Senator Nald led Laura through the marketplace on their way back to his home. He made sure to point out all the traders and their different wares. The fruit stand was owned by an older chimp who waved others over to check out his fresh goods. The stand where they sold silks was owned by a female orangutang who seemed to smile at everyone who came to look. Laura wanted to stop and admire the silks; they were all so colorful. Luckily she got the chance to, as Nald stopped in front of her stall.

"I see you got a human female," The orangutang noted as she headed towards the back of her stall. She came back with a large box and carefully handed it to Nald. The female noticed Laura looking over the silks and added, "Look all you want human, but don't touch the wares. Apes won't buy them if they know human hands were on them."

Laura wanted to snap at her but thought better of it, she didn't want to embarrass Nald. The last thing she wanted was to be returned to the slaver. So Laura merely nodded her head and took a step back from the stall.

They were then back on their way to the place that would be her new home. Nald looked down at her with an approving smile. She guessed he was happy with the way she handled the stall vendor, but he didn't say anything.

Laura suddenly stopped in place when she noticed a certain stall. Laying on it, in all different designs and colors, were collars. Her hand instinctively went to her throat and she looked around the market. All the other humans out and about had collars on. How had she not noticed?

Looks like I'm going to be getting a new accessory.

"Laura, you'll want to keep up. Fall too far behind and you may become lost."

She quickly went to catch up with the senator and tried to push the collars out of her mind. As she fell back into step with him, he chuckled at her. "I'm guessing you haven't seen so many goods in one place before?"

As much as she wanted to tell him the truth and see his reaction, there was some part of her that told her he wouldn't believe her and she didn't want him to think she was crazy. "No I haven't, It's quite a sight."

"Well once I have the time, I shall find someone to give you a tour of the city. I'm usually rather busy otherwise, I would do it myself."

Being a senator she could see what he meant. Although she did wonder what he actually worked on. It was a short time before they passed all the stalls and were walking down a dirt path. Seeing his home, made her stop in her tracks. There was a large tree, strong and proud jutting out of the ground. The tree had a large roundhouse with a wrap-around porch and a long row of wooden stairs leading up to it.

Looking around and behind her, she noticed a large wall made of wood surrounding the property and that it only had one opening. That being the one they had just came through. All along the wall near the opening were guards, lots of them. They were all gorilla, standing at attention. She noticed they looked over at her briefly before going back to how they were.

"Don't be afraid, they won't harm you." Laura realized the senator was standing before her. "What do you think?"

"Your home looks very beautiful."

Nald smiled and motioned toward the stairs and they both started climbing them up to the door. The stairs seemed pretty steady, none of them wobbled or creaked which made her feel safer. When they reached the door she waited till the senator gave a notion that it was okay to open it. Laura reached for the knob and was surprised to find it unlocked. With all the security she guessed he didn't have to keep it bolted.

The inside was just as lovely as the outside. The woodwork was a warm color, and the furniture looked comfy and fit the senator well. The living room was separated from the dining room by vines that hung in an archway. When she passed through them she noticed the dining room was big with a large wooden table, sturdy and dark. There were yellow flowers in a vase in the middle of the table. The kitchen was up a few steps and was pretty simple. Laura guessed he didn't entertain much. He seemed like more of a solitary ape.

When she turned back to the senator she noticed he was eyeing her, watching for her reaction perhaps. "It's very lovely," Laura said with a soft smile.

"My dear there is something we must discuss. The rules and regulations you will need to follow. As well as how you must behave." Before Laura could speak up, Nald raised his hand to silence her. "I enjoy the fact that you speak your mind. But others will not, and my influence can only do so much. Now you handled the stall vendor well, and I expect you to treat all other apes with the same respect."

Laura looked down with a clenched jaw but knew she wouldn't have much choice. The last thing she needed was to draw unwanted attention to herself. She couldn't be getting arrested or potentially executed. Nald came forward and lifted her head up to look at him, "However, this place can be your haven. Here you can speak your mind, and I will treat you with respect."

"So, you want me to play the part of the obedient servant when I'm around other apes? But here, I can be myself with no consequences."

