The Slave (27 page)

“
Oh yeah? What’s that?”

“
Transsexuals, or, to be more correct,
the gender dysphoric. Which you could have probably surmised by the
appearance of her date.” Chris gave a slight nod toward the two
people now speaking in animated tones, fighting the muted sounds of
the string quartet in the background. Robin really looked this
time, and was amazed. If the tall woman who was Ali’s date was once
a man, only her height might suggest it.

“
That’s some specialty.”

“
We all have our favored fields of
endeavor.” With that, Chris offered no more on the topic, and led
Robin through the party, making nods and introductions as he went.
Robin lost track of about one third of the people she met, all a
blur of tuxedos, shimmering gowns and dresses, and a sprinkling of
people dressed in ways to display their property status.

None of the guests were accompanied by a
naked or obviously scantily dressed servant, which seemed a little
strange, despite how out of place such a person might be in such
company. But nevertheless, throats bore chains, or chests were bare
under a formal jacket, or perhaps a skirt was cut very high, or
slit deliciously to reveal nude flanks. It was tantalizing, playing
a kind of identity game and spotting the owners and the owned.
Could she imagine playing that role, standing behind such an
elegant woman, and unobtrusively having that lighter at hand, or
ready to take that drink with one sweeping movement of the arm?

Oh, yes.

Chris always introduced her simply as Robin,
and no one asked a single question about who she was or what she
was doing there. She was even introduced to someone she knew, a
Matisse owner who collected seacoast watercolors. But he merely
smiled, met her eyes knowingly, and continued on without commenting
on their past acquaintance.

Before she could ask Chris why, she saw that
he was about to be accosted by a formidable man who was obviously
pleased to see him. The newcomer was over six feet tall and broad
around the chest. His receding hair was cut long, with locks
dropping over his powerful shoulders. He would have looked somewhat
like a professional football player, or perhaps a wrestler, if
there wasn’t a hint of softness around his chin.

Which made the sight of him kneeling in an
almost full prostration before the much smaller man almost comical.
But instead, Robin felt a shiver run through her. Around them,
several people nudged out of the way, but no one seemed to pay any
real attention beyond a quick glance.

“
You may,” she heard dimly. Chris was
looking down, and after he released those two soft words, his lips
compressed tightly.

The man kissed Chris’s polished shoes
quickly and lightly, not marring the gleaming surface, and then
raised himself up to his knees. He was smiling, a pink flush
showing around the close cropped beard. “Sir, I’ve been waiting for
some time to be able to do that.”

“
And so you have. But you have
forgotten how to address me, I see.”

“
Please, sir, I am under instruction
by my Mistress to so address you, sir.”

“
Then of course you must. Please
rise.”

The big man rose again, and stood with his
head slightly lowered. Chris reached out one arm to touch Robin
lightly and said, “Robin, meet Robert. He had the opportunity to be
tutored in his slavery for six weeks, by my employers. Robert, this
is Robin, who is undertaking that training in two weeks’ time.”

Robert raised his eyes slightly in surprise
and respect, and gave her a friendly smile. Robin flushed, knowing
that she was not expected to shake his hand, and feeling that such
a nice, normal ritual might help her to gain some sort of
serenity.

“
You are here with...?” Chris
prompted.

“
Mistress Janelle and her friends,”
Robert said smoothly. “Mistress has loaned me for the evening, sir.
Please, may I ask a question?”

“
You may.”

“
Are Mr. Elliot and Ms. Selador here
tonight?”

“
No, they are not. But I shall convey
your respects to them if you wish.”

Robert beamed. “Thank you, sir!”

“
And you may do me a service, if you
are permitted, Robert.”

“
I would be honored, sir.”

“
Stay with Robin for a bit. I will go
and make my own respects to Janelle.” Without turning to Robin or
waiting for an answering nod, Chris took off into the crowd,
leaving Robin with a man who dwarfed her. He looked down at her,
still friendly and obviously cheerful.

