Zaliki pov
Master has turned my life around. He gets upset when I call him master because he has freed me. He will always be my master. He is the master of my heart. He will always be the master of my heart.
Does he think he could embrace me like that and not have me call him master? I consider him freeing me to be a statement about my being. A free person is a different person than a slave. He wants me to be free inside and out. He had me become a priestess, and he found a future for me other than a pathetic slave.
However, all that goodness is making me believe in him even more. Whenever I see him, I feel this urge to grovel at his feet and kiss his beautiful calves. I am absolutely blessed to have his baby in my womb.
The tests are out. I have a medium grade arcane heart. My teacher told me that it was the kind of arcane heart that has hope in birthing an immortal. The low-grade arcane hearts have no chance, while the high-grade ones have a way higher chance.
I got employed in the temple of Selket after the obelisk gave me the meditations of Selket. What we do is oversee silk production through silkworms and deal with bug related problems out there in the desert.
I can also divert to the poison path, but I don't want to because I want to be able to give birth to a lot of babies. It's not a good idea to devour poison with a baby in tow.
Another fact is the money. I got my first salary today, and I decided that any bit of salary I get, except the meditation resources, will go to our household. There are children on the way, and we need all the help we can get with that. Especially since there is only one Nazhotep.
We need a person who could do nanny helper and cleaner jobs.
I also need to buy my own lubrication. I kept stealing Asenath's lube. She is pissed. She thinks Suheila took her lube.
I bought some lube and went to eat at an eatery. Since I have my own money, I can buy any food I want. I can even order extra meat. delicious, juicy meat. The eatery is bustling today. Perhaps it's because there is construction going on nearby. Most of the patrons are men. Except for the women sitting at the desk in front of me. She is talking to her friend. She is laughing loudly, and a piece of bread is sticking out of her mouth. She is pulling her chin back, bundling the flesh on her neck into a second chin. Her thick eyebrows make an "M" shape.
I finished my meal, and after paying the bill, I went for a walk to digest it. After a while, I felt pressure in my stomach and ran to the latrines. I quickly sat on one of the edges. Latrines consist of a wall and flowing water. People sit on the edge and do their business. There she was. The woman from the restaurant. She is doing her business and smoking a pipe. She picks on her teeth with her pinky. And then she grows red as she strains herself while doing her business. A vein pops out on her forehead. Her shaking hands bring her pipe to her lips, and she takes a long drag before finally exhaling. Her face grows relaxed as her worries melt away. She cleaned herself up with water and walked out. Since I was done, I ran to catch her before she walked back into the crowd. I called out her name, and she turned around with a smile.
"How can I help you?"
I swallowed. I want this woman to be a servant in our household. She is exactly the kind of woman our master likes. Master hates luxury obsessed, posh women, preferring the uncultured and disgusting ones instead. These disgusting ones are often able to make him better for some reason. This woman will fit right in.
"Hello friend, my name is Zaliki. I would like to congratulate you on your achievement."
She was startled.
"What achievement?"
I smiled.
"You just birthed the biggest fucking turd I've ever seen. Congratulations: that is truly impressive."
She laughed loudly. "I think we're going to get along just fine. My name is Xonsu. This is my sister, Maa."
She had failed to pick the thing between her teeth with her pinky. It's still there, green. Her sister is fat and ugly. Her head looks like a pear.
"Xonsu, Maa, do you have jobs? I'm looking for some people to help around the house."
Xonsu's eyes were lit with joy, and then she hugged me.
"Oh, you are a lifesaver. My man has kicked me out because I couldn't give him children. We kind of bum around on friend's couches. Their patience was wearing thin. Both Maa and I had the same man, our cousin. He kicked both of us out."
I nodded in understanding.
"Could you girls look after kids? I could have you two as live in servants. You will clean the house at first since the children aren't yet born. After that, you will help us raise them. We are all priestesses in that house, and we need to focus on our meditations most of the time."
She looked at her sister and nodded.
"Deal. We agree to those terms. Do you have time? Come hang out with us." I didn't have anythng to do so I accepted.
"Hey, you want to see something stupid?
I was taken aback.
"Sure."
We found a man donning silly-looking clothes in the bad part of town.
"Hey nuk-nuk. Here are three coppers. Could you dance for us?"
The man jumped up with gusto. He lifted his left leg and slapped his heel with his wooden slippers, using his toes. He then lifted his other leg and did the same.
Xonsu leaned into me so as not to let the man hear.
"He is unemployable. Whenever he hears about Quraysh, he starts sobbing uncontrollably, and then he starts clawing at his face. I come here to drop some copper coins from time to time, so he won't starve to death. Sometimes he remembers the Quraysh on his own and starts screaming anyway. "
I leaned into Xonsu's ear so he wouldn't hear us.
"The Quraysh have been disbanded and killed. My man made sure they are gone. He was the one largely put them down."
The man was still doing his silly dance. Boy, he is working hard for those couple of copper coins.
"Do you think if we tell him that the Quraysh are gone, he will get better?"
Xonsu looked at me and lifted her brow.
"Let's try it. Hey, the Quraysh are gone! All of them. They are dead. You don't have to be afraid anymore."
The man, when he heard the word Quraysh, started screaming his lungs out and pulling and slapping his face. Xonsu tried to calm him down, but it was no use.
"Hey, let's bounce. Let him be. He will calm down on his own."
We ran from the scene. We drank some sherbet, and I guided her to the house. It is a two-story house with a beautiful garden in the backyard. The sun was setting, casting a warm glow over the flowers and shrubs. The sound of birds chirping in the distance added to the peaceful atmosphere.
I told the sisters to wait a bit until I recovered my golden sands.
When I returned, they were talking to Nazhotep. By the looks of it, they are hitting it off.
"Zaliki! Welcome back."
The master's hands are on Xonsu's breasts. Ever the Casanova. He doesn't miss a beat. He got up and kissed me deeply. My heart skipped a beat.
"I was talking to our new employees. We talked about the war, who you were, and who I am. Xonsu was curious about my muscles when she learned that I was in a war. She squeezed my pectoral muscles, and in exchange, I squeezed hers."
Xonsu is weirdly charismatic, and it's as if she has no sense of social anxiety. She instantly clicks with people.
There is no stopping the immaculate male energy the master exudes. Xonsu and Maa had no chance.
They started working the moment they got the OK from Nazhotep. They are good at this. They are methodical, careful, and thorough in their cleaning. This is the best money I have ever spent. I told them to stay away from the backyard. The entire assassin guild is buried there. There are spiritual herbs planted there to prevent them from becoming undead.
Seeing that Master is happy made me happy. I just hope he rewards me for this. He has been mellowed toward me lately. He isn't as forceful and domineering toward me as before. It's a great tragedy.