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Agatha had never seen such a mess in her life. Amongst the clutter were various books tomes and scrolls. There was a large counter that was covered in dirty dishes, some of which still had some bits of food caked on them. "Welcome to my shop. I'm sorry for the mess, but you see, That's one of the reasons I needed you. I wanted you to help me clean this up." Ricardo said.

"You...Want me to clean all of this myself?" asked Agatha. "Oh heavens no! I'll clean up too. It's just that this mess demands more than one person to clean." answered Ricardo. Agatha breathed a sigh of relief. "You said that was one of the reasons right? What were the other reason's?" she asked.

Ricardo hesitated for a moment. "...The other reason was because...I'm a very lonely man Agatha. I have no company, and needed someone to talk to now that business has become stagnate. I have very strict rules Agatha. I am strict but never cross. I have rules for slaves." said Ricardo. Agatha gulped. "What are the rules?" asked Agatha. "First off, You won't be needing those rags any more." He said as he pointed to her clothes.

"You mean...?" Agatha asked. "That's right. Those clothes don't suit you." replied Ricardo. Agatha complied and disrobed in front of him. He walked around her, giving her the once over. "You have a very nice body." he said. Agatha blushed as she covered up her modest bits. "come with me please." He told her as he lead her to an upstairs room.

*LINE BREAK*

It was a very simple bedroom with a king-size bed and materess, a few book cases, a writing desk with a few documents catalouging inventory of the store and a simple armoir, inside of which were some very simple and colorless clothes. Ricardo walked over to the shelves and took a book from it. "Aha! Here it is." he said as he walke dover to the armoir and pulld out a simple white gown.

"What are you doing?" asked Agatha. "As i said before, your old clothes don't suit you, so I 'm going to make you a new one, but first..." said Ricardo as he touched the collar around Agatha's neck. Agatha felt the collar tighten around her neck, almost to the point of choking her. then, as soon as the tightening had started, it stopped. She felt her neck and found the Iron collar had disappeared.

"The collar..." Agatha managed to squeak out. "It's not completely gone, I've merely merged it to your body." Ricardo said. He then used a strange powder to etch the pattern of a large hexagram on the floor. "This may take a while. There is a bath out back, I would like you to wash up. Lord know what you've picked up on that filthy carriage." said Ricardo.

Agatha walked into the backyard and over to a small pool of water neatly tucked away behind the drooping branches of some large weeping willow trees. she waded to the middle of the pool. She washed her self off as she went back to the day the marauders attacked.

*LINE BREAK*

It was a cloudy day in Nottingham. everyone was working hard now that King Richard had reclaimed his rightful place on the throne. Agatha had even got herself a job. the sheriff had been released by order of the king for good behavior. He soon opened up an inn with the help of everyone in Nottingham, one of them being Agatha.

She had applied for a job as a cook, which was exactly what the sheriff, whose name was David, was looking for. She was well recived, mostly due to the fact that she had helped the poor when prince john ruled the kingdom by cooking meals for those who couldn't afford their own food. That and she was a great cook.

It had been slow that day, so David decided to let her have the rest of the day off. She was on her way home when she bumped into a man wearing a black hooded cloak that hid his face. "Oh, I'm so terribly sorry madam." said the man as he helped her off of the ground. "That's quite alright. I should have watched where I was going." said Agatha.

"I noticed you were headed home to see your children." said the strange man. "How do you know about my children?" Agatha asked him. "That's not important. What is important is that you spend as much toime with them as possible. One day youwill never see them again." said the man. He then walked past her. She looked behind her only to see that the man had dissappeared.

*LINE BREAK*

Agatha remembered that no sooner had that meeting occured that the marauders came. They burned most of the houses including the inn. David died in the fire and many of her friends were now dead. One of which was rumored to be the hero of the kingdom, Robin Hood. He had managed to fend off the marauders for quite some time before the fire had completely engulfed the town. He was never seen again after that.

Agatha felt years forming in her eyes as she finished washing herself. she eventually sat at the edge of the pool and sobbed lightly. Her sobs gradually became choked wails as she broke down and cried. "Is everthing alright Agatha?" Startled, she turned around to find Ricardo resting a hand on her shoulders. She then pulled him close and began madly crying into his chest. "There there. It's okay." Ricardo cooed triying to comfort her as he returned the hug. "Now then, wht is the matter?" he asked her.

*LINE BREAK*

Agatha had told Ricardo everything. about prince john, the rebellion and the invasion. By the time she had finished, her eyes were red and puffy after crying so much. "That's why I'm grateful that you found me. I might have been sold to someone far less kind than you." she said as she dyed her eyes."I'll obey every rule you tell me to. You're the only family I have now."

Ricardo looked at her and smiled. "Don't worry, you're safe now. Now then, I came out here to tell you that your new clothes are finished." He helped her up and led he back to his chambers. Ricardo handed her the dress. it was a jet black topless minoan style gown with a gold trim.

Agatha put the dress on and looked herself over only to find her chest was exposed. She blushed a little. "I thought you said the dress was finished." she said. "it is finished. It's in the style the minoan woman would wear and it does a good job of defining your body. There is nothing to be ashamed of my dear, it is also very comfortable to wear." Ricardo said.

"But it's almost autumn. The weather will get colder." argued Agatha. "Not here in Spain. The coldest days here are warm and cozy. It's the summers that you might want to worry about." Replied Ricardo. "If it makes you feel any better, I think you look beautiful wearing it." he said. Agatha was blushing so much that you would think her fur would have turned red.

"...You...really think so?" she asked still blushing wildly. "Indeed I do." Ricardo replied. "Well now, I think it's about time we clean up the shop downstairs. What do you say?" He said. Agatha looked at him and smiled. "That's just fine with me."

And with that, they went downstairs to clean up the shop.

To be continued.