It was no wonder she bounced with light-hearted joy through her day. Tasks seemed merely something to consume time before she was in his arms again. The act of preparing for him did not make her tremble with fear and self-loathing anymore. She laughed, remembering how much she had hated him for what he did to her. How she had fought when first brought here as his. Now... she was his and she loved him deeply.
It was no wonder then, when he began calling h`lina to him at night, she seethed inside. When h`lina returned each time, a shy grin on her face and close-mouthed about what had happened, it made her blood boil as every imaginable thought ran through her head. Was the other more pleasing, was he just enjoying variety, was he tired of her already? No answers came though.
If she asked h`lina, she was told not to question her owner's actions. Patience... HA! She didn't have any. The secretive smile on their lips told her something happened each time h`lina was with him. More and more sullen, or angry, or hurt, she became. Less and less pleasing while with him. Always frowning, always cold.
He wondered. He told her to stop, he punished, he became angry himself when she didn't. More and more she slept on the floor. She didn't notice that he still called her every night. She didn't notice that his joy was less. Only that so was hers. Then it happened.
He called her to him during the day with orders that she be presented properly. She should have been thrilled except h`lina was already with him! She didn't put on his favorite lip stick, nor fix her hair the way he liked it, though she made sure to be all that any man would expect a presentable slave to be. Then she went to him...
Spread out in his room was an extravagant meal. Three courses at least with... oh! All her favorite foods. The ones she had been allowed to taste with the other slaves, yet only little bites. AND sweets!! Wines and water were ready to be poured in pitchers amid the bounty. His room was swathed in various silks. Vivid colors that draped from fixture to fixture while candle light dimmed the room into a lulled paradise.
"Happy Anniversary, my slave. It has been one year!"
Her heart had leaped for joy, hearing him. The genuine smile on h`lina's face as the girl knelt nearby made her melt. She knew h`lina must have told him about the foods, and about her fantasy of having this kind of night with their owner. It was a dream come true!
"Now, return to the slave kennels. h`lina deserves this reward more than you."
She crumbled inside right then. He was right. Oh, how he was right. She had assumed the worst and acted on it. No wonder h`lina was smiling so every time she returned. How she had hugged h`lina when the girl returned that night with a smuggled sweet treat and soft words of encouragement.
"You will learn, darling girl. You love him too much not to."