[ - Author's Note - ]

Well, it's going to be the third round of Noxdecus vs. Mandeville coming up soon, and the second physical conflict as well. Polls will remain up for now; I'm curious to see how things will go on them. There are some surprising results so far... If you haven't already done so, please go vote.

This Interlude was going to be a part of the next chapter, but I decided on making it it's own little thing. It ended up being longer then I expected and I thought it'd be a nice little experiment to see if people would like another part in this vein down the line. If that's the case maybe more will be forthcoming. We'll see.

Enjoy!

[ - Act I - Interlude: Maid to Live - ]

My name is Riri. I am a halfling and I'm now twenty two years old. I am a maid at Noxdecus Manor in Mungale and the personal maid of the heir of this Barony, Lord James Noxdecus.

That's what I am. It's not what I was once, though.

When I was very little I was orphaned and left under the church's care in the Barony of Maros in the north of Ansur, by the border with Garan. I was told they died during a raid from The Legion, but I was too young to know them at all. I was stuck living with underpaid nuns, overworked matrons and surly, uncaring priests. None really cared for the children there beyond their duty to raise them so it was clear to us all we weren't loved, not really.

I wasn't the only one that decided to become a bit of a rascal because of it. A small gang of us orphan kids sprung up and we decided to play pranks on the people around us; the adults mostly and our unloving caretaker's in particular. Well, except for Sister Claire; she did her best for us and was the one who scolded us the most for what we did. She was never mean about it, and she tried her best to do right for us; she just didn't have the time or energy to wrangle us all.

I was one of three halflings in our gang, so we were used to get into smaller places to set up our pranks, spy on the adults and so on. So when we decided to steal some money and food so we could eat more we were the ones who did most of the work; the human kids and dwarf kid ran interference and acted as distractions for us making it much easier. Sister Claire did what she could to stop us but, again, lack of time and energy. And two of the human kids would keep her hands full.

I still remember when Tommy pulled her skirt up in the middle of town and buried his face into her ass! It was hilarious!

Everything was fun and games until I was nine. That was when life as I knew it ended and hell as I knew it began...

There was a merchant. I don't know his name but I know his face. He was a fat, bald man who smelled of smoke and oils. I can't remember how tall he was, I was still growing myself at the time and everyone was large to me then. He had a stern, strong face and wore expensive, clothes; a red jacket, a large belt buckle and a cane capped with a blue orb. He came to us and asked if we wanted to work for some coin. He had a simple job; take a few scrolls to a warehouse on the far side of town. It was good coin, and an easy job.

And we were dumb kids. Sister Claire told us to stay away from him, but we didn't listen. We should have listened...

When we got there a net dropped down on us. Three men tied us up and tossed us into cages. Of the nine kids in our gang seven us were there; three boys (All human), three girls (One halfling, one human and our dwarf) and myself. When the fat merchant came we thought he'd help us, explain things to these men. Instead he told the men they'd done a good job.

"No one will miss a few orphans. They'll make for fine slaves. Really, we're doing this town a favor."

We were then drugged and loaded into a wagon. I recalled us being loaded into crates before I blacked out. By the time I awoke I was naked, tied onto a table with the other girls and with the merchant and his men there; where the boys were I didn't know. I didn't know it at the time but he'd taken us to the Barony of Caul in Ken, a slave province bordering Garan. Then the merchant 'allowed' his men to use us all. Sexually.

The oldest of us was almost eleven. The youngest (The dwarf) was barley seven. I still have a hard time recalling what they did to us; it was so horrible that I think my mind just doesn't want to bring it back up. Honestly I don't want to remember. I just... When I do recall images of it all I know is blood and pain and sneers.

I was sold some five days later to a lord. He wasn't fat or ugly, but he was very mean; Lord Largus. The collar forced on me limited what I could do; it hurt me if I tried to do anything but what I was told to do. I was forced to clean, to cook, to dance, to do anything he wanted and I... I couldn't do anything to stop it!

And he forced himself on me, time and again. And he let his friends force themselves onto me, time and again. I begged for them to stop, to let me go! I'd be a good girl, I told them, I promised, just let me go!