"Very good, I'm glad you understand. Also, you will have to get used to your new name. Giving you a new name may have seemed harsh, but it was necessary. Others will see you as an extension of myself now."

She couldn't help but agree, using this new name would make them see her more as his property, which she guessed was better than them just seeing her as some normal slave. It didn't make her like it anymore though. Still, she made a note to get used to her new name as quickly as possible.

"There will be more for you to learn, but for now, I think you would like to get some food and wash up."

Laura did like the sound of that, very much so in fact. The senator brought in a bowl of fruit and they ate together. Nald talked to her about his work, how he was trying to make things more tolerable for humans. So far he had at least made it to where apes weren't allowed to beat their humans out in the open. He had stated the reason for the law as keeping things civil in public. He knew it was still happening in private, but he had to be careful when it came to humans issues. According to him most of the other senators hated humans, and he had to work with what he had. Laura felt bad for him, it had to be hard trying to change things for the better. Especially when there were others who felt the complete opposite with the majority.

After she washed the dirt and grime off she felt more like herself. Looking into the mirror she realized this place couldn't change her unless she let it. She still had the same dark hair and light blue eyes. Laura still felt like Laura, even if she was going to be called something else. Pretend, that's all this was.

There was a knock on the door that surprised her. "Your new clothes are in your room now, here is some for you to wear for now. I'll leave it here in front of the door."

She heard him walk away and she walked over to the door and opened it slightly. She didn't see him and she kneeled down and quickly picked up the clothes and shut the door. They looked like simple servant clothes. Laura put them on and walked out. She had to admit, they were a little itchy. She found Nald in the living room with a book.

They can read. The apes can read.

She really needed to stop being so surprised by everything but she just couldn't help it. Laura went and sat down next to him. "I need to know more about how to act if I'm going to be able to pull this off."

Nald seemed surprised but put down his book and continued from earlier, "You will have to call me master around other apes. Here you can call me Nald. You must always be respectful of other apes. You mustn't let them realize how you truly are."

Laura nodded and bit her lip. This was going to be harder than she thought. Sarcasm was going to be really hard to quit. This would be difficult, especially with the general and his commander. They had already seen how she truly was. Maybe it wouldn't matter, all she had to do was stay away from them and keep her mind focused on finding Leo and getting home. Still, in the back of her mind, she could still see Thade glaring in her direction and feel the anger radiating off him.

Yeah, this is gonna be really hard.

"It is getting late my dear, you should get some rest," Nald broke her out of her thoughts, "Come with me, I'll lead you to your bed."

Nald opened a door to reveal a cage door. Two doors. The inside looked like a normal bedroom, but the cage door told her all she needed to know. This was her cell. "Don't think too harshly of me, I tried to make it as homey as I could. But when others come over they must know that you are kept in a cage."

She did have a window, it had bars over it but she would still be able to see outside. Laura walked forward into the cage and told herself it was just another part of playing pretend. "You will only have to be in here at night to sleep. The rest of the day you will be out unless something occurs."

She couldn't stop herself from swinging around and glaring at him, "Why? Why are you treating me so differently from how all the other humans are treated?"

Nald didn't seem surprised by her question and he walked into the cage and sat on her bed. "My late wife was a human sympathizer. She believed that humans and apes could live in peace. I believed as she did, but I wasn't as convinced then as I am now. I knew when you spoke that if I left you there, they would have killed you. So I took you instead, not that it didn't fit with what I wanted. I was looking for a human anyway." He looked up at Laura with a sad smile. "My wife would have liked you. She always thought humans should speak up more. You and she would have been fast friends."

Well, now Laura just felt like a complete ass. She walked over and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"How could you? Don't worry about it," Nald patted her hand and stood up, making his way to the door, "You get some rest, we will talk more in the morning."

With that, he closed both of the doors and left Laura alone. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "Well done Laura, would you like to make anyone else feel like shit tonight?"

She walked over to the bed and laid down. Tomorrow would be a new day, Laura was going to have to remember all that Nald had told her and put it into action. Who knew what would happen while she was there. "I swear Leo, your ass had better have landed here or I'm going to be pissed."