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The girl felt her skin ache as she walked next to the wagon, feet trudging along with each step. However, the long journey was not the source of her discomfort. Despite an initial attempt to put on a more cheerful visage for the journey, the ears and tail that marked her as a beast soon laid flat on her head and partially between her legs respectively, small lips curled into a frown.

The previous two days had been hectic for the slave. 
[hr]The cat eared girl had been ordered into the master bedroom by the head of Soyala. This was typical. Things started warming up between the lord of the manor and herself. This was also typical.  Bruises new and old ran up and down her back, signs of an abusive life. This was occurring recently. The slave was acting resistant towards her master's advances despite years of loyally offering service of all types. This was rare.

The source of reluctance soon entered the room in the form of the master's wife. The two began to argue as the cat girl sat silently on the bed, eyes downcast and legs pulled up to a naked chest. Their marriage was dysfunctional at best, and today the mistress had decided to have a loud chat with her husband. It wasn't her place to comment, despite the fact that the yelling match certainly involved her.

The servant waited and did everything she could to comfort herself that something bad wasn't about to happen, which was nothing. The wife decided to push her husband's boundaries at that moment, pulling the wheat colored hair into her hand and dragging the seventeen year old to the floor. If he didn't love the slave, then he wouldn't mind watching the disobedient wench be beaten.

Despite a lifetime of experience with the sensation known as pain, the girl passed out because of it after twenty minutes. The next day the master comforted her with a few private words, said that the two of them had come to a compromise, and that as a reward for her loyalty the slave would be sent out as the youngest daughter's new attendant into the wilderness where she would most likely die.[hr]The slave looked to her left at the noblewoman who rode in the wagon. Eirwen. According to her own observations and the discussions of the other slaves, her new mistress was a little grump who tossed her authority around and would generally be satisfied so long as her orders were obeyed promptly and would be furious if they were not. Thankfully for them, her new mistress had spent most of the days within her suite shut off from the world.

Due to those rumors however, Megstamia was eager to obey orders since she knew punishment was avoidable, unlike the matriarchs beatings. When Miss Soyala had told her new attendant to stay close by, the kitten had obediently walked to the side of the wagon close enough to be called on but far enough to offer some privacy.

Well, at least far enough so most humans would think she was offering privacy. Most beast people had enhanced hearing, so truly offering the her mistress a private conversation would require her owner to speak in whispers and for her slave to be a hundred feet away. A long time ago they had learned that tended to anger their masters despite obeying orders, and what they really meant was 'be far enough away so that I feel like I have privacy'.

The reality was that no one cared if a slave overheard something. Eyes downcast, the slave hadn't gotten much of an impression of any of the others aside from what they discussed and brief glances towards them.