They laughed. They punished me. They used me more and more often. They told me a slave does not choose her master, nor does she talk back. One night he had every solider in his castle use me, one after the other after the other after the other. Each time a new man used me I thought of Sister Claire. How if I listened to her, if I'd been a good girl I wouldn't be there, I'd be someplace safe. How disappointed she would have been in me.

How disgusted she would have been of me.

After that I stopped begging. I just knew there was nothing more I could do. That was my life for eight long years. Silence obedience, silent suffering, silent work, silent pain, silent abuse. To be used, toyed with, slapped, shared, beaten, fucked and even pissed on. Finally he grew tired of me. I was... I was too 'old' for him, he said. I had turned seventeen and I was too old for a man in his thirties.

I saw the girl he replaced me with. A human girl. Blonde hair, pink eyes. Maybe eight at most. She looked terrified and white as a sheet.

When no one was looking I threw up.

I was sold to a slaver who took me through the County of Jetra in the northern end of Geofu to Ur's north eastern County of Elddale. Both were slave states as well and I was set in a pen there to await a new owner who'd buy me. It was a small camp; short walls, one building for the guards to use and the owners to do business in. The large pen was outside; a large steel cage that was open to the elements. Biting insects were lousy there, it seemed, and we were bit often. We had a bucket to use for a toilet, a trough to drink from and little food to share between us.

There were about eight dark elves there, half or full I didn't know or care. One other halfling as well, a boy. He was a bit older then me but he wasn't used for pleasure but for work. We talked and he said he'd worked in a mine for seven years and on a farm for ten. His body bore so many scars, mostly up and down his body; mostly on his arms and legs but also on his back. They were horrible, jagged and ugly scars.

The people who did this to us were horrible. How someone could do this to another living being, I still can't understand.

Finally a man was brought over. A red clothed old man with white facial hair. One of the dark elves was terrified of him, the blonde one. He called her Chloe and talked to her. It seems she was his slave once, but escaped to Garan but was captured on a raid gone wrong. She said she'd never be his again. He gave her a smirk and told her something that chilled me to the bone.

"Never be mine again? Where ever you are, Chloe, you are mine. Down to the soul."

Then he looked to me and asked what my price was. He haggled with the slaver for a bit before leaving having bought me and two other of the dark elves. I talked to this Chloe, asked her about him. She told me stories of what he did to her. What limits he pushed her body to. The things he did to her even my old owner would be shocked by, and he was horrible to start with. A man that was so much worse then him?

I nearly wet myself then and there. I only just avoided vomiting.

That man scared me. But I was a slave, worth only for pleasure and use. No one cared about us, no one was coming to save us. There was no dashing hero to rescue us, no prince on a white steed to save us, no one.

Or, so I thought.

There were two guard dogs around the camp and two human guards. Light, but no one seemed inclined to steal slaves away, it seemed. Three days after I was bought I was told the old man would be there for us in following morning; he lived down south beyond Eostia it seemed and to drag us through non-slave states he needed to be sure that he wouldn't be caught with slaves along the way. Chloe nearly broke down in the cage and I wasn't far behind. One of the guards stopped to taunt us as he looked to another of the elves telling him what fun he'd have with her until she was bought.

Then a shadowy figure crept closer. Bit by bit he moved to the guard from behind before pulling out a rapier in it's sheathe. The guard didn't notice until he was struck with the handle end of the makeshift club on the back of his head. Before the guard could recover a rag with some smelly chemical was on it was put to his mouth and nose by the figure and he went to sleep.

The figure was clad in dark blue and had a mask over his face; I could only see bright, warm, blue eyes really. He gestured for us to be quiet as he set a finger to the cage's lock; the cage popping open as if by magic. I'd later learn that it was magic. He told us to follow him and that he'd get us out, taking each collar off as we passed him. We couldn't take them off ourselves due to the enchantments on them, but they weren't locked so anyone else could. Chloe reacted poorly to following a human but was smart enough to keep it down. The other dark elves told her to just shut up and follow the person who was breaking them out of that hellhole. I, for one, agreed and followed.

