Sewer Rats

Bretver 10th YEAR 552 ASMERIAN CALENDAR.

The keep wasn't anything too special, a plain stone structure with minimal decor on the outside. Jackson had seen it every day for the last three years since its construction started. Ruby had been a keep slave for the past two months when the Daniels family finally moved in. Winter had just ended and the cool spring breeze sent a chill down her back to her tail. The shirt and skirt she wore could barely pass as clothes and they revealed many of her feminine attributes. It had a low v-cut to show her cleavage and her skirt was up past her knees which was very revealing to the many men of the castle.

There was an impressive port callus that guarded the entrance against any unwanted company. There were of course other ways to get in but the front door was grand and the focal point for the bland building. It was always guarded by a squad of soldiers from the Army. These men were highly skilled and not ones to mess with. Their armor was cheap but effective for their job, it had some ceremonial designs on the breastplate but other than that was just plain steel armor. The sun had no issue reflecting off of the armor into Jackson's eyes blinding him for a moment until they got to the port callus.

"Stand there, mutt!" The sergeant of the guard said as he pointed at the port callus mechanism. "Stay here whilst Scottkey and I take a walk around."

"Yes, master," Ruby said as she bowed her head.

"Now, you're coming with me for a little tour Scottkey, best not get too comfortable in here."

Jackson followed the Sergeant around the first floor of the massive keep. It was thrice the size of his old home in Greendale. The first floor was mainly living space and also where the great hall was in the back right of the keep. The keep was well furnished since the last time Jackson had set foot inside during its construction, with grand paintings and flowers livening up the dreary interior. The second floor was used for the guards and servants; there was also the main lobby that connected the two floors through the servant's quarters, where the servant's stairwell was located. The third floor was living quarters for Lord Daniels and guests of honor.

"That's all for the tour, I know you built a lot of this place so basic knowledge of where stairs and whatnot aren't really important." The Sergeant said.

"Thank you, master. I would've said something about it." Said Jackson as he took a look around. He was standing in the dining room where he would spend most of his time as a servant for the lord. There was a painting of his grandfather, Marcus Scottkey hanging on the wall behind the head of the table. It depicted him wearing his Army uniform. He had two full moons on his shoulder, signifying that he was the commander of the Army along with a Red Band that crossed over his chest, showing his nobility.

"You know that painting?" The sergeant said as he checked the time on the clock.

"Of course, I was in the capital with my uncle when I first saw it. It was being paraded through the grand plaza for the prince, who I guess is now the king. It seemed like the prince admired my grandfather, too bad he turned out more like his own."

"That's his majesty you're talking about; it's borderline treason!" The sergeant snapped.

"Well, what do you expect from a traitor?" Jackson quipped as he approached the painting. never taking his gaze off of it. "Have you ever met the king?" He asked as he clutched his hands.

"No, but I know better than to talk about him in such a disrespectful way!" The sergeant barked as he almost grabbed Jackson's shoulder, but he stopped short.

"He's not much older than I. I even played with him once. He always seemed different, but I could never put my finger on it."

"I don't know, and I don't care Scottkey, just go to the main lobby and wait for the headmistress there."

"Yes, master, I'll see you later, grandfather." He said as he could not take his eye off of the majestic painting.

Jackson made his way down the stairs to the servants quarters; from there, he could get to the main lobby where the headmistress was already waiting with Ruby next to her. She was an older woman wearing a black gown and an apron. "Hello there, Scottkey, you've kept me waiting long enough. The Varin girl will be teaching you the ropes and everything you need to know about cleaning the sewer."

"Oh, joy, I built it now I have to clean it as well?"

"You will watch your tongue with me, Scottkey. There are far worse things than mopping up the nobleman's shit."

"Of course, ma'am," Jackson said as he bowed his head.

He looked up at Ruby, who turned and grabbed two shovels and two wooden buckets. "Now, the two of you better do a good job down there, or I'll whip the both of you." The mistress said as she headed out of the room. He grabbed a bucket and shovel from Ruby and followed her down the servant's stairs to the sewer. It was a small tunnel about 5 foot tall and 4 foot wide with an arch at the top.

"Ah man, this reeks. Is this what you've been doing all this time, Ruby?" He asked as he planted his shovel in a mound of shit.

"No, not at all, I've been working in the kitchen for most of the time, but I have to come down here once a month and clean it."

"Why haven't you told me about it until now?" He asked angrily, he took a look around the dark sewer and couldn't believe that all this time she hadn't told him of this hellish work that was forced on her.

"Well," She started, "you've been beaten for my own mistakes, and well, I thought I didn't have a right to complain to you about something like this." She said quietly as she put her bucket on the floor.

"I'm sorry." He said while setting his bucket down.

"What for Jack? You haven't done anything wrong; it was me." She put her hand on his shoulder and patted his back gently.

"You're my closest friend, and you felt like you couldn't talk to me. That kind of makes me a failure as a friend."

They stood there for a moment before Jackson started to shovel the shit into his bucket. They had to carry the shit to an outway where the water from a spring was diverted to push the shit and piss down the cliff that the castle stood upon. From there, the shit was collected for fertilizer and used in the nearby crops.

Jackson looked out the little hole in the foundation of the Castle wall and down the cliff. He could make out some of the mountains of the Zander range. The Zander range looked more majestic than ever with fluffy white clouds flowing over the summits of the mountains, and the golden mist from the sun setting at the base of the mountains looked like something out of a famous painting. "Ruby, come look at this." Jackson beckoned.

