Dahran

This is the tenth chapter ex twenty two of a novel about slavery and gay sex.

Keywords: authority, control, loyalty, slavery, punishment, re-training, submission, gay, sex

This story is entirely a work of fiction and all rights to it and its characters are copyright, and private to and reserved by the author. No reproduction by anyone for any reason whatsoever is permitted.

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The Dahran Way

Chapter 10 The importance of power

Pete Downings

The head of household at the Aloe Palace was Pete Downings -- a quiet Australian, though that might appear an oxymoron, who before his lifting had been a painter and decorator.

The new Mistress herself was an interior decorator and I had tried to allay some of Pete's fears first about a new authority and a female one at that in his Palace -- I had stressed `his Palace'.

`Master, you never interfere. You let me get on with my job. What happens if the Mistress and I...'

`Don't get on? Come to blows? Pete, you and she will get on like a house on fire. You are more alike than you know.'

`Master, I am a slave and merely head of your household at the Palace by your wish alone. The Mistress is a free woman and has the love and ear of Master Jack. They can choose their own head of household. I am dead in the water after that sheet incident.'

`Pete, you seem to forget that you were the choice and wish of all the overseers to be the head of my household at the Aloe Palace and recommended by Aziz himself. Of all the overseers without exception! How foolish it would be of me to ignore your wishes in anything. The Palace and its surrounds look superb. You love your job and no one, Pete, could do it better. No one! And talking of love, how are you and Randy getting on? Yves Fournier is not keeping him too busy in surgery?'

`Since the attack, Master, we just hold on to each other at night and I see how lucky I am in having a buddy and lover like Randy. And when we fuck, Master, we fuck like mad. We are like both immensely happy with each other.'

`Pete, just finishing on the question of power. The new Mistress may exercise power directly and you shall obey her and Jack and even I will obey them in their own home, while they are still at the Aloe Palace. But while you are here, you have all my authority to exercise as well. You exercise that authority indirectly, but no less powerfully than if I were saying the words myself. Understood?'

`Yes, Master, but what do you mean, while the Mistress and Master Jack are still in the Aloe Palace?'

`My wedding gift to Jack is a new residence in Dahra, wherever they want it. That's for your information and ears alone. And also for only your information, I have just bought the next farm beside the Aloe Palace and have made Komil Rostov its new stables manager. You are the only one to know this. Does this sound like you are not part of my authority, Pete?'

`Sorry, Master, but I have just been so worried in getting everything right for Master Jack and the new Mistress that I am almost physically sick.'

`Stop being sick, Peter. It's all settled as far as I am concerned. You and the Mistress will get on fine. Now go and find Andy McTee for me.'

Andy McTee stood before me at `rest'. He looked much better than when he had first arrived at the Palace and had to be given extra food to make up for having been starved by his previous owner. As English teacher to those slaves, who needed to learn the languages, he was second to none. He and Tommy Saunders were on a par.

`How are you, Andy?'

`Well, Master.'

`And Thor?'

`Very well, Master.'

`Andy, I just wanted to tell you two things: first, how pleased I am with your work for me as an English teacher and the second thing, more difficult for me to tell you, is that I have sold you.'

Had I actually hit Andy McTee the reaction could not have been greater. He staggered back and looked positively frightened.

`Relax, Andy, relax! I have sold you to the new Mistress because she herself has requested it. For the moment, you and Thor will move to the Aloe Palace and she wishes you to continue on with your current duties.'

I was going to ask him if he had any questions, but he had started to cry.

`Why, Master, why? I have tried to do my best for you. You never have sold a slave before. You said that! You said that! I felt safe here -- safe that I would never be treated like an animal again.'

`Andy, I have sold you not because I love you less, but because I believe that the new Mistress loves you more. And when she gets to know you, she will love you even more than I do. I will however make you a promise, if you are not one hundred per cent happy, or even the slightest bit unhappy in six months' time, I will buy you back. I am sure your Mistress will not refuse to sell you back again, if I ask her for it. Is that a deal?'

`Yes, Master. But I thought that slaves could not make deals.'

