Disclaimer: I own nothing of this except the fingers which are typing this and the awesome mind that is coming up with this story.

Chapter 3

Rowen was waiting for them in the kitchen. Behind him on the counter were several large dishes filled with the food that he and Ren had prepared earlier. Kuea stared at the food and began to drool.

"This all looks so good, Rowen!" She said excitedly, her voice going into a higher octave on good.

"Not for us." Rowen shook his head and gestured towards the door that led out into the main hallway.

Kuea sighed. "I know... but still. A girl can dream, can't she?"

Rowen turned to Ren. "Beazon, the head of the household, will want you to be introduced to him as soon as possible." He smiled encouragingly. "So how about you help serve the food? Normally I wouldn't ask this of you on your first day, but..."

Ren nodded, and when she spoke her voice was even softer than usual. "It's okay. I can help."

"Kuea," Rowen sighed as he turned towards the dark woman, "could you please do us all a favor and not drool all over the food?"

She didn't even look up from where she was leaning over a plate full of steaming chicken. "But how is a girl to resist, Rowen? I haven't eaten in forever."

"By forever you mean an hour."

"Exactly! I'm going to starve to death if I don't eat soon!"

Rowen chuckled, but Ren just stared at them blankly. She didn't get why they were joking around; weren't they slaves like her? Why would anyone be laughing when they're just a piece of property to be bought and sold?

After pushing Kuea away from the food, Rowen pointed out two small platters for Ren to carry into the dining room; he and Kuea were able to take the rest in a way that looked extremely practiced which, of course, it was. Kuea and Rowen led Ren out of the kitchen and through the halls until they came upon a huge pair of double doors. Ren managed to open them for the servants, and they all stepped inside. Ren couldn't hold back a gasp as her gaze swept the large room.

The dining room was bigger than Ren's old house combined. There was a large, glittering chandelier hanging over the enormous table. Ren guessed that the beautiful dark wood table could hold at least thirty people, if not more, and it was decorated with a long tablecloth and scented candles that were currently lit. The rest of the room was just as expensively decorated; paintings hung on all of the walls, and the rug that covered the area underneath the table had to have taken at least a year to be made because of all of its elegant patterns. There were several large potted plants, their smooth white marble sparkling with the light from the candles and the chandelier.

"It's... beautiful." Ren breathed.

Rowen nodded. "I know. Now shush."

She was about to ask why, but then she saw the group sitting at one end of the table. Partin was sitting at the seat on the right side of the head of the table, dressed in a gown that looked much like her usual one, but slightly fancier with a few jewels. Across from her was her son, Coud; unlike his mother, he was dressed in his normal, casual clothes. The head of the table was empty, but there was a plate, glass, and silverware laying there, indicating that there would soon be an occupant.

"Follow us, Ren," Rowen whispered under his breath. "Just be calm."

She nodded, not daring to speak lest she break the silence that filled the room. As she, Rowen, and Kuea made their way over to the table, Coud looked up from where he was poking at his napkin with a bored expression. His gray eyes met Ren's green ones and he smiled at her.

Hi, he mouthed.

Ren blinked, not sure what to do. She never had anyone mouth anything to her like they were her friend. It was slightly unnerving, yet... yet it made her feel just a tiny bit happier. She nodded politely at him, not sure if she should return the smile or not.

Remember what I said, Partin's words came back into Ren's mind in a hiss, putting her back into her place. Ren cast her eyes down to the ground for a second before looking back up at Rowen. She could feel the boy's eyes on her, however, but she didn't turn to look at him.

"Madame," Rowen said to Partin, and his voice tore Ren's attention away from Coud and back to the task at hand, "if you please, we have dinner prepared."

Partin nodded. "Thank you, Rowen. My husband is a bit... delayed, so we shall be starting without him."

"Of course." He nodded towards Kuea and Ren. Kuea nudged Ren and they stepped towards the table together. Rowen gestured with his eyes where Ren should place her two platters; she did so with shaking hands.

"Thanks, Ren." Coud said as she leaned over the table next to him. "Looks delicious. Did you make some of it?"

Before Ren could gather her thoughts to answer him, Partin cleared her throat loudly.

"Coud," she smiled chillingly, "it is impolite to speak to the slave as she works."

Just like earlier that day, Coud looked confused. "I don't..."

"It's fine." Ren said quietly. She wanted to say more, but quickly backed away before her treacherous tongue got her into trouble.

"Reverie," Partin continued, ignoring her son's puzzlement, "stay here. My husband said he would like to greet you as soon as possible."

Ren looked over at Rowen, unsure of what to do. He smiled encouragingly at her from where he was near the door and did a quick gesture of a bow. Ren mimicked the move to Partin.

"Yes, Ma'am." While she had been waiting at the slave house to be bought, another slave girl had told her, if you don't know what to say, say 'yes, Ma'am' or 'yes, Sir." You can never go wrong with 'Ma'am' or 'Sir'. During her brief time at her new household, Ren had already decided that this was good advice.

But despite that, Partin gave her a funny look. "Why are you... bowing?"

Rowen slapped himself in the forehead before stepping forward. "Madame, if I may, Ren is new here. I don't think she knows about curtseys."

Partin scowled. "Obviously not. Kullweet, I'm putting you in charge of teaching Reverie how to act properly as a slave girl."

"Got it." Kuea said, dipping slightly.

"Mom," Coud said, "I still don't get-"

Partin silenced him with a raised hand. "Hush, Coud."

He only frowned and looked down at his plate at the rejection. Ren got the feeling that he was used to it by now. She felt something in her ches twinge: a flicker of pity. But she shoved it away; when you're a slave, you can't allow yourself to feel pity. You can't allow yourself to feel anything. If you feel happiness, your owner will rip it away as harshly as possible. If you feel grief, then it'll overwhelm you and get you in trouble. Ren had learned this lesson through her week in the slave house. She could still hear the cries of the other young girls around her. So she had decided that she wouldn't feel anything; joy, sadness, contentment. Nothing.

To the world, it was as if Reverie Metherlence was dead.

Wow. I looked back at my last two chapter of this... I nearly cried by how much they sucked. Terrible grammer, terrible spelling, terrible writing... I think I'll probably go back and re-write them. At least this one is better(at least I hope so). Not my best work, but I think it's pretty good.

I know. I haven't updated on this since SUMMER. And SUMMER was(technically) a frikkin' year ago. A YEAR. My gosh. I'm sorry. But I was working on my other fanfic(still haven't finished it, actually...) and then school came... and then there was just a bunch of weird stuff. Seriously. You have no idea how weird my school/class(mainly my class) is. Wow. I've been with these guys for the last three years and I'm still surprised.

So I hope you enjoyed this update! I'll try to update soon! Thank you, Swaggcityy13, Woahbito, Guest, Guest, and Tairulz for your reviews! (BTW: cool profile pic, Tairulz. I LUV SOULxMAKA! 3)

R&R! MAY THE END OF SCHOOL COME SWIFTLY!