Demon(#Wattys2017 Entry)

Chapter 31:Magilles

There was a small Sai boy, laughing and playing with his mother. His father, as was custom for any and all male slaves of the Deena, was out in the fields, working on supplying food for the city.

His mother had been allowed to stay with him, away from her normal task of making uniforms for the soldiers. She would be permitted to stay away until her boy was six, as was the way of their 'Benevolent' owners.

In truth, it was to give them more power, more leverage to prevent slaves from running and abandoning loved ones to the mercy of their captors. She thought over this as she prepared what meager rations they had for the boy, swishing her tail from side to side.

She had considered not taking the time away, to stop feeling for the child from growing within her. To save herself from yet another chain to shackle her here.

But, any thoughts of this had vanished the instant she saw the child, saw him open his eyes and gaze at her in wonder. This was her child, her own flesh and blood, and now the opposite had happened. She dreaded the birthday next week, when she would have to return to her duties, when she would have to leave the boy for his training in the field.

For that was how the Deena had managed to keep slaves, she reasoned. They would give women hard work, carrying heavy wagons of cloth to large, arid buildings, to work from sunrise to sunset, and carry even heavier wagons of uniforms back to where they had come from.

She had been lucky, she thought, for men would work in the sun breaking the ground, and some women were assigned to forges, working next to blistering hot coals all day, helping to make the weapons that kept them oppressed.

A few, such as her own sister, were assigned as entertainers in the palace, which while it came with slightly better food and a much better bed....It was not always up to them who joined them in it. As slave work went, making the simple uniforms of the Deena had seemed the lesser of all evils, but even so...to leave her sweet child, with wide, innocent eyes, for the long, harsh work she normally had, and when out of practice so long...she understood why some women chose to simply stay home and have children, for there were few who would trade joy for misery, and that only served for keeping a fresh stock of slaves for Deena.

She smiled as the child walked over, grinning."Mama! Mama! Look what I found!" He said, holding up a large stone. It wasn't anything particularly beautiful, although it must have been the refuse of the stone gangs. It had been split several times, leaving only rough, sharp edges.

Apart from the grey along each line that defined the shape of the stone, it was a deep blue, glittering, and if not for the shallow holes and grooves that marked each face, it could have been mistaken for a well-polished sapphire. Nothing new, exciting, or wonderful about it, but the boy still seemed proud of it.

She smiled sweetly."Very nice Magilles." She commended, ruffling the boys hair."Go ahead and put it with the others."

Magilles smiled at the praise and ran off to place the most recent stone with the rest of his collection.

She smiled and watched him go. Perhaps he had simply not noticed his life as a slave, for he had not yet been made to work. He had simply played with his mother and enjoyed the simple, meager life they lived, innocence and hope surrounding him wherever he went.

She smiled, hearing someone approaching. At this time of day, it would likely be her husband...Well, her mate, at least, as Deena did not allow such ceremonies among their property.

She could have sworn her boy had inherited his good nature as well as his looks, for even after a long day of working the fields, he would come home with a smile on his face, despite pains in his back and the occasional lash from an overseer who had doubts of his work ethic.