Freyjin woke up the following morning and stretched out in her bed. The familiar anxiety hit as it usually did, ‘My Lenah, my Straen…’ The fact that they were still the legal property of her mistress was troubling, but slightly less so than before. Now there was a fourth of uncertain status. ‘Number Four.’ She thought, ‘Such a strange girl.’

The blue haired girl slept nude, she was however, smiling in her sleep and clinging to her pillow and snuggled comfortably beneath her blanket. ‘You first.’ Freyjin thought and gently shook the girl awake.

“Mpfah… feeding time?” She blinked the sleep from her eyes. She licked her lips, “Is there meat?”

Freyjin felt a pang of gratitude to Lady Aiwenor, there was always a little meat available for those who worked within her estate. “I think so. We have meat almost every morning.”

Number Four’s eyes opened wide and she licked her lips hungrily, suddenly vastly more awake. “Is that… possible? Didn’t I eat all the not people meat in the world on the way here?!”

“The what now?” Freyjin furrowed her golden brow.

“The not-people meat. See people are meat, we get eaten by the eatmen. But the meat I ate on the way here wasn’t like people meat, so it must be not-people meat.” Number Four looked up at her in a way that made Freyjin think, ‘I’m being talked down to.’

She sighed with exasperation and tried not to think of what the little girl had said so casually and helped her out of bed. When Number Four’s feet were firmly planted on the wooden floor, Freyjin brought her a set of clothing and a robe. “Try this on, I need to see if it fits.” Freyjin said and tossed the robe aside, holding out a maid outfit of black and white with frills, the same as her other children all wore.

Number Four frowned deeply, her excitement over the meat fading with the unpleasant prospect of wearing clothing again. “It feels weird. If I don’t wear it, will Crawlmaker come hurt me?”

‘This is why I woke you first… Lenah and Straen don’t need to think of the fate of their mother or big sister…’ Freyjin thought, tearing her face away from the girl until she could calm her nerves and her racing pulse.

When she calmed herself, Freyjin knelt to the girl and cupped her cheeks softly, “Listen to me… the mistress killed Crawlmaker. He can never hurt you again.”

“Eatmen can’t die. They’re gods. And what’s a mistress?” Number Four looked quite lost, scratching her head while she tried to puzzle out the array of strange things the Freyjin meat said to her.

Freyjin ran her hands through the now well combed hair before bringing them back to Number Four’s high cheekbones and resting her palms gently around Number Four’s face. She tried to blink back tears, and had some success before she answered. “A goddess… a goddess of will. How else could you have ended up here? How do you explain everything here? Believe me… Number Four. Crawlmaker is dead. And as for what a mistress is, that is someone who owns and commands others. She decides who lives, dies, eats, works, all good things come from a mistress, and all fears too. A mistress can give, or take away, whatever she wants and nobody will stop her.”

“So… a mistress is like Crawlmaker.” Number Four asked rhetorically.

Freyjin clung the little nude girl to herself in pity, holding Number Four against her breast to comfort her, but she couldn’t deny what Number Four had said. “If it’s a cruel one, yes. But you are lucky, I don’t know what she’ll decide to do with you, but… you are safe here.” Freyjin replied, “For now though, you just have to get dressed, you’ll get used to not being naked all the time. You’ll be with Loras for this morning and the other children, you’ll be learning to read, write, and other things. Then you’ll come back here and I’ll show you how to work with your new sisters, OK?”

“Alright Freyjin.” She replied with a passive shrug. “Long as there’s meat, ‘kay?” She licked her lips again.

‘How strange… I tried to comfort her but… distressing words, distressing things… she seems… empty.’ Number Four fumbled uncomfortably with the dress until, with Freyjin’s help, she managed to find the holes and get her head and arms through the proper places.

Number Four picked at the cloth, “Feels weird, I don’t like it.” A moment later though, she looked up, “Did she really kill the eatmen?”

Freyjin stood, took her by the chin with thumb and forefinger, “I have definitely seen her kill them before, she made one beg her, made him submit and obey her will. So I have no doubt she did it on her way back here.” There was no doubt in her resolute voice.

“Then does that mean the eatmen are in heaven with the others from my pen?” Number Four shifted uncomfortably on her feet, “I heard that when the eatmen eat us, we go to a heaven where there are no eatmen, cuz gods don’t go to heaven. But if they can die too…?”

