Ella tried not to stare as she was lead into the house proper, but it was hard not to. Some of her masters had been rich, yes, but few had put there money into an elegantly designed home. And besides, when one is used to living in a cage, all fine things are cause for awe.

She managed to pull her head out of the clouds just in time to see the man in front of her stop and she narrowly avoided crashing into him. He pulled out a simple maid's outfit as he began explaining Ella's duties to her. Ella made sure to listen closely to his instructions, the memories of the tortured screams from down below still fresh in her mind. She took the outfit and the duster without comment, merely nodding her head to show she understood. She didn't know whether or not this man was a slave, but from the amount of trust Amelia seemed to place in him, she figured he was of some importance in the house. So Ella kept her eyes down, as a slave ought, so that she might not offend him.

Not seeing any place to go and change, Ella took a deep breath and turned her back on the man, hoping he wouldn't mind. With her cheeks reddening a bit, she quickly pulled her dress off, revealing simple underclothes, and just as quickly pulled the maid's outfit on. She turned back around, a faint blush still on her face, and neatly folded her old dress. With her eyes still angled downward, she quietly asked the man "Where should I put this, sir?"

ooc: You guys move fast. xD I've only been gone a day and a half.


bic:

Liam remained in his Animal form throughout the course of the Fox Demon's punishment. Perhaps it was the predator instincts that he usually chose to subdue while in Human form, or perhaps it was his natural, aggressive tendencies, but the torture that the Mistress put the boy through (cruel and unusual as it was) was utterly fascinating. The Demon put up quite a valiant fight, nonetheless; Liam was surprised that the boy didn't succumb as soon as the Mistress had hoped..

When the "show" was over, Liam looked away from the boy, unable to sympathize with his pain (he had never been stupid enough to anger a Master or to try to escape without much forethought) but also losing interest. As his silver eyes wandered about from cage to cage, he noticed another large cat held in an enclosure not far from him. A female, too.

He attempted to make eye contact with her, his tail twitching to and fro on its very tip to convey mild interest...

((Well, currently I have more time than I know what to do with soooo yeah. I have time to post lol That and slaves here are very disobedient D: ))

Ritsuka took the clothes from Elle in exchange for the duster that he gave her, pretty much ignoring her newly reddened cheeks for he was used to seeing the naked body anyways. It was nothing new for him despite his young age.

"You may follow me to the laundry room, you will need to know where it is at." Ristuka was one of few words and was never one to say more than he had too.

Upon entering the laundry room, Ristuka placed the clothes on the ever growing laundry pile. The washing had fallen behind the past few days... New slaves would be needed soon to help with the chores, hopefully Amelia could find a few worthy of working the inn to help get it prepared to open.

Jade watched and smirked as the fox demon was put back into his cage. It was hard to believe that all the slaves around her were as scared of the cruel woman as they were of an eternal pit of pain. The cruel Mistress of the hallway of slaves was gripping so tightly to her Agiel. She walked up as close to the hallway as possible from where she was shackled to the cage.

"So i guessing your having a problem with your slaves now?" Jade said to the mistress that was standing by her cage at the time. "How do you like that all these people... Or us slaves as you call us. are treating your little place? huh?" She still smirked at the woman. "How does it feel being stood up against by your slaves."

((Sorry its short))

Ella simply nodded and followed him into the laundry room, trying to remember the twists and turns of the hallways as she went. Deep down, she felt a little relieved that the man didn't seem to care that she changed in front of him. Either he was gay or just didn't care, and frankly Ella wasn't going to question it. She'd had masters in the past who liked looking and touching and squeezing, and she grimaced at the memories.

Upon reaching the laundry room, Ella stopped just inside the door, one hand on the duster and the other behind her back, eyes still down in a gesture of deference. "Do I have any other duties sir?" she chanced to ask the man softly.

Amelia raised her eyebrow slightly at Jaden before coming back to her cool, calm demeanor. Jaden figured this slave must have had a death wish with how she acted out considering she still had deep gashes throughout her body and no doubt didn't have the energy to with-stand another torture.

Walking towards the elf, slowly yet with a deliberate gaite that was like a tiger stalking it's prey just before jumping the unsuspecting victim. Right in front of the slave, Amelia looked menacing as she looked down at the elf.

"Being stooped you say? Hardly." Amelia didn't want to even bother with such disobedience much less do what the slaves expected her to do. The day had been long and she grew tired of such insolence so turning her back on the slave, she walked away where she would go wash up in her bath and have Ritsuka attend to her leather. The day was ending and she would leave her slaves to themselves with of course, Roarke and his men.

"Roarke." She simply called.

