Chapter 4

It took a full ten-day before the DeSiso household was able to settle down to any resemblance of normality. Nesho was up and about within a day and pronounced herself fit for duty within three; a remarkable recovery she credited to the healing properties of her salidin and Dent's overly solicitous hovering around both her and the baby. One day Shasta overheard her wondering if she should test the salidin's protective power by taking a broom handle to his head. This was after chasing him out of the nursery for the third time that morning.

"I really shouldn't complain," Nesho said with a sigh as Shasta picked up the crib's soiled bedding while Nesho nursed the baby. "I don't think Sosho's father looked at her twice after he found out she was a girl." Shasta noticed that the infrequent times Nesho referred to her former husband it was always as "Sosho's father," never as "husband" or "first husband." Shasta had heard Nesho was a widow, which inferred that at one time she had been a free woman since slaves were forbidden to marry. They could certainly be "bred" by their owners, but never as wives. Shasta still didn't feel comfortable enough to ask about her mistress's past, and wasn't sure she would get an answer even if she did.

"He loves her, and you, very much," Shasta said as she spread the fresh bedding in the tiny crib. "He must. It didn't take him but a day before he acknowledged her as his daughter and body heir." Under the laws of Jeevel anyone born to a slave is considered a slave unless the mother's master publicly declares the child his, automatically giving them the status of "Free."

Shasta stopped suddenly and turned her head away trying to hide the fact tears had started to well up in her eyes.

"What's the matter, Shasta?" Nesho said softly.

"Nothing, mistress," Shasta said, shaking her head minutely.

"You never knew what happened to her did you?"

"How?" Shasta started. "I... I don't know what you mean mistress."

"Your mother, Shasta. You don't know what happened to her, do you?"

"How did you know I... ?" Shasta stopped. It was said by some of the staff in very reverent tones that their mistress could see into their souls; at times like this it was easy to understand that belief.

"No, mistress," Shasta said, her shoulders slumping. "I never saw or heard of her after the slave pens in Harv'el." She was silent for a moment and then continued. "I was remembering what it was like, back when I was a little girl. I remember watching my mother and father together. Seeing the master with Mistress Makro; it was like seeing my father again with my little brothers."

"You say you never saw or heard of her again after Harv'el?" Nesho mused. "Maybe we can make some discreet inquiries. We are not without... resources, in Harv'el. Especially in the slave trade."

"Thank you, Mistress. I would like to know what happened to her." Shasta didn't say anything more. It was an open secret in the household that Nesho ran an ever-expanding network of spies, mostly concentrated in Harv'el. Many of them were connected to the slave trade or were slaves themselves. Unlike collared slaves, of which there were very few in Harv'el, the slaves only bound by their tattoos held no innate loyalty to their masters. Something Nesho took advantage of often.

"I can't guarantee we will find anything," Nesho said gently. "It has been a long time, but we can try."

Less than a ten-day later Sosho gave birth to Dent's second child, a son. Nilsen DeSiso was as quiet as his sister had been noisy, although he was half again her size. Dent was once again reduced to a cooing lump, hardly able to leave the nursery.

Shasta was absolutely fascinated by this view of the ruling class she had never been privileged to see before. A few of her former masters did have children, and even had them by some of their female slaves, but she had never seen one of them acknowledge or even pay the slightest bit of attention to them. Even the ones they recognized as their legitimate heirs were sent off to be raised by nannies. All of the other servants expressed the same experiences; but for some reason nobody was at all surprised it was different in the DeSiso household.

Shasta got to see a great deal of her master and his wives since she for the most part volunteered to be the one responsible for cleaning the nursery. Although she wasn't actually assigned as one of their nurses she ended up spending more and more time with the little poop-factories -- Sosho's description, not her'ss. At first she was a bit hesitant, scared she would hurt them accidentally, but gradually became a very competent caregiver.

She had been fond of the babies from the beginning but as the time with them increased her fondness gradually slipped into a full-blown love of the tots. She could understand the mother bear's protective reaction when something new and unknown came around her cubs. If some stranger not properly escorted, i.e., with the master or one of the mothers, it was all she could do not to bare her teeth and hook her fingers into claws while imposing herself between the threat and her babies.

She could also understand Clarise's pitiful look of longing and despair when she visited the nursery, which she did as often as she was able. One time Clarise simply sat down and began to cry while holding little Makro. Immediately Shasta took the child and placed her in her crib, then returned to wrap her arms around the sobbing woman.

"Hush there, darling," she cooed without thinking. "It will be your turn soon enough. You will give our man many babies; big strong boys and beautiful little girls. It will come soon enough." She would have been mortified if she had realized she had called her mistress "darling," and even more so having referred to Dent as "our man." Right then she had nothing in mind except to comfort a heart-broken woman.

