Kitsune: Bride Of The Nine Tailed Fox- Book 1

Chapter 15-The prisoner pt 2

I woke up the next morning to an annoying buzzing in my ears as my eyes felt heavy, I open them with great hesitation.

"Get up girl! I said get up now!" It was the toad. Rekucon.

I roll my eyes as I continue to rest my head on my outstretched arm.

"Your the buzzing in my ear" I muffle as he opens the cell.

"Get up I say! You must work for master! I am in charge to make sure you do so!"

"Why can't he make me?" I mumble again and he grabs me to my feet.

"Because master has more pressing matters to deal with this day than to fool with you useless thing." I bite at his arm and he moves his body further away.

"I used to eat frog legs when I was a kid." I teased and he pushes me foreword as he unchained me.

"And I eat the flesh of humans" he retorts as we travel upstairs.

As we head outside to the golden field the sun blinds me and I stumble into the toad.

"Watch your footing girl!" He says extending out his arm causing me to jerk away.

He brings me to a small shead as he hands me work clothes.

"Wear this, you will become familiar with this outfit quite often."

At my feet he plants two sets of shoes.

"Outside you wear these, if you must go inside for any reason you wear these. Master hates dirt in his temple so try to avoid coming in." He leaves me to change and I call out to him.

"Wait, what will I be doing?" He frowns at this as he turns around.

"What do you mean? Pick the wheat! Stupid girl, once you are done with that move onto corn and sugar cane. Stupid girl." he walk off with his staff in hand as he grumbles under his breath.

I didn't even get gloves.

Once I was dressed I tied the bandana in my hair and place my shoes on. I heard a knock and saw a hand appear in the doorway.

"Are you changed milady?" The timid but hearty voice exclaimed and I respond as I see a small elderly man waddle in.

His hair was long and pure white as his beard and mustache almost hung to the floor.

He knelt down at the spigot and began to wash his hands. They were littered with age as the dirt melted away. He sniffs his nose as he rises slowly.

"The names Togisumono but call me togi please." He squints up, eying me up and down.

"They'd told me I'd be getting a new comer but not the new queen?" He says and I look down.

"Come child, let's work hard today."

I follow him out to the field as he begins to work, squatting in a patch as he laced his hands in the wheat.

He begins at the bottom wacking towards the root. He looks up at me as he hands me a kama and continues to work. He stops again and glances up at me.

"You've never done this a day in your life have you?" He rolls his eyes as he motions for me to kneel beside him. He shows me how to crop the wheat and I mimic exactly how he shows. Soon we're doing it in unison as we place the wheat in a silk sacks.

"I'm not usually the silent type, I haven't had company in a while so forgive me. Kitsune used to sit out here with me but he's gotten worse. And now he doesn't come at all."

I look up at him "worse?" I say quietly but he doesn't respond instead pretends he never said it and moves on.

"I would follow that boy to the moon and back, he's like a son to me. But I was surprised when I heard he got married, to a human nonetheless!"

"You knew?"

"Of course I did, everyone does. We're all monsters here and haven't seen a human in a long time."

"You mean your not-?" I say as my eyes widen. He looked so human.

"Hell no, I'm a demon Satyr. A horse man. But I'm no man just beast." He pauses briefly but continues.

"Not to say it doesn't happen because gods can be lousy creatures. But it's rare to see a human with a god. It's  more excepted with the lesser beings now than ever. Back in a time much different anything would mate with anything, anything to reproduce or for pure extasy but it seems now to be more of a strange thing. So when one of the most powerful beings marries a mortal in this day and age there will be a talk."

He continues to wack the crop until it's completely off. And I do the same.

"I didn't have much of an option, it was either me or my sister and I couldn't let him have her." I could feel his eyes on me as I continue to focus on my wheat.

"You know kitsune isn't a bad guy, he's actually one of the more forgiving ones. It's in his nature. He changed when he got tired. He saw the ugliest side of humans and began to despise that. Kitsune has lived a long time and in that time he's seen horrible things."

We were silent but I had questions. If he was so great, what made him change.

"What changed?"

"The war; Famine, death, rape, cannibalism and even genocide. It does something to you. It makes even the brightest star waver."

We don't speak anymore after that instead we change direction and move on to the corn after we gather a generous amount.

After the day was gone and the sun had started to fall, my hands had aged ten years and my small hands become more shriveled like raisins. Dry blood leaped on my clothes as I struggled to open and close my hands.

I walk in the temple as I spot kitsune laying in his bed accompanied with Rekucon and female shifters as they made his bed around him.

Kitsune stares at me as I stand in the doorway.

"What is that smell!? It smells of death!" Rekucon chirps as he opens the door wider.

I keep my head down as blood drips. The wounds were reopening as I rubbed the dry blood.

"Ugh! You filthy child! You are ruining masters fine rug! Go to your cell why are you standing there looking lost!?"

"Tolkken, stop talking" a cold voice says from behind and Rekucon stops instantly and lowers his head.

"Yes sire" as he says this tears begin to flow and I quickly whip them on my sleeve.

"I'm sorry, so sorry" my voice was so dry it could barely be heard.

I wasn't sure why I was sorry, maybe to Margo? To the pain I felt?

"Come here now" kitsune motions for me to come and I do so as he grabs my hands. He examines them and hovers his hand over them as a light glistens. I could feel the pain ease as I could close and open my hands properly again.

"You have arthritis don't you? So useless." I only blink as I try to stop the tears. Due to years of violin playing I developed arthritis at a young age. But how did he know?

"Your hands will only get worse so pain is expected. This is the only mercy I will spare you. I will allow two breaks and on those breaks soak your hands in tea, only tea I will provide you, once you've done that lay your palms on top of ice. This will help your joints. Do the same to your knees as well. Rekucon will make sure of this. Won't you?"

He hesitates almost in protest but he bows instead.

"Yes sire"

"Good, and as for you clean up in the shead. I do not wish to smell your blood on my carpet again." I nod as I whip my nose.

"Thank yo-" I begin to say but before I could finish he hands me a glass of water.

"Your voice is so scratchy It's hurting my ears"

-

As I wash, two of the shifters stand guard waiting for me to finish. I change into another pare of my work clothes as I toss the old ones. I patch up my knees and hands as I get dragged down to the basement.

And it begins all over again.