Freyjin took care not to tighten the grip of her thumb and forefinger on Number Four’s upturned chin, “If there is a heaven, gods, or justice in this world, they are in hell.” She checked the girl once over just to make sure the outfit was suitable, then pulled it off overhead and pointed to the robe. “Now get that on and run along to the baths, I’ll get the others up and they’ll be right after you. There’s a very busy day today, for all of us.”

As efficiency went, Freyjin counted herself as… vastly improving. Her former skills as an investigator and her naturally orderly mind were brought to bear thoroughly on every task. Within an hour she was busy about her day while most of the estate still slept, there were however, exceptions, and she went to visit those exceptions as soon as she had finished all her more minor correspondence tasks.

Freyjin’s hand rapped sharply on the door of her mistress’s office, and she was rewarded with an answer. “Enter!” Nua ordered.

Freyjin approached and knelt a few feet from the desk, her head bowed. True to her expectations, Nua sat there, having been awake for hours, while Solution was standing at her right hand, Kaiji at her left, and Priceless sat at a small desk nearby taking instructions.

“You’re here about the funds, aren’t you?” Nua asked without missing a beat.

“Y-Yes of course, My Lady. I’ll be going to the bank directly, I just need authorization for the funds.” Freyjin flushed at the promptness of the question.

“Priceless, give her a writ and stamp it for me.” Nua said without taking her eyes from Freyjin, and then, addressing her Steward she made herself plain, “Do not be kind to the Lur’gin company. Remember, they were going to throw you to the Tlalmok before I bought you, they sold your baby girl to someone who hit her, sending her home to you in pain. Treat this as your chance to punish them. Buy up every scrap of debt they have, and while you’re at it, find out from Amondera if their executives have any credit debt. Get everything about all of them. Then…” Nua stabbed her forefinger down on the desk near the edge, leaning forward with a glare of ice that could have frozen the sun.

“Then…?” Freyjin asked, ‘Thanks be to the stars she isn’t turning her wrath on me… or… or my girls…’

“Then make sure I own it. I don’t care what you pay, own every scrap of debt even remotely connected to every single interest they have. If Amondera gives you even the slightest pushback, remind him that he was caught screwing my slave in my own home without my authorization… and that there are witnesses that could utterly ruin him. He will not argue. Not with our buying the debt, and not with the new interest rates I want you to demand he slap on all their credit requests.” Nua’s voice brooked no argument, she casually brushed her hair back with one hand as she reclaimed her seat, and winced to feel how short it was.

“Mistress… what if he does?” Freyjin immediately regretted the question as a predatory laugh came from Solution’s lips.

“Then come inform me, the problem will be solved and it’ll be just a few days of delay.” Solution rubbed her hands together hungrily as she spoke, her beautiful swaying curls belying the monster that she was.

“Of… yes of course, Lady Solution.” Freyjin kept her head bowed to avoid seeing the teacher who shaped her goddess.

“Do leave word for the head of the organization, invite him to meet us here at the estate of the Lady Aiwenor, I’m sure he’ll be concerned about the new interest rates for the loans I have no doubt his company has applied for. As long as you make sure he knows who is pulling the strings, even if only indirectly.” Kaiji pointed out, with a more kindly air towards her household counterpart.

Priceless pressed a hot wax seal to the base of the document, blew on it a few times, then lightly tapped the document on the back when holding it up, dislodging stray bits of red wax, then got up and brought over the completed writ and handed it to Freyjin.

Nua added a brief final instruction, “Oh, and… take my carriage, be ostentatious about it, take a few guards, it’s good for them to see my house… involved, in the city finances. Don’t forget to check the safety deposit box either, if Kara has left anything while I was gone, I want to know about it. Enemies abound in this city.” ‘And other than Solution, I can’t trust anyone without my collar around their neck. Not even Prince Rasgen.’ Nua thought quietly after she finished speaking, recalling that when it came down to it… he’d let Lodira be sold off rather than help her, to protect himself. ‘Sensible? Yes. Loyal? No. A good friend… but he may just as easily become my enemy. Sobella, if you’re watching, warn him… warn him not to get in the way.’

“Everyone go. I… I need a moment.” They slowly stood, one and all, the sound of chairs moving back and fabric rustling was the only sound in the room for a few seconds. It was quickly replaced by the sound of feet falling hastily over wooden floors, the door opening, and then closing behind the last of them. Nobody was going to argue with their mistress… except one who had not moved.

