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Chapter 2

Eliza wanted to change out of her nightgown, but she couldn't find anything suitable; the closets were locked and the drawers were either empty or filled with men's clothing much too big for her. She found that one of the unlocked doors led to a private bathroom, and an impressively large one at that. All the racks and cabinets were neatly stocked, and the bathtub was like a massive Jacuzzi with two showerheads hanging above. Everything was the same ivory-white as the bedroom. And it was all so spotless; Eliza felt she wouldn't be surprised if Lord Kender had the place cleaned every day.

It was not difficult finding a brush, and she gave herself a cursory grooming before daring to present herself downstairs. She wondered if she should have taken a shower, but soon the clock was pushing on twelve-thirty and she figured it would be better to explore the place before wasting the whole day away like a coward.

She made one final read-through of the ominous letter before reluctantly setting her sights on the bedroom door, folding it back into the envelope and leaving it right where she'd found it. I guess the first step to being a pet is learning to do what you're told, she sneered at herself, buttoning the top of the nightgown for modesty and setting out to explore the estate as the note had instructed.

This had better be fucking incredible if I'm nothing but a piece of property now, she added dryly, pressing the door open. He'd better not make me crawl on all fours, that's all I'm asking...

On the other side of the bedroom's double doors was a long, unnecessarily extravagant hallway. The striking _red _assaulted her eyes. The place was like a castle, or at least a five-star hotel, complete with a royal embroidered rug running its full length and various furnishings of silver and gold lining the walls. Huge mirrors and portraits of well-dressed wolves were hung at regular intervals all the way down the hall; between them, she noticed several other bedroom doors, at least eight that she could see. The place was lit with several glittering chandeliers which were too complex in design to comprehend.

She realized that the bedroom from which she emerged was stationed at the very end of the hall, forcing her to cross a great distance to reach the exit; it was likely the master bedroom. She drank in the surroundings with every step, feeling the silken threads beneath the pads of her bare feet, noticing that even the door handles were works of art.

How rich is this guy...? she wondered. _Rich enough to make someone disappear without their knowledge, _she answered to herself.

At the end of the hall was a long, curved staircase about as wide as the hallway itself. She kept to the hand-hold and carefully descended, making sure not to trip over the drifting folds of her nightgown.

Halfway down, she began to smell food.

Though she'd skipped breakfast (and possibly several other meals as well), Eliza's stomach had been too filled with butterflies to protest. But after getting a breathful of some aroma like freshly-baked bread and soup broth, she couldn't deny her hunger anymore; she clambered down the remainder of the stairs, eager to investigate.

The stairs emptied into a foyer adjacent to a grand banquet hall that seemed, at first, half the size of a football field. Her eyes ignored the ridiculous grandeur of the room and the sparse crowds of people passing by, zeroing in on the table at the center. It was empty of guests, but lined with tall, throne-like chairs and a variety of dishes, most piled with heaps of scrap and half-eaten things. The party was, apparently, long since passed. Still, there remained a few serving dishes with decent collections of untouched food, and Eliza began a careful approach, wary that she'd catch the attention of one of the nearby creatures as they carried things up and down the hall.

Eliza drew close, standing between two of the chairs and surveying the tabletop. She spotted piles of uneaten biscuits, fruit bowls, sliced ham... It almost looked like the aftermath of a thanksgiving dinner.

A figure suddenly popped up from the other side of the table, an elderly squirrel with curly white hairs. "Oh! Deary!" she cried, jumping back at the sight of Eliza and nearly causing the same reaction to the fox. The old squirrel put her hand on her heart. "Scared the bajeezus outta me!"

"Sorry..." Eliza said, shirking back. "I didn't see you. Um... pardon me for asking, but... what's the occasion?"

"Occasion for what?"

"Well, y'know, this..." she said, spreading her arms and indicating the stale feast between the two of them.

"Oh... no occasion, just brunch," she said, diving back down beneath the tablecloth with her bushy tail sticking straight in the air. Eliza vaguely realized she'd seen the tail moments ago, but failed to distinguish it from one of the chairs. She emerged moments later, brandishing several crumpled napkins in her hands. "Believe me, when there's an occasion, you'll know. New here, I'm guessing?"

"Yeah... first morning here, actually," the fox admitted awkwardly, still eyeing the cold food in front of her.

"Oh, in that case, I take it you're Lady Eliza. I'm ol' Ms. Holloway, if you care to know," the squirrel said with a passing smile. "Well, sit down, then!" she suddenly screeched, flailing her arms. "Take what you need if you're hungry! Go on! You're nearly too late, we're just about to pack it up. Brunch is always served at ten-thirty sharp. You'll have to be up a little earlier next time."

