Chapter 18

The four of them strolled down the street curiously looking at the various shops and businesses while their diminutive guide kept up a continuous stream of chatter about the sights. Although they didn't seem to cause an unreasonable amount of commotion, it was not uncommon for those passing by, or even some of the shop workers, to stop and give them a small bow or curtsy, some obviously aimed at Dent but no few equally to Nesho or maybe Sosho. Nesho noticed and while this courtesy was welcome, it was unusual for Salas. She also noticed that everyone they met had the slave mark on their forehead. She mentioned this to Barth who shrugged and gave her a puzzled look.

"Masters usually don't travel the streets on foot, mistress, mostly Warriors, a few seamen, and of course the rest of us. When we see our master we must show obedience and with other masters it's not required but it just seems right."

"So because Dent doesn't have the mark he's a master and people are showing him respect?"

"Oh no, mistress, I mean yes, mistress, well I don't know mistress." He got that puzzled look again, like he was trying to think of how to say what was too obvious to put into words. "I mean the Master is a Warrior, that everyone can see just by looking at him," he glanced over at Dent with almost worship in his eyes, "but he's also a Master because of you and the young mistress."

"So you can tell we belong to him just by looking at us?" Nesho said somewhat surprised.

"Oh yes, mistress! Well that or he's guarding you. But no matter, you must have a very important master since nobody but the greatest have slaves with salidin and here are two!"

"Hmm," Nesho reached up to touch the warm metal band around her neck. It had been there for only a few short hours but already seemed to be a natural part of her body; she was even beginning to forget it was there.

She was ready to ask more when Barth jumped over to Dent's side and eagerly pointed to a small unassuming building a short way up the street. There was no doubt it was an inn, or at least a tavern, and while it appeared to be very old it had been kept in good repair. It had two stories and was nestled in between two taller buildings. The ground floor sported several generously sized windows facing the street, all presently wide open and through which the sounds of a busy eatery could be heard.

That wasn't all the escaped through their open shutters: A stray breeze brought the wonderful smell of cooked food to Nesho's nose causing her mouth to water. Suddenly she felt like she was starving!

"There it is Lord," Barth said to Dent still pointing. "The Cracked Cask, the best inn in Coopers Town, probably in the whole of Harv'el."

"Looks good to me, what do you think, Nesho?"

As Dent turned to look at her, Nesho's stomach growled causing her to blush and look around quickly to see if anyone heard her slight indiscretion. Slapping a hand over her mouth, Sosho tried unsuccessfully to stop from laughing aloud.

Dent merely grinned and said, "I'll take that as a yes. Well let's go in and see if the food tastes as good as it smells." Taking her arm in his, he led her across the street and into the inn followed closely by a still giggling Sosho and a laughing Barth.

They paused after entering allowing their eyes time to grow accustomed to the relatively dim light inside. Scanning the room Nesho quickly relaxed when she saw the clean floor and tables. The clientéle relaxed her even further; this was no tavern of beer swilling no-counts. Not at all, in fact they seemed to be reasonably normal everyday type people. Most of the patrons would have appeared to be working class or maybe merchants if they had been in Salas. Despite appearances they all were marked as slaves. There were even a few family groups interspersed throughout the three-quarters-filled room. Nodding, she silently indicated her approval.

"Marie! Marie!" Barth shouted as a woman made her way towards them.

She was a big woman, not fat, just big. As she got closer, Nesho could see she was almost Dent's height and maybe even close to his weight. Big and broad but with a surprisingly attractive face, she was probably in her mid-thirties with her hair drawn back in a knot on the back of her head. Her slave mark a multi-colored floral design reached from the bridge of her nose over each eyebrow. Definitely not someone you would want angry with you and right now she didn't look very pleased.

"What are you doing here, you little scamp?" she demanded, frowning at Barth. "I told you never come in the main room and bother the customers. You want I should stop feeding you and let you fend for yourself like the other dogs you run with?"

"Marie!" he said pulling himself up and trying to look as big and old as he could, "I am working now and I've brought you customers. Is this any way to treat an experienced guide like me?"

"Customers, is it? Guide, is it? What's this nonsense coming out of your mouth?"

