All I Need ✔️

Chapter 49

This chapter contains references to violence and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.

Safania's POV

Cassius sat back down on my bed. I took a deep breath and began.

"When Eir fell, my aunt and I were captured. We were given to the father of one of military leaders who led the invasion. My first master was very kind. He never hurt us, he fed us well, he let my aunt teach me how to read and write, he even taught me Iradian. He said I reminded him of his daughter that had passed."

I smiled, thinking of Iku. It had been years, but I still missed him.

"We lived with him for several years, but he eventually passed away," I told Cassius. "When he died we were given back to the commander who had led the invasion. He had a few slaves that had died so he had room for us. This was about a year after my first cycle, when the marks appeared, so my aunt knew it was essential that I worked in a position where would have very little contact with any men. She was terrified one of them would try to do something that would reveal me. So she somehow managed to get me on kitchen duty.

"I was there for a few years, and everything was fine. There were only a few other women who worked down there, and other slaves would take the food to the master and his mistresses, so the kitchen slaves didn't really have any contact with anyone. So even though my second master was horribly cruel from everything I heard, I managed to avoid him and stay undetected.

"But one day, a few months before my 15th birthday, he beat one of his slaves so badly that she couldn't do her work. Someone had to take her place. The other slaves had already started complaining that I got to stay safe in the kitchens, which was typically a job for the older women who were seen as having paid their dues. The head slave told me I was going to fill in for the injured slave as one of the master's personal attendants."

I looked off into the distance. I remembered the smell of the fresh bread I brought up on the tray, the creaking of the stairs leading to the master's study, my heart pounding in my chest.

"I went to bring him his food," I continued. "I had been told that you wanted to avoid being seen at all costs. Best to just drop the food off and go. So I tried. I set the food down on the table and turned to leave...but then he called out to me."

*Five Years Ago*

"Who are you?"

I turned around. "No one, sir."

"You think I would remember a face that pretty, living in my house."

"I'm normally on kitchen duty," I told him with my head bowed. "I'm just filling in."

"No, you're not," he told me. "You're much better-looking than that stupid cow who normally waits on me. You will be my new attendant."

My heart froze. Personal attendants were the highest casualty assignment around here. The master went through his attendants the way a baker went through flour.

"Did you hear me, girl?" he asked me, walking towards me. I realized he was waiting for gratitude. Being an attendant was supposedly an honor.

"Th-thank you, sir," I said, trying to hide my fear.

"Are you one of the ones from Eir?" he asked, walking toward the door, closing it, and locking it.

My mouth was too dry to answer, so I just nodded.

"You'll learn this quickly, but I expect a yes sir or no sir when I ask you a question."

"Yes, sir," I choked out, still staring at the floor. It was considered bad manners to look directly at your master.