"Thanks," Eliza replied politely, sitting at the nearest chair and pushing a used plate to the side. She found several dishes all within arm's reach, pulling forward the one which looked most like finger-food - something like vegetable rolls wrapped in biscuit bread. "Big brunch," she commented, glancing up and down the table.

"We got a lot of mouths to feed here," the squirrel said absently, stacking up the nearby plates. "'Bout three hundred and twenty, last count."

Eliza nearly dropped the roll on the floor. "Three-- hundred and twenty?" She screeched, casting a glance of abject surprise at the people in the room. "How do so many people live here?!"

"Well, not everyone lives here, dearie. But we all work here, on the lord's property," Ms. Holloway said. "This building only has about thirty bedrooms, everyone else goes home to the north lot every night. But the estate's a big place, and there's lots to do, so we need all the help we can get!"

"Oh?" Eliza replied, biting into a roll. "What's the pay like here, if you don't mind me asking?"

The old squirrel blinked, briefly wearing a hesitant look.

"That's not quite a simple question," she said, lowering her voice and setting down a stack of plates.

"Well, what kind of wage does Lord Kender pay you?" she inquired again between bites of food.

"Nobody here's paid a wage," the old lady explained. "We're all on contract here. Most of us, we make a deal of some kind with Lord Kender. Some people ask for a house, or for their kids to be sent to a good school. Me, I'm... well, I'm having him build me a beach house in Edicula. Real big one, housekeeprs and all! Been here for six years, got three left."

"That's wonderful!" Eliza said, brightening up and leaning back in her chair. "Only three years until retirement. You must be excited!"

Ms. Holloway didn't seem to share the sentiment, and she averted her gaze, concerning herself with stacking dirty plates. "Well, this is where it gets complicated, like I said," she spoke at last, knocking half-eaten food into one of the empty serving bowls. "See kiddo... I'm in no real hurry to leave, and neither is anyone else, really."

"What do you mean?" Eliza said, wondering if she should eat anything else before the table would be cleared.

"Well, you know that saying, 'If you love your job, you never work a day in your life?' You could say that working for the Kender estate is a bit like that... I mean, he lets us do whatever we want on our off-time, and this place is more of a vacation resort than Edicula could ever hope to be. If I had things my way I'd be clearing this table twice a day until I curled up and died, if it meant I could grow old here. Biggest worry is how I'm going to get my contract extended again. 'Cause once your contract is up, that's it... you're gone. And Lord Kender's always got ample competition of people wanting to stick around. Usually at no cost to him, even."

Eliza found she wasn't hungry anymore for the time being; she gazed blankly past the banquet chairs at all the workers shuffling around by what must have been the kitchen.

These people are all here working for free, she realized, pondering the implications. All three hundred and twenty people... Their contracts will never be paid out because they're all just extending them forever, just so they can keep working here...

So if they grow old and die working here... then they've worked their lives for free.

This Lord Kender character isn't just rich... he's got everyone wrapped around his paws.

I'm not sure if I feel comfortable about this.

"You okay there, dearie?" Ms. Holloway said, tilting her head at the bewildered girl.

"I'm fine," Eliza replied after a moment's hesitance, pushing her plate away. "Sorry, it's... still just all a lot to take in."

"Oh, listen. You never finish taking this place in. There's just too much to like," the old lady said wryly. "But looks like you've got your whole life ahead of you, so I wouldn't worry! One day at a time, that's all it takes. Oh! Mr. Greston, almost didn't see you there."

"Fine day to you," said a deep voice from behind Eliza's chair. She suppressed a start and cocked her head to the side, finding a tall, formally-dressed badger standing next to her. "I tell you, I hardly know what to do with myself these days the master's gone, figured I'd come back for seconds if there's still time."

"Well, I've got something for you to do," the squirrel snapped at him. "Why not give Lady Eliza here a tour of the place? The poor thing, it's her first morning here, she needs a bit of direction. And for heaven's sake, help get her changed into something a bit more dignified."

The badger turned to meet Eliza's gaze, giving a small bow. "Good day to you as well, young lady," he replied. "That is something I can absolutely do."

* * *

Eliza followed the badger deeper into the castle, each room more extravagant and over-decorated than the last. She ignored the lavish rooms and the scores of passing people, sticking close to Mr. Greston and pummeling him with questions.

"So... I'm just going to throw out a wild guess," Eliza said, breaking the silence between the two. "...Butler, right?"

"_Head. _Butler. Yes," the badger said proudly. "Specifically, the master's personal assistant. I am always at his beck and call to tend to his immediate needs, except on the days he takes leave from the estate. On these days I manage my subordinates and make sure that they finish their chores, or I spend the time in the west library."

"And uh... You're plotting to kill him, right?" Eliza said, fishing for some humor.

