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Chapter 28
"I'll just go and..." began Ari.
"Nonsense," grinned Ken. He knew that she got off being displayed.
"Gary, I'd like to introduce Arianwen."
"Very nice to meet you," said Gary, who was obviously enjoying the view
the lithe teen was presenting. Her nipples were hard buds and her long, flame
colored hair spilled over her body. Her pussy was slightly swollen and Ken
could smell the sex on her. He didn't know if Gary could or not.
He was about to call her his slave and realized that he didn't know
exactly what to say. This was quickly followed by the realization that if he
introduced her as anything other than one of his slaves, she'd be upset. Ari
considered herself his slave, even though it appeared that Jane was doing most
of her training.
"Ari is my other slave," said Ken by way of introduction. "Ari, come
here dear."
Her breathing deepened as she walked forward. Ken's tone of voice when
he called her his slave caused her pussy to spasm with lust. Being casually
displayed to two people she didn't even know also caused her arousal to shoot
up.
Ken put his hand behind her neck and gently massaged it. "Ari, Gary and
his slave Annette are helping us set up the new dungeon."
"Um... Oh. Nice to meet you, Gary," Ari replied. Her voice was
somewhat shaky.
"Ari," said Ken to Gary, "is a wonderful slave. She's a bit new to it
though. Since I didn't ask, how do you prefer to be addressed? Master? Sir?"
"Well," said Gary still not taking his eyes off the girl, "When there's
more than one dominant in the room, I usually prefer Master Gary." He was
beginning to wonder how old this girl was. If she was legal, he'd eat a whip.
She looked about fifteen, but didn't act that young.
"Ari, why don't you go see if Annette needs any help?" In point of
fact, Annette had already set up the St. Andrew's cross and the horse. She had
just started to put together a nice whip rack that Gary was throwing in for free
when Ari arrived.
Ken could feel a rise in Annette's lust as she watched the teen
approach. She was exactly the kind of woman Annette liked to be paired with for
play. Slim and pale, such women contrasted her own lush, dark beauty perfectly.
Some of her best orgasms had been when she was tied on her back, eating the
pussy of a girl who looked liked Ari, while a whip was liberally applied to both
of them.
Ken smiled as he followed the woman's thoughts. Ari, already sensitized
from her earlier encounter with Karen, was definitely interested in the exotic
Italian. Even more interestingly, when Annette raised her hand in greeting and
Ari caught sight of the dark hair under her arms, she was transfixed by the
sight. It stirred a different, rather primal lust in her. Something to keep in
mind, thought Ken.
He and Gary largely ignored the two women for the next half hour or so
while Gary waxed eloquently about all the things he could do with a place like
this. Ken loved some of his ideas, and said that he'd have a contract drawn up
for Gary to help put together the dungeon. He also told Gary that he was
interested in metal work and was surprised to learn that Gary also made swords
and knives. That interested Ken a great deal since he really like edged
weapons.
Ignoring the women might have been a mistake. Ken of course, felt it
when it started, but he was used to the way the minx worked. Gary was
astonished to turn and find Ari riding his sub's face while licking and sucking
Annette's drooling pussy. Annette never acted like that - not without his
permission, which she had not received. Ken noted that he was only briefly
annoyed, but that embarrassment and disappointment ended up his primary
emotions. Before he could say something to Annette though, Ken put a hand on
his arm.
"Gary," he said, "I know this is going to be hard to believe. It's
really Ari's fault, not Annette's. Don't blame your slave for something she
couldn't stop."
"Of course she could stop it," replied the man. "She knows better than
to play with someone without my permission. I'm really sorry, Ken. I
thought..."
"Gary. Please listen. It really isn't her fault and I can prove it to
you."
"Huh?"
"You can, of course, punish your slave, but you shouldn't do it thinking
she failed you. Plus, I should have known better than to let Ari near her.
Ari's not completely trained and doesn't understand yet that, in a Master/slave
relationship, she needs to ask the Master's permission before seducing his
slave."