`But men can, Andy and friends can. And I think of you more as a friend, Andy, than as a slave and always will.'

Andy McTee's tears started afresh as he sank to his knees at my feet. I waited for him to compose himself with my hands on his shaking shoulders and one of his hands clasped mine.

That evening I had Ben Trant, my secretary, prepare the standard sale document and an invoice for twenty thousand four hundred euro, the same amount as his purchase price some thirty months previously.

I took Andy McTee to bed for the last time that night. Before I rode him, I rimmed him for almost an hour, until he was fully aware of how much I loved him and how I would keep my promise to him in six months' time, if he were unhappy with the new arrangement.

When I took Andy, he had no longer any difficulty in being ridden hard by me and when he himself came his shouts rocked the bedroom suite.

The following day I received Fiona's cheque -- the first one drawn on her new chequebook on her new account at the Bank. In a way, it was an auspicious omen and a sign of good things to come.

Although Fiona had a British driving licence, she had never owned a car of her own and had never accumulated much driving experience. For a variety of reasons, especially driving on the `wrong' side of the road and her pregnancy not least of all, Jack did not want Fiona to drive in Dahra. She agreed with all his arguments, even the pregnancy one and therefore asked me for the loan of a slave, who could drive.

It would be the first time that a slave of mine would be outside the Palaces on a regular basis.

I asked Greg Logan if he could spare Jess Tollman from training and Greg agreed.

Jess arrived at the study all excited when told by Greg.

`The Mistress will have to order you some clothes, Jess. I think she is talking of a nice pink uniform and some high heels,' I said

I could not resist the joke, because Jess is the manliest of slaves, with a broad-shouldered physique second to none and a piece of Michigan manhood between his legs to be proud of. His jaw dropped.

`You ARE joking, Boss?'

`I am joking, Jess. Now take your chin up off the floor. The new Mistress needs someone to drive her around and do messages for her. Have you any preference in car?'

`Boss, you're asking me to choose the car?'

`Let's make the Mistress a surprise present, not just only of the loan of a driver, but also the gift of a nice car? What do you say?'

`You're on, Boss. And you really want me to choose the car?'

`Yes, Jess. Have a word with Faisal and he will get you the brochures from any of the dealerships you want in the capital city and ask him if he knows a tailor, who can run you up a couple of proper chauffer suits. A couple of light suits in grey, perhaps.'

Looking down at his bare feet -- the slaves or the assistant overseers never wore sandals or shoes -- I said, `You had better give Faisal all your measurements, boxers, a half a dozen white shirts, socks and two pairs of shoes and you had better pick a size bigger as your feet, without shoes, will have grown out. And don't forget a peaked cap in grey. The lot!'

`Right, Boss.'

`Another thing. As you will remember, the code signal of a slave's bracelet sets off an alarm as soon as it leaves a given radius around the Palaces.'

Something intangible, like the shadow of a dark memory, flickered across his expression.

There was a catch in his voice as he answered very quietly `Yes, Boss. I remember. I will always remember it, Master.'

I wondered for an instant what he was thinking of. The day when he lost his freedom? Better not dwell on the past, I decided.

`The GPS limit can be set to the borders of Dahra.'

I did this temporarily for Flavio when I had him treated at the hospital and later for Randy and Stan. I did it another time when Aziz, who was then still my slave accompanied me to the capital city.

`I have now altered the setting for yourself on a long-term basis. I am choosing you for this job because you have served me well and because you have earned my trust.'

Thanks, Boss,' he answered. For everything and for your trust. You can count on me, Boss.'

Then, just as on the day when I had won him unwittingly in a bet from his former Master Farouq al-Hamdi, my American slave came over to where I was seated and made an obeisance before me.

He kissed my right foot, kissed my left foot and looking up at me said `Master, I will always remember to whom I belong and I say this not just because of what you have done for my wife and kids.'

The Foundation had helped relocate his family away from his so-called `friends', who had actually sold him to lifters for $5,000.

Jess bent down and put his forehead on the floor. His strong warm hands gently encircled and lifted my right foot to place it on the nape of his neck.

