Amarokette

The men from the estate home, presumably private security guards, looked down at the shackles on Kona.

"Her restraints, please?"

"Yes, sir. Of course."

The guards from the truck removed her shackles and her cuffs, setting Kona free, although they kept a close eye on her. There was nowhere for her to run - the entire property was enclosed with privacy walls and a closed gate, and a few more guards in suits could be seen walking around the property.

The other guards returned to the truck as the men brought Kona up to the front door. Another man on the inside unlocked it and opened it, and they led Kona into the front room.

The room was large and open, boasting shining mahogany hard-wood floors, soft lighting from a crystal chandelier, elaborate furniture, finely painted works of art framed on the walls, closed doors that led off to other rooms, and a large, sweeping staircase up to the second floor. A massive bay window lined with floor-length drapes on the opposite wall looked out towards a garden. Kona was brought to sit down on a large, comfortable couch near the window. One of the men walked to the side and pressed his hand against a communication device attached to his ear.

"Mr. Josson, your order has arrived."

The other man who accompanied Kona inside brought her a glass of water, setting it on a coffee table in front of her, and spoke to her calmly.

"Here you are. Is there anything that I can get for you, ma'am?"

Kona sat down and picked up the water and took a small sip, sampling it for other substances. She spoke very quietly,

"No sir." she said, her head still down so that they may not see her ears.

There was nothing else in the water - it was just clean, pure, filtered water.

The man nodded. "If there's anything I can get for you, then please ask. Mr. Josson will be down to meet you shortly."

She sat quietly and waited for Josson to enter the room. She fully expect the other men to leave so that Josson and her could be "alone". She drank the water and waited, preparing herself for what was to come.

A few short minutes pass. A younger man with short dark hair wearing a sleek suit-coat and slacks comes down the stairs, accompanied by another security guard, and he makes his way into the front room. He pauses for a moment as soon as he lays eyes upon Kona. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but it takes a few moments for him to finally say anything.

"Hello." He speaks briefly with his guards. "You are dismissed for now...please, go take a break."

He slowly takes a few steps closer to Kona, trying not to intimidate her or frighten her. "May I sit down next to you?"

Kona tensed up slightly and slid to the other side of the couch to allow him room to sit. Quietly once more she spoke to him.

"Of course, you are my master now. Why need you ask?"

Alain tried to smile reassuringly, but he seemed a bit sad and reserved.

"I...don't like to use words like 'master.' Just call me Alain. I may have brought you here, but it doesn't mean I'm going to hurt you. I know you must be scared, but...please, I'd like to explain."

He looked at Kona's face, still trying to find just what it was that was so captivating about her. She was beautiful, yes, but...there was something else that drew him to her.

"I brought you here because I wanted to meet you. I know that you don't want to be here after everything you've been through, but...trust me, this is the safest place for you to be right now. You're not in any danger here, and no one will hurt you. Please, tell me your name?"

Her head was still down so he would not see much of her face. She did not seem to loosen her muscles and was still as tense as before. She avoided looking into his eyes and tried to stay calm.

"My name is Kona, though I suppose you would rather call me by Fifty-One-Thirty-Seven."

"Kona..."

He spoke her name softly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Kona. No - there are no numbers here. Just forget that. Here, people will call you Kona. You're a real person...not a number."

Alain wondered for a second what Kona had gone through. He had no idea how she was captured and brought here, but he was sure that her experience must have been traumatizing. He looked at her as if he was finally understanding something for the first time.

"Are you hungry? Tired? Do you need anything? Please, ask. I want you to be comfortable."

Kona caught his glance for a moment and saw the good in his heart, she finally knew that he would not hurt her and had no intentions from the beginning. She raised her head a bit so she could see his face, handsome with dark black hair, well groomed. He didn't seem the type to hurt anyone without cause. her hair fell back and showed part of her animal like ears, she quickly through her head down again, hoping he had not seen them.