"Annette's very well trained. She should have been able to resist
Arianwen," replied Gary.
"Could you?" asked Ken.
"What do you mean?"
"I'll make a bet with you. I'll pay you double the cost of what you've
delivered here today if you can resist Arianwen for more than three minutes. If
you fail, then I'd like you to just acknowledge - if only to me - that your
slave couldn't stop herself. Also if you still want to punish Annette - and
even if you don't want to, then I'd like offer this play room to you Friday
night. Of course, it would be fun if I and my slaves could join you two. We
could make it a mini play party."
"You're on," smiled Gary. No matter how good Jane had been, he was sure
that he'd be able to resist this girl who was obviously only a teenager. Ken
hadn't said how old she was, just that she was in college, but no way she could
be over eighteen. Of course, he had an advantage he hadn't mentioned to Ken;
he'd had sex with Annette just before they got here, so his need wouldn't be all
that urgent.
"Arianwen," said Ken sharply, "Please come over here."
She recognized the tone in his voice and quickly disentangled herself
from Annette, who lay there panting. She hadn't cum, but the girl had gotten
her so very close. Ken could feel the remorse coming from the woman as she
regained senses. She was very upset that she'd failed her master.
"Annette, you too," said Gary. Disappointment was plain in his voice.
Both women came over and knelt.
"Master Ken tells me that Annette couldn't help herself. That you
seduced her," said Gary looking at Arianwen.
Ari quickly realized that she'd made a mistake. She turned to Annette
and said, "I'm so sorry Annette. I... you're just so beautiful I couldn't help
myself."
"No, it's my fault, really. I know you said you were new to this and I
took advantage of you."
Ken and Gary just sighed. "Ari," said Ken, "you have two minutes to get
Master Gary to put his cock into your mouth."
Arianwen just looked at Ken in surprise. Clearly there was more going
on here than she thought.
"It's OK. Feel free to let yourself go a bit."
"Yes Master," replied the girl. She was still quite aroused from her
play with Annette and Master Gary was very attractive. Ken followed her
thoughts as she looked at him.
And initially, that's all she did. For about thirty seconds, she just
looked at him, then she got to her feet and stood in front of him. Ken could
feel Gary trying to hold back, but when she ran one finger over his bicep, his
breath began to quicken. He could smell her scent, strong and musky, and it
wasn't long before his cock was hard as steel. She stood on tip toes and
lightly touched her lips to his. Then she ran a finger over his lips. He
almost groaned, assaulted by the smell from both Ari and his slave emanating
from Ari's finger tips.
When Ari went back to her knees and ran a finger over the bulge in his
shorts, he found all he could think of was getting his cock into the girl. All
thoughts of her age, the bet, everything, were gone. He wanted, needed to be
inside her. So when she opened his pants and freed his shaft, he made no move
to stop her at all. He couldn't remember when he'd wanted a woman more. He
groaned and almost came as her lips closed over the head.
"One minute, forty-five seconds," said Ken.
Gary just looked at him blankly for a second, then let out a breath.
"Holy shit," he said.
"I can taste your lover on your cock," said Ari, running her tongue
under the rigid helmet. "May I finish?"
"You don't mind?" Gary asked Ken.
Ken smiled and said, "Nope."
Ari eagerly took Gary back in her mouth. If he'd thought the blow-job
yesterday had been amazing, this one blew his mind. He was pumping a huge load
into her mouth a very short time later, his knees almost buckling from the
intensity. Ari looked at him and opened her mouth, showing that she hadn't
swallowed his load yet. Then she nodded toward Annette, who was sitting there
with sweat dripping down her body and a small puddle of cunt juice between her
legs. What she'd just witnessed had made her so hot she almost couldn't think
straight.
Gary understood and nodded. Ari scooted over and kissed the other
woman, passing her Master's cum into her mouth. Annette groaned and had a small
orgasm, then a bigger one when Ari fidgeted with the ring in her clit hood.
