Ema giggled again. :Yeah but doesn't the royalty and upper class have branding on their wrist to tell them apart? I dont have brandingsand I was picked up at 77-I know I was seven because whoever's left tme left a small note and all it said was that I was seven and apparently an orphan...."

Ahelissa's brow furrowed. "That's weird that you don't have the brand. I'm stumped. My brain is stretched out in so many directions...." She rubbed her temples. Wow, this whole thing was confusing. She glanced over her shoulder at Remilia and watched her magic put her hair neatly into a bun. Ahelissa shivered and turned back to Ema. "So anyway, what's your master like? He looks...... intense."

"Oh, Master? He's alright. He doesn't talk much, and his tastes are kind of exotic in a way....S-sometimes I do mess up but he never seems to get angry in the normal w-way, I-i've seen some of the Duchesses whip their slaves before but he doesn't d othat, he j-just gets really quiet, says nothing, warns me, then goes back to whatever he was doing but you c-can feel the tension....But i-i guess i got used to it." Ema shrugged. "How about yours?"

From the other side of the library, Nicote glanced over at Ema but said nothing, simply choosing to stay in the library instead of goign out to face the crowds. He already had an excuse put together if anyone asked. To be honost he was dreading facing the crowds, he hated socialization.

Ahelissa nodded, an unreadable expression on her face. "She can be a bit cranky and terse at times, but she's actually pretty nice." She shuddered as she imagined whip lashes across her back. Remilia may be downright snappy at times (most of the time), but she would never do that. She eyed Nicote from across the room. He didn't look to be that old, maybe in his twenties? That would mean that he either knew duchesses from other castles that scourged their slaves or... Remilia's mother. She had heard Remilia talking about her mother when she thought that Ahelissa wasn't there. Her mother did not sound like the kind of person who would want to have fun or be near anything that remotely whispered If you do this, you won't die of boredom. She glanced back at her mistress as if Remilia could read minds and could affirm this.

Ema shrugged. "Least we got good masters and mistresses, right?" She half grinned a little.

Ahelissa returned the weak smile and nodded. "You're right. Countin' my blessings!" She grinned a little wider when she said it. "Slavery still stinks, though. And it always will. I wish we could set everyone free and be done with it." She rested her chin in her hands and fingered the stupid leather collar that was a constant reminder that she wasn't free. She couldn't do whatever she pleased. She had to serve some spoiled castlefolk, waiting on their every beckon and call (No offense to Remilia). They could do whatever they wished to her, and it would be legal. She sighed again and sat up straighter, dropping her hand back down on her lap. "I wonder what I'm going to do once I'm free again, at the city the princess talked about. Since I'm fourteen, there's not really a lot of options. Do you have any plans?"

"I'm als ofourteen so...n-not really. Probably j-just find work or s-something..." Ema shrugged. She absently touched her red collar, before fingering the small pendent underneath that seemed to have no clasp. "I might t-try to find out about m-my life before, someone has to know...But my only clues are the note, which was t-taken from me, and this pendent. S-so I don't really h-have much to go on."

Ahelissa's curiosity skyrocketed, and she leaned closer to get a better look. "Strange," she muttered, noticing the lack of a clasp. A faint memory sparked in her mind, but again remained frustratingly out of reach. "Do you know what it's made of?"

"No, but I thin ki-its a gem o-of some sort." Ema shrugged.



(_{sending u a PM of my prelimarily outline of the idea, but I'll prob change it at some point. I just want to mess with Nicky and Ema a little more XD})

Leaving his sister to her discution, Averill let his ice cold gaze wander around once more until he caugh Remilia cast a spell. She didn't seemed to be doing anything at the moment realy so he decided to try and get to know her a bit, well the key word was try after all, he wasn't used to start discutions. " You should save your magic for when we escape..."