Remembering Jarnella brought a rush of blood to Dexter’s face. To think, he had almost let himself be seduced by a…a… well, whatever she was. A construct, the Federation wizard had called her. He shook his head to rid himself of his incriminating thoughts.
“I’d best relieve Bekka from the helm,” he muttered. Kragor nodded to Dexter’s back as the captain headed for the forward staircase.
On the bridge Bekka decelerated the ship and rose from the helm slowly, stretching out the stiffness that inevitably set in. It was a shock, separating from the helm, because the consciousness had to part from the ship and re-associate with the body.
“We’ve got a new deckhand?” Bekka asked him.
Dexter nodded, having forgotten that Bekka had not been around during the encounter. From the helm she could sense everything that took place on the ship, and she could see in all directions from it, but she could not see inside the ship or onto the main deck.
“Only till we’re back at Port Freedom and the wizard takes her back,” Dexter said.
Bekka looked at him blankly, not understanding. Dexter sighed and explained the encounter with the Federation wizard and captain in the cargo hold, as well as what they knew of the girl that was with them. Dexter was more than a little dismayed to see how excited Bekka was getting as he explained things. While not a wizard herself, she was a sorceress, and magical mysteries such as this interested her keenly.
He replaced her on the helm, anxious to give a simple direction for his thoughts, and let her explore the deck and learn what she could on her own about Keshira.
* * * *
They were less than a day out from Port Freedom and still Dexter found Jenna unwilling to converse with him or, if she could manage it, even willing to spend time in the same part of the ship with him.
Keshira had come to him the first night and inquired how she might service him. Shocked and dismayed, and a little bit disturbed at the improper thoughts he had, he had sent her away to continue her work. He first had learned that she required no sleep, but she could do so if commanded to.
Now, with only hours remaining until they returned her, Dexter found himself curious about her. More than that, she had begun to become a natural part of his crew, interacting with them when they spoke with her. That she could handle the duties she had learned from Rosh was beyond question. While still bland, she did seem to have a hint of a personality about her. Dexter found himself wondering what more might lay hidden beneath her beautiful exterior.
Bekka had become fascinated with her, perhaps even more so than Rosh. She studied her and chatted with her whenever possible, trying to learn everything she could of her. As Dexter stood on the bow of the ship Bekka was busy talking to her as she worked, in fact. Bekka did most of the talking, but Keshira responded to any questions asked, though she had yet to ask a question of her own.
“Keshira, come up here please,” Dexter called out to her. She rose from where she had been kneeling on the deck scrubbing and sanding the planks to keep them smooth. Bekka looked at Dexter and smiled, then wandered towards the stern where Rosh was working on something.
“Yes Master?” Keshira said when she had climbed the stairs and stood before him.
“Captain… call me Captain, not master,” Dexter insisted.
“Yes Captain,” Keshira said, smiling brilliantly.
Dexter looked at her, studying her face and eyes. She seemed so alive, so real. He could not imagine her as artificial. “Tell me about yourself,” he asked her, hoping to find something more to support his line of thinking.
She looked at him blankly, not understanding the question. “I am your servant, Captain. Command me and I will obey. I will do anything you desire.”
Dexter sighed; this was not going well. “No, that’s not what I desire. I want you to tell me about yourself. Where were you born…er, created. When? How? Have you any friends or family…or, um, others like you? Anyone you’re close with?”
“I knew nothing until I awoke and saw you. That was all that was needed to form my bond. I do know how to do many things, all of them designed to make your life easier and more pleasurable,” she said. “Some things I require your permission to use.”
“What? What things?” Dexter asked, surprised.
“I am unable to use my powers until you approve their use,” she said.
“Powers? Like what?” Dexter had a feeling he had just unraveled more of Jarnella’s allure.
“Minor glamours and cantrips.”
Dexter found himself rubbing his chin thoughtfully, then realized that he was starting to act like Kragor. He shook his head and dropped his hand. “Show me an example, please.”
Keshira beamed, pleased to finally be given an order to complete by him. It looked as though a gust of wind blew over her face, for her hair bounced and flowed, swayed by unseen and unfelt currents. Dexter gasped when he realized that she suddenly looked even more alluring and sexy than she had when she had first come out of the crate.
He nodded, feeling he had put the final nail in the coffin to explaining how Jarnella had been so wonderfully arousing. This woman, or thing, in front of him was very much the same. The difference being that she insisted that she belonged to him.
“What sort of loyalty do you feel you owe me?” Dexter asked, wondering just how dangerous she and others like her truly were.
“I do not understand, Captain. I am your servant. Anything you bid me do I will do.”
“Anything?” Dexter asked, rhetorically.
“Yes, what would you like of me, Captain?” She said, not understanding that his question was for his own benefit.
“No, I mean… well, I don’t know what I mean,” Dexter said, then stared up at the stars passing slowly over the ships deck. “Keshira, you are a beautiful…thing. I want to call you a woman but I cannot if it is true that you are not human or even alive. Do you need to eat or drink or breathe?”
“Yes, Captain, I must do all of those things,” she responded. “My body is resilient but it can be damaged and it will heal. It is alive, Captain, so I do not understand why you say that I am not. Touch me, Sir, and you will find that I am warm and very much alive.”
Dexter was tempted to touch her, but he just smiled regretfully instead. “Thank you, Keshira, but I will never take something not freely given.”
“I do not understand, Captain. I am yours. I give myself to you at any and all times in any way that you would have me.”
Dexter cursed. “That’s not what I mean. Aye, you’re alive, but you’ve no soul, no spirit, you said yourself you exist to serve me. That’s not giving, lass, that’s taking.”
“I do not understand,” she said, standing tall and beautiful on the deck in front of him and looking serenely at him.
Dexter nodded sadly. “I know, that’s the problem. All I’m wanting of you is that you know who you are and why you want what you do. I want you to have your own wants, your own desires, your own goals.” He sighed and looked at her. “I’m wanting you to be your own person, owned not by me nor any other man nor woman.”
Dexter was amazed when he saw a sad expression cross Keshira’s face. “I… I am sorry, Captain. I cannot do that. You are my Master, it can only be undone if I cease to exist.”
Dexter was sorely tempted to take the girl in his arms, but he refrained, knowing it would do neither of them any good. “Is your sadness real, or just how you’ve been made to feel?”
“I do not understand, Captain.”
Dexter sighed and waved his hand dismissively. “No matter,” he said. In truth it was, but then again, could he say that his emotions were any less real because he, too, had been made to feel them simply by being human.
“It may be no concern to you, Keshira, but I promise you that I’ll do what I can to see you set free to live a full life. The wizard that made you will answer to me or I’ll die trying.”
Keshira smiled. “Captain, I do not understand why you would do such a thing, I belong to you.”
