Leaving

I immediately went to find mother in her room, which was directly adjacent to father's, hoping to learn from her more about how this happened. I found her sitting and knitting a baby blanket for Trevor's and Liliana's new baby.

Mother was a redheaded cat-kin who was about twice my age, but she looked young and pretty enough to be my older sister rather than my mother. I was used to hearing that I took after her in my appearance, but of course our family resemblance would be obvious, since like all of mother's children, I was a cat-kin too. However, when I looked closely in the mirror, beyond the red hair, cat ears, cat eyes, and cat canines I found some resemblance to my father. My face was longer and a little less rounded than my mother, and more like his.

"What happened?" mother asked as soon as she saw my face.

"Don't you know? Father gave me to Trevor!" I almost yelled, but managed to just barely keep my voice down. I didn't want Trevor to overhear and think I was displeased about being owned by him. That could invite punishment.

Father rarely punished me and his punishments were mild, barely a slap on the wrist. I knew from father's books on magic and slave-rearing that a control collar like mine had no limit on the amount of pain it could inflict, other than the slave's capacity to feel it. In practice it meant that the most pain a master could effectively inflict on a slave was just a hair less than would knock him unconscious. No slave would ever want to provoke that.

Mother smiled at me in a way that was both sympathetic and resigned.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know. The master didn't tell me his intentions, although I did worry he might do such a thing. I didn't say anything because I didn't want you to worry needlessly in case I was wrong", she explained in a manner that was almost like an apology.

The idea of trying to persuade her master of anything wasn't something that came easily to her. Her parents were both beast-kin, both owned by a farmer in a nearby small village. He was considered kind for a human. He merely made them work and made sure they had food, clothing and shelter that met their needs. He didn't needlessly punish them or abuse them. He only sold off or gave away their children after they reached adolescence.

Mother was raised on fear and obedience towards humans. The better treatment that father gave her has since soothed the fear away, but her habit of silently accepting her master's will was still there. For me it wasn't a habit, but more like a skill that I had to consciously employ. I've been spoiled.

Mother put down her knitting and came over to hug me and wipe away the moisture from my cheeks. I hadn't even realized I was crying. She purred while petting the top of my head between my ears.

"It will be okay. We'll be living in the same village. We can still see each other. You'll be fine. He's your brother", mother tried to sooth me. I shook my head.

"Mother, I'm scared. Trevor doesn't like me. He doesn't like any of us. How can father give me to him like this, without asking me?"

My mother looked at me with pity and sadness in her eyes.

"It has always been this way. No one asked me if I wanted to be bought by your father, although I'm fortunate that I was. We don't get to choose who our masters are and where we go. You children have had a far better life than I had, but it made you expect more than what is possible. This is the kind of life we have. We can only try to make the best of it".

I cried for a while in mother's arms. When I was done I said my goodbyes to her, then went to my room to pack. It was a small room, barely more than a closet. The regular-sized rooms were for the human children and my mother. I doubted Trevor would give me a bigger room than this, but it would be difficult for him to give me something smaller, too. That meant I would likely be able to keep all of my belongings, as long as he didn't take them away out of spite.

I packed everything up in bundles. My younger siblings, Beverly, Martin, and Phillip came to see me off while I worked. I saw my sadness reflected in their eyes. The littlest one, Phillip, was simply sad to say goodbye, but for Beverly and Martin, who were older, it was a sadness of understanding. At least now they will be ready when their turn arrives. They won't be as surprised as I was.

Once I finished packing and saying my goodbyes I left. I could have lingered a little longer, but that would only draw out our misery. It was better to make as clean a break as I could manage. Mother came down with the others to see me off at the door.

The village only had one long main street, with the houses being spaced widely apart, each sitting on a large plot of land. There weren't many of them. Most of the community were farmers who lived in farmsteads in the area surrounding the village. The village proper consisted of a few public buildings such as the temple and town hall, the businesses of those who earned their livelihood away from the fields, such as the general store, the hat maker, the shoemaker, the blacksmith, and so on, and their homes. That included father and Trevor, who were merchants who earned their living on the road, buying and selling goods throughout the region.

Since more than half of the village's community didn't live inside the village proper, and since it was the middle of the day when most people were working, there were few people on the street. Those who were barely glanced at me. A human girl carrying her luggage across the length of the village might have garnered some attention, but even if nobody had known who I was, my physical features and the collar on my neck made it obvious that I was merely a sub-human slave going about her master's business, and that I was therefor uninteresting to the point of near-invisibility. No one greeted me, inquired about my well-being, offered to help, or otherwise showed any sign of acknowledging my existence. It wasn't that they were generally selfish or unkind, they just didn't consider beast-kin to be people.