Gary had sat down after putting his cock away followed by Ken also resting on
the floor. They watched while Ari drove Annette to a third orgasm, then stopped
to let her recover. Ari was pulsing with the need to have her own orgasm, but
knew that Ken wanted her to wait. Gary found himself almost painfully hard
again.
"You win," he said after Ari backed off so Annette wouldn't pass out.
"That was unbelievable." He paused, looking at his slave who was bonelessly
panting on the floor. "I should really make her control her orgasms - but I
love to watch her cum too much."
Ken agreed that she was very beautiful, then directed Ari to go
downstairs to bring up more tea. She smiled at them and left.
"Do you have any explanation for that?" asked Gary as he helped Annette
to her feet.
"Yes," replied Ken.
Gary waited, then, realizing that Ken wasn't going to elaborate said,
"What time on Friday?"
"Well, you could come by for dinner at seven or so, and we could go from
there. Sound good?"
"Oh yeah."
Gary showed Ken the toy rack that he'd thrown in for free, for which Ken
thanked him. It was almost a work of art; the rich, dark wood beautifully
carved and finished.
Gary helped his still shaky slave get dressed and they drank more tea.
Annette asked to use the bathroom and Ken pointed out where it was, while
looking at Ari and shaking his head. Ari gave an exaggerated pout and went back
down stairs to begin putting together tonight's meal.
"What was that about?" asked Gary.
"Ari is into water sports - big time. She would loved to have helped
out your slave."
"Hmm," said Gary, "that's not something that Annette has ever tried. I
wonder how she'd take to it? Of course, with Arianwen involved, she'd probably
love it. You're not going to tell me how she did that, are you?"
"Not yet," Ken grinned. "I don't think you'd believe me."
Annette returned and Gay looked at Ken. "That's twice now I've enjoyed
the attentions of your slaves. I was going to ask if you'd be interested in
playing with Annette for a while, but we've run out of time. Perhaps Friday?"
Ken looked at Annette and saw she liked that idea a whole lot. "I'll
look forward to it," he replied.
They all walked downstairs to the van. Gary and Annette piled in and
drove off. Ken could tell that they were both anticipating Friday night.
He walked into the kitchen where Ari was putting together dinner.
"How do you feel about children?" he asked.
"Why were you planning on getting someone pregnant?" she asked.
"No. However, Eric and Sally have a daughter who's an infant. When we
take them to the Circle tonight, I'll need you to hold the baby, if that's OK."
"Sure. I don't mind kids," smiled Ari. Ken was surprised that she felt
a little sad.
"What's wrong love?" he asked.
She sighed and said, "Nothing really. It's just that I miss my sister.
I get to talk to her, but it's not the same as seeing her everyday."
Ken sat on a stool and began chopping lettuce.
"My mother," Ari continued, "has totally gone off the deep end. I don't
know what her problem is, but she's making Tina into a prisoner. Practically
the only time she's allowed out of the house is to go to school. And church, of
course. Mom's going twice a week now and Tina's had more than enough of this
bullshit. Mom's also talking about putting Tina in a religious school for girls
who think they wanna become nuns. Tina's getting really scared."
"You can bring her here, you know," said Ken.
"My mom would have you thrown in jail for kidnapping."
"I'm sure Lenny'd find me a way out of that," replied Ken. "Does she
beat your sister or anything like that?"
"She used to take the strap to us when we were little, but that was
years ago. She doesn't do that any more so it's not like we can claim abuse."
They talked until Jane came home. She was almost glowing with energy.
"Sandy was very excitable today," was her explanation.
Everything was ready by the time Eric and Sally showed up. Ken read
that Eric was bemused because Sally had returned to her old self literally
overnight. When they got home last night, she'd put the baby down, stripped and
handed him a belt.
"Master, I'm sorry that I've been such complete, neglectful bitch.
Please punish me."
