Catherine continued to wash herself and only now, seeing the dirty water, did she realise how truly filthy she was. The strange man had been discussing something with the merchant, but they seemed to have finished talking since they had been quiet for a few minutes now. She took her time to be sure to wash her hair and the fur on her tail and ears. As Catherine cleaned herself, she thought about his proposal to set her free. As much as she dreamt about it, it could be far worse for her than remaining his slave. She literally had nothing, and if she lost him, she would die. Or worse. No... If she wanted to survive, and most importantly, stick with that strange man, she had to remain his slave. Being his slave would be the only acceptable way of staying by his side in Saftian society. However... She really worried that, if she were set free, she would be paralysed by the fear of being enslaved again. If not by slavers, then by the temple, forcing her into a marriage she didn't want. The water and soap washed her body, bringing a long-forgotten relief. She was clean like a newborn and felt that she was ready to call him. But, in order to not make him more awkward than he already was, she, once again, covered her lady parts with her hands and tail.

  "I'm done, my Master!" She called with a voice that surprised her. There was a kind of anticipation in it that she didn't intend to show.

  His head emerged from behind the broken planks and gave her a scrutinised look. "Do it again. Use more soap and leave it on your body. I will use more clean water so you can rinse yourself properly."

  And, just like that, he disappeared again. She followed his order as thoroughly as she could, her entire body was covered in pleasantly smelling bubbles to the point she didn't need to cover herself to remain decent. As she realised that, she decided to tease him a little bit.

  "Master?" She said with a playful smile dancing on her lips but she forced it to vanish when he emerged again.

  "I hope you are having a good time..." He sighed and had his eyes closed as he raised his hand above her head which wasn't particularly difficult for him.

  She swallowed as she looked at him from up close. He was incredibly tall, muscular, and handsome. But while this was very distracting for her, she finally saw what he had under his cloak and her eyes almost burst out in shock. It was the first time she had ever seen anyone wearing such heavy armour in the scorching heat of Saftia. But that alone wouldn't be as strange as how beautiful it appeared. She wasn't qualified to even guess what the metal was, but it must have been worth a small fortune. The gilded details and precious jewels inlaid in the black and red armour looked stunning and made this set worthy of a king. There was a sword on his hip and... A sudden waterfall of warm water washed over her, interrupting her observation. In shock, she realised that he was creating water directly from his open palm which was impossible. He reached behind his back and brought out a fluffy white towel.

  "Once you rinse off the soap, you can use it to cover yourself and I will try to heal what I can." He said calmly. "I needed you to wash yourself to minimise the risk of infection. Some of your wounds are ugly and I will have to clean them before I attempt to heal them. I'm not a healer per se, my skills work better on a battlefield, but I will do what I can. It... It will hurt, Catherine, because I have to reopen some of your old wounds. There are a lot of old splinters and Gods knows what else in your body."

  "I... I trust you, my Master." She pressed the towel to her body and clenched her teeth on it.

  Somehow, she really trusted him and couldn't say why. Was it because he was so stalwart to set her free or, simply, because he saw a person in her, or because he was so caring for her, she didn't know. But, if she was afraid of anything, it would be the pain. It scared her that a person she was beginning to trust wanted to inflict pain even if he claimed he wanted to heal her. She twitched when she felt his gentle touch on her back and moaned in shock when something cold touched her skin. A quick, nearly unnoticeable scratch and sensation of something pulled from under her skin was the only thing she felt. Then, a surprising and slightly unpleasant burning sensation, followed by the scent of alcohol hit her nose. He moved his hands from spot to spot on her body and she was getting confident that he warned her about the pain just in case... Until he stopped near a fresh wound that still hurt when he touched it.

  "Now this... This is going to be unpleasant, Catherine." He said with a slightly tensed voice as she bit harder on the towel and just nodded.

  At first, his hand gently brushed over the wound but, when he pressed it, she screamed into the towel with pain. Something burst under his fingers and it felt like she was bleeding.

  "That wound was one of the ugliest. I'm not sure if it was infected or not but, once I pressed to take out the splinter, it burst open under the pressure of pus mixed with blood. I have to clean it now. It's going to sting a little more." He warned her in a soft voice.

  This time, it was a burning sensation as if he were burning her wound with fire. She cried into the towel but, while it was unpleasant and painful, she had been afraid it would hurt much more than that.

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  "Do you have any wounds in front?" He asked with a hard to discern voice.

  She lowered her gaze and noticed a single cut wound on her belly. "Yes, Master."