Ruby's jaw dropped with awe as she gazed outwards to the mountains. "It's so pretty." She said as she pressed her face against the rock to see even more of the picturesque scene. The rotten smell of the sewage left her mind for a moment, and she felt at ease from the heavenly scene. Jackson turned to see that the sewer was cleared of all blockages, and the spring water was flushing all of the feces and urine away. Jackson grabbed the buckets and shovels and started his way back after whistling to Ruby. She followed him out of the putrid and disgusting sewer smell.

Ruby and Jackson most welcomed the fresh air of the keep's servants quarters. The headmistress and two other slave girls were getting ready for a long night's work as he set down the buckets and shovels. The headmistress turned and saw them both standing there covered in shit. She squeezed her nose shut and moved forward to grab the buckets. He handed the two buckets to her and held out the shovels for the other two girls to take. "Go fetch a bath, you two." The headmistress said. The three girls rushed outside, and Jackson stood there alone with Ruby.

"We get baths for cleaning the sewer?" He asked, somewhat excitedly. It had been months since he had bathed or had any clean water to wash with.

"Yeah, they don't want us running around the keep covered in poo and smelling like sewer rats."

"I'd be rather flattered to be called a sewer rat Ruby, and it'd be one of the nicer things I've been called here." He laughed awkwardly. "Ya know, I can't wait to get the hell out of here."

Ruby just laughed, she couldn't wait either, and she trusted Jackson more than anyone else, even Miller, at this point. She remembered him and everything he did for her but couldn't see him the same way after he fled without her. She led the way to the servant's bath, which was close to the keep. It was a small spring towards the center of the bailey and had no walls to enclose it, but it didn't bother Jackson. He stripped nude and jumped straight into the bath. Ruby, however, was more hesitant to jump in. Jackson saw her acting shy and swam up to her. He then, with a smile on his face, splashed her with water and soaked her with the warm water of the spring.

"Stop it!" She cried as she ran away. "You jerk, why did you have to get me wet!"

"Well... you stink."

"So? I was going to get in." She said as she took off the cloth sack of a shirt. Her tail got caught up in her pants, making it harder for her to take off her clothes. She left the wrap around her breasts as she stepped into the pool. It looked as if she melted away into the water and she swam underwater to Jackson. She jumped up and out of the water next to him, and the splashing water hit him in the face.

"Hello there." He said as he looked her in the eyes.

"Hello, so what do you think?" Ruby said as she giggled.

"Of the bath?" He asked.

"Yes, the bath Jack, what else?"

"Well, you certainly aren't a kid anymore, that's for sure. And the bath is awesome."

"What do you mean by that?" She stepped closer to him and splashed him in the face.

"Well, you're older now and well-"

"Oh, is that it, Jack?" She said as she sank into the water and turned away.

"Well yeah, let's be honest, even the guards who hate Varin's like you think you're attractive. So, I think it'd be weird if I didn't think the same, right?" Jackson laid back and floated on his back for a moment. Suddenly he found that he was forced underwater by the weight of a steel helmet that hit him in the gut. He jumped up out of the water and looked up to see a guard standing above him, laughing.

"You should've seen the look on your face when my helmet hit you!" He laughed. "That was priceless!"

Jackson grabbed the strap of the helmet with his foot and pulled it up to where he could reach it with his hands. With a burst of energy, he threw the water-filled steel helmet at the guard knocking him to the hard rocky ground. He got out of the water and pulled up his pants, and the guard recovered. The guard stood up to his feet and was furious.

Carter, who was on his way to get something to drink for the night, had to pass by the servant's bath to get to the castle tavern. As he walked by, he heard the sound of a man crying out in pain. He ran over to the edge of the spring to see the guard lying on the ground clutching his gut and grunting with pain. "What happened to you, man?" Carter inquired, he looked around and saw Ruby standing in the spring in shock, jaw dropped and eyes wide open.

"That fuckin traitor Scottkey threw my helmet at me." The man said after catching his breath. The air had been knocked out of him from the helmet, and some blood was dripping from the back of the man's head from hitting it on a sharp stone.

"Where is Scottkey at?" Carter asked as he turned to Ruby. "Damnit, where is he!" He demanded now getting more angered than ever before.

"He's sitting down over there." She pointed at an old Siri tree that was one of the few trees still standing inside the bailey. Carter rushed over and grabbed Jackson. He pulled him up by his shirt, and Jackson leered at him. He had to force himself from throwing Carter to the ground.

"Are you trying to get killed, master?" Carter whispered into Jackson's ear.

"Well, to be honest, I don't rightly know. I may just have a death wish, after all." He replied he was silent enough to where no one except Carter could hear.

"What happened, I assume the bastard did something to deserve having his helmet thrown at him with such an amount of force?" Carter turned his gaze to the guard.

"He threw the helmet at me while I was floating in the water, and it hurt like a bitch."

"I see," Carter set Jackson down and pulled him along. "you there guard," Carter said.

"Let me at the fucker; I'll teach em' a lesson he won't forget!" The guard snapped. "I'll fucking kill him."

"You will do no such thing. I do not believe that your helmet just magically ended up in his possession, nor do I believe you're not at fault for what happened. The slave will be punished, but you will not have the honor of enacting it." Carter barked back; he saw the man was nothing more than your typical slaver scum.

Most slavers would make or force situations where they could execute the slaves they disliked. There always had to be a reason for killing a slave; however, that reason could be as simple as looking at a master wrong or not completing something in time.

Carter pulled Jackson aside and started for the slave barracks. "Ruby, get dressed, and follow me." He said as he picked up her clothing and waited for her to exit the water. She got out and shook her tail dry and used her shirt to dry her ears. Varin fur was like that of a dog or fox. It got cumbersome when wet, and She hated it. She got dressed and quickly followed Carter and Jackson back down to their cells.