Sunday 14 November 2010

River's first report to master

After leaving the corn in Master's kitchen he sees the empty milk jug standing on the shelf and sighs. Master expected him to Milk the .. what did he call them Bosk Cows? .. he gathers a pail from the cupboard and carries it outside.
Standing in front of the animals he realises he has absolutly no idea how to do this.
Nervously he approches the animals. "Nice cow, " he mutters as he pulls a stool up to the nearest one, he reaches underneath and then pushes back away from it falling off the stool and landing on his arse.
"Not a cow," he yelps. Having learned his lesson this time he looks first, identifying the cow from the bulls. he pulls up his stool next to her and pats her side.
"nice cow," he says again. "you going to help a poor slave out and give me some milk?" he reaches for her teets fumbling with them. "there has to be some in there," he mutters after a few minutes of trying.  Then suddenly he gets a long squirt, grinning he does it again. before long his pale is full and he sits back satisfied with his progress.
"there you go Doris," he says to the cow. "all done. i will bring you some feed in a minute. i just need to get this out of the sun." He carries the pale up to the fort and in through the back door of the kitchen, depositing it in the chiller for Master then returns to the Bosk, collecting a bale of hay from the store first





Having finished in the garden he goes into the main hall of the fort seeing that the floor is covered in dust he goes back to the kitchen and puts a pan of water on the stove, having lit it earlier. he then gets the broom from the closet and goes back into the hall, sweeping the dust into a neat pile


Having desposed of the dust outside he goes back in the kitchen and pours the now hot water into his pail. He wipes the back of his hand over his forehead, to wipe away the sweat leaving a dirty streak in its place. He carries the pail into the the main hall and gets down on his knees to scrub the floor.


He sits up and stretches his aching back. it was getting late in the day and his Master still had not woken up. he drops the scrub brush in the pail and carries it outside. He puts the brush on a wall to dry and and empties the dirty water onto the vegetables, waste not want not. He looks down at his dirty body, thankful that he had the foresight not to wear his white silks. His Master would have been angry if he had gotten them dirty.  He contemplates using the bathtub in the kitchen and then decides against it not knowing if he was permitted to or not, as his Master used that tub the previous night. Checking that he had done all the chores in the fort he makes his way back to the slave kennel.

As he enters the slave kennel he sees the pile of dirty clothes that the warriors had given him the night before. He sighs sadly,his eyes drifting to the bathtub. His body ached from the back breaking work he had done but he hadnt finished yet. Reluctantly he heats some water and pours it into the wash tub and then drops to his knees, plunging the first huge tunic into the suds


 he washes each tunic and kilt carefully, piling them in a basket. he empties the tub and fills it with clean water. then dunks each piece again, risnsing away the suds and wringing out the clothes to get rid of the excess water putting them into another basket. He stands up, heaving the basket up with him, ignoring the pain in his back as he carries it over to the line. River Places the basket on the floor and then starts to hang the clothes to dry.




satisfied that he had done all the work that he had been instructed to do he stretches his tired body and looks longingly at the tub. Even taking a bath required him to work hard. With a sad sigh he places two large pans of water to heat. His mind drifts back to the easy life he had on Earth .. if only he had stayed at home that night, shaking his head and the thought from his mind he sees that the water is now steaming and tests the heat. not overly hot but enough for him. He pours the water into the tub and swishes it around. He finds a bar of  soap on the side of the tub and he steps into the warm water, sinking down and letting out a greatful moan of pleasure.


He rubs the soap over his body and hair, making sure his skin is spotless. Then remembering what his Master had commanded the day before he gets onto his knees and soaps his hand, rubbing the soap between the cheeks of his arse. he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath as he presses a soapy finger inside himself. It felt wrong to do but his Master had commanded him to do it daily. He works the soap in his hole making sure it was perfectly clean for his Master and then sinks back into the water, rinsing away the soap.
He soaks until the water gets cold and then gets out, using the thin towels that were there for the slave's use to dry himself. He goes to his his cot and takes out the box that is underneath, taking out his white silk. He wraps it around his waist and ties it loosely so that his Master can remove it easily if he so chooses to. He wonders if he is permitted to go and sit in the sun now his work was done and no other Warriors were yet awake. Deciding that if he sat on the wall overlooking the dock he would be working still of sorts, watching for raiders or visitors to his Master's shores.

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