I left it there a few seconds. Then I told him to stand up. We rose in unison, I from my chair and he from his position on the floor. Jess being slightly taller than me, I looked up into his eyes and smiled.

`Think about what kind of car you would like to drive, Jess and then go talk to Faisal.'

When it came to the car, being American, Jess chose a Lincoln Continental in dark blue. Fiona was thrilled. Jack merely said, `Uncle Jonathan. Some car! Thanks again.'

All I can say was that three days later when Jess Tollman walked into the courtyard at dinner time, giving us a dress rehearsal of his new look, dressed to kill in a grey suit that was sprayed on his body --such was its perfect fit -- and a peaked cap under his arm, he stopped the traffic as they say and everyone of the slaves and overseers gave him a round of applause as he walked across to the veranda where I was sitting.

Jess put the peaked cap perfectly straight on his head and saluted. For that, he got a cheer and another round of applause.

I heard that when Andy McTee presented himself to the new Mistress and made an obeisance to her, as he got up she threw her arms around his neck and gave him `a wee kiss' on the cheek and for the second time in two days Andy McTee was in tears. Thor had gone down with him to the Aloe Palace merely to be introduced at the same time, having donned a pair of boxer shorts -- pairs of, which were now being left at the entrances to the courtyards into the Aloe Palace.

According to Jack, the new Mistress wanted `shorts in the Palace', but that the slaves outside on the farm and in the gardens should be naked. Jack agreed as it was the normal Dahran custom for slaves.

`How is she getting on with Pete Downings, Jack?' I asked one morning on our way to work.

Her comment to me as she looked at my socks was at last, I have someone, who understands something about colour coordination',' Jack said with a smile.

`But Uncle Jonathan, she also asked Pete to get her the latest two catalogues of the slave auction-rooms. I'm beginning to ask myself, who precisely have I married -- a shy girl from outside Edinburgh or a modern day Sultana hell-bent on slave ownership.'

We got part of the answer some days later when Fiona asked Jack his advice about the catalogues she had received. None had contained Scottish slaves and she wanted to know how she could find out if there were Scottish slaves in Dahra. As Jack knew little of such matters, he asked me to come and have a drink at the Aloe Palace one evening, which I did and I filled both of them in on the computerised records of the slave dealers.

The very following day Fiona arranged to go to both slave-auction rooms, with permission to use my name as an entrée and she outlined what she was proposing to do.

We got more of the answer ten days later, when Pete Downings came to the Lime Palace with his usual weekly accounts and lists of things for my approval, which I normally merely listened to and to, which I always said `yes'.

`One other thing, Master, the Mistress has told me that she would like to see you to discuss with you the best way to purchase thirteen new slaves. I have quarters prepared for them already. The Mistress said she wished to speak to you about them whenever you are free.'

I went to see her.

That second occasion was a beautiful, mild April evening, so I strolled down to the Aloe Palace with Pete Downings on his return there after some business with me and I noted how the fields were coming on, with the new type of water-irrigation spray switched on, which Dumi had ordered.

`Jonathan, how delightful to see you. Let me offer you some tea. Beno, tea for two, please' Fiona said upon my arrival.

`Pete mentioned that you wanted to see me about the purchase of some new slaves' I commented, coming uncharacteristically quickly to the point.

`Yes, indeed, but first and foremost, Jonathan, thank you for Andy McTee.'

`Thank you for your cheque.'

`I have already visited both the slave dealers at al-Mera and al-Qatim, did Jess not tell you?'

`No, he did not. He is your driver and he reports only to you and Jack.'

`Thank you, I was not quite sure. And thank you for allowing me the mention of your name. It opened doors I do believe that otherwise might have been closed for me. I mentioned to Jack what I have in mind and he said to talk to you.'

Fiona went on.

`I told both dealers that I wanted them to search their records as you and Jack had explained to me. They said that their computer records are some of the first in this country. Do you know that? They go back almost thirty years and ledgers before that. I told them both very simply that I wanted to buy any slave in Dahra, who on their records was Scottish.'