“Teacher…” Nua looked up above her right shoulder.

“Go ahead, my student, you aren’t allowed any secrets from me…” Solution purred the words out and stood behind her. Nua felt the hands of the monster seemingly melt around her shoulders and slide down her arms through the chinks in the armor Nua now almost perpetually wore.

“Do you need some pain from your teacher… or are you in enough?” The sadistic purr in Nua’s sensitive ear did not even merit a shiver from the fearless assassin.

“I am… in enough. I watched her die, and I was too weak to save her. I couldn’t save her, I couldn’t save Raymond, I couldn’t save anyone.” Nua said and cursed while she stared down at the desk.

Solution’s warm breath caressed her long ear, “That’s true, and now you’re about to be among the larger slave traders in the east, owning countless people… Raymond didn’t see that coming from you when he set you free, I’ll bet.”

Nua winced. “It’s different here.”

“Yes, yes it is. In some ways, and you’re going to use that to your advantage, and it will end up saving many of their pathetic lives, won’t it? They’re slaves no matter what, so they might as well belong to you.” Solution’s slippery frame all but engulfed Nua’s body.

‘She’s so warm… my Teacher… she could burn me to nothing so easily…’ And yet despite the thought, Nua only felt safe, almost like an unborn child wrapped safe in the belly of its mother.

“Yes… I will treat them better… and it’s not like I can trust anyone I can’t control… other than you and our Lord, anymore.” Nua sighed, “If only I had your kind of power… over all my body, not just in one hand…” Nua’s voice was briefly bitter, but it passed, “It has to be done… there’s no other way…”

“You’re not thinking of him now, are you, my student?” Solution asked with a titter.

“No, I’m not, you’re right as always, Teacher. Raymond threw everything away, you were always right about that, and maybe that was, mostly, over me. But he changed before then, I just didn’t know it. He… he took responsibility for people who weren’t his own, and saw to saving their lives. I will have to do the same.” Nua’s voice became resolute, “Teacher, I want something from you.”

“Careful now, Student, don’t overstep yourself.” Solution warned, but Nua shook her head within the monstrous slick embrace.

“Nothing like that.” Nua replied and went on to explain her wish.

She ‘felt’ the frown beside her, “That is not what I do. I consume, I kill, I rarely protect anyone, and only the god of death can give that order.” Solution’s displeasure was audible, and Nua felt it in a squeeze of her flesh.

“That is why it is a request, Teacher, if there is something you want for it…?” Nua asked and Solution answered instantly, before the question could even hang for a moment.

“A life.” Solution said instantly. “You will give me a life, when I say, how I say, who I say, without argument. This is… different, from before… this will be more… personal.”

‘Kill one person at her request… fine, there’s nobody alive I can think of that she might ‘want’ dead, that I would hesitate to eliminate on her orders. Fine.’ Nua came to the conclusion without hesitation. “As you wish, this nameless life is yours, when you ask it.”

Nua was silent for a moment, and as the warm embrace of her sadistic teacher slipped away, she muttered, “I owe her that much… Lodira’s death is my fault, however unintended it might have been. I can’t let her down a third time.”

“No sulking now, student. It’s a bad haircut and some bad memories, but if you want to make it up to her, you’re not going to accomplish it by whining like cattle. Is that what you are… did I teach you to be just some whining cow that stands and watches its calves be slaughtered between milkings?” Solution grabbed Nua’s jaw and squeezed, her finger pressed to the cheek where she’d burned her initials onto the interior of Nua’s mouth.

“No.” Nua growled and grabbed Solution’s wrist with her right hand, “No, this is bigger than that, I know that now, and I can’t let any of the tiny minds get in the way. I have… a responsibility, bigger than my debt to Raymond.”

“Yes, of course your ‘debt’.” Solution snorted and released the hold on Nua’s jaw and cheek. “But it’ll be harder if you actually try to avoid killing except when vital.”

“Teacher… there are times to kill everyone in the room with a knife, with poison, or with kindness. I’m just being more… open to the latter.” Nua chewed on her tongue, “I’m no fool, I know what this means. I know your mocking voice when you savor the sweet irony of the slave Raymond saved, becoming a slave trader to get him back. I’ll still be better for them than anything else. That will have to be enough.” Nua took a deep breath, and slowly stood up, “The four should be finished with their regular education soon. Why don’t you go train them some, use Sado, Number Four told me he was fun to watch, and it is important to keep them engaged. Especially if I want a useful team of assassins ready when the time comes.”

