Sara's Story

Act 3 - Future

Chapter 16 - Married life

© 2003 Nameless

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I can hardly hold back the tears as I stumble into my room. Without bothering to undress, I collapse on the bed and bury my face in the pillow. Weeping bitterly, I try to think of better times. After a while I can. Or maybe I dream, I can't really tell. Not anymore. Not now. Not after today's bitter events. I know that it was inevitable, still it hurts so much.

# # #

I still remember my first night and the first morning with Henry.

It was not the first time I spent the night in his bed, of course, but in a very special way it was still the first time together with him. The first time I was not his slave, the first time I was not there because he had commanded me to be there, but the first time I was there as his wife, the first time I was there because I wanted to be there.

I will never forget the sight of him. Even after all the time.

I woke up suddenly and opened my eyes. Henry was already awake, up on his side, watching me. The sun had just come up and it bathed his face in light. His red fur looked like gold, the headfur that surrounded his face was a shining halo. He looked like an angel. The smile on his muzzle and the love in his eyes took my breath away. For a long while we were lost in each other's eyes touching our noses and gently licking each other's muzzle.

When our lips finally parted, he grinned imprudently at me and asked "What do you think of breakfast in bed, Sara?"

"Hmmm, I think it is still a little early for breakfast."

He grinned and liked his lips "Well, I was not exactly thinking of food ... I think I see a tasty morsel here."

I laughed and stretched, pulling away the covers and showing off a pair of tasty morsels "What do you think of the menu, husband of mine?"

He ran his eyes up and down my body "I think I can find something for my appetite, my lovely wife." He lowered his head and began to sample the available fare. He went through the whole menu.

I found plenty to satisfy my appetite as well.

# # #

Much later, when the sun was already high in the sky, we were woken from our lazy doze by a timid knock on the door. Henry retrieved the covers and called out "Who is it?"

The door opened a crack and Wanda, Trisha's six-year old cub looked in. She looked at us expectantly and asked in a timid voice "The Mistress wanted ask you if you wanted to have your breakfast brought to your bed, Master?"

For a moment I stared at her, then I looked at Henry. He looked back at me and snickered. I giggled, then we both laughed out aloud. We laughed for several minutes, tears streaming down our faces. Several times we nearly managed to stop, but then the look on the other's face would send one of us back into gales of helpless laughter.

I was finally able to stop and wiped the tears from my eyes to look at Wanda. She still stood in the doorway, watching us with anxiety in her eyes. "Come here, Wanda." I said gently.

She padded up to me, still a little anxious.

I kissed her cheek and ruffled her headfur "It's all right, Wanda. And yes, we would like breakfast in bed. Run along now, sweetie. And thank you."

"Yes, Aunt Sara. Mistress." She ran off, smiling happily.

"Sara?"

"Yes, Henry?"

"Is it allowed to have dessert with breakfast?" He asked, grinning.

"You! You're a real nutcase!"

He laughed "Isn't that what you squirrel femmes like best."

That set off another bout of helpless laughter.

A few minutes later Trisha brought a tray with our breakfast.

Afterwards Henry talked me into having dessert. Not that I was trying very hard to resist his advances. It was nearly noon when we finally left the room.

# # #

Margaret and the other femmes congratulated me again as soon as I entered the kitchen. I did not eat a lot for lunch, since I had eaten such a late breakfast.

After tea Lord Archwhiffle called me into his study.

I curtsied "Good evening, my Lord."

"Good evening, Sara. Please have a seat." He pointed at a chair and when I had done so, he went on "Again, congratulations on your marriage, Sara Stouffer, and I wish you the best of luck. May God bless you and Henry." He grinned "And grant you many kits."

It took me a moment to realize that this was my new name, but then I smiled "Thank you, my Lord."

He considered me for a while "What am I going to do with you?"

"My Lord?"

"Well, since you are Henry's wife now, you will be here in my services for some time. So we'll have to find something for you to do... Is there anything you are particularly good at? Do you have any special skills?"

"I... I don't think so, my Lord. I was a farmer's daughter, I helped my mother in the kitchen and with the various chores around the house. When I was a slave, I did more or less the same."

"Hmmm, all right. I guess I'll leave it up to Margaret then. She will find something for you. Is that acceptable."

"Yes. Of course, my Lord."

"Then I won't keep you any longer. Let me just say that I am glad that you decided to marry Henry and that I wish you a long and happy life together."

"Thank you, my Lord."

"Good evening, Sara."

"Good evening, my Lord."

# # #

Henry took off his pants and climbed into his bed. Our bed now. He grinned at me and asked "Ready to fulfill your marital duties, wife?"

