.” Her face flushes, and she lowers her voice. “I mean, it’s got to be that night with Sidney. It was so amazing. He just made me feel so special. I’ve never felt like that before, not ever, in my entire life.”
I reach out to give her hand a squeeze. “I’m so glad you got to experience that,” I say, feeling a twinge of jealousy. I’ve been an adult longer than Stacey, and I’ve still never experienced anything that left me feeling special.
Then again, all the baby hormones must be having some effect, too. Every day the swirl of energy around Stacey’s stomach grows little by little, becoming brighter and stronger every time I see it.
We’re almost used to empty days, so when the alarm rings for the first time since Sidney’s father’s death we’re all stunned for a moment, as though we’ve forgotten what our true purpose in this place is.
When none of us move, Darla peaks her head through the door.
“Time to get ready, girls. The Master is going to select someone tonight.”
My eyes widen, and I feel a surge of butterflies in my stomach.
Will he pick me again? Or is my job done, until he wants me to do another spell? Surely there’d be instructions that I’m not to bother dressing, if I was out of the competition altogether?
I really want to see him, and talk to him, to tell him what his brother threatened. But there’s no way for us to get near him outside of these visits. I even asked Darla if she could pass on a message, but she refused.
“If there really is a servant spying, then I can’t for the life of me figure out who it is. You don’t really want that sort of message being passed down a line. Too much like that old children’s game, Chinese whispers, if it ever actually got there in the end.
I’ve been hanging about the gate between our quarters and his, but it’s kept locked, and it’s only when a servant comes through to summon us, or tell us something, that it’s unlocked, and then I’m barred from passing through, and told the Master doesn’t want to be harassed by his breeding women.
The term stings, and I want to point out that I’m more than just a breeding woman, but I can’t.
So tonight, for the first time, I actually spend the time to fix myself up properly. I shape my eyebrows, and shave my legs. I’m careful with the way I apply my makeup, and the way I do my hair. I select a dress that looks classy, and sexy, and a bra that emphasises my
breasts, and heels that accentuate my thighs—now there is not so much competition for dresses, I have a better chance of getting one of the nicer pieces.
We’re led through to the viewing room. Everyone is silent, their nerves buzzing.
Stacey is wide-eyed, and hopeful.
Sidney arrives, and glances us over. His energy is still swirling with sadness, and I can see that he doesn’t want to be doing this tonight.
His eyes linger on me, looking me up and down. I can see the attraction in his gaze and I feel a surge of hope, but then his gaze moves on to Stacey, and I see the way his eyes really do light up there.
It makes sense. She’s absolutely glowing.
“Stacey,” he says, reaching out a hand.
She beams, crossing the room to take it, and the rest of us file back through to our quarters, to undo all our hard work, yet again.
“We’ll never have a chance,” one of Nancy’s friends comments, glumly. “Not with someone as young as Stacey. We ought to all give up now.”
“He won’t have Stacey every night,” I say. “He wants as many children as possible. No good spending all his time with one woman, when he can spread his seed around several.”
“Isn’t he infertile?” Nancy’s friend asks. “What if he chooses to only fuck her until she’s pregnant, which will never happen? None of us will get a look in.”
I shake my head. “He can’t risk that. He can’t stick with one woman, what if she’s the one who’s infertile. I promise, he’ll be trying someone else tomorrow night, you see.”
“And you have his ear, and know his plans, do you?” One of the other women sniggers. “Just as bad as Nancy, telling us all how it is. She didn’t know nothing, and I bet a million you don’t know nothing either.”
I resist the urge to sigh.
Like everyone else, I venture off to change out of my dress and wash off my make-up, so I can eat dinner.
Sidney’s first women are lounging around the kitchen, having already finished their meal. I can’t help but wonder why Sidney kept them on, if he truly is sick of this nightly ritual of baby making?
Why not let them go?
Not that I don’t envy the lifestyle they have right now. A small amount of chores, like the rest of us, and then an afternoon free to themselves. But they can’t go anywhere, they’re trapped, here, just as we are.
How boring must that be?
Chapter 9
The evening passes quietly, and we all wonder whether Stacey will stay with Sidney all night again, as she did before, but this time she’s sent back just as we’re all climbing into bed.
“Not the favourite anymore?” One of the women sniggers when Stacey appears at the doorway, but Stacey doesn’t even look at her. Instead her gaze meets mine, and I can see her eyes are shining.
She tilts her head ever so slightly, and I respond by nodding, just as slightly. I lay back on my pillow, my heart racing. She knows she’s pregnant. I don’t know how, her bleeding can barely be a day late, unless Sidney went and got a test for her. Those things are rare and expensive since demons spawned on Earth and began destroying the place, but if he has the money to have his own fertility tested, then I daresay a pregnancy test wouldn’t be a problem.
I strain to hear the sounds Stacey makes as she goes about her business. I can hear her footsteps down the hall, and very faintly the grate of the zip as she undoes her dress, and the swish as she pulls it off over her head. The cupboard clicks closed, and she heads into the bathroom, and then I hear the water running as she washes off all her makeup.
I toss and turn a few times, pretending to try and sleep, but when I hear the bathroom door close and the kitchen door open, I’m up, out of bed.
Some of the women are still propped up in their own beds reading, others are simply lumps under the blanket, their energy showing them either sleeping, or trying to.