Eric's Dom tendencies rushed to the fore and they'd had a very wild
night - when the baby wasn't awake that is. It felt like things had never
changed between them at all. Of course today, he'd been canned at work. He
almost punched out Bob when the guy had offered his condolences. He'd had every
intention of begging off this dinner, but Sally was so animated and happy, and
these last three months had been so bad, that he couldn't even make himself tell
her what had happened. He had no idea what they were going to do. No jobs that
provided a living wage had been produced by the administration, the economy was
tanked and thanks to off-shoring, even his engineering degree in electronics
didn't help.
Despite all this, dinner was a pleasant affair - for Eric and Sally
anyway. Ken could see the shadow trying to get out of the barrier he'd placed
around it. He got the impression that it wouldn't hold for more than another
day, so whatever they did would have to be done tonight.
They were all pleasantly full when he suggested they take a walk
outside. It was a beautiful evening and perhaps, he suggested, they could have
coffee and dessert outside after the walk. They agreed and Ken led them to the
Circle. The sun had set and the stars were just starting to appear.
Ken saw that Eric felt at peace and somewhat energized by the Garden.
Sally however, was growing noticeably more agitate. Ken wasn't surprised since
he could see that shadow in her mind slamming against the now rapidly weakening
barrier.
As soon as they were all in the Circle, the silver light of the ward
came up. Ari, who had asked to hold Christine, was inside it as well. Eric
and Sally looked around and Sally would have bolted if it wasn't for Eric. Ari
realized that Sally wanted the child and handed her back. Ken knew they didn't
have too much more time before the shadow escaped and he was growing worried.
He'd thought his barrier would last for longer, but apparently not.
"Wow," said Eric nervously, "nice lighting you've got here. How's it
done?"
"You're about to find that out," said Ken. He was trying to hide his
own nervousness. What was he supposed to do if that thing escaped? Would it be
able to get through the wards of the Circle? Would it attack Nemetodunum?
"There are some things that you guys should know," temporized Ken. What
could he say to them that they'd believe?
"I'll take it from here Kenneth," came Lea's voice.
Eric and Sally almost jumped out of their skin. Where the hell had she
come from? Eric was immediately affected by Lea's presence, which even Ken and
Jane were feeling strongly. Sally, on the other hand, was now terrified,
folding herself into Eric's arms and clutching the baby to her breast. The
scene would have looked ridiculous if viewed out of context. Eric was huge and
towered over Lea, who appeared very delicate in contrast.
"Please be assured that no harm will come to you," said Lea. Ken wasn't
so sure. The shadow was now deforming and twisting the barrier he'd placed and
it wouldn't be long before it gave way. "My name is Lea. I would like to help
you both."
"Help us? I don't understand," replied Eric. The peace that had
descended on him in this space was rapidly evaporating. Sally was frightened to
death and he had no idea why. Interestingly enough, the baby was cooing and
gurgling in Lea's direction.
The scene changed around them and Sally actually started shaking. Oddly
enough, if it hadn't been for her reactions, Eric would have felt completely at
home here. Wherever here was. The grass circle that had been in the garden was
still there - but now rather than the surrounding garden there were huge trees.
The mansion was gone as well. Christine continued to coo and laugh, which was
having a calming effect on Sally.
"Sit, please," said Lea. She sat in the grass, spreading her flowing
skirt around her legs. Ken and Jane sat and Eric and Sally soon followed.
"You have a beautiful child," said Lea. "When she grows up, she will be
tall and strong like her father, and loving and tolerant like her mother," said
Lea.
"Thank you," said Sally. She wasn't feeling so good now. The barrier
was getting thinner and thinner - soon the shadow would be loose again.
"Tell me," asked Lea, "How have you felt this last day?"
Some of Lea's calmness must have penetrated because the other woman's
voice was almost steady when she answered. "Fine. Good. But I don't
understand any of this. Where are we? Who are you?"
"And," added Eric, "what is going on? What did you mean by help us?"
"This will be difficult for you to accept, but we haven't very much
time," Lea replied. "Let me tell you what is going on..."
She explained about the shadow that had been placed in Sally's mind.
