During the weeks after the New Year's celebration Trevor's mood seemed to gradually worsen. This happened every year, since his mother's death anniversary was about a month after the holiday. This year, however, his mood seemed even darker than usual. I didn't know why.

On the day of the anniversary I stayed home alone with Henry, while Trevor, Liliana, father, and old mistress Lily's family went to visit the grave in the yard behind the temple. Beast-kin were barred from entering, but even if it were allowed, mother and her children wouldn't go. Lily was no relation of ours, and we knew she would not have welcomed our presence.

Liliana fed Henry before leaving. He took a nap for a couple of hours, during which time I rested with a book I borrowed from her shelf. She didn't have many as she wasn't a big reader, but the novels she had were all ones I've never read before. I never got around to discussing my love of reading with her, but since I was alone there was no harm in indulging myself, so long as I put it back in place before she returned.

When Henry woke up I changed his diaper and fed him a bottle of his mother's milk, which I gently heated with a little magic. After that we played on the floor. I crouched on all fours and he kept trying to grab my ears and tail, and giggled every time I allowed him to succeed. It somewhat made me feel like a real cat.

It took a long time, but eventually Henry got tired of playing that game, so I took him to the kitchen and gave him some spoons to play with while I got lunch started. Trevor and Liliana will be hungry when they return. While I cooked I had to change Henry's toys every quarter of an hour or so, as he got bored with playing with the same thing for too long. When I ran out of things to give him I entertained him by tickling his face with the tip of my tail.

When Trevor came back his mood seemed even worse than before. He sat down at the table and wordlessly ate what he was served with a dark expression. His wife had a helpless expression on her face. She tried to comfort him by resting her hand on his forearm, but that elicited no reaction.

When Trevor finished eating he closed himself off in his office. I could hear him pacing furiously up there. This behavior kept repeating itself in the coming days, and his mood kept getting worse. In the past he used to mostly leave me alone to do my work, but he started looking for me and punishing me through the collar for the tiniest excuse. I hoped that whatever issues were agitating him would be resolved soon so that I didn't have to suffer for too long.

I was kneading the dough for lunch after washing the breakfast dishes, as usual. My sleeves were rolled up above my elbows and my arms were covered in flower and sticky pieces of dough while I repeatedly folded it over, rotated it, and then leaned on it with the base of my palm. In a moment it would be ready to go in the basket, where I would cover it and leave it to rise until I started cooking lunch. Then I would take it out to bake in the oven. By the time my masters sat down to eat there would be a warm fresh loaf of bread waiting for them on the table.

The door opened and master Trevor entered the kitchen, surprising me. He almost never came in here. Like most men, he considered the kitchen to be the exclusive domain of women and slaves and left it to us to do all the work involved in meal preparation.

"Put that aside and come with me", he ordered.

Although the dough wasn't quite ready yet I put it in the basket, covered it with a towel, then put the lid on the basket and used the cords to tie it shut. That was to prevent any wild animals from breaking in to the basket and eating its contents. Then I started cleaning my hands and arms, scraping off the little bits of dough that stuck to them.

"That won't be necessary. Just come now", master Trevor said impatiently. I wondered what could be so urgent as to break my routine, other than helping Liliana take care of Henry. They were both out of the house visiting Liliana's parents, as usual.

I followed master Trevor upstairs and into my own room. What could he possibly want with my room? Did he go through my belongings and discover my jewelry and books? Father never hid from his human children the fact that he gave precious gifts to his beast-kin children. I stood nervously in the doorway, hands clasped before me and head lowered, waiting to discover what would come next.

"Don't just stand there. Enter and close the door", master Trevor ordered. I did as he said, but why did he want the door closed? We were all alone in the house.

"Take off your clothes and lie on the bed", master Trevor said quietly. I froze in shocked disbelief. What had he just said? Even if he was my master, and such behavior was common for masters, he was also my brother. Even if we weren't related by blood, why would he order his own sister to bare herself before him?

"I, what, no!" I stammered. Trevor's face darkened.

"Do as I command!", he barked at me.

"But I'm your sister", I tried to beg. "What about mistress Liliana?"

"An animal can't be my sister, and who are you to talk to me about my wife when you're the child of that beast?" Trevor growled, referring to the fact that father started his affair with mother while he was still married to mistress Lily, Trevor's deceased mother.

I cowered before him while hugging myself around the chest. I wanted to escape through the door, but there was no point. No matter where I went, he could both punish me and find me through the collar. It could deliver pain even to the other side of the known world, and with some concentration both the master and slave could decipher the distance and direction in which to find each other through the magical bond that existed between the master and the device.

"Take off your clothes and and get on the bed now. I won't repeat myself", Trevor said quietly, but his tone was even more threatening. I closed my eyes and hugged myself tighter, but otherwise didn't move.

"Have it your way then", Trevor said. I detected a note of pleasure in his voice, as if he was happy that I gave him an excuse to punish me, not that he needed one. As his property it was his right to do to me whatever he wanted with no need for any justification. Even if he killed me, nobody would have the right to raise a complaint against him.

Pain struck me. It didn't feel like it came from anywhere in my body, but rather appeared directly in my mind, even more powerful than the time I broke my arm falling off of the roof of father's house. Back then I had landed on all fours, of course, like any cat would, but my left hand landed on stone instead of dirt and snapped. That moment was the most painful experience in my entire life up to this point, but it only lasted a less than a second before it started to dull to something more bearable. This pain was not only worse, it was constant.

I don't know if I shrieked, or if I collapsed on the floor, or anything else that might have happened. The pain blocked out all other emotions and sensations, wrapping my mind in a fog.

Eventually the pain stopped and the fog thinned and I became aware that I was lying down in my bed with Trevor panting on top of me, with a cruel smile warping his face. I closed my eyes and turned my head sideways. The terrible pain had left me feeling drained. I wanted to cover my face with my arms, but I hadn't the strength to lift them.

Closing my eyes was a mistake. Without my sense of sight to distract me I became more aware of what Trevor was doing to me and of the soreness between my legs. I opened my eyes again and tried to focus on the flowers on my table, waiting until Trevor finally finished.

"Clean yourself and get back to your work", he ordered as he left, but I remained lying down motionless for a long time afterwards. He didn't come back and eventually I heard him leave the house.

mossplains

I've been informed that part 1 is just not the kind of story that can be told with 1 chapter a week. It's too harsh for that. Therefor I'll continue with releasing 1 chapter a day until I reach the ending for this part of the story, which will be chapter 26.