"Thank you but I am fine. I don't need anything"

"You're still scared, aren't you? I understand. Well...let me try and explain a little. I know you've been through a lot, but it's alright now. You're in Tryscar. This is my home - you'll be staying here with me. You can...well, you can leave any time you want, but it would be very dangerous out there without a home. I'd rather you didn't go. But I'm not going to stop you, if you want to, that is."

He paused, waiting to see her response even though he was half-expecting her to run for the door and try to escape.

She kept her head down, still unwilling to let her hair fall back so he could see her ears. She wasn't tense anymore and stayed on the couch beside him.

"I'm not scared, not now. I've come to terms with my fate, if it be willed for me to stay here then I shall stay."

He barely noticed her ears earlier, but he was paying more attention to her face than to her ears no matter how exotic they seemed.

"Well...I'm glad that you're not scared, and that you've decided to stay. But I don't think your fate is probably what you've expected after all of this. Tell me, what do you think is going to happen to you?"

She waited awhile before speaking a few short words.

"I don't know." She still didn't know if she could trust this man fully. He looked to be an honest man but he could be lying to her to comfort her before he tries to abuse her. She didn't want to confide in him, not when she didn't know his intentions.

"Well...nothing bad will happen to you here. Like I said, no one will hurt you."

He waited for a few moments, saying nothing, then he slowly reached out his hand as if he were going to softly touch the side of her face or brush her hair out of the way. He stopped himself before he touched her and drew his hand back. He didn't want to frighten her.

"I...brought you here so you would be safe..."

She pulled back slightly from the man's hand then loosened up again. She had only reacted as reflex, she had thought much worse would happen, she didn't know why she had pulled away.

"I'm sorry, you do not have to consider my feelings like that. Do as you wish."

"What do you mean, I don't have to consider your feelings like that? I don't think I understand. You...think that I brought you here for something else, don't you?"

"Why would a rich man buy a girl without strength? I don't understand why you're being so nice, just get it over with."

"Because...I don't know. There was something about you. I felt like you shouldn't have been where you were - like you deserved a better life. A chance to get away. You already know some of what happens to pretty young girls in that system, I'm sure...I just...well, I didn't want that to happen to you. There's nothing for me to 'get it over with' because I'm not going to hurt you."

"You didn't want that to happen to me? Then that's not what you brought me here for? I don't understand, you're an official in the Corporation, it doesn't make sense."

Alain seemed to be a bit ashamed of himself.

"I see that someone told you about me. Well, yes, it's true. But I don't want to be. I didn't have a choice - the head of the corporation bought me out. I had nowhere else to turn - I could either work for him, or live on the streets. I had no other choice."

"No one educated me of your status, in this nation there are two types of people, rich executives and slaves, judging from your house one can tell you're not a slave." Kona scorned before he finished explaining. "You were bought out? If you didn't want to why did you sell?" she said in a much less angry tone.

"It's not hard to tell, is it?"

He looked down, as if he wanted to deny the position he was in.

"It's quite complicated. Like I said, I had no choice. I was in...a chokehold, of sorts. What I did had nothing to do with slavery, but the man that did run the corporation that bought and sold slaves decided he wanted me to work for him instead. When someone has that much power...they can control everything about you. Your job, your family, your life. Everything." He sighed. "I don't know why I'm telling you this...you probably don't care much. I know there's nothing I can say to make someone understand..."

Kona stayed quiet and lowered her head in shame.
"You're like the rest of us, bought by a rich man to do his bidding even if that goes against yourself. I'm sorry, I ..I misjudged you. I do care, I understand now that you're just like us, you're rich and yet you are still bound to a master, the worst kind of master." her head fell to her lap and she hide her face, ashamed that she had not trusted her feelings about him and instead believed the notions that all men in this nation were as twisted and evil as the ones that took her from her people.

Alain frowned.

"I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry. Please, don't...don't be upset, Kona..."

He reached out to try and comfort her by gently taking her hand. "Kona, look at me...there's no reason to be sorry."