“
May I get you a fresh drink,
ma’am?”

Robin eagerly traded her barely sipped but
already flat champagne for a still sparkling flute, and then eyed
Robert carefully. He seemed comfortable under her gaze.

“
Hi,” she said lamely.

“
Hello, ma’am!”

“
Um.” Robin put her brain in gear and
found the phrase she needed. “I wish you would feel free to speak
with me as a peer.”

“
Oh, thank you! That’s very kind. Are
you in training now?” He moved a little closer, so that she
wouldn’t have to speak up to be heard.

“
Yes. For one week.”

“
You must be very excited. I was. I
was also terrified.”

“
You? Terrified?” Robin rolled her
eyes. “Of what? A Panzer Division?” Robert blushed again, and Robin
was amazed at what a charming thing it was.

“
Well, you wouldn’t have recognized me when
I was accepted for training.” His eyes left her for a moment,
following the path that Chris had taken. “I was a totally different
person. I was confused, miserable. I still don’t understand why I
was accepted at all. But they took me, and they helped me to
change. Gave me a new way to look at things―a new perspective, if
you will.”

“
That was a nice show of
gratitude.”

“
It was less than what he deserves.” Robert
fixed his eyes on her again. “I believe that if it were not for
Chris Parker, I would have never made it through the training. He
encouraged me every step of the way. He listened to my problems,
and counseled me, and he was relentless in his discipline. In
fact―” the man smiled, lost in his memories, “I used to think of
him like a Drill Sergeant. He even gave us the same speech about
what to call him. Have you ever heard it?” In answer to her
headshake, he continued, “I knew a DS who started out every platoon
with the same lines, about how they don’t call him ‘Sir,’ but
‘Sergeant,’ because he works for a living. Well, Chris settled that
right from the beginning. It confused some of the others, but I
knew what he was doing.”

That was a fascinating bit of information,
especially since she was supposed to call Chris “sir.”

“
What about the other two?” she asked.
“His employers?”

“
The best people in the world! Mr. Elliot
and Ms. Selador are amazing, just amazing. Why, they took one look
at me, and knew immediately what I needed. And Ms. Selador, why
she―she...” Again, his eyes glistened with memorable pleasures.
“She is the most intuitive, wise, and just plain intelligent woman
I’ve ever had the privilege to serve. She had no patience for
dissembling. But she understood so much about me. I will love her
always, and Mr. Elliot, too. They have my respect, and my
gratitude. But Chris... I don’t know. Words don’t really exist to
describe how I feel about him.” He seemed distressed at not being
able to find those words, and Robin felt a stab of guilty
compassion.

“
That’s all right. I didn’t mean to
put you on the spot. It’s just that Chris doesn’t talk about
himself or his employers very much.”

Robert nodded. “Yes, that sounds like him,
all right. But he wouldn’t have left you alone with me without
expecting you to question me. You always have to take advantage of
any opportunity to learn. When you’re allowed something that might
be forbidden later, take it, do it. That’s the most important thing
I could tell you.”

Robin took the advice eagerly, even though
she had heard it before, from Chris, as a matter of fact. It seemed
wonderful to hear it as a teaching and in practice as well. “It
must have been great having other people in training with you,” she
mused. “I have no one to talk to about these things.”

“
Oh, it was an experience with its benefits
and drawbacks,” Robert said. “In the long run, I’m glad I had the
opportunity to meet the people I trained with. They taught me a lot
by example, good and bad. And one of them gave me a magnificent
gift.” He blushed again. “But we spent far too much time not
getting along with each other and complaining. Why, there was this
one woman―” He cut himself off, and lowered his head with a
shameful grin. “I mustn’t gossip. Please forgive me. The real point
was that we became very aware of each other in six weeks, our
histories, and our hopes, and then we all lost contact. That’s what
happens when you get sold. So I don’t know what happened to any of
them, and it’s not something I can ask about.”

