A Slave to the Servants Ch. 15

Here it is the answer to the question: Who's the Daddy?

Thanks to Steve150177 for his relentless pursuit of perfection. I think you all have seen the difference it has made.

English is in italics when it appears.

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Enjoy! DW

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I had a free morning while my men worked in the sorting room. After I cleaned our apartment, I finished another blanket for the child. I talked to my unborn and sang to her all morning. Later, as I often did nowadays, I took a late morning nap.

My naps were restful, but they were full of dreams. My connection with my family was strongest then. It was like I spent that time in the sorting room learning more about the ore and whatever else was on their minds.

Anything they thought about while I slept, I absorbed. If something was interesting to me I felt them concentrate on it. The experience made for strange, vivid dreams. I often woke confused, because I'd thought I'd been wherever I was dreaming about.

As usual, Evan's lips on my temple woke me. I had been deeply asleep.

"It is very strange," he informed me, "we find that when you are tired, we are also. Once you have fallen to sleep, we no longer feel tired. Your sleeping clears our bond of that influence."

I stared up at him as confused as he was. It was clear to my men the way we bonded wasn't normal. They were an amalgamation of one mind. Despite our obvious connection, I was still separate. It was very strange, but it wasn't like any of us understood.

"We are hungry," he told me as my own stomach rumbled.

After lunch Nu-reeh had me sit with she and her Sisters while Damien and his Brothers worked off her debt to another family of women.

"They are fierce," Dinah purred watching my men battle and get fucked by the women.

"They are happy," Nu-reeh said and laid a clawed hand on my back.

"Your owners are valuable when they are like this, slave," Nu-reeh told me. "Men that are unhappy wither and die."

"Yes, Mistress."

She continued with the odd lesson. "Some men are happy here in the mountains. Rue and his Brothers will be happy here because they are allowed to learn new things, for instance. They will do well here. Other men are happy because they are allowed to enjoy us physically more frequently."

Nu-reeh pointed to my family. "There are times when you will find a family will not be happy here, no matter what. Those men cannot be kept here in the mountains. Their anger infects the other men. They start fights. It is very disruptive."

"Yes, Mistress," I said remembering things I hadn't known.

In my mind, I saw that Damien and his Brothers had been trouble makers when they were first here. Until the first time they saw me, they had been very difficult and sullen.

"I foolishly used them as payment, so I could not send them back immediately. It was a mistake," Nu-reeh said. "They found a way to make themselves happy, though, so I let them continue to visit with you. I had hoped it would be a permanent solution."

Dinah snorted and growled, "They were never like this, though, all spirited and happy. Their energy is from a good place now. They will stay strong like this. However, I can barely tolerate having this slave near me."

"Damien and his Brothers need to be back at the compound, so they can be with their slave," Tosu said and the other women agreed. "This is what makes them happy."

Dinah snorted looking disdainfully down at me. "If Damien and his Brothers must keep her, at least let it be out of our sight."

The talking ended as a woman down in the ring speared Kein with a wing tip. He had been trying to play with her breasts. Dinah's disgust with me barely registered and I grinned at my men as Nu-reeh went down to protect her property.

I continued to knit quietly as the mating went on. What Nu-reeh had said was interesting, but the collective was busy fighting and fucking. All I could really think about was what my men were doing down in the ring.

After the mating, we were excited. My Men knew a great deal about the stars. Their memories of how to use them were powerful. They could help tell you time of year or guide you across great distances. Showing them to me would be fun.

We had permission from Nu-reeh, Damien had asked, so we could stay out all night. My men loaded up bags they carried on their backs and we set off. We had everything we needed, so we wouldn't have to return until morning.

The sun was setting as we got on our transport. Kein drove and we zipped away from our mountain home. My men had to control themselves. Cheering as they rode away would be dishonorable, but it's what they wanted to do.

We were going to their favorite lake. In the morning we may swim in the water. Tonight we would watch the moons rise together. It was going to be a wonderful night.

"No women!" Bane said smiling.

I patted my gravid belly and looked up at him.