"Ah hmm," Dent cleared his throat, "I'm afraid it's true mistress. He is our guide and he insisted on coming here saying you had the best food in the district if not the whole city."

"Oh he did, did he?" she said grabbing Barth by the ear, lightly, and pulling him along until she stopped in front of them. "Well if he's your guide then finding us just goes to show that even a blind pig can find an acorn now and then."

She started to smile then noticed Dent's armor and Nesho's salidin. Suddenly she let go of Barth's ear and curtsied. "I-I'm terribly sorry, Lord. I didn't know who I was talking to. Please forgive me."

"I don't know who you think you're talking to, mistress, but I only know of three hungry travelers. We were hoping your food tastes as good as it smells, although as good as that is I don't know how it could. Do you think you might be able to find a table for the four of us? Barth, I assume we can tempt you to eat with us?"

"Oh yes, Master Dent! That would be wonderful." Leaning up to Marie he whispered in a voice still loud enough to be heard by half the room. "No need to be bowing 'n scraping to them, Marie. Master Dent and his ladies is all right. They're even giving me a whole silver to show them around today!"

"That's very generous of them," she stage-whispered back. Turning back to Dent she continued in a normal voice. "Is the little scamp right, Lord? These ladies belong to you?"

"Yes they do. Is that a problem?'

"Of course not, ah, Master. If you will please wait, I'll move some people and get you the best table in the house."

"Not necessary, mistress. We'll take whatever is open, I see you still have a few. And please, my name is Dent, not Lord or Master. We're not from around here and it makes me uncomfortable. By the way this is Nesho and that is Sosho."

"Hey! That's my job!" Barth interjected. "I do the introductions here! This is Master Dent of the Warriors Guild and his concubines, Nesho torDent and Sosho torDent. Master Dent, Mistresses Nesho, Sosho, this is Marie torBrisil of the Cracked Cask."

"My pleasure, Mistress Marie," Dent said with a smile, "and please, just Dent."

"Whatever pleases you Ma-ah I mean Dent. Please follow me."

With that the big woman led them to a nearby table. Waiting until they took their seats she let them know their menu choices. "Fish or mutton stew, fresh bread, greens and boiled vegetables. I'm sorry, sir, we don't have a very big selection. Usually it's whatever is available, but I can see if we can find something more if you please."

"No, this will do wonderfully! After shipboard fare I could eat just about anything but right now the mutton sounds very good." The others agreed.

"Then, I'll bring out plates and a cauldron of the stew," Marie said nodding. "That way you can eat as much or as little as you wish."

Minutes later a large cauldron filled with stew was placed on the table along with a basket of still-steaming bread, butter and a platter of vegetables. One of the young serving girls ladled out a portion for each of them and the feasting began in earnest.

Some time later all four were pleasantly stuffed and feeling the effects of their eating binge. Marie came back with an almost worried frown until she saw the obviously satisfied looks on each of their faces.

"Was the meal satisfactory, Master, I'm sorry I mean Dent?"

"Satisfactory? Not even close!" He hurried on when he saw the stricken look on her face. "It was wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! I haven't had a meal like that for a long time. Please, my thanks to you and your cook!"

"No, thank you, Master Dent," she smiled with dimples appearing in her cheeks. "It's good to hear someone appreciates our food. By the way my niece is head cook now; I'll tell her what you said. Now will that be all for you today?" She looked at them expectantly.

Dent looked over at Nesho and raised his eyebrows in a silent question. When she smiled and nodded he gestured with his hand for her to get on with it.

"I agree the meal was wonderful, but maybe there is something else you can do for us," Nesho said putting on her negotiating face.

"Oh? And what might that be, my lady?" Marie's face instantly assumed the same emotionless façade as Nesho's.

"We're looking for a room or rooms to rent and our little guide said you had quite a few open."

"Did he now? Well we might have one; I'll have to check of course. Maybe if Master Dent and yourself would like to come with me we can check together?"

"If it's all the same to you, Nesho, I think I'll just stay here out of your way," Dent said with a small smile. "Sosho, would you like to go or stay?"