Roarke came to Mistress Amelia's request whom he found standing in front of Liam's cage, staring down. Without Amelia even having to say a word, Liam was released from his cage and Roarke went back to go back to maintaining the affairs of the slave trade in his office, however before he went very far Amelia gave one more request. "Be sure to send for Ritsuka for me. He will know where to find me."

Turning her attention back to Liam, her violet eyes gazing down at him in his animal form, "Come, slave." Amelia commanded as she turned to walk upstairs out of the slave market and up into the mansion knowing full well that Liam would follow her. If he didn't... well... she was growing tired of these insolent slaves and her anger would be taken out on him.

She led Liam upstairs on the base floor past several rooms before she entered into a large bath that would remind one of Ancient Egypt with the golden and black draperies and the statues of Anubis protectors. The bath almost seemed to be a pool though it was sprinkled with red rose petals and smelled of an exotic fragrance.

"Help me remove my leather." She command him as she unclasped the top portion of her red leather and began to unzip the front. She were to have a bath for which she wished to have company. Ristuka would soon enough be on his way, but for now, Liam would serve in his place.

----------

"See to the laundry, and then you may retire..." Ritsuka was interrupted when in the corner of his eyes, he caught the well defined Roarke coming his way which caused Ritsuka to look towards Roarke.

"Amelia wishes to see you, she also said that you would know where to find her." Roarke was handsome in his own right. His dark hair and mysterious eyes one could be lost in.

"Look after Elle." Ritsuka bowed to the Roarke before walking around him, back towards the bathing room where he would surely find Amelia.

Roarke looked down at rather timid looking girl. He hated to play baby-sitter, but with the slaves acting out so much as of late, one could never be to sure anymore... even with the well behaved slaves.

'Back again..?' Liam thought to himself as he looked up to see Amelia staring back through the bars of his cage. The door of the enclosure was once again opened and Liam through it, padding silently after the Mistress as she had commanded.

It seemed that she was not taking him back to the garden as he had first supposed. Instead, he was led through the mansion to what appeared to be Amelia's private quarters and into her bathing room. It was here that the woman stopped and, to Liam's slight surprise, commanded him to help her undress. He waited a moment to make sure she was being serious, looking about to see if there were any clothes he might wear, then rolled his silver eyes and transformed back into his Human self.

He was a slave; Amelia had surely seen her 'subjects' disrobed before, so he felt less awkward about the situation than he might have otherwise..

Silently, Liam did as he was commanded and helped her remove the leather outfit.

Elle gave a quick nod and began sorting the laundry. It was simple enough that she could let her mind wander a bit while her hands went on autopilot. After the horrors of below, it was nice to do something simple and repetitive and, more importantly, something that she couldn't mess up and get punished for. She could feel the guard watching her, but he didn't look like the type to take advantage of helpless slaves, unlike the one downstairs who had fondled her hair. In fact, this guard seemed more bored than anything.

As she began loading one of the washers, Elle stole a glance here and there at the man ordered to keep watch over her. He was big, yes, and burly, and Elle knew she could never fight him off even if she did have a rebellious streak in her. But, she had to admit, he was rather good looking. Stop it, she scolded herself. It will do you no good to moon over the guard and neglect your duties. Elle finished loading all the clothes and turned the washers on then sat down to wait. Besides, doing honest work for a woman is much better than servicing a man, she though, looking at her outfit that was definitely more conservative than the clothes a previous master made her wear. Don't screw this up!

Soon, the washers were done and Elle transferred the clothes to the dryers. Again, she sat and waited, feeling the silence to be rather awkward but not brave enough (or, depending on the guard's temperament, stupid enough) to try and strike up a conversation. Once the clothes were dry, she made quick work of folding them and placing them into the baskets. She was little unsure on where to place the finished clothes, but decided that leaving them in the laundry room was probably a better course of action than trying to find the mistress' rooms and possibly entering uninvited.

Elle turned to the guard and softly said, "I'm finished with the laundry sir. Where am I to go now?"

((O.o where was i left at? and did anyone interact with Hotaru?))

(i know I am still not here yet)

((Whoops, sorry I had Roarke tangled up with you... and yes, Roarke came to get you and serenity's free to come down... Just write in that Roarke already brought you down because now he's busy with Elle... And Hotaru was left yes... Amelia has that much confidence that he will not be able to escape and if he can withstand that pain, then, well, he would have his freedom, but highly unlikely. Not to mention she's still connected to him, so she'll know if he's stuck outside his cage in pain or not, all clear? ))

Serenity looked at him and she followed him down and saw people men and women tied up and a weird way and she looked at him and said "sir what kind do you have anyway before I go on sir?" She looked at them and looked at him and feels something about him and the slaves they were scared of him but not her.

