"You don't talk much do you? The girl that had her arm around me laughed melodiously as she led Elisa and I towards the others. Cezar just smiled a very pearly white smile. I looked away from him and checked on Elisa. She seemed to be mesmerized by the whole ambience of the place. I suppose she was not expecting slaves to be like this. I felt bad for her. From my experience these were few of the good parts.

"I'm Reena." The girl or rather woman introduced as we reached the table. Other slaves were watching us keenly but as we got to one of the big round tables, some slaves shifted so that we could sit. Everyone's gaze was on us and it felt uncomfortable. I refused to try to know anyone here or get close to anyone here. They could all die at any moment. And I was leaving.

A small voice in my head was quick at that moment to argue back that if I was going to get my freedom after this then wasn't this the perfect time to finally make friends? I easily dismissed the voice. Friends meant weaknesses. Weaknesses got you killed. I sounded selfish but until you had lived this life, you could not understand. It was a sad life.

"I'm Cezar as you must have heard Melanie, the girl you were with call me. Don't mind her. She just loves serving the masters and mistresses." Cezar spoke and exchanged an awkward knowing look with Reena at the last part of his statement. I rolled my eyes. I knew what she was. A fan slave. But in their defense, they probably didn't know I knew what fan slaves were to begin with.

I just smiled a small smile back at them. I wasn't sure what to say to them or what I wanted to say to them. I didn't trust any of them. And I stood by the notion that Cezar was too bred to be just a slave. Maybe he was a spy. Maybe he was just another fan slave too who lived off favors from the masters and mistresses. I was judging him too quickly but it was my first instinct when meeting anyone.

"What are your names?" Reena asked with a warm smile. Reena looked around my age, maybe a little older but not much older and she had long wavy auburn hair and light brown eyes. Her eyes were kind but she was partially guarded. That's when I realized that she was observing me just as I was observing her. I wondered for how long she had been a slave. I contemplated telling her my name but Elisa, the naïve young thing had already spoken

"I'm Elisa." She said with a small smile. I raised a brow. The child was getting too comfortable with these people. She was too trusting. I felt like it was my job to show her that no everyone you met could be trusted. I mentally smacked my forehead. She had so much to learn. Seeing as Elisa had already hurriedly said her name, I groaned internally and turned to the expectant face of Reena.

"Gabrielle." I said. I wanted to add that my friends called me Gale but then I remembered that the last time I had a friend was five years ago when I was sixteen and she had ended up being killed while I couldn't save her. Gale. It was a nickname; a special nickname I had fashioned for myself but it was too special to share with just anyone. When the memories threatened to spill through, I pushed them back down, the rest of my name getting stuck in my throat in an emotional lump. I shook my head and cleared my throat uncomfortably. Reena was oblivious to my internal battle because she clapped her hands in glee and turned to exchange a smile with Cezar. He was smiling at us as well. I averted my gaze from his pretty smile and wrung my hands in my lap.

"Elisa, Gabrielle. Such beautiful names for very beautiful women. Welcome to the mansion. We hope you have a wonderful stay." Reena enthused and I heard a scoff sound to the side of the room at the same time I rolled my eyes. My head snapped to meet dark eyes, very dark eyes. She looked like she did not belong here at all. She was thin, tall, was dressed in all black and had long black hair over her face that she didn't even bother to comb.

Witch. I don't know how I knew that she was witch but I knew. She was a witch slave. Panic rose in me, wondering if she knew I was a hidden witch. She raised a dark brow at me when she realized I was looking at her, matching my stare head on. It surprised me. She was very bold...for a slave. Reena coughed awkwardly dragging my attention back to her but my mind was still on the strange slave girl sitting along in a dark corner dressed in all black. She had piqued my interest and heavens was I intrigued.

Reena deserved that scoff though. I get that she was trying to be optimistic but the only person she was fooling here was Elisa. There was nothing 'fun and enjoyable' about being a slave in the mansion of Lord Kyryaan. It was a beautiful dream but if I wanted Elisa to survive, it was my job to let Elisa know that Reena was just wishful. It would burst the bubble she had started forming around herself but it was necessary.