"I'll stay here if that's all right with you." Without waiting for an answer she stood up and came around the table to sit beside him on the bench. Picking up his arm she laid it across her shoulders as she snuggled into him with a sigh.

"Hmm. It would appear it's just you and I, Marie. Shall we go look at this room of yours?" With that the two women walked off towards the rear of the building.

"Right this way, my lady," Marie said indicating a stairway up to the second floor.

"Please, Marie, I'm Nesho not 'my lady.' I may be new here but I know we're both slaves. Why would you say that to me?" Then she laughed, "I'm here to rent a room not buy the place."

"Yes, but your..."

"My what?" Marie brought her hand up to her own neck like she was touching something. Nesho brought her own hand up to touch her salidin. "You mean this?" Marie nodded. "But why should this matter?"

"I-I don't really know," Marie stammered. "But I feel like it should. I mean we don't see many around here and when we do they're, well they're..."

"They're on the high-priced toys of some rich noble or Master?" Nesho completed for her. Marie looked a bit sheepish but nodded with a small smile. "I'm beginning to catch that feeling," Nesho said dryly. "I wonder if it was worth this notoriety just to avoid the tattoo."

"Why would you avoid the mark?" Marie sounded puzzled. "Sure it stings for a while but it goes away soon enough."

"It's not that. It's just that where we come from facial tattoos are uncommon. Dent, Master Dent that is, didn't want to put marks on our faces."

"We think they're attractive," Marie said frostily.

"Oh they are," Nesho said quickly. "It's just, well Master Dent can be a bit, how shall I say this, resistant to change. He likes things to stay the same as much as possible. So this would be a big change and..."

"Say no more!" Marie chuckled and shook her head. "They're all the same, these men. Still be wearing the same rags we wrap them in at birth if it was up to them. So, what is it like? Wearing one of them?"

"Ah, I don't know really. I just got it this morning."

"You just came in this morning? On the privateer? Oh yes, everyone in town knows what goes on down at the docks. Not much else going on nowadays so when someone pulls in we all know it." She paused, "May I touch it?" When Nesho nodded Marie lightly rubbed her fingers across the golden metal. "It's warm. Does it hurt?"

"No. In fact I barely know it's there."

"Do you feel different? I've heard some of the stories about what they can do, what they mean."

"Different?" her eyes gazed off into nothing for a minute. "Yes, I guess I do. It's funny but I can feel him, even here when I can't see him. I can point to right where he is, and..."

"And what?"

"And I know he loves me," she completed.

"He? You mean Master Dent?"

"Yes, him."

"And you love him too, don't you?"

"Oh yes, very much."

"Strange," muttered Marie.

"What's that?" Nesho asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. It's just that we do things a bit differently around here, but that's neither here nor there. Let me show you what we have available, Nesho. I have a feeling we have a considerable amount to learn from each other. This way."

"You were gone long enough," Sosho snapped when the two women returned.

"Sosho," Dent warned, "be nice."

"I'm sorry," she said as she buried her head in his shoulder, her fingers idly playing with his breastplate.

"So?" Dent asked.

"I think it's very nice," Nesho said. "The only question is how many bedrooms do you want? One or two?"

"You mean I get to choose?"

"Of course you do! You are the Master here," Nesho smiled.

"Well," he said thinking, "I know what I would like, but I don't know if it would work."

"What do you want?"

"One bedroom, one bed."

"You want all your women in bed with you at once?" her smile got even bigger.

"I want all the women I love in bed with me at the same time," he corrected. "But it will be up to the two of you if it will work out. I have the easy part; I'd be sharing the bed with both my wives and not sharing my husband with someone else."

Nesho looked at Sosho who pushed herself away from Dent's side and looked back at her mother. Their eyes locked for a few minutes. Nothing was heard but much was said between the two. As one they both nodded and looked back at Dent.

"It's what we want also, Master," Nesho and Sosho said together.

"How in the world did you do that?" Dent gasped.

Nesho just shrugged and Sosho giggled.

"Well if it's what you want and find acceptable, I'm assuming we can afford it so why bother looking further?" Nesho nodded and waved to Marie who was standing next to the back wall.