Why it was there, who had done it and what their future would be if it weren't
removed. Sally didn't want to believe, but Eric knew that Lea spoke the truth.
He didn't know how he knew, but he knew.
"Honey," he said gently, "think about what things have been like since
Christine was born."
"C'mon Eric," replied his wife. "This is nuts! How could all this be
true?"
"Look around you," said Lea. "Do you doubt your senses?"
"This could be a trick," said Sally.
"But what would I gain?" asked Lea. "If I have the power to 'trick'
you like this, then why would I bother?
"Sally, I will not remove the shadow from you without your permission.
If you wish, I will do nothing and you will leave Nemetodunum to live out your
life. But let me show you what that life will be like."
Visions appeared in her and her husband's minds. Ken was able to follow
them and they were chilling. Held together only by the church, their love would
die, their only solace would be their religion. Sally and Eric would stay
together, held by their marriage vow, rather than the love it was originally
based on. Their faith would strengthen, but their lives would be loveless and
controlled by dogged belief in the church. Christine, would either be estranged
from them early in life and leave as soon as she could, or stay out of loyalty
to them, her own live bereft of love and joy.
The vision lifted. Both Sally and Eric had tears running down their
faces.
"I know it is hard to believe," said Lea, "but if I have the power to
make you see what I have shown you, then I have the power to take the shadow no
matter what your wishes. I won't do that. Time is growing short and you must
choose:
"Leave here and continue on the path that you've been shown.
"Let me remove the shadow and try to return to your old life. It is
possible that you will escape retribution. Or..."
Here She paused and looked at Ken. He could tell She wasn't happy.
She'd rather people came to Her, or were brought in by Her followers rather than
be faced with what seemed like no choice.
"Or," she continued, "you can dedicate to Me. Through my Avatar. You
can become one of the Circle. But you must choose."
"What is this circle that you're talking about?" asked Sally. Ken
looked at Lea who nodded back at him. OK, the ball was in his court. He tried
to explain, in simple terms what the Circle was, that he, Jane and Arianwen were
followers of Lea and dedicated to her way. It was tough to shoe-horn the
pertinent information into a short time, but a half hour later, they were out of
time.
"I'm sorry," said Lea, "you must choose now. The shadow is almost free
and you must be away from here before it is released."
"You can protect me if I agree to serve you?" asked Sally.
"Yes. But remember, that is not your only choice. It was only the
unexpected actions of my Avatar that placed you in this position at all. I am
sorry for that, but I cannot change it."
Ken followed Sally's thoughts as she remembered the last five months and
how bad they'd been. It was true that the only solace she'd had was in the
church, but everything else had been horrible. She didn't want to live like
that again. She couldn't risk herself and her family that way and she could
feel this woman had power. Sally didn't understand it, but she did knew it was
real. So was the shadow that, even now, she could begin to feel again.
"Yes. Do it. I'll serve you - what ever it takes, but I don't want to
go back to that."
"Hand Christine to Arianwen," said Lea, "and we will begin.
"Wait," said Eric as they stood, "what are you going to do?"
Jane took his arm in her hand. It barely fit half way around the tall
man's bicep.
"Eric, I promise, nothing bad will happen to Sally. We'll keep her
safe."
The appearance of a low altar made of pure white stone streaked with
copper and green didn't make him feel better. In fact, it made him think of
sacrifices. Eric turned toward Arianwen to get the baby.
"Eric," said Lea, "leave the baby with Arianwen. We need you here."
They got Sally arranged on the altar. To her surprise it was warm and
comfortable, although how stone could be comfortable was beyond her. At this
point, the entire situation was beyond her.
"Take her hand Eric. Think of your love for her and your child. Smile
and be at peace." Then she turned to Ken and said, "Now you must remove the
barrier and destroy the shadow."
"Me?" asked Ken. "I thought that was why you were here. I don't..."
"I will guide you," cut in Lea's soft, but firm, voice. "You will do as
I direct. In the future, you will not meddle in a situation like this without
thinking it through."