The badger sent her a cold, sideways stare. "Never heard that one before, young miss, I assure you," he said with the most flat, cutting sarcasm she'd ever heard. "I image you... _overestimate _the effort it takes for a butler to murder a master who trusts him with his life. If I wanted such a deed done, it would have been done twenty years ago. But no good would come of it except for perhaps the plot to a good storybook; in such a case, the estate would be split between the master's brothers, and they'd likely raze this place to rebuild it in their own way, and I'd be responsible for nothing more than putting hundreds of good folk out of work."

Eliza shirked back at the dryness of the remark, understanding that the badger took his role quite seriously. His sense of humor was either non-existent, or too sophisticated for her to grasp.

"Brothers?" Eliza decided to stay, her legs starting to tire as she walked through a long, never-ending golden hall. "You said Lord Kender has brothers?"

"Yes, two of them. The island's jurisdiction is split between the three. Master's father, a Mr. McPhadlier, was ludicrously wealthy; he was the inventor of industrial magic, retired when he was twenty-six and lived off of his investments for seventy years more. When he died, his wealth was split between his three children. Upon receiving their inheritances, they decided unanimously to change their surnames and begin distinct families. Now they are Lords Kender, Ashton, and Korveliu. This island's real estate is split evenly between them. Technically speaking, the island is its own country, and the McPhadlier children are its only governing party."

Great, _she thought. _So I was kidnapped by a king. I'm guessing that he can do anything he wants and just say it isn't illegal.

I wonder what would happen if he had an argument with one of his brothers. Would it start a civil war?

Eliza did not even try to make a mental map of all the corridors through which they passed; many of them looked the same, or at least had the same color scheme. She found that Lord Kender really liked his wall portraits, as there were at least four large, expensive paintings in every hall; she wondered if any of them depicted his father or brothers.

Most of the other workers paid her no mind save for a quick glance or a formality, and she was thankful for it; she was still quite aware that she was improperly dressed, compared to all the people passing by who wore fancy dresses or slick suits. She didn't want to imagine what everyone thought of seeing a little girl still wearing a nightgown well into the afternoon.

Eventually Mr. Greston had led her downstairs and into the laundry room, where he'd fished out of the unfolded piles something of her size. It was a button-up shirt and a pair of pants, not very professional or ladylike, but it was an improvement. He turned his head away and kept watch out the door while she changed clothes.

"I guess there's just one thing that kind of bothers me," Eliza said, nearly stumbling while trying to fit into the long pants. They didn't have a tail-hole, so she stuffed the base of her huge, bushy tail down inside and hoped it didn't look too bad.

"Yes...?" said the butler.

"I mean, a lot of things bother me right now," Eliza rambled, fitting into the shirt. "So... I'm here against my will and I can never go home. But I guess I can kind of deal with that since this place seems so awesome. But I guess I'm just worried... well..." she hesitated before speaking her mind truthfully. "This thing about being Kender's pet, it isn't something sexual, is it? Like, I don't know, I can handle everything else. I could handle being a butler or whatever. But I'm sixteen for god's sake. I'm not really ready to be anyone's sex slave... Hell, he could get arrested just for touching me. I mean, if we lived somewhere with age of consent laws. I'm guessing the laws don't even apply to him here."

The badger gave an audible snort. "I highly doubt that's what the master has in mind," he said, sounding like he was trying to stifle a laugh. "He is a very prudish fellow. Quite respectful of women, I'll have you know. My theory is that he wants you to be something more along the lines of a foster-child."

She checked her new clothes one last time. They were uncomfortably tight, but they looked respectable enough. "So like... what, an adopted daughter?"

"Yes, just like that," mused the striped beast. "At least, that's my theory based on what I know of him. He was never interested in a wife, or even a child, so it would make sense in my mind that he has a hole in his heart for a companion of sorts, someone to keep him company, but also someone he can help. I believe he sees you as that companion - someone who is not quite a daughter, not quite a wife, but something vaguely resembling the two. You are someone for him to care personally about for its own sake. Exactly the role of a pet."

She felt something unwind in her chest. "Alright, I think I get it," she said, breathing deep. "I can be a daughter. That's not so bad. I can do that."

"I'm certain you can be whatever he desires you to be," the butler said confidently, waiting with unwavering patience for her to finish changing. "But I think you'll know soon enough, once you meet with him."

She soon presented herself to him in her outfit. He straightened out some wrinkles, nodded in approval, and together they began a tour of the mansion. Eliza felt a profound peace of mind at finally making herself presentable and fitting in with her new housemates, but also at the thought that she'd just been claimed by a new father, one who might have a healthier sense of discretion than her jerk of a biological one. For once, her prevailing sense of unease at imagining herself alone with Lord Kender had subsided, and she felt more secure about the role she was to play to him.

Be a good father - hell, be anything better than Lars - and I'll be the world's best daughter, she silently promised him, smirking to herself and growing eager to explore her new life.

* * *