I looked at her in silence and wondered from where at twenty years of age had she got that presence of mind.

`I also saw from the brochures that sometimes slaves have their origin listed as a town or city, not as a country, so I gave each a list of the principal fifty towns and cities in Scotland. They have found no female slaves and thirteen male slaves.'

`Thirteen Scottish slaves here in Dahra?'

`Yes. And that is where I would like to ask your help. They have sent me from their old records, a copy of the folder as they call it, of each of the slaves. I received the folders yesterday, which are in the library. Some more tea, Jonathan?

I needed more than tea to keep up with Fiona Tuttle.

`I have two favours to ask you, Jonathan. I don't know anything about slaves, but I am going to learn. The first thing, I want you to take a look at the folders of these thirteen -- that's what Jack recommended -- and make any suggestion you want. Secondly, I want to purchase the services of your medical staff, so that my new slaves get the same treatment that yours have.'

I noticed that she had said my slaves', not our slaves', or Jack's and my slaves.' It was clearly my slaves.'

`A pleasure, Fiona, on both scores. Perhaps, Pete can give me a hand in taking some notes. By the way, where is Jack now?'

`Out playing tennis with Vedel, I think that's what he said, or maybe he has taken him to the sauna by now, as they do after a game. He wanted to allow me to have this talk with you alone. He said that if he were present, that he would cramp my style.'

`That Fiona I hardly believe possible after what I have just heard. And talking of Pete Downings, how are you getting on with him? Do you want to appoint a new head of household?'

`Good grief no, Jonathan! Pete and I are getting on famously and Jack is very pleased with him, too. Did he say something to the contrary?'

`No, he just feels that he is not going to be able to anticipate your every wish. That's all. Tell him what you think of him.'

`I have, Jonathan, but I will tell him again. He's an absolute tower of strength.'

`Well, if you would call Pete in, I would like to take a look at the folders with him in the library. And talking of buying slaves, the two trainee cooks I bought for you, whom I am having trained at the Lime Palace under Flavio, my own chef, seem to be settling in well. They just need some more training, maybe a month or so. I don't know what you are doing at the moment, but these two seem to have some talent.'

`Jonathan, it is hard to burn milk or porridge. We have a very simple diet here, apart from some strange cravings I am getting from time to time,' and she laughed quite heartily.

`Have you thought about buying a sand buggy like the one I have? Its very pleasant to walk around in the gardens in the evening, but maybe, at times, with the heat during the day, it is exhausting for you to walk everywhere.'

I felt that as Fiona was wont to go around the Palace grounds, in her pregnant state while walking and exercise was certainly good for her, too much in the extreme Dahran heat would be bad for her and the child.

`Now that is an idea! Thank you for mentioning it. I like spending a lot of time outside in the fresh air and I want to be able to carry the extra weight without getting tired all the time. Now that you mention it, I think I will get one of these vehicles; they seem very convenient. Especially after I have given birth. I guess while the bairn is still small we can mostly just walk around carrying the wee thing. But it is not really the fastest way to get from pillar to post.'

It took Pete and myself about an hour to go through the files and he made various notes at my request, the bottom line being that it would be necessary to either have the slaves bought for a maximum eighteen thousand euro each, which I thought was a little more than what some of the slaves would fetch on the open slave market and if more were demanded that we would seek an inspection of the slaves at al-Qatim, it being the nearer of the two auction rooms.

Pete read my mind, when he said, `I think, Master, that you should warn the Mistress that these slaves may not be all that healthy and as fit as those at the Aloe and Lime Palaces. She may be under the illusion that all slaves are well cared for as yours. '

`I could not agree more, Pete' and this we did. And though we did it in the clearest of terms, Fiona Tuttle insisted on coming to any inspection of the slaves that might take place.

As we came out of the library, we met Jack returning from his game of `tennis' and, as they say, it takes one to know one. He had had more than tennis.

`Do you want some tea, Jack?'

He sat down beside Fiona and they kissed.

`So, do we go to the sauna together later, or did you and Vedel use up all the towels?' she asked.

Jack smiled back at her.

`I think in this Palace nothing gets used up quickly.'