"Well, you don't really count, Ciara," Kein told me, musing my hair. "You aren't like them."

No, I wasn't like them. I was female, but I wasn't what they considered a woman. I was different.

We made it to their spot in record time, at least according to them.

Evan and Christof set up our camp site while Damien, Kein, and Bane checked the perimeter. There were dangerous things we had to watch out for. I knew what most of them were thanks to Nu-reeh. Luckily the area around this lake was not usually inhabited by things that were troublesome.

Kein bounded back to us with a dead animal slung over his shoulder. We would eat it the way they enjoyed it tonight, roasted on a spit over the open flame. I watched curiously as my men prepared the carcass and set up the fire.

"I only camped outside a couple of times when I was younger," I told them as the fire started to gain momentum.

I remembered staying at a camp ground a couple of times with relatives. We'd stayed in a trailer, so we didn't even really stay outside. We brought canned food and cooked it over the electric stove inside. There were bugs outside, so we sat inside and watched television. It was really like staying at home, only more cramped.

My men experienced my memories with me and grunted in amusement. The idea of a traveling lodging was funny to them. They'd never seen anything like that. The rest of it was just weird Earth culture. Sitting and talking around the fire was so much more enjoyable than what I described.

"This is much better," Christof said coming to sit beside me.

I grinned at him and pushed at his shoulder with my own. Christof grinned and pushed back, bumping me against Bane. The physical contact was always reassuring. No matter what we were doing, we preferred to be together.

"You're missing the stars," Bane laughed pointing up.

He was right the sky was slowly darkening and the first glimmers were appearing in the night sky. Leaning back I watched as the first of the three moons rose.

"We won't see the ringed moon start it's journey into the night sky," Evan told me. "It happens beyond that mountain over there. It will appear in the sky above that ridge after a third of the night has passed."

From their minds and memories I had a sudden knowledge of the moons. My men timed the night sky by them. When they kept watch, they used the progress of the different moons to know how late it was. It was the setting of the ringed moon that woke Evan up every morning. They were so in tune with them, they felt them even when they couldn't see them.

I thought about the moon on earth, it hadn't been nearly as predictable. The sun was useful and we timed our days off of that.

"Weird," Kein commented wrinkling his nose.

The meat was cooked and we ate heartily. They told me about the patterns they watched in the speckled blackness. Evan knew it better than anyone and his mind guided mine. I watched with fascination as the night sky unfurled before me.

Eventually, we ended up on our backs. My men set up their sleeping pallets so our heads were all together in a circle. I watched as they pointed out all the interesting things they knew about the glittering blackness.

The way the stars looked and the way they moved in the sky was predictable to my men. They told me all about it. Evan had spent hours learning the sky.

"I wonder," he said, "where my breeder came from, the slave many generations back?" he whispered.

We all wondered and none of us knew. I wondered what had happened to her.

"Why do you think she tasted things?" he asked. "What was the purpose of my gift where she was from?"

Evan's mind was full of questions. He couldn't imagine a world where they were all like him.

"You sound like Ciara," Bane teased lightly, but he didn't mind.

The questions were valid and they all wished they knew more about their Brother.

I lay quietly watching the sky. Bane had stretched out on one side and Christof on the other. After a long while, I drifted to sleep. Vaguely, I was aware as the blankets were pulled over me and I was snuggly wrapped.

When we slept outside like this someone always kept a watch. They each took a turn during the night. Through the eyes of my men as they protected their family, I saw every subtle change in the shimmering stars and changing moons. It was like I watched the sky all night.

The memories of my men spoke to me. I saw the countless nights they had sat and watched the beautiful vista. By morning I understood the way they tracked time and what subtle changes in the moons would mean.

Evan woke me with his enthusiasm. As the ringed moon disappeared and the sun rose he was filled with the usual boundless energy.

"A swim this morning?" he asked stripping.

My breath misted in front of me and I looked warily at him. The water would be freezing and the air wasn't much better. I'd be an ice cube.

The collective mind had me, though. We loved a morning swim. It was refreshing.

