Lord Ashtyn visited, and I served him tea and sat nearby while he talked to Glassere and Ursa. He was impressed by the temple, or at least he acted impressed. How impressed can such an old being really be with the doings of mayflies like us? We were impressed by the temple, but in two thousand years of life what wonders had he seen? I suspect that was one reason he'd liked having the dragons around: he could have a decent conversation with them without them suddenly dying of old age. In appearance he seemed a very ordinary fox, and his speech was considerate and gracious, not like a ruler at all. We'd all known much worse rulers, Lord Ashtyn was a relief.
Can I convey how relieved we felt generally? We had a new home, and nobody was threatening us. The threat had been like dark clouds hanging over us all for so long, and now the sun had come out and I had forgotten how bright and cheerful it was to live in the sun. I could simply lie and look at the sky for hours at a time and not worry about a thing. There was still sadness: everyone had lost somebody, we felt grief over how much we had lost; but there was also hope, finally we had a place we could live and grow in peace.
Of course there were still fears. One of our first visitors was a slaver, Svart, a black wolf with wings. We got into quite an argument over slavery, I had to remind myself that my Mother didn't put me here to argue with people. His presence made me feel anxious. I was safe enough in the Temple, it was under our control. But could I be taken if I grazed in the forest, or walked in the forum of the town? Uncertainty brought anxiety. I still bore a slave brand on my shoulder, anyone could claim me as a runaway slave and the law here might favor them.
Later I was to learn that slavery here as different to the brutality practiced by the pirates, slaves here must consent to their bondage, and an abusive master could be stripped of his property. Frankly it didn't sound much like slavery at all to me, and I couldn't see why anyone would consent to the kind of horror I had been through. It made me feel angry, I don't know why, as if what they called slavery here somehow took away from the suffering and deaths of thousands, and distracted from the callous uncaring of those who benefited. I felt angry and hurt and confused, so I stayed silent and I watched.
But gradually I learned it was safe to graze the forests and visit the forum and the inn, brand or no brand, nobody would bother a freedwoman here. Eventually I began to have some confidence in who I was here, my identity. Here's one thing that helped build this confidence:
One of the new arrivals after the Temple was grown was a silver wolf named Lone. He liked to wear long blue coats, very fancy. He took a great deal of pride in his possessions, his wealth, and the power it gave him. And he was very into power. Lone was a deal maker, a go-between, a middleman. He liked to hang around the temple and I had ample opportunities to watch him work. manipulated people's needs, their desires. He would talk to people, find out what they wanted, then worm himself into the process between them and getting what they wanted.
In this way he acquired a lot of power over people. People would do whatever he wanted to get the things they thought they wanted. He was gaining power, becoming the indispensable man, the go-to man for anything anyone needed; and every transaction ended up enriching and empowering Lone.
He strictly ignored me at all times, acted as if he couldn't see me or hear me. I think he sensed that none of the things I wanted: Aeon, freedom, sunshine, clear clean water, luscious clover and milk thistles; none of them were anything he could grant or deny me. He had no power over me. Early on there was one time he didn't ignore me: We were in the Inn, I enjoyed visiting and sitting on the floor watching the people go past, and they didn't throw me out although I had no money. Lone was there, and Asha, a city guard.
Somehow the conversation turned to slavery and I must have said a few things against it. Lone, that jealous lover of possessions, of course saw nothing wrong with it: he could never see himself as other than a possessor, a Master. I tried to justify my opposition: I showed my brand, although it was years ago in another land and so much had happened in between someone out there still felt they owned me, and worse, owned my children although they had been conceived and born in freedom, and no matter who I was or what I did they could never ever be made to respect my freedom.
That got his attention. That got his complete attention. He stared at the slave brand on my arm like he'd never seen such a thing before. Then he turned to the guard, Asha, and asked her to arrest me. "You heard her, she said it herself, she's a runaway slave!" Now, I'd considered there was a chance he might do something like that. I'd calculated my safety before I'd ever set foot in the town, and concluded I was pretty safe. Yes, slavery was legal here, but not the kind of slave raiding I'd been taken in. Lord Ashtyn had spoken to me very cordially, assuring me I was welcome in his domain. He'd assured Glassere that the temple had complete authority over our own people, and by our laws tribesfolk could never be made slaves. So I was safe.
Still as Asha looked at me and hesitated, deciding what to do, and Lone demanded that I be held as a confessed runaway slave I felt the fear. You may escape, but you never quite escape the fear. Asha refused of course, and Lone argued with her while I sat there and smirked at both of them. It had been a fine way to tease him. He never spoke to me after that, never looked at me, never heard a word I spoke. I was property that had somehow escaped it's proper ownership and such a thing could not exist in his universe.