I could not quite suppress a giggle and turned to him "In a minute, husband of mine." Then I took off my clothes and gave him my best impression of a suffering look "I fear that I cannot think of any excuse to put my duties off any longer."

"I should hope not, wife." The amusement in his voice was clearly audible.

Seeing how ready and willing he was to fulfill his duties as my husband, I could not keep up the pretense and quickly closed the distance between us. I settled on top of him and put my arms around his neck "I love you, Henry."

"I love *MPFH*"

I kissed him passionately and we did not speak any more for a long time.

# # #

The next few weeks seemed to pass very quickly and very slowly at the same time. It felt so strange, in a way everything was completely different, in other respects my was nearly the same as when I was still a slave. I did nearly the same work as I had before, maybe I did not have to work quite as hard as I had to when I was a slave, but I did not slack off either. Several times Margaret put me in charge of a group of slave femmes. That was a completely new experience for me. I was really glad they all knew their work and none of them wanted to cause any difficulties for anyone.

Of course, I spent every night with Henry. And he continued to teach me how to shoot. I loved every minute I spent together with him. We went to the city several times, mostly because he had to go there on the Lord's business, but also to buy supplies for our trip and make inquiries about the state of the roads. One trip, about two weeks after our wedding turned out to be a very happy day for me.

By that time I had been judged adept enough with the musket, so no extra guard rode with us. We had finished our business in the city and passed by the slave market on our way home. Henry was holding the reins. Watching the naked slaves standing on display always depressed me, but I could not help looking at them. I could not help wondering if I would see someone I knew. That day I did. As my eyes met those of a vixen, a shudder of recognition passed through me. It took me several heartbeats to place her. I saw her eyes widen as she recognized me as well. Then her eyes widened even more when she realized that I did not wear a collar. The fur on her muzzle fluffed in embarrassment and she averted her eyes. But she did not dare to do more than turn her head slightly. For a moment I was too stunned to do anything, but then I put a paw on Henry's arm and said softly "Stop."

He did as I had asked and looked at me curiously. When he realized what I was staring at, he asked "Did you see someone you recognize?"

"Yes." I answered "That vixen. She was with me at that inn. She's the one who saved my life, Henry."

"Aha." He considered her "What do you want to do?"

"Can we do anything for her? Can we buy her? And maybe set her free?"

"Sara, you know as much as I do how much money we have. We can't afford a slave. I'm sorry, Sara."

"Can... can we buy her for Lord Archwhiffle? I guess she would still be a slave then, but... he is the most gentle master I have ever encountered. At least she would not have to fear being whipped until she passed out from pain, just because it amused her master."

"Hmmm, maybe. I'm not sure if we should..."

"He has not bought anyone to replace me."

"No, he has not bought anyone... I'm just not sure if he wants to buy any new slaves just now."

"Please, Henry. I owe her my life. I want to help her. Please."

He considered for a long moment, then he shrugged his shoulders "All right. But if he does not agree..."

"I'll take in on my head. This is really important for me. I could not stand the thought to leave her here, to be bought by another sadistic master."

"All right, Sarah. But if we buy her for Lord Archwhiffle, we have to give her the special treatment. The same as you got. You know what is going to happen to her, what the Lord will do to her? We will have to blindfold her and we can't tell her anything about what is going to happen to her."

"In understand. He will make her tell him her story and... entertain him?"

"Yes, he will treat her more or less the same as you. That's my best guess, of course, I don't really know what he will do."

"Well, it was not pleasant. But then again, when you are a slave, few things are." I grimaced "Anything less than 'horrible' is a pleasant surprise. Can I just reassure her that things are going to be all right for her?"

He pawed me the reins "Yes, but don't give too much away, or Lord Archwhiffle might get even more angry. I'll get her. Wait here." and climbed down from the wagon.

A few minutes later Henry returned with the vixen in tow. He commanded "Climb in and sit in the back."

When she had obeyed, I returned the reins to Henry. I pawed her a blanket when I saw that she was shivering. The sun was shining, but a crisp northern wind made the air uncomfortably cool. Particularly for someone who was not allowed to wear any clothes and had to stand still. I patted her and tried to reassure her "Don't be afraid, girl. Things are going to be better soon." Henry pawed me a blindfold which I tied around her head. When I was finished, Henry set out.

We rode in silence for a minute, then I asked "What's your name, girl?"

Her answer was the same one I had given when I was bought "I have no name, Mistress."

"Oh. Ok, what name did your parents give you?"

"Monique, Mistress."