Six of Fiona's slaves were bought for her for the figure of eighteen thousand euro, the maximum the slave dealers were allowed to offer, purchase unseen.

The seven other slaves were to be assembled at al-Qatim for inspection on a Wednesday afternoon, when I could be driven down easily from the Bank by Faisal.

Fiona's new slaves, if their files were to be believed, were nothing to write home about as far as being slaves. They were generally very poor specimens ranging in age from twenty five up to fifty three years of age. The oldest had been in slavery for over twenty years and the folders usually were accurate on that score at least, when the data were inserted.

Most of the files had not been updated in quite a while, some even from the date of purchase, with the following item in being their date of sale.

When I got to al-Qatim that Wednesday, Fiona was already there in the dealer's private rooms having attendance danced upon her from all angles. She merely said, `Jonathan, thank you for coming,' when I arrived.

I suggested that I look at the slaves first and she agreed. The slaves seemed to realise that something was up as they soon realised they were all Scots.

If anything, they were a worse looking bunch of slaves than those of Mohamed al-Shaad whom I had purchased sight unseen at the Lemon Palace next door, as I was calling it -- even though there was still no such building.

All the slaves were heavily ringed one way or another. One had had a broken wrist, which had clearly never been set properly. All needed acute dental treatment. All had been engaged in factory or farm work and all had been used sexually at some point and though not medically-minded myself, it was obvious to me that most, if not all of them, would need medical or optical treatment.

A sorry bunch of misfits if there ever was one is what I told the two slave dealers in no uncertain terms. They could see the state of the slaves for themselves. Their faces could not contradict my statement. The prices that were being asked for by their owners, who smelled a killing, was that they were valuable factory or farm slaves. I finally argued down the prices to an average of twenty two thousand euro each. A total of two hundred and sixty two thousand euro for the thirteen.

When I told Fiona the price, she merely produced her cheque book and said `A good day's work. Do I write one cheque or two?' -- there being two dealers to accommodate.

Business is business and it required two cheques.

`Now, can I see my fellow Scots, Jonathan?'

Although the slaves had been washed previously at the auction-rooms, they looked nothing like the clean figures, which the slaves of the Lime and Aloe Palaces cut, even after a hard day's work. The previously bought six slaves had also been brought in and all were standing in a line. The smell in the room was gamey despite the air conditioning. It is strange that you don't notice such things when you are there on your own, but with another person at your side, such a thing can become very obvious.

As we came through the door, Fiona said to me, looking at the miserable sight they cut, `Jonathan, they look so different to yours. Do me a favour, hold my arm and just tell them that they now have a new Mistress.'

This I did, merely saying to the slaves that they had all been sold to a new Mistress, here at my side. I think some of the slaves must have taken Fiona to be my wife, as I had not given her name.

We walked down the line of slaves and she gave her hand to each to be kissed and I kept a firm grip on her arm in support. It was the only time that I ever remember seeing Fiona Tuttle in a moment of weakness.

I had told Pete to have Yuriy and some of the other slaves to hand on the Wednesday for the arrival of the new slaves and that he was to speak with the medical staff.

`And by the way, Pete, Fiona thinks you are a tower of strength.'

Pete smiled at that, but it was a bit forced. He still needed some convincing.

`Pete, tell the Mistress when the slaves arrive that you want them properly prepared and cleaned up before she sees them again. If our own experience is anything to go by, they will be a mess. Ensure that the sick are kept in the infirmary and the others are seen by the medical staff. Take my word on this. It will pay dividends.'

`Yes, Master.'

My words to him that morning had hit the bull's eye. Those slaves needed preparation and cleaning as few others before them.

It was, in fact, not bad advice. Pete followed it. Fiona accepted it on our return to the Aloe Palace. Jack told me that he looked on as his wife agreed and saw how hard it was for her not to contradict Pete's firmness in the matter.

Pete Downings had twenty six minders lined up for the morning the Mistress' slaves were due to arrive. They arrived promptly.

The arrival of a new slave, or even a couple of slaves is absorbed quite well by the overall body of slaves. The arrival of these thirteen was a shock to my own slaves due to their overall poor condition. All had been with different owners.