Before I realized it I was on my feet and stripping out of my warm cover. My men raced to get out of their clothes.

The air bit my nipples and the rocky ground dug into the soles of my feet. I was too happy to notice, though. This was a treat to get to do this. My family hadn't been able to swim here since we lived in the compound.

We plunged as a group off a small rocky ledge into the water. It was so cold I screamed when I came up for air. I grabbed at the edge and tried to pull myself out.

Kein was behind me laughing a second later.

"Hold onto my shoulders," he commanded turning away from me. "I want to show you something."

Kein wasn't too cold, neither was anyone else. I concentrated on how they felt and ignored my own sensations. It made swimming like this fun.

I grabbed onto Kein's back and he took off under the water. Fish swam by us as we darted through the reeds at the bottom. I watched the underwater scenery with wonder. Kein didn't surface until he needed air.

Each of my men took a turn showing me the lake. It was amazing and I forgot about the cold. They could swim so fast and so deep, we went to places I'd never have reached on my own.

By the time they were done, I felt a little sluggish and sleepy. Damien looked strangely at me and pressed against my back. Quite suddenly he grabbed me and sprang from the water. I watched with detached amusement as my men stoked a roaring fire.

"Wha's the hurry?" slurred out of my mouth.

They seemed to be in a big rush as Evan pulled the water out of my hair with one of those magical cloths and Kein briskly rubbed my body. Bane lay me down on a pallet and then pulled my back tight to his chest. Damien lay in front of me and pressed solidly against my protruding belly, wrapping around it.

"Ciara," Damien said seriously, "you can't just ignore what you are feeling. That isn't how this is supposed to work. It is a shared consciousness, but each individual is still responsible for their own part of it."

I looked up at him and realized I was shaking.

"W-w-why am I-I-I moving like t-t-this?" I asked them looking around.

"You are cold, Ciara, much too cold," Evan chided taking my shivering hand in his and rubbing it.

Christof pulled a blanket out and laid it over the three of us while looking worriedly at me.

Nobody else was cold. This didn't make any sense and then I stopped focusing on them.

It hit me like a freight train. I was so cold, so very uncomfortable. The warm bodies on either side of me were the only good thing I felt.

Moaning softly, I felt them press closer to me. Greedy for the warmth they provided, I didn't mind the feeling of almost being smothered as I snuggled closer to them.

"I l-l-like the w-w-water," I said softly. "I didn't want to have to get out. We were all having fun."

Christof sat and watched us a moment before he spoke.

"It isn't normal for a human to have this attachment to us," he said simply. "That's probably why it doesn't work right for her."

Nobody else could have done what I just did, the internal dialogue told me. They couldn't disappear into the bond and forget their own feelings. It just didn't work that way.

They agreed with Christof. My family would have to be careful with me. I was having trouble with the bond.

"You'll have to be more aware, Ciara," Christof warned. "I don't think you are supposed to be able to do this. You aren't doing it correctly. You will get injured this way."

I couldn't disagree. They had a great deal more experience with this than I had. Grateful for their warmth, I just snuggled with them.

As I got warmer, I started to enjoy the press of warm flesh on either side of me. Since I was facing Damien I started to place kisses across his neck and chest.

"Hmm, and what are you doing?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanking you for noticing my distress," I said continuing to kiss in between the words.

It was novel being outside and pressed between their warm, masculine bodies.

"You're getting excited," Evan commented from beside us. "You want us to have sex with you."

I rubbed Bane's hip and pressed my ass against him. Yes, I wanted them, but I wasn't getting the same feelings from them. They didn't like to have sex outside.

In their memories, I saw the sanctioned matings. The women pressed them into the rocky soil and mounted them. The sun got in their eyes, their backs got sore from being pummeled to the ground, and other groups of women stood around watching. My men hated it.

My men liked my soft, smaller body. Being inside, on their comfortable bed, and in whatever position they choose made them happy. It was private and quiet. Using me in the bedroom was a rare delicacy, all pleasure and no pain. That was an uncommon experience on this world.