We got over the wall, the figure holding his hands together as a handhold for us. We all went over, one of the dark elves helping him up and over the wall once the rest of us were over it. We were worried about the dogs, but he told us that they were asleep. He laced steaks with a drug and they were going to be asleep for awhile. He led us away from the town and into the woods to the north. He stopped and told me and the other halfling to wait behind a large rock for him and left with the dark elves. We stayed, deciding this was our only way to safety.

I wanted to get away and if this man was the only way I could do it then I'd wait for years if I had too. Thankfully he came back after a few minutes. I'd later learned he prepared a raft for them and set them on a river that had a current that was going northwards. He then took us back towards the town and hushed us. We were led to some stables near the town's edge and brought to an untethered carriage. He unlocked the door of it and went inside and told us to get in. We did, climbing inside.

He said he'd get us out, but he had to take us a different direction and in a different way. He then reached under one seat and pulled a hidden latch before lifting it up. He said it wouldn't be comfortable, but if we stayed quiet he could get us out. The other halfling went inside and he shut the seat. I was worried I was about to be betrayed and left behind but he moved to the other seat and lifted it up as well and told me to get in. I recalled what I said to him then.

"Are you really going to save me? Really?"

He said just one word back.

"Really."

I gulped and went inside. He then shut the seat down and patted the top twice. It was dark, I was scared and all I could think of is what would happen if I was found by the slavers, or worse Mandeville. I was trembling as I worried what sort of whips and punishments were in store for me. Chloe said Mandeville liked to get people to shove their arms up her ass as deep as they could reach... And that he'd leave her out for use by his horse...

I tried my best but I whimpered a little in there, in the darkness.

I didn't know how long it was until things happened; it was measured in hours of course, but I didn't know how many. After a time I felt the carriage move, shifting to someplace new. Then I heard a pair of horses snorting outside. There was nothing else for awhile, but soon I could hear voices. Two males; one an older man I thought but one younger. The shadowy figure's voice!

"You're looking tired there, Mi'lord. Didn't sleep so well?"

"You know how it is, I'm sure Arnold. Just excited to be heading home. I've been homesick for awhile, ya know?"

"Ah, of course. Goddess knows I have a hankering to head back to my hometown. I miss the candied oranges they made there... Well I do hope you have a safe journey!"

"And I do hope you have a good day as well. Don't keep yourself too busy."

"Of course, of course! Off you go Mi'lord!"

"Thank you for everything! Come on, Gloria. Let's head out."

I could hear the door open and someone climbed in. Nothing for a bit but soon we were pulled along and the clopping of hooves on cobblestone came to me as I was pulled away from this terrible place. Soon I heard two firm pats on the seat over me. I reached up and patted the top of my hiding place twice in return. That was it, the sounds of hooves and wheels rolling all that I heard for a time. It was... Comforting, somehow. A dark place where I was all alone should have been scary, but knowing I was being whisked away to safety, whisked away from the horrors I'd suffered so much?

It was like being wrapped in a blanket of shadows and darkness, and it was... Reassuring, somehow.

I don't know how long we moved along. I was getting hungry and thirsty but I did my best to not make a sound or make a fuss about it. After everything I've been through this was nothing to complain about. It was hours of travel with a few, brief stops along the way, but finally we stopped someplace new. And then I heard voices once more, a female voice joining the shadowy male's.

"Are you sure this was a good idea, M'lord. This was a very dangerous thing for you to do!"

"You disagree with what I did, Gloria?"

"Heavens no! Goddess knows you've done good work, but to put yourself at such risk; remember your position!"

"What worth is my position if I cannot help people with it?"

"But still..."

"I'll be careful, don't worry. Keep an eye out for me."

"Of course."

Soon the door opened once more. The other seat was lifted up and I could hear them speak softly. Soon I could hear someone leaving the carriage before my seat was lifted up. The light coming in blinded me after I was in the dark for so long, but I found hands helping me out and looked up to see... A human boy. A boy in fine clothes and with a young, but handsome face framed with brown hair.

In that moment it was the brightest, most handsome face I'd laid eyes on. "You're safe." He said to me with a smile that reached those warm, blue eyes. "You're free."