I slip into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of milk before moving to sit with Stacey and Darla, who’s helping with the usual debrief after a night with the Master.
Darla glances at me as I sit down.
“Stacey has news,” she says. “But she won’t share until you’re here to hear it, too.”
I grin, and glance at Stacey.
Stacey lowers her voice to a whisper. “You can’t tell anyone, yet. Master Sidney asked me to keep this to myself, but he said I could tell the two of you.”
I nod, butterflies dancing in my stomach. All I want to do is wrap my arms around her and tell her congratulations, but I can’t do that until she’s actually spoken the words out loud.
“I’m pregnant.”
Now I can wrap my arms around her, and I do.
“Congratulations!” I make sure I keep my voice low. “That is so exciting. I’m so happy for you. Master Sidney must be ecstatic!”
Stacey beams. “He is. He’s going to have a room made up for me tomorrow, just down the hall from his own, so he can make sure I’m properly looked after. Once that’s sorted I’ll go and live there, with him. He said I’ll have my own guards, and I’ll have the freedom of the castle, and gardens, as long as I promise to have several guards follow me around at all times. And I have permission to visit here whenever I want.”
“Oh that is brilliant,” I say, giving her another squeeze. “May this be the start of a wonderful family for you.”
Stacey squeezes me back.
Darla is more cautious. “I always thought the Master was infertile,” she says.
Stacey gives a little shrug, no word to the negative is going to upset her. “I guess not,” she says.
“Well,” Darla forces a smile. “Then I am happy for you, too. We’ll miss having your smiling face around, but it’s nice to know you’ll be cared for from now on. You deserve it.”
Stacey’s beam just shines brighter, she returns to her meal, wolfing down her food as though she hasn’t eaten in days, and then yawning.
“I’m so tired,” she says. “I’ve been feeling so tired lately, and a little ill these last couple of days, too, if I’m honest. I was worried I was getting sick, and that I wouldn’t be able to see the Master anymore.”
“We take care of our sick,” Darla says with a raised eyebrow. “Got to get them back to them health.”
Stacey blushes, and shakes her head. “A cousin of mine got sick when I was younger. Just felt queasy in the stomach all the time. It turned out to be some sort of genetic condition, passed down on his mother’s side of the family, it developed to the point where he couldn’t even look after himself anymore. It’s silly, I know, but I just felt certain it was that, and that Master Sidney wouldn’t want to have children with someone with that sort of disease. I thought if I got sick he’d send me away.” She shakes her head again. “Anyway, I’m so pleased to have a reason for it. I can put up with anything, if I know something good is going to come of it.”
“Something very good is going to come of this,” Darla says with a smile. “Now, off to bed with you. You need as much sleep as you can get, growing another little person inside.”
“You can use my room, if you want,” I offer, and Stacey hugs me again.
“That would be wonderful.”
She heads off to bed, with no idea at all about Darla’s reservations, which I can feel emanating off her.
Once we hear the door to my room close, Darla turns to me.
“Was this your doing?”
I hold her gaze. “I can’t do anything anymore. I explained that to you. This is what the Master asked for, and what he got. Consequences and all.”
“So she hasn’t slept with someone else? There’s no chance of a baby being born with orange eyes, or who’s a wolf-shifter, instead of a dragon-shifter, or some other terrible thing that could throw a spanner in the works?”
I smile. “No chance at all. That baby is purely Sidney’s.”
“And is that the only one?”
“So far,” I say. “But that doesn’t mean there won’t be half-sisters and brothers c
oming along, if the conditions are favourable.”
Relief crosses Darla’s face, and she closes her eyes.
“I never thought I’d see the day.”
When she opens her eyes again, I see there are tears in the corners. “I pray this is the start of wonderful things to come,” she says. “Children, born to this household for the first time in years. That’s all Sidney needs to soften him up, someone small to dote on. Then things will improve, I’m sure.”
I think of the image I had, as the spell worked. Sidney, with two children, happier, more relaxed… yes. I suspect Darla is right. Things will improve.
The next day I wait for news with baited breath.
Surely Sidney is going to come and inform everyone of his exciting news? How could he not? To put to rest the minds of the women he’s trying to impregnate, that he is actually fertile, that our time with him may have some end result, rather then just being fucked for the sake of it and then discarded.
Stacey doesn’t seem at all concerned about Sidney’s lack of announcement, and I don’t want to cause concern, by questioning her.
Where is he?
The alarm rings, and we all dutifully file off to dress ourselves up, except for Stacey, who wanders off the kitchen to have a snack.
“Had enough have you, darling?” Nancy’s friend smirks. “Bit too rough, is he? Not sure not dressing up is quite the way to avoid him though, might find some other way to punish you.”
Stacey just shrugs, and smiles, and goes back to her food.
She comes with us as we all file through to the viewing room, walking just behind me, and I can hear her humming under her breath.
I resist the urge to glance back at her.
Honestly, if pregnancy makes me this happy, I’ll be looking forward to it. But if it’s anything like the other women in my family, my aunt and older sister, who were sick from the moment they conceived until the moment the baby was born, well, then I’ll happy put it off, possibly permanently.
The room feels chilly tonight. I don’t know if it’s because there are only six of us now, in a room that would probably fit two dozen, or if the seasons are turning early and I haven’t noticed.
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