Ken just nodded and looked at Sally. The shadow was almost free. Time
slowed as he heard whispers in his mind. Directions, words and thoughts that
were not his own flooded it. Then he entered the space in his mind where
everything was perfectly clear, where he was focused on everything and nothing.
He'd been here many times before, but only when physical action was required.
Now, it was the power of his mind he must use.
The shadow didn't give up easily. Tendrils had oozed back into Sally's
mind and were taking hold again. Her expression changed to one of pain and she
grasped one of her husbands huge paws in both her hands. Ken expended a lot of
time, from his point of view, hunting down all the tendrils. It was like they
had little barbs that hooked into her mind and he had to coat the things with
his own power to avoid damaging the woman. Lea guided him until finally, he
lifted the shadow from Sally.
It hovered over the woman, encased in white light. The darkness
struggled, straining toward Sally, slamming against the new barrier. Each
strike caused Ken a bit of nausea while sapping his strength. It wasn't like it
had intelligence, only purpose and it would not be denied.
Lea's whispers guided Ken's next actions. "Fill it with our power, with
our way. Fill it with the strength of our Circle," She said.
Rather than containing it, now Ken began pushing inward toward it.
Everything was slippery, and almost like holding a soap bubble or a water
balloon made from very thin rubber. He tried to crush the shadow, but that
didn't work. Lea whispered something else and he changed his tactics. Small
filaments of light began penetrating the blackness. Once there was a crack,
more and more light entered the dark. But he didn't have enough power to
completely overwhelm it. A touch on his arm and more flooded into him. He felt
Jane's mental strength, the rigid focus she applied as a sub joined his own
efforts. In the back of his mind a thought surfaced: anyone who thought a
submissive was a weak person was an idiot.
Her energy joined with his and together, they lanced the darkness with
their light, finally completely dissipating it.
He dropped to his knees, sweat pouring off his body, too weak to stand.
To everyone else, Ken knew, it happened very quickly; Sally had winced once when
the shadow was pulled from her and that was that.
To Ken, the battle, and he knew that's what it had been, had gone on for
hours. He was parched and shaking from the effort. Jane was in somewhat better
shape, but she too had sat heavily on the ground, the grace that seemed so much
a part of her, gone.
He watched as Lea bent over Sally and smiled at her. Sally smiled back
and Ken felt a surge of power as, just like that, Sally became a part of the
Circle, a new Priestess of Lea. Eric gazed at them in wonder. He said
something Ken couldn't hear and Lea smiled and gently shook her head. Eric
looked disappointed, then nodded.
Then they were back in the Garden, the Circle ward gone. Sally and Eric
were standing and Ari was approaching them holding out the baby. No one really
understood yet the toll that removing the shadow had taken on Ken. To them, it
had happened very quickly.
Arianwen, however, noticed in short order that Ken was exhausted.
"Ken are you OK?" she asked.
"Yeah. Just a bit tired and pretty thirsty. Could you grab me
something to drink?"
"Yes sir," she said and hurried off.
Jane sat down and put her hand on Ken. He felt that he could draw on
some of the energy she had left, that was, in fact what she intended, but he
didn't want to do that.
"Please Master," she said, "I know that you're exhausted."
"Na, I'll be alright," he said.
"Ken," said Eric and Sally as they knelt by his side, "Are you OK?"
"Yup," he replied. "Just a bit tired."
He looked at them and could feel that Eric was absorbing the peace of
the Garden. Sally was as well, now that the shadow was gone. The baby was
asleep.
"So," said Sally, "I understand from Lea that you are my High Priest."
"I ... guess so," replied Ken. He was too tired to probe the woman at
all, but could sense the beginnings of sexual desire in her, which after her
ordeal, he found somewhat odd.
Arianwen came almost running back with a covered pitcher of water ad
some glasses. She's also grabbed some food that had been left over from dinner.
Ken drank two glasses of water, then tore into some left over roast.
Eventually, Eric helped him into the study while Jane and Ari left to get
dessert for everyone.