"I know," Clarise said still sniffing. "But sometimes... it It just seems like it's taking forever! What if it never happens? What if I'm barren? Some women are, you know. What if I can't have babies?"

"Do you really think it matters to our master?" Shasta said. "Do you really think he would set you aside if he thought you couldn't have his children?"

"No," Clarise again sniffed and lifted her head.

"Then I would suggest that the mistress let time take care of her problem. I am barren and I for one believe it's the best thing that could have happened to me."

"How do you know you are barren?" Clarise asked.

"I can only assume so," Shasta answered. "I have been used by men hundreds, maybe even thousands of times over the past ten seasons. I think that if I could get pregnant I would have by now."

"Hmm, that sounds reasonable," Clarise mused. "We could have Nesho look at you if you like..."

"No, Mistress," Shasta said firmly. "While I truly love these little darlings, and I will admit the idea of having one of my own isn't too awful... but I couldn't tolerate what would happen either before or after."

"Before or after?" Clarise asked with a puzzled look.

"Yes. To get that way a man would have to... touch me. Afterwards my baby would be a slave just like me. How could I live with that?"

"But not if..." Clarise stopped suddenly. "Never mind, I see your point. I wasn't thinking of that because of my situation. Well I'd better get along. Much to do and little time to do it in."

"Is something going on?" Shasta asked. "Why the hurry?"

"Oh, maybe you didn't hear. The master has been recalled to Harv'el for a meeting of the governors," Clarise said with a frown. "There's something about it Nesho doesn't like, but nonetheless he will be leaving a ten-day and a half from now. Well, I'll be off now. Good day to you, Shasta, and keep our babies safe." With that she waved and strolled out of the nursery.

"... and I'm telling you something isn't right." Nesho said to Dent as they walked into the nursery. Shasta was already reaching for little Makro who seemed to be well aware that it was feeding time based on the fussy sounds emanating from her crib. Shasta sometimes wondered if Makro's "little" brother Nilsen was really related to her. He would lie there placidly smiling up at whoever passed by, even if Sosho was late for his feeding. Not so with Makro. If her mother was even just a tiny bit late for her feeding... everyone around would know about it!

"Why can't you make up some excuse for not going?" Nesho said as she reached for the tiny girl. "Thank you, Shasta."

"You know why," Dent said with exasperation. "We've been over this a hundred times. I have to go. I know you think something is up; I even agree with you. Something doesn't feel right about this. But that doesn't mean I can skip it. Yes, I have this appointment 'in perpetuity'. But not if I choose to ignore their lawful commands."

"You know my sources have seen that ass deClover outside his rooms more than once lately." She continued talking while exposing a breast for the hungry infant. "That isn't the worst: that bastard from Malshal has been seen around the palace. It worries me because I can't seem to find out what he's up to."

"Nothing good, we can assume," Dent sighed. "At least we know something is up. I'll be as ready as I can be when I go there. How have the preparations been on this end?"

"Everything you wanted done is done," Nesho said with a frown. "Do you really think there is a danger here? I'm much more worried about you in Harv'el than I am about us here in Safehaven."

"Call it a paranoid hunch," Dent answered with a shrug. "Something doesn't feel right, and besides I'm going to be taking two full companies of our marines with me. That doesn't leave a whole lot here."

"True, but I feel much better now that you agreed to take them with you," Nesho nodded. "If something minor happens, the household guards and the local constables should be enough. If it's something more, well, the marines probably wouldn't make a difference."

"I know, I know," he said. "But I can't help but remember what happened the last time I left you all alone. Well, there's nothing to be done about it. It's either leave all of you here or take all of you with me, and that is definitely not an option. I guess the best we can do is prepare for whatever may come and keep a watch out."

They continued to talk as Shasta gathered the soiled bedding and left the room for the laundry.

Shasta continued to wonder what preparations were being made and just what their master expected could happen. She was sitting at the dinner table eating with Katern, still musing on these mysteries when someone sat down across from her. Looking up she saw the big guard she had bullied at Makro's birth. Looking around she saw there were a number of empty tables so she idly wondered why he would sit with them. Usually the guards sat by themselves.

"Hi," he said. "I thought we should finally officially meet."

"Why?" Shasta asked, her nose scrunched up in a puzzled expression.

"Well, ah, I just thought..." he sputtered. Shaking his head slightly he took a breath and started again, "I just thought it would be nice to know each other. We're all here together and all that, and well, you are a very beautiful woman. My name is Rolth by the way." She noticed he was handsome, much more so than her master, if you looked at them for the classical sense of beauty. It was obvious he knew it, too.

Shasta just shrugged off his compliment and said, "I'm Shasta."

"Oh, I know who you are," he said with a grin. "You have been the subject of many talks among the guards. Like I said, you are very beautiful, and, ah, unattached." He looked at her hopefully.