I couldn't help myself. I broke down and cried into his shoulder as he hugged me. Eight years of hell was over. Just like that. He reached down and picked me up, taking me outside. There was a maid with him, the woman he was speaking with I was sure. Tall, brown haired tied in a braid resting over her shoulder onto her chest. Her breasts were modest and she seemed older; thirties maybe? Once I'd collected myself and I was set down she offered me a flask of water which I drank down greedily. There was another held by the other halfling as the human boy smiled down to us. We were near a small town, by the looks of it; some short distance away from us were thatched roofs and stone houses.

"Whew. Well then, allow me to welcome you to Mungale. No one is a slave here, and by our law all here are free." He said, the male halfling with me almost breaking down himself.

"What's... What's to be done with us now?" The other halfling asked as I wondered that myself.

What could I do? I had nothing. No education, not many skills nothing of worth beyond my own body and... Well, I've used it enough for others for two lifetimes. I could cook and clean... I could be a waitress or something... I had nothing of value on me, nothing to trade or offer...

"Whatever you want. I'm not your master." The once shadowy boy said, reaching behind him and pulling out a pair of small bags, giving one to each of us. "Each of those has twenty copper and five silver in it. It'll be enough to get you passage further south if you want, and get you started. If you want we can take you to Argon, a city, but what you do is up to you."

"Up to me?" My counterpart let off as the boy nodded.

"Yes. You're free. To go where you want and do what you want. It might not be easy, but you can do it now."

"I... I don't know what to do..." I admitted, looking to my bag of coins, shivering. "I... I couldn't decide one what I could do for so long... I don't..."

"It's okay..." The boy said, hand moving to my shoulder, squeezing. "If you want you can come with us. Take your time and learn what you want to do."

"Exactly." The boy's maid said, bowing softly. "There's no lack of people at the manor to look out for you. You may not know this, but this young lad is James Noxdecus, the heir of Mungale. There will be maids on hand to assist you with what you need. The young master may have forgotten, but these former slaves may not have many marketable skills."

"Ah. Yeah. I forgot about that..." The boy said, blushing a bit as I looked to him. "Umm... I never planned beyond... getting them out..."

"Really, M'lord you should consider these things." She said, sighing as he laughed back gently in embarrassment. "You shall be Baron one day yourself; you must think of what your actions shall cause in response."

She talked back to him! Slaves didn't talk back. They didn't mock their owners and point out their faults...

"Yeah, guess I need to keep things like that in mind, huh Gloria?"

Owner's didn't admit to their faults either. You obeyed them, without question, without correction...

There was no collar around my neck now but I still felt like a slave... I'd been a slave for so much of my young life that I didn't know how to be free, how to decide for myself...

But what was a maid but a servant? A maid cleaned, like I had. Cooked, like I had. Served, like I had. But a maid was different in that she could choose her master, could choose who owned her.

It would be sometime until I saw maids as something that wasn't owned as well, such was the worldview force fed to me. The difference between slave and maid was blurry to me then. But I knew one thing then; maids chose their masters, chose who held their leash.

So I would become a maid. I would choose my master.

To everyone's shock I gave the other halfling my bag of coins and looked up to him. "Can I... Can I serve you? Can I be a maid and serve you?"

He blinked for a moment and looked shocked at the question. "I... If that's what you want then sure. I'm sure no one will mind hiring you. But I have to ask, are you sure you want that?"

"Yes, please!" In reality, I didn't. I just... I just knew no other life. No other way to live. No other way to be. Collar or no collar, I was a slave. It was humiliating to admit it, now especially, but that's what I thought I was even in a free land, even without a collar around my neck.

"Okay then. Well, I'm sure Sora will be happy for another maid around to help. She's our head maid, by the way." The boy told me as the maid with him nodded and turned to him.

"Indeed. In fact last I heard she was going to ask your parents to hire another maid soon, one for your own personal needs. This young lass will do nicely once trained, I'm sure."

He smiled to the maid then back to me. He then turned to the other halfling. "And what of you?"

"... I will find my own way, thank you." He said, bowing and setting the pouches into a pocket. "I've served others for too long. I want to be free. Even if I fail, even if I die from it I will live free. ... But if we cross paths again I will help you with what you need. I... I thank you."