"I'm sorry Sally," said Ken as he rested in the leather lounge with his
eyes closed.
"Don't be," she replied firmly. "Lea showed me what our lives would
have been like if you hadn't intervened. I was always very religious, I
thought, and I have no idea why something like that would have been done to me.
I mean, so I love my husband and child. So what?"
"Sally," said Eric, "We didn't exactly live our lives in a religious
manner, you know."
"What, because we were tolerant? Because we love each other so much?"
"What do you mean?" asked Ken as Ari and Jane arrived with ice cream,
some cake and coffee.
As they ate, Sally and Eric gave the other three a little more insight
into their lives.
"Sally," he began, "does a lot of charity work."
"So?" said Ken, "I thought that's what the church is all about."
"Some of it," replied Eric wryly, "wasn't exactly approved by the
church. Donating time to pro-choice advocates, cooking at 'Rainbow' events and
writing nasty letters to senators who tried to enact various laws in the name of
'Morality' are among some of her more notable actions." He paused for a moment,
then said, "I wonder why your doctor chose to do this to you?"
Sally snorted, "I can guess." All eyes turned to her and she blushed.
"Eric and I like to... um have a ...well a.." she stopped, too embarrassed to
continue.
"What she means to say," said Eric, his humor showing in his voice, "is
that she's my sex slave. So naturally, we supported the kink community too.
But how would your doctor know about that?"
"Well, we played pretty hard two nights before I had a checkup - before
we knew I was pregnant," Sally said. She was still embarrassed, but continued.
"I had a lot of ... um... marks when I went to see her. It took me a half hour
to convince her I wasn't being abused. She almost reported Eric to the police."
She looked up at them and said, "I'm sorry if that's a little shocking to
you..."
She was cut off by Ken's chuckling. Ari was hiding a smile behind one
hand and Jane wasn't even trying to hide her smile.
"Am I missing something here?" asked Sally. Eric also looked very
bemused.
"Well," said Ken getting himself under control, "there's a lot you don't
know about us."
He was about to launch into an explanation when the baby started
fussing.
"She's hungry," said Sally, "Let me go get the nursing blanket."
"The what?" asked Ken.
"It's a blanket that she covers herself with when she nurses," replied
Eric, "We've had people take offense."
"Well, no one here's going to be offended," said Jane. "That's the most
ridiculous thing I've ever heard!"
"Look," said Ken, "It's late and I'm exhausted. Why don't you stay here
tonight and in the morning we'll talk. There's a lot we need to tell you."
"Oh, we can't," said Sally, "Eric has to get to the dealership in the
morning and..."
"Honey," said Eric, "Um..."
"Eric," cut in Ken. "Tomorrow will be time enough for that, OK?"
"What?" asked Sally in confusion.
Eric was baffled too. He didn't know how Ken knew, but it was obvious
that he knew Eric no longer had a job.
"Ari, why don't you and Jane go upstairs and help Sally settle in a
room, OK? Eric will be right up."
"Yes Master," replied Jane with a grin.
"Master?" Sally and Eric both looked at Ken.
"Explanations tomorrow," he said firmly.
They started to walk out and Ken said, "Eric, I still feel a little out
of it. Could you help me to my room?"
"Uh, sure," he said. "I'll be right... actually, will one of you be
able to help me find where you're putting Sally and I?" Even though he'd had
the tour, he wasn't sure he'd be able to find Sally on his own. Ken knew that
Sally would eventually develop the feel of Nemetodunum that they all had. His
feel of the mansion was apparently far more extensive than what Ari and Jane
could sense, but they always knew where to find anyone in the mansion proper.
Sally would soon have that ability as well but Eric wasn't one of Lea's own yet
and so would have to do things the hard way. Ken wondered why Eric wasn't
brought into the Circle tonight.
The women left and Eric made to help Ken out of his chair.
"I'm fine," he said. "I just wanted to talk to you for a minute.
Please, sit down."
Eric sat and waited.
End Chapter 28