At Pete's suggestion, all were to be treated like the other slaves in the Palaces, so all were unmanacled or unbound, brought in to shit, to be showered, douched, given their first treatment with the depilatory cream and finally given a haircut.

Pete said to me that what stopped our slaves in their tracks was the thinness of the slaves, their tattoos -- some old, some new, some self inflicted -- the nose or nipple rings on seven of them, the cinches on two, the balls stretcher on one and the deep metal collars with chain hooks on eight of them.

I could not figure out for a while why so many of the slaves after dinner on the Thursday and Friday, just lined up at the veranda to make an obeisance and to say `thank you, Master', before moving on, without asking for anything.

I subsequently found out that the slaves had seen or heard of the condition of the new arrivals and were merely grateful for their own more humane conditions. This caused me some reflection in that I do regard the ownership of my slaves like the ownership of a business. Those, who work in any business have to be good at what they do, have a job that they like and have reasonable conditions attaching. The one difference with my slaves was their inability to move from their workplace and that they worked for me free.

In a way, I tried to look after them as one would a good piece of machinery, keeping it well tuned and functioning properly.

Yves Fournier had gone down to the Aloe Palace to inspect the twenty six new slaves -- saying that it was easier to go to them than for them to come to him. Not a single one was in full health, each in need of his services for something. Apart from a majority, who had tattoos, there were two serious hernias for immediate attention, serious haemorrhoids affecting four, one with a burst eardrum, the wrist which would need re-setting, and the list went on and on.

Yuriy produced his bolt cutters and went through the rings like a knife through cheese. It took some more time to get rid of the cinches and the metal collar rings, apparently being of a design difficult to cut off.

Various of the slaves cried when relieved of their years of forced ornamentation, but the majority I was told were just merely happy to feel their skin again without impediment.

Cal Thorsen had cleared his appointments calendar for three working weeks and started with the first of Fiona's slaves the very next morning.

Nacho Cuesta found that ten of the thirteen need either contact lenses for the sun, or corrective laser treatment.

Pete Downings promised his Mistress that he would present the first of the slaves to her a week to the day, having put them through a compressed training course with Greg's help.

And so it was, that on the Wednesday, a week after their arrival, the first four slaves, ring- and tattoo-free, with minor surgical procedures performed, newly capped teeth and three with sun lenses, stood nervously beside him in their blue boxers to be inspected by the Master and the Mistress.

Jack did not stay long before joining me for the trip to the Bank, merely sufficient to thank Pete for the work done and to say `Welcome to our home, your new home' to each of the four.

Pete told me that three of the four had boners by the time Fiona had finished talking to them and putting them at their ease.

`Now for breakfast,' she said and all sitting down on the flagstones in the courtyard, with herself on a chair, for the first time in years to eat Scottish porridge and two biscuits, which according to Pete, took all of forty-five minutes to finish. Pete, being Australian, had never taken oats or porridge previously and thought it tasteless and wet.

Pete then walked the slaves around the Aloe Palace grounds, pointing out that they would work naked when working on the farm.

Pete told me that one of the slaves would not believe him that they would only work four hours in the morning and two in the afternoon.

`Wait and see' was his reply.

When they came to the water-wheel with a slave walking his way of punishment inside it, Pete said there was silence and he waited for the questions to come.

`What did he do?'

`Why is he chained?'

When told the story and that the slave on the water-wheel was not to be approached or spoken to, out of years of obedience to orders, the slaves merely turned their backs on him and went on viewing the Palace grounds. It was, as if the slave on the waterwheel was already dead.

Yves Fournier operated on the two hernia cases and on the three haemorrhoid cases with the help of Nacho Cuesta on anaesthetics.

A further week later, a further four of the Mistress's slaves had their Scottish breakfast, but it was a full month before all thirteen, plus Andy McTee sat down on the flagstones in the courtyard to feed each other on porridge and biscuits.