Luckily, just at that moment, Elisa's stomach growled again and her cheeks reddened considerable like a ripe tomato. I smirked and some slaves laughed.

"I'm so sorry. You guys must be hungry and tired." Reena laughed. In my mind I had all sorts of sarcastic remarks to reply to her statement but I remained quiet instead.

"I should get you guys some food from cook. Those allowed to eat.... here have already eaten but there should be some food left." Cezar said with a strained smile and my mood dampened as if a bucket of ice cold water had been poured on me. Those allowed to eat.... that statement. It made our situation even more real. If this was not eye opening to Elisa the I didn't know what else was. Being allowed to eat only if your master or mistress wanted it. Being allowed to do anything at all only if the people who owned you willed it. This was not a fairy tale of princesses in a large castle. This was the harsh cold reality of girls who lives were not even their own.

I noticed Elisa shivering and against everything in me, I placed my hand on hers in reassurance under the table. She looked up in shock, her eyes wide and shocked. I kept my face neutral and turned away from her but I didn't pull away my hand. I was in trouble. I could not care for her. I just couldn't. Rather, my eyes followed Cezar's retreating form in interest.

Reena noticed me watching him going through a door on the side of the room to the kitchen I presumed and she let out a low laugh. I looked away from Cezar to her.

"You can ask you know." She whispered, leaning in with a smirk as if about to share the hottest gossip. I raised a brow but figured I might as well know who he was.

"Who is he?" I asked in a cracked voice from much disuse and I cleared my throat, heat rising up to my cheeks but thank heavens for my rich dark melanin skin, it didn't show through. She smirked again.

"Oh Cezar? Pretty Cezar. That's how many of us call him by the way. Don't lie, you've thought of him as pretty too." She admitted with a laugh and heat rose to my cheeks again. I said noting in reply though.

"Well he's a vampire. We don't know much about his past, he never talks about it but some say he has been in his mistress and her husband's ownership ever since he was a boy. Rumors say he was eighteen when his master and mistress turned him into a vampire because they wanted him with them forever. As to the kind of slave he is, I'm not sure exactly how it works between them but both his master and mistress share him if you know what I mean." She said with a wink and I gasped in shock. He was a sex slave?? Reena seemed to realize what I was thinking because she immediately shook her head vigorously and proceeded to explain.

"I know what you're thinking. That he's a sex slave. Well he kind of is but I've seen Cezar with them, they don't treat him like a slave at all. It's more of they enjoy being with him and he enjoys being with them." She admitted and I raised a brow. That was...something. So, Cezar was in a three-way with his master and mistress and he liked it? He was not a fan slave, that was for sure. That was when the realization hit me like a ton of bricks. He had formed a relationship with them. That's why he looked strangely content. Or at least I was assuming that was why. It was weird but I wasn't one to judge. Plus, it was really none of my business. But it now explained his specialized collar.

"Do his owners have other pets?" I asked curiously. Reena smirked.

"No. As far as I know, he's the only one they've ever had. And we can only admire him from afar you know. His owners are very possessive over him." She finished just as Cezar got back into the room holding a tray of steaming food, the tantalizing aroma from it stimulating my nostrils, leaving me salivating.

"Have you been gossiping about me Reena?" Cezar asked with a knowing smirk at Reena and I was shocked. He didn't look offended in the least. Instead he was smiling like he had expected her to do so. Reena smiled sheepishly and I felt heat rush to my cheeks when his gaze landed on me.

He placed two steaming bowls of food in front of Elisa and I and looked at me still smiling.

"I love my owners and they love me. That's all there is to it. You guys should eat up. You must be really hungry." He said with kindness. He looked so sincere when he spoke about his owners. It was strange.

As I dug into my food, I realized it was a completely different ball court here in this mansion. Things here were definitely.... different.