"Mistress?" Pepper called as she rapped her knuckles against the polished wood door. It was large and unnecessarily ornate, just like everything else in this large prison-like palace. The ceilings were too high, the hallways were too wide, and everything echoed back at least three times before fading into the walls.
Though her mistress did not answer, she entered the room anyway, balancing her tea tray on one arm as she did. It was not unusual for the lady of the house to be too preoccupied with a novel to not hear her. Pepper was used to this, of course. First of all, she was a servant, and therefore easily ignored. Secondly, she was quiet anyway. She had mastered the art of walking through the hallways without the clicking of her standard-issue heels echoing throughout the mansion. The only sound she ever made was when she sneezed which, unfortunately, happened whenever she was nervous. It was because of this, and her unusual silver hair, that she had been re-dubbed 'Pepper' after she was purchased from the slave market.
Pepper placed her tray onto a small cherry oak table and carefully arranged the tea pot and tea cup; the mistress was very particular about how everything was placed, and when. Her evening tea was served at 9:00 pm every night, to help her sleep. It was a special homemade blend consisting of red rose petals, rosemary, sage, and willow leaves; a concoction that had been passed through her family's generation. It was a poor shade of red, smelled of potpourri, and tasted like swamp soup, but what ever the lady desired, she was sure to obtain.
The young handmaiden had just begun to pour the sweltering hot tea when a set of echoes reached her perceptive ears. It sounded like it was derived from the adjacent room, the mistress' private sleeping quarters. At first it sounded like voices, interrupting each other. The voices grew louder, until Pepper recognized one of them to be the mistress, crying out. The mistress must be in trouble, Pepper realized, brandishing the teapot like a weapon a she crept up upon the door to the mistress' private chamber.
Making no noise, she stepped up to the door-- which was slightly ajar, and pushed it open ever so slowly with the toe of her shoe. The mistress cried out again. Pepper's eyes darted around the room for the source, and for the assailant. Her gaze fell upon a dizzying sight:
Silk blankets twisted upon a glistening couple, their bodies contorted and entwined with each other. The 'assailant' snaked his tongue up the torso of the mistress, lingering in some areas and teasing others, until they skated up towards her neck. The mistress moaned-- not in pain, but in pleasure as she captured her attacker's lips with her own. The heat from their embrace flushing their bodies a delicate scarlet. The man whispered something to her, and the mistress only nodded in response. With little hesitation, the man repositioned himself atop the lady, and thrusted himself forward. The lady gasped and gripped onto anything she could-- the sheets, the pillows-- finally settling for wrapping her arms and her legs around the man, her once neatly-manicured fingernails tearing into his back as they rocked in synch with each other. Their breath alone created ripples of sound that echoed against the white marble walls and bounced back into Pepper's ears.
Frozen, unsure of what to do or how to react, Pepper could feel the heat that they were creating creep into her face somehow. She felt her heart beat faster, as though in time with the movements of the couple before her. Just as she was about to tear her gaze away and run in the opposite direction, another sound hit her ears, one that made her heart stop entirely: Her hand had somehow relaxed itself in the shock, and she heard the sound of the tea pour against the floor. Her other hand flew to her mouth out of habit as if to stop the sound, though obviously the sound had not come from there.
The couple had ceased their boisterous activity to look upon the intruder: Pepper.
"I'm very sorry for... for interrupting! And I-- I'll clean the tea up right away!" And with that, her face metaphorically on fire, dashed away with as much dignity as she could muster. She navigated her way through the hallways masterfully, searching for the supply closet. She reached the door, and collapsed against it-- not in exhaustion, but out of embarrassment and fear for her job, not to mention her life. As a slave that had just learned one of her mistress' dark secrets, she was a threat to the social well-being of the noble family, and therefore disposable.
Footprints echoed throughout the hallway. But from which direction? It didn't matter who it was, she still felt the need to hide. She jumped up and fiddled with her ring of keys. The footsteps grew closer. Which key was it? She never had a problem memorizing them before now. The footsteps grew closer still. Her mind was blank, save for the writhing, glistening image that had imprinted itself on her eyelids. Which key, which key? Finally, a silver one with a handle shaped like a wreath fit into the hole,but her gloved hands were shaking too badly, and she couldn't focus on it.
A pair of arms came around her from behind, and a warm set of hands clasped themselves around hers. They deftly removed the keys from her grip. Pepper turned, and was face to face with the man that had just been involved with the mistress mere minutes earlier.
"And where do you think you're going, you little gray mouse?" He grinned.
"I-- I'm very sorry, sir! It was an accident, completely unintentional! And I promise that I won't--"
The man placed a finger to her lips, halting her speech in an instant. He then removed his finger, only to use his hand to cup her chin in his hands. He drew closer, his brooding blue eyes staring deeply into her timid gray ones.
"I recognized you in an instant, but it seems as though you do not remember me. A pity, considering everything I've done for you."
Pepper's eyes widened in confusion, searching his face for a memory. Fuzzy and gray, one emerged, with the image of a boy with a wide smirk and prominent dimples.
"...Flay?" Pepper asked uncertainly.
His smile grew larger, the dimples more defined, and she knew she was right. "So she does remember me! And here I thought I had lost her again, even after I found her."
"What are you talking about?" She inquired.
"After the orphanage sold you, I was adopted into a wealthy family. They told me that if I was a good little boy then I could become a duke, and I would obtain the power to get whatever I wanted... the power to find you. Only wealthy families can afford to keep a slave, so I kept looking. I had nearly given up hope when I saw you sneaking through the hallways one day, quiet as a little gray mouse."
"But why were you looking for me?"
"Simple. We were best friends. Probably would've been more than that, if we hadn't been separated. And now that we're together again..." His face drew closer to Pepper, but she edged away.
"Y-you c-couldn't have liked me that way, telling from what I just s-saw." She stammered, trying to keep her rosy cheeks under control.
"It's because I like you that I did that!" He exclaimed, annoyed. "Don't you see? The lady of the house has cheated on her fiance. I've been watching both you and the mistress, and so I planned for you to walk in on us at that given time. You will come forward with what you saw, and I will back your story. If this secret ever gets out, it will throw the entire family into turmoil, unless she agrees to release you."
"No one will believe a slave." Pepper reminded him.
"No," Flay said mischievously. "But they'll believe a duke."
~*~
Pepper and Flay exited the mansion together some odd hours later. The lady had conceded to let Pepper go, on the condition of their silence. Pepper was to live at Flay's mansion instead, where she would live a much more comfortable life.
"Freedom at last!" Pepper exclaimed happily, practically skipping down the cobble road.
"Not quite." Flay said mysteriously.
Pepper froze, and turned towards him questioningly. "What are you saying?"
Flay hesitated. "What I'm saying is... the mistress didn't actually free you. She sold you."
Her face fell into dismay. "To who?"
Flay smiled, his dimples gracing his cheeks. "To me" he purred, as he closed the distance between them. He kissed her neck, and brushed his lips against her ears as he whispered: "You're my slave now."
~* The End *~