  She swallowed and covered her lower body with the towel and used her hands to cover her breasts. Or what was left of them. She was malnourished… The last few years weren't bountiful and she had always been slim but before, she had eaten rather well when her father was alive. She had lost most of her weight and shape when she had been enslaved. There was no way that she could be considered beautiful but, if he was so gracious as to allow her to keep her last shreds of dignity, she was glad to keep them. She turned around in defeat and looked at him. He was kneeling on one knee with a piece of cloth in his hand and a bottle of strong alcohol near his shoe. In his other hand, he had a piece of ice. His focused expression was full of something she had nearly forgotten - compassion. He pressed the ice to her wound and then cleaned it with a cloth. The alcohol burned and stung painfully but, now that she knew what he was doing, she was calmer. Suddenly, he stood up and with a single fluent motion she couldn't stop, he took off her slave collar and dropped it to the tub. He wiped her neck with the cloth soaked in alcohol and she felt all her bruises and small cuts burn.

  "All right..." He corked the alcohol flask and put it somewhere behind him. He put his right hand on top of her head with a smile. "Purification!"

  Her jaw dropped when the warm and soothing light encompassed her. He was a cleric! But... If he were one of those, then nothing made sense about him. What kind of cleric wore heavy armour and could use a bow to kill a monster with a single shot?

  "Lay on Hands." He said and she suddenly felt all her wounds closing at once.

  Her heart nearly stopped. The horrible brand that had been burned on her back and she felt with every move for the last eleven months was gone. Very slowly, she reached towards her back and touched her skin. Nothing. It wasn't there any longer. She almost collapsed but he caught her effortlessly, as if she weighed nothing. His eyes were closed and, while she was lying across his strong arms, she felt her towel slipping off her body. Despite everything he kept his eyes closed. Looking at his calm face now, Catherine recalled the tales about Summoned Heroes her father told her before sleep and the values they upheld. This man, Arthur Ives, was similar... Could that mean that he was a Hero? Her heart raced as she quickly grabbed the towel and covered herself. With her other hand, she fished for the collar.

  "Thank you, my Master." She said with tears in her eyes and pressed the towel to her body as she reclasped the collar to her neck with both hands.

  "Well... You don't have the collar on anymore, so I'm no longer your master. Just Arthur." He grinned with his eyes still closed.

  She stood up and looked at him with a sad smile. He really had no idea about life in Saftia and he needed her as much as she needed him. She grabbed his hand and quickly pressed the red stone on her collar with his finger. Once again she was his. She let go of his hand and quickly covered herself.

  "No... You are my Master. I know that you want to set me free but it's not as easy as you think. I want to repay your kindness and help you find your way to your home. But you must trust me that I have to be your slave for the time being." She said softly with a trusting smile when she saw his face clouding with anger. "I know that you would release me if I ask and you won't abuse me. But you don't know the rules in Saftia. Please, let me help you, but for that, I will need this collar."

  His anger slowly turned into resignation and he nodded once. "You are the only person I can trust in this place, Catherine. If you say that it has to be this way, so be it. But I don't like it."

  "Yes, my Master." She smiled warmly and her heart beat faster.

  He simply nodded. That man was kind and honest.

  "Benjamin found clothes for you... But I don't think you will like them." He changed the subject. "I was thinking about something more practical for travel."

  She followed him with curiosity, still wrapped in the towel. By some miracle, it wasn't dirty despite landing on the ground twice. On the pieces of a broken box was a maid's outfit. Her eyes sparkled with excitement because this was exactly what she needed for her plan to work. There was only one issue with it.

  "This is a high-grade material, Master." She said with concern, and he snapped his head toward her with a shocked expression.

  "Really?!" He picked the black dress, cut to be just above the knee and patted the material. "It's just cotton..."

  "Just cotton..." She opened and closed her mouth trying to discern if he was joking or not. Instead, she started laughing. "You must be joking, my Master. Do you realise how much water is required to grow cotton? It's one of the most expensive materials in the entire Kingdom!"

  "No idea. But Benjamin only wanted twenty silver coins for it." He said defensively. "So you will wear it?"

  She sharply looked at him and couldn't decide if he had no idea about the worth of the money, or if he was simply joking at her expense. She took a deep breath and took the dress from his hand. It was an unbelievably high grade and she was shocked that Mr Benjamin was selling it to him for such a low price. However, considering that Arthur saved his life, it shouldn't be that strange.

  "Of course I will, Master!" She noticed that there were other parts of the outfit as well as the underwear.

  "All right. Your choice." He raised his hands in the air and left her alone.

  She smiled to herself as she raised her hand and touched the collar that she had cursed daily. In her wildest dreams, she never expected to, willingly, put it back on with her own hands.

  Thank you all for reading.

  I wish you all a great day and as always I wait for your comments.

  A big thanks to and who edited the chapter!