Roarke sat in silence while the slave girl, Elle, went about her work. He felt akward standing there and with shift his weight on occassion just to help pass the time. The girl was young and one of the more obedient slaves that had come around in awhile. It seemed these days that no slaves where ever properly broken... which was probably why he managed to help Amelia aquire slaves at such a cheap price.

"My guess is as good as yours." He said gruffly to her question and allowed an uncomfortable pause to pass, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck to ease the tension before continueing on. "I suppose Amelia would like to see you put up in one of the slave quarters for your work." Roarke then glanced over to the young girl. He hated watching over slaves like this, he wasn't used to it and his demonic nature wasn't exactly something that was referred to as being 'warm and cuddly'.

"Come, follow me." He spoke as he waved his hand to follow.

----------

One of Roarke's men came to take his place and briefly explained to Serenity the slaves that were currently available for sale.

"We have several kinds, some are still unbroken whereas others are very obedient." A sly grin came to the mans face as he commented on the obedient slaves for those, after all, were his favorite.

She looked at him and felt bad about him but still good as well than she said "sir do you any guys that want a priestess Cause my home is big and they can live there with me or a girl will do as well sir." she looked at him and she was holding a light blue rose for the person she takes with her as well.

Alexa noticed the other cat in a nearby cage. It was a male. She had started to sway her tail to and fore to show her interest Amelia had come over to his cage. The woman called the male cat Laim. She watched at Laim followed her orders and disappeared with her up the stairs. Her ears dropped slightly. Growing tired of what was going on around her she laid back down laying her head on her paws. Just when she thought she might be able to somewhat reconnect from the world she had been taken away from the chance slipped away in an instant.

Nothing was under Amelia's red-leather, however, multiple scars covered her flawless skin. They weren't overly gerusome, though they were slightly raised and a slightly darker tint mixed with red distinguished her scars from her light skin. Once undressed, she reached up and untied her hair, allowing her white locks to flow down to her mid-back before slowly and almost seductively moving her way into the hot water of the pool and once the water was high enough that it rose to just above her breasts, she dipped her head back into the warm water and a small sigh escaped her lips while she brushed her hair back as she lifted her head up out of the water. Looking back over her shoulder, she saw that Liam still stood, awaiting Amelia's instruction.

"Come, the water is warm." Her voice held a honeyed tone to it, the sweetness lulling even the most timid of bees. A sly smirk playing across her lips, for she was sure that her behavior was quiet puzzling to him. One moment she's torturing a slave without mercy, the next, she allowing another slave to enjoy the luxuries of her bath.

----------

"Hmph, the only thing half these slaves want is freedom. Just pick one." The man was rather short with Serenity, but he wasn't exactly known for his customer service so to say.

Elle followed him through that hallways until they came to a much plainer wing of the house. There were several hallways all with identical doors and at the end of the halls was a small bathroom, a fact Elle gleaned from a partially opened door. The guard soon stopped and held open one of the doors. Elle understood that this was to be her room and so she entered and took a look around. It was plain but by no means slovenly. There was a small bed in one corner, a table with a lamp, a small window high up (to prevent escapes Elle figured), a wash stand, and a small chest of drawers (which looked to be empty).

She could sense that the guard was ready to get back to his duties so Elle turned back around and said "Thank you sir" to the guard. Then there was an awkward moment where she didn't know if she should bow or curtsy or something, so she settled for a slight half smile, hoping that would be enough.

Katie looked up seeing someone wanting to buy a slave. She quickly made her eyes bigger and gave a small pouty face.

Roarke wasn't quiet ready to go back downstairs to see to his slaves for the night. Besides, he had his men to take care of that for him and they would do their job, he had no doubt about that.

Clenching his jaw as he thought to make small talk... something her normally detested, but with the Mistress and Ritsuka, not much talk was actually heard around the mansion.

"How'd you come to be a slave?" He spoke coolly and directly.

Liam watched at the Mistress entered her bath, his face expressionless as she smirked and cooed at him. His only response was a furrowed brow and a few steps toward the bath, "I am not a pet, you realize.." It would probably anger Amelia that he spoke out of turn, but Liam found her actions insulting. He was a fighter, not someone's accessory. He had been bred and raised to be used as a tool of war, not as a housecat.

His lip curled slightly, but he eventually climbed into the water, his eyes stubbornly fixed away from Amelia as he slid around the tub to the farthest corner from where the woman sat.


ooc: Bahaha~ She hurt his pride. xDDD

Elle was startled a little when the guard actually inquired about her, even though she could tell by his tone that small talk wasn't something he did regularly. But usually, the guards just put her in her room, locked the door, and that was that, goodnight.