When I met Andy coming out of one of his English classes, as he continued in that function for a number of weeks until I had found a replacement English teacher, I noticed that he was nude and not wearing the boxer shorts, which I had previously seen him wear.

`We spoke with the Mistress, Boss and as the other Scottish slaves have not worn clothes for so long, they felt more comfortable working without them in the heat when outside in the gardens. We asked the Mistress, if we could dispense with them entirely.'

`What did the Mistress say to that.'

`Ye'll be a rare bonnie sight, if Master Jack also agrees, but I think he will' was all she said.

The following morning, Master Jack came out and said Off with them there boxers, lads' and, Master, there and then we all shucked down our boxers and started to laugh. And that was the end of the boxer shorts!'

I smiled at the ease with, which a Scottish lass was fitting into a strange and foreign environment.

`Remember, Andy, you and I have an appointment in six months.'

`Master, we may not have to keep that appointment. I am very, very happy with the new Mistress and I hope she is with me and Master Jack has never said an unpleasant word to me.'

Yuriy, my stables manager at the Aloe Palace was particularly happy at having extra hands for the farm work.

When I asked Fiona and Jack to what use they were going to put the new slaves, Jack and Fiona looked at each other and then both of them looked at Pete Downings. As Pete smiled back at the new -- albeit temporary -- Master and Mistress of the Aloe Palace, he was clearly in with the new sources of power.

There is a small aside to the story of Fiona Tuttle and Jess Tollman, her driver, which shows yet again how Fate can enter and leave our lives.

It happened just a few weeks after Jess started driving into the capital city and wherever else Fiona's excursions took her. She had gone shopping in one of the larger stores and was being followed around by Jess, who was there to carry the purchases back to the car. It happened almost a year after Jess started driving into the capital city.

Someone in the store saw smoke coming from under a door and shouted `Fire'. A subsequent investigation found that there was indeed a fire in a waste-paper basket caused it was believed by an employee's cigarette smoked on the q.t.

However, the shout `Fire' caused an immediate panic in the store, which was unfortunately thronged.

Fiona was on an escalator coming down from an upstairs floor, Jess two steps higher up behind her, when the shout went out. Although still some twenty feet from the floor level, Jess threw two bags of shopping over the side of the escalator, which was packed and scooped Fiona up in his arms, protecting her from shoppers pushing down the escalator.

When they reached floor level, they should have been relatively safe but the pushing became worse as panic-driven members of the public rushed towards the doors. Two large displays of crystals came tumbling down from an upper floor and Jess spotting the falling displays just in time covered Fiona with his back and upper body as vase after vase and sets of tumblers came showering down.

Fiona struggled from out under the glass and wood debris and from under Jess with nothing more than a bruise on her forehead. When she told Jack and myself of it afterwards, Jess was lying there on his face unconscious, having been hit by piece of a display counter, the jacket of his driver's suit peppered by slivers of crystal from the floor above and blood oozing out of a multitude of cuts in his jacket and trousers.

Although the panic abated as quickly as it had arisen, seven people and Jess Tollman had to be hospitalised. Fiona insisted on going in the slave ambulance with him and seeing that he was immediately attended to in the slave wards at the University Hospital. Jess had been concussed and there were seventeen pieces of glass in his back, on, which Yves Fournier came to operate that same day.

The Mistress was very visibly upset not just for her own ordeal, but at the injuries Jess had sustained.

`Jonathan, what can I do for a slave, which is not even mine?'

`Nothing really, Fiona, Jess has everything that he needs as a slave, even a Mistress-on-loan, who cares for him. Yves has given him the best that medicine can provide. But maybe there is a way, I can do something for him.'

`Jonathan, you don't know how dangerous it was and just what could had happened. I could have lost my life and I could have lost the baby. Whatever it costs, just let me know, Jonathan.'

`I don't think it will cost a lot, Fiona, maybe ten thousand dollars at the most.'

She went for her purse, as if to get her chequebook, but I waved her not to.

`This is something you need not know about, but something that I think will please Jess, in a certain way.'

`Jonathan, you are being mysterious.'

`I suppose I am, Fiona. I suppose, I am.'

End of chapter 10. To be continued...