"It's not like that on my home world," I said feeling my arousal fade away. "People have sex just about everywhere and anywhere."

"This is your world now," Damien reminded me, "and sex in your current state brings you pain. What you want would not be good for you."

The rebuff didn't sting as bad as it could have. I looked into Damien's eyes and felt only his concern for me course through our bond. It wasn't that he didn't want me. He just didn't want to cause me pain. Sex outside, in his experience, was always uncomfortable. He and his Brothers would never do that to me.

We flew back to the mountain after we ate the morning meal outside. I was left in their rooms and they went to the sorting room.

The tutors came as usual and taught me more about language and numbers. I enjoyed the lessons, but disliked the tutors. They were rude. I had no problem seeing why Damien didn't like them. Despite how knowledgeable they were, they were very impolite.

Nu-reeh came for me in the afternoon and we flew in the mountains. She took me so far, I wasn't back before nightfall. The entire time she had me, she told me stories about the rest of the planet.

From what she said it was a fascinating and beautiful place. There were drier areas, like we were in now, she preferred those. There were wetter areas, too, all rain and rivers. She wasn't as fond of those places. I just listened to her with rapt attention.

Days passed and I had a certain familiarity with the procedure now. I was taught and trained, but no one bothered me. The frequent taunts of my tutors didn't even bother me anymore. My uncles had said far worse to me.

Damien and his Brothers were a different story. When my tutors came and treated me badly, they more and more took the insults personally. If Damien was just angry before he stayed almost permanently furious now.

He fumed one afternoon after the tutors had left. Damien wanted to tell them what kind of punishment their commentary was earning them. They had no right to speak to me that way, I was as worthy as any of his Brothers.

Christof and I tried to get Damien and the rest to see reason. Christof was almost pleading to calm his Brothers down. He saw that their anger would make them uncontrollable. It would make all of us the same way if we let the anger keep its hold.

"They are speaking to her like she is a slave," Christof explained. "They think Ciara is only chattel. Those men would do much worse if they knew what she meant to us. Can you imagine the reaction if they realized she had bonded to us?" Christof asked trying to reason with Damien.

It would be like inviting trouble to tell them what I was really worth. I was a weak point in the carefully guarded family defense. If they hurt me badly enough, it would hurt my men.

"There are too many that would like to see us cringing on the floor to do that," Bane said pacing. "They must not know how important she is."

Damien's family was powerful and they had enemies here in the mountains. I sat alone and unguarded most days. It would be foolish to advertise me as their weak point.

I felt bad. These were strong men, usually up to any task set before them. I hated to be their Achilles heel.

"Don't worry," Christof commanded pulling me to his chest. "We are glad you are here. The weakness is a price we are more than willing to pay."

"Just don't let the comments affect you," I reasoned looking around. "We know it isn't right, but it doesn't bother me. That's all that matters."

Damien wasn't happy about the decision, but for now we would wait and watch.

Unfortunately, we didn't have to wait long for the tutors to step over the line of what Damien was willing to tolerate.

The tutors had come as usual and we were sitting in the main area of my owner's apartment. Damien and his Brothers were in the sorting room. I had been practicing writing on a tablet in front of me. My hand was steady and the characters looked as they were supposed to now.

"Tell me, slave," one of them said. "Do your Masters still use you? It appears like it would be difficult since you are so large and awkward."

No, they didn't really use me. Sex was too uncomfortable in my current state and my owners could not avoid feeling my discomfort. They used their hands or they took their time with the women in the afternoons, so they didn't feel particularly deprived.

"My Masters take what they need from me, Keeper," I said tactfully.

It was true. I was a friend and companion. My family felt happy in my company. They were glad I was in the mountains with them. Life was better this way.

"Liar," one of the men said coming around behind me.

I felt the man's hot breath as he leaned down behind me. He ran his hands down my arms and spoke into my ear.

"I do not think they still use you, slave," he said. "I believe they just coddle you like a little toy, much as Mistress Nu-reeh does...Although I fail to understand why."