"I think this is bigger than the apartment we had back in Salas," Dent said as they moved through the three rooms. The main room contained two large comfortable chairs, a padded bench, a small table with two chairs of its own and a small kitchen with an alcohol stove and a dry sink. The bedroom was off to the right, small but large enough to hold the bed, a small dresser and standup wardrobe.

"We'll need a bigger bed," Dent muttered and blushed as he glanced over at Marie who was walking behind them. The bed was large enough for two people but wouldn't comfortably fit three.

"Already taken care of Master Dent," Marie chimed in. "I have a cousin who is willing to trade this one and a little silver for one that will hold four of you if that's what you want."

"Ah, three will be quite enough, thank you," he stammered as Marie chuckled.

Marie nudged Nesho with her elbow. "Its sweet to see a young man get flustered sometimes. Most of the young studs around here would be bragging about taking two women to bed every night."

"Our Dent doesn't brag, he just does," Nesho said with a smirk.

"Does what?" Sosho chipped in as she came into the room.

"Why satisfy the women in bed, dearie," Marie practically cackled.

"Oh gods yes!" Sosho practically squealed. "Why just the other night I thought he was going to wear us both out! I didn't think I'd be able to walk right for a month..."

Face burning Dent hastily mumbled his excuses and quickly left the room. He wasn't experienced being around women and was quickly finding that women who were comfortable with their intimacy could make life very uncomfortable for their men.

Trying to regain his composure he poked around out in the main room and looked into the third smaller room. It held a cot, table and another wardrobe. Acting nonchalant he wandered back into the main room and sat in one of the chairs. The women were still together in the bedroom and from the laughter and various snatches he was able to overhear he was damn glad not to be in there with them.

"How long have you two been with Master Dent? Do you really belong to him alone?"

"Ah, yes," Nesho answered slowly. She had always considered herself a good judge of character and felt that for whatever reason she could trust this woman. "We've been with his family a long time. I've known him all his life although our relationship has, hmm, changed in the past few weeks."

"I can tell," Marie said thoughtfully. "You both have the look of newly plucked brides." Nesho smiled and Sosho blushed. "Well he seems to be kind and obviously has feelings for the both of you which says something about your luck. We aren't all that lucky, although I can't really complain."

"Your master is kind to you?"

"My master probably doesn't even know I'm alive," Marie said laughing. "His overseer comes by once every ten-day or so to pick up the profits but other than that I haven't seen him in years."

"Is that usual? I mean I know I'm new here but it's all very different than I expected. Everything and everyone seem so... normal."

"You mean why aren't we all walking around in chains with guards whipping us every step of the way?"

"Well, yes, I guess that's kind of what I expected," Nesho pursed her lips.

"There is some of that," Marie's jaw clenched. "There are the mines for the men and the brothels for the women, each of those are bad enough. Some of the masters do seem to enjoy giving pain and then we often have no options as to whom we sleep with but for most of us it's just existing from day to day.

"It can be difficult knowing that any day you can be sold and used like those poor buggers but it's something you learn to live with. Most of us were born into it; maybe that makes it easier for us."

"I was told that most of the people who live here are slaves."

"That's true," Marie admitted. "I don't know the exact count but there aren't more than two hundred masters in all of Harv'el. Now there are a good number of free merchants, soldiers, and seaman. The Warriors are free of course, gods help the master that tries to enslave one of those brutes. No offence meant to your master, dearie. It's just that they're, well almost a breed apart if you know what I mean." Pausing for a moment she tilted her head and gave a calculating look at her two companions. "You haven't been slaves very long, have you?"

"Ah, well no we haven't," Nesho responded rather flustered. "How did you know and does it matter?"

"I thought not. Does it matter? Not in the least. What you were before may be interesting but not important. You were taken on that small ship that just came in, weren't you?" Nesho nodded. "Is that where you met your new master?"

"No, I told you the truth when I said we've know him for most of our lives. It's just that we weren't slaves at the time."

"Hmm, so he wasn't crew on the Grip." Nesho realized this woman was no fool. She obviously had a sharp mind; this wasn't someone you could keep the truth from for very long. "I'm betting there's an interesting story in there somewhere."