Solution gave a mocking curtsey, “As you like, Lady Nua, and where will you be?”

“In my room for a little while, I want to relax before I choose which city to support, and I need to be in the right frame of mind to properly decide whose deaths to gain from.” Nua answered as she walked out, not looking even over her shoulder to see that Solution followed her.

Freyjin was already gone, ‘Having so many slaves will be useful, I need a full staff for all this, and I still don’t have enough people even now.’ Nua thought and pointed to Kaiji as she neared. “Come with me, Kaiji, Priceless.” Nua said through gritted teeth.

The pair followed urgently and without a spoken question, which did not stop the unspoken ones from running like wild horses through their minds.

Yanmelu stewed in the council chamber. “That idiot. That incredible idiot. It’s just a slave, I’ve had so many of his before, what did this one matter, he only knew her for a few hours… I’ll pay off the Duchessa for any harm done and that’ll be the end of it.” He groused at the table and stared about the room.

“Master Yanmelu… I think you need to reconsider things.” The old whisperer said from his seat at the table.

Prince Yanmelu looked over to him, like the others, for council he was dressed in a simple brown robe with a necklace that revealed his status on the council. Nobody dressed formally for this, all dressed as humble monks, save for the color of their robes, the style was the same. “Explain yourself, it’s just a woman, we’ve had this kind of spat before. I don’t know why you’re bringing it up again.”

“Because, ah, master, Prince… he hit you this time, he’s never hit you before.” The old whisperer said softly, his low voice was deliberate, every ‘whisperer’ spoke the same way, ensuring silence was needed to hear what anyone said.

“No… no he hasn’t. But it was only a slave, there are thousands of them, even if she was a bronze, even if she were the best ride of his life, so what?” Prince Yanmelu waved it away, but then stopped. “You’re right though… my cousin… stars above, we grew up in the same house and he never hit me outside of practice…” Yanmelu’s beady brown eyes fell to the dark colored table and his hand came down to it, palms flat, he stared at his reflection.

“Prince, with respect, he changed things. It won’t be long before he does it again, and this one was public enough that his guards saw it happen, the rumors will spread. How long before it happens again? Yes, perhaps she was only a slave, but that makes what he did worse, not better. Aren’t you the Prince? Nobody can be allowed to do that to you, not even someone you grew up with… he drew that line, he made that choice.” The old whisperer’s statement was echoed by another opposite him, with their uniformly long beards and faces almost hidden by the robes, it was deliberately made tough to know which was proffering advice. However, when they were in agreement, it didn’t matter who said what.

“He’s my cousin… he would never turn on me.” Yanmelu replied, “This is a fight, nothing more, family members fight one another. I might have gone too far, and so did he, especially over something so unimportant. I’ll send him a few whores or something while he is confined, along with some fine meals. That should let him know I want to make up, that I’m not angry anymore.” Yanmelu proposed, he began tapping his foot, impatient for an answer from one or more of the six.

“My Prince… it doesn’t matter who was wrong, he struck your royal person in front of witnesses, if he’s allowed to go free, to retain command of the army? Well he is popular. What if he forgets his place again? What if he considers your forgiveness to be an admission of weakness? Even if he doesn’t, the others will. Even if he is loyal, he isn’t as clever as you are, others will manipulate him. Perhaps use him as a prop… My Prince, I know he is your cousin… and you love him like a brother… but he has…” The old whisperer was cut off in mid sentence.

“I won’t exile my cousin…” Yanmelu snapped, “It was just a fight, brothers fight, cousins who grow up like brothers, fight. I need him, he’s the only family I’ve got left, and he’s always been loyal.”

“Lust killed his loyalty when he hit you, even if it didn’t die, it will be the death blow if he’s allowed to live, you mustn’t exile him, My Prince, you have to kill him.” Another of the whisperers added, “We are all very sorry for your loss. But if you let him live, you may as well hand him the throne.”

Prince Yanmelu made a fist, raised it, and slammed it down on the table. “He’s my family!” He roared to the council.

“So was his brother… when your father had him assassinated.” A whisperer replied, and after that, you could have heard a pin drop, as there were no whispers through the silence that followed.