“
Oh? Why not?”

“
Well, because they aren’t family, and
my Mistress can’t be expected to know about them. And I think it
would be poking into their confidentiality to ask Chris about them.
The best I can hope for is to run into one of them at an event like
this.” His face fell. “But that hasn’t happened yet.”

“
Well...” Robin glanced away with an
almost automatic move. How had she known that Chris was returning?
She could see him now, shaking someone’s hand, obviously on his way
back to them. She looked back up into Robert’s eyes, and asked,
quickly, “Are you happy? I know, it looks obvious, but I need to
hear it.”

Robert grinned. “Oh, yes, Miss Robin. I wake
up every morning and thank all the higher powers for what my life
is now. And I think you will, too.”

“
You may return to your Mistress,
Robert.”

“
Thank you, sir.” Robert turned easily
with one of those eloquent nods, but Robin spoke quickly before he
could move away. “Chris? I was just going to ask Robert what
happened to the other people he trained with.”

The trainer’s eyes narrowed, and his mouth
twisted sardonically. “I see. And were you about to answer,
Robert?”

The tall man turned his body back to face
Chris and brought his hands behind his back, lowering his head. “I
would be unable to answer that question, sir.”

“
As is only correct. After all, it
would be none of your business that Claudia is at this moment the
treasured companion slave and ruling hand in her Lady’s household.
Nor would it be proper for you to know that Brian has entered the
service of a much esteemed gentleman whose western estates are
known for the talented and exceptionally hard-working young men who
populate it.” Chris kept his voice steadily cold and harsh, as if
delivering a lecture, and Robin couldn’t control the twitches of
mirth that played around her mouth. But Robert listened with a
serious hunger, keeping his eyes downcast.

“
And of his other companion in training,
well, the less said about that one, the better. The situation
turned out to be unfavorable for her and the house, and she was
freed from her contract, and so we do not discuss her. Of course,
Robert would be informed of that fact only if it had something to
do with his current or future position. Robert―hadn’t you better be
on your way?”

“
Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.” And he was
gone in a flash, darting through the crowd like the linebacker he
resembled, his long hair waving gently behind him.

“
He seems like a nice man,” Robin said
after Chris had sent Robert back to his Mistress of the
evening.

“
He has grown considerably in his new
life.” Chris fixed one of his raised eyebrow looks upon her and she
blushed. “I hope that you will not be in the habit of lying for
much longer.”

“
It wasn’t really a lie,” Robin
protested. “I was asking him about them. He said he couldn’t talk
about it because it might be considered gossip. And that he was
afraid to ask because he didn’t want to intrude on their
confidentiality.”

“
And he was correct. I’ll punish you
for lying later.” Chris scanned the room while Robin gulped some
champagne to cover her embarrassment.

Most of the rest of the evening passed into
a comfortable blur of faces, names, and more guessing games. Unlike
the many SM-themed parties she had attended, there was no moment
where the host stepped out and started some sort of erotic play,
and there were no general announcements that a dungeon or bondage
area had been arranged for the guests. There was just the constant
stream of charmingly scantily clad slaves, bearing drinks and food
and the amused but mild attentions of a very few guests.

“
Who are these people?” she asked
once, waving one hand. “Are they all owners?”

“
No. Many of them are agents,
trainers, and spotters. A few of them are professionals in other
fields who provide services for the Marketplace without actually
participating in the business of slave training, use, or sale.”
Chris pointed out a few. There, in one corner, was an architect who
took time off from developing commercial properties to design
sleeping and living quarters for human chattel, and had also
designed some very stylish and durable torment devices. Across from
them at one point were two women who were fashion photographers.
They also took the artistic and necessary photos for a slave’s
personal file, and for the catalogs used in the larger
international sales. One of them had achieved some attention
recently for her advertising work, now featured on billboards and
kiosks throughout the country.