The boy smiled to him and nodded. "Go free. And I wish you the best from here on out." The other halfling smiled back and nodded.

"As you should too. Go free." He said before turning and running off towards the town before the human male looked back to me.

"Right. As Gloria said, I'm James Noxdecus. What's your name?"

"R... Riri. I'm Riri."

"We'll then, Riri, let's be off! If Gloria pushes the steeds a bit we should be home before sundown!"

And off we were. Off I was. Off to a new life, to a new home. I was in awe of the manor when I first got there; it was smaller then the castle I worked at before but cozier and... Warmer. The maids were happy to see their master, not fearful or scared. It was the first time I met Sora who smiled to me and when James spoke of who and what I was she nodded.

"We can set her up quick, Mi'lord. Once she's been cleaned up I'm sure she'll be a right, proper fit for the manor."

She seemed ready to say more only for another woman to rush over to James and scoop him up, speaking rapidly to him; it was his mother, the Lady Saxon. His father followed not long after and when they inquired about me their son explained. Saxon scooped me up herself and told me what a sweetie I was, and how tough I must have been to come out of that hell. There was no judgment of my past, no scolding of what I had done. It was the closest I've ever felt to being back in Sister Claire's arms once more. I finally felt warm, safe and... Loved. I felt loved.

Over the next few weeks Sora and the other maids helped me learn my new duties. I messed up a lot but no one got upset with me. No one yelled at me. No one slapped me. I was asked to do better and that was that. I had time off, to do as I pleased for the first time since I was a kid. Baron Merlin taught me to read and write, picking up where Sister Claire had left off. Lady Saxon babied me from time to time, even tucking me into bed now and then.

Sora was my main teacher and showed me what to do, how to do it and how to relax as well. Sometimes we'd go to town, splurge on the bathhouse, eat out or even buy things for ourselves. Because I was paid. I had money that I could buy my own things with. To buy clothes and perfumes and dolls and things... She also gave me my first combat knives and taught me how to use them, how to sneak around, how to subdue people quickly. How to fight, how to survive.

Miria even turned out to be very nice, sometimes sharing her sweets with me. We sometimes had fun, playing games and joking with each other. It was like being with the gang once more; I'd almost forgotten about it. But it was James who I served directly and he was always just so... Nice.

He made sure I wasn't overworked. He made sure I never felt down. If I had a nightmare he said I could come to him for comfort. If I cried he'd hold me. If I bled he'd mend me. It was the first time I understood something, something that would stay with me for the rest of my life.

I wasn't a slave now. I wasn't enslaved anymore; I was my own person. I was worth something to others, for more then a hole for sex. I could quit my job, leave to see the world or find work elsewhere but by then I had found that I liked my job. I liked working under the Noxdecus family, along side Sora and the other maids. I liked helping James and Miria and their parents. I liked living with them, crying with them, smiling with them, laughing with them, eating with them and talking with them.

I came to Mungale a broken mess of a former slave. It wasn't until a few weeks in I fully realized how broken and shattered I had become over my time in slavery. And these people... James, Lady Saxon, Lord Merlin, Lady Miria, Sora, everyone who worth along side with me... They helped me put myself back together. They helped me heal.

My soul still bares the scars of those eight years... But five years after the collar came off my neck I had flourished. I feel whole once more.

And I have decided what I want to do with my life. I have chosen James Noxdecus to be the one I serve. I am his maid and friend, not his slave. If the fates be kind, I shall be his concubine someday, pleasing him and those he finally weds. I will help him raise his children, maybe bare one of his in my own womb.

I am his and his alone. And I will do what I can to see him happy.

That is not an order given to me by another.

That is my choice.

My name is Riri.

And I am free.

[ - Author's Note - ]

As I said I didn't initially intend to make this it's own thing. I had planned for it to open up the next chapter, but it ballooned to a larger size then I expected, and I have enough planned for that chapter. To give you the average size of a chapter so far is about twelve thousand words. This is at just over five thousand words. So, quite a bit.

Next chapter then, the Noxdecus/Mandeville conflict continues!

~~Eostian Scribe