"Good. I'll call you Monique, at least for the time being. My name is Sara, and this is my husband Henry." I paused for a few moments. When we passed a bakery, I realized that she was probably very hungry. It was afternoon and the slaves never got enough food from the slave traders "Are you hungry, Monique?"

"Yes, Mistress."

"Could you stop for a moment, Henry?" He stopped and pawed me a few coins. I went into the bakery and bought a meat filled roll for Monique. I found a waterskin in a basket and pawed everything to her. "Take this and eat it."

She said "Thank you, Mistress." and began to eat.

When she was finished, I patted her shoulder and said "Don't worry, Monique. Things will be better soon."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Henry said "We did not buy you for ourselves, but for our Lord, Monique."

"Yes, Master."

"As far as he is concerned, we did not talk to you, understand?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good. Now be silent and don't talk unless you are spoken to."

We did not talk to her any more on the ride back home.

Shortly after we had come home, Lord Archwhiffle called Henry and me to his room. "All right, why did you buy that vixen for me?"

"It was my idea, Lord Archwhiffle. She saved my life when I fell ill at that inn."

"So you bought her in my name?"

"Yes."

"What if I don't like her and decide to sell her again?"

That shook me "Please don't! I... I owe her my life. Please give her a chance."

"All right. That much I can do. But if I am not pleased with her..."

I hoped that he was only joking, but a cold shiver ran down my spine. I squared my shoulders and said "If you feel the need to punish me, my Lord, then do it. But please don't send her away to some master who will torture her."

"Accepted. If I am not happy with her, I will take it out of your hide." With that he waved me out of his study "Go now, Sara."

"Thank you, my Lord." I answered, bowed deeply and left. Henry stayed to discuss some other business with Lord Archwhiffle.

# # #

Two days later, when I woke up, my stomach suddenly went into rebellion. Rolling out of the bed, I barely made it to the chamber pot. I knelt there and heaved for a long time, even though there was not a lot in my stomach. After some time, Henry put his arms around me and held me. When the worst was over, he fetched a mug of water for me.

"Are you all right, Sara?" He asked when I had cleaned my mouth and looked up at him.

"I think so..." I answered weakly.

He felt my brow "At least you don't have a fever. The food we ate yesterday was not extremely fresh, but I don't think it was that bad." We looked at each other "Or...?"

"Or...?" I echoed.

His eyes suddenly widened, as must have mine " Do you think...?"

" That... God has blessed us?" I finished for him and considered the possibility. "Perhaps... I have not eaten any Kasher nuts for more than three weeks now... and we did give Him plenty of chances to bless us."

He put his arms around me, held me and kissed me. After a few minutes my stomach calmed down and I felt much better. Since it was not quite time to get up, I padded back to the bed and lay down again. Henry joined me and asked "Do you feel better."

"Yes, thank you. I feel much better, husband."

"I'm thinking... just in case God has not blessed us yet..." He grinned at me "Should we give him another chance?"

I was already feeling much better "Hmmm, why not." We did not waste our breath on words after that.

# # #

When the morning sickness returned the next day and the day after as well, we decided that God had indeed blessed us.

"Do you think we should risk the journey in your condition, Sara?"

"I don't see a problem. I'm not far along, after all. When I was a slave I had to work as hard as any other slave up until I gave birth. We will be back before this will really affect me. Well, maybe I'll have the morning sickness, but other than that there should not be a problem that early. In my previous pregnancies, I got over the morning sickness rather quickly, I did not have it for more than two or three weeks. Besides, this may be our only chance. Would you rather risk such a long journey with a little kit?"

He thought about it, then he said "All right, Sara. I'll leave it up to you. If you feel all right, then we do it."

"Thank you, Henry. Besides, the longer we wait, the worse the chance of finding my daughter and the longer she will have to suffer."

"You are right, I did not think about that. I was just concerned for your health." He kissed me and got up.

# # #

"Sara?"

I turned and curtsied "Yes, my Lord?"

"I just wanted to thank you for finding that vixen, Monique."

"You like her? You are going to let her stay here?"

"Yes. She is very... interesting. I'm certain she will be all right. Actually, I have become quite fond of her and I promise that I will treat her well."

"Thank you, my Lord."

Then, after a long wait, the day for our departure finally arrived. On our last visit to the city, two days earlier, Henry had arranged for us to travel with a convoy of traders from Nevillestown to another big town several days' travel to the north and west. From there it would be only a day's journey to the mansion of my former master, Lord Amanti. We left shortly after noon and planned to spend the night in an inn in Nevillestown, since the convoy would leave early in the morning.

End of Chapter 16