"I was orphaned," she started, feeling a little awkward from actually talking about it for the first time. "When I was thirteen." Memories of her parents and her home began to float up and Elle shut her eyes tight, trying to repress them again as she had been doing for four years. Only pain lay that way. "I live just outside a large city and didn't have any other family. Two guys appeared, said they take me into the city, to a place where I could live until I was eighteen." She paused. "Obviously, it wasn't."

Elle was quiet for a moment again. "Been through a couple of masters. First one sold me off when I got to old for his liking, last one died of old age," She said tersely, not wanting to go into much detail about her first master and there really wasn't much to say about the second except that he had a sadistic streak a mile wide. Elle sat down on the bed, the room was small enough that this wasn't too far away, and simply said "And now here I am." The guard probably didn't care, but it was nice to finally say things out loud. She looked down in her lap, suddenly feeling awkward.

Amelia still had her back facing him and now seemed to be more interested in washing her arm in a graceful and deliberate manner.

"Not yet that is." She spoke non chalant and then slowly began to make her way back towards the stairs of the bath, where her clothing lay just beyond and there on the stairs, she sat upon the stairs with her upper half raising up out of the water, her face unreadable as always.

Ritsuka appeared into the room and bowed.

"Evening Mistress." Amelia instantly looked over and for the first time, Liam had the opportunity to see her geniunely smile.

"Ritsuka... Join us." Ritsuka always loved how his name seemed to roll off her tongue. He knew by where she sat, that she wasn't sure how this encounter with the slave would go, therefore instead of being utterly relaxed like how she was with him, she was on guard. Though with Ritsuka here now, it would allow Amelia to relax a bit more and not worry as much know he was there.

"As you wish." Was all he replied and instantly began to undress himself and then make his way into the bath, sitting nearby where he could be submerged to about mid-chest and yet close to Amelia, but not overly close by any means.

"Slave, this is my Ritsuka." Amelia rarely would address a new slave by their name for she felt that one needed to know their place before she granted them the usage of their name.

----------

Roarke now knew why he never made small talk with the slaves. He was never much for wanting to know the history of a slave for he sometimes would hear a story such as Elle's. They were all to common in his profession, though most he found, were lies.

"Looks like you learned your lesson." The one thing Roarke wasn't good at, was showing empathy for others and much less using the word 'sorry'.

----------

((Maybe someone shouldn't be so easily offended... after all, he's one big house cat to Amelia haha ))

Hoatru just gave up on trying to get outside, he lay there on the ground, about two feet away from his cage, he whimpered, placing his paws over his ears again. He was in to much pain to bother moving from the spot he was at, he curled up in the spot he was at, trying as hard as he could to make the pain go away, it wouldn’t he felt as if he was dying a slow and painful death.

‘Death….what a relief it would be. Death…..’ it was the last thought he had before he embraced the darkness that wanted to swallow his mind up. He floated in the darkness, letting it comfort him and take him away from the pain that he had been enduring, he was at peace for the moment. He sighed heavily in his passed out state, he was so at peace in the darkness that at that moment, someone could pick him up and rid him of his fur and he wouldn’t know about it.

Amelia brushed Hotaru's mind, and was disheartened to feel that he could not manage to get back to his cage. Hopefully a guard would take pitty on the fox demon and place him back inside his cage, for she was currently busy at the moment and more importantly, she had warned him so he had no one to blame but himself in this matter. Though him loosing his mind was not helping her cause at the moment... The pain Hotaru felt then cut off finally, so perhaps one of the guards had finally taken pity on the fox demon and placed him back inside his cage.

------------------------

Rolling his eyes, the guard grabbed the fox demon by the arm and dragged him the few feet bag to the demons cage. Normally the guard probably would've left Hotaru, however it was getting close to night and he was working on organizing the area, especially with a potential buyer surveying the slaves. The last thing she needed to see was an unconscious slave laying about outside his cage.

Elle just smiled with a mixture of sadness and bitterness. "Yes, I suppose I have, " she said with a barely audible tinge of pain in her voice, reflecting on her second master where she learned quickly to obey or be punished. She resisted the urge to sigh heavily, suddenly feeling like she wanted to throw herself on the cot and have a good cry. But she wasn't going to show weakness. She may be timid and frightened all the time, but she didn't want to lose it right here, right now. That would be too embarrassing.

So instead she took a deep breath and banished the memories from her mind, choosing instead to take another look around the room. She noticed that the guard was still there and wondered again why he chose to stay. He didn't seem overtly nice but at least he didn't go out of his way to abuse the slaves. Slowly and carefully, and stealing side glances at the guard to see if he got angry, she asked, "What's your name, if it's not too bold to ask sir?" Almost instantly, Elle wished she could take the words back, wondering what on Earth had made her so forward and willing to leave her place. Instead she just looked down at her lap again, feeling a red flush of embarrassment on her neck and a slight feeling of fear crawl up from her stomach.