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Part 1 - Servant

Chapter 1

Meriah sat in one of the taller trees on the property. The night wind blew the scents and the sounds from all over the grounds to her perch in the crotch of two large branches. She wasn't large by any stretch of the word, even for a Mrr'tani. There were many of her kind on the grounds, and of all of them that she'd met, she was by far the smallest who had reached maturity. She stood less than five of what the Master would call 'feet,' and she was light on her feet. No one who saw her, though, would mistake her for being frail or weak. She was active and nimble and her body showed it.

She shared the same characteristics of all her kind, and the Master said that she reminded him of the 'cats' from the old world he called 'Earth.' She'd seen some of the pictures of this place, and read about these beings that he compared her to, and she could see why he made the comparison. In fact, she often wondered after some of her studies whether these 'cats' shared a common ancestor with her kind. But that was silly. The Mrr'tani's home world was far away from the Master's, and the lessons said that all of the inhabitants of that world had died out long ago, after the humans had turned the planet into a barren rock drifting in space.

The fur covering her body kept her warm against the cool night air, and her nose twitched between quivering whiskers as she scented something on the air. She knew every scent beneath the dome, and she knew exactly what it was, though the fact that she was able to smell it this late at night brought a furrow to her brow.

Meriah was the Master's gamekeeper. She was trained from a young girl to keep animals and to manage the land. There was never a time in her life that she could remember anything other than the land beneath the plastisteel dome. She couldn't recall a single scent that wasn't contained within, unless the Master brought guests or other of her kind. The previous gamekeeper had passed beyond the previous season, and that had left Meriah on her own, finally.

Her sharp eyes picked out movement on the ground below her and she readied her bow. Her sensitive fingers picked out an arrow by touch and she slid the nock onto the string and waited, the only sound the wind in the trees and the rustling of the grass beneath her. Her breathing was quiet enough that not even she could pick it out over the other ambient sounds of nature around her. To her left, beneath another tree, one of the small rodents that plagued the Master's garden stirred and then ran, trying to make its way through grass that was much taller than itself.

That was the stimulus needed, it seemed, for Meriah's quarry to show itself. With only a quiet flutter of wings to betray it, the bird swooped out of the branches, diving for the dinner presented in that scurrying rodent. The silhouette was instantly recognizable as a S'cree, one of the birds from the Mrr'tani home world. With a wingspan even wider than Meriah was tall and talons long enough to puncture an adult human's skull, the bird was a formidable predator. The conditions under the dome were almost tailor made for it to survive, as the Master enjoyed bringing his guests to his meadows to hunt the majestic bird. Unfortunately, sometimes the meadows were too good for them, and the balance began to tip. It was her job to maintain that balance to keep the Master's fields full of life and well-maintained. Tonight, that meant that the S'cree was hers.

She lifted the bow and drew the string back, anchoring her fingers in just the right place. One quiet breath and everything was still. The sound of her mind quieted and her vision narrowed down to just her arrow and the bird, and when she let go of the string, she knew that the arrow would hit its mark. It was a distinctive thing that she'd learned over the years, hunting with the bow, and it had never failed her. She held her posture as the arrow sailed through the air, not even daring to move even as it hit and pierced the bird's heart. It wasn't until the S'cree fell from the air and hit the ground that Meriah allowed herself to relax back to her natural, wary posture.

Through all of the encounter, there was nary a sound. The Master would be pleased, since he didn't like to be awakened at night by the sounds of hunting rifles. Though she'd never experienced it herself, she knew what happened to those who displeased him, and she had no intention of letting it happen to her. Besides, the ones that found themselves at his displeasure usually earned it. They were the lazy ones, the thieves, the ones that should have been thrown out of the dome. They were the ones that didn't bear thinking of.

She shook her head and banished those thoughts from her mind then slung her bow and climbed down out of the tree. Her feet were surely placed on the branches, as if she'd lived in the trees her whole life. In a way, she thought perhaps she had. On the last layer of branches, she lowered herself to her hands and feet, letting all of her claws dig into the soft bark as she moved along the ever narrowing branch. When she felt it becoming too weak to support her, she leapt off the end. Her hand stretched out before her as her feet extended behind her with her tail touching her calves. She almost let out a sound of pure joy, but stifled it just before it would have come out.

She landed almost atop the dead bird and skidded to a halt. She stood still and listened to the sound of the woods around her, making sure that she hadn't woken anyone, and when everything was silent, she made her way to the bird. Her shot was good, as she knew it would be, and she had only to pull the arrow from the carcass. The feathers were too beautiful and useful to be used to clean the arrow, so she picked the bird up by the talons, holding the arrow in between her fingers as she hoisted the dead weight over her shoulder. She would have a feast tonight, and there would be some to share later on.

***

Her home was a small, one-room cottage made of local wood that sat on the edge of the trees, on the divide between the forest land and the meadow land. A small fence surrounded the cottage, sturdy enough to keep out some of the more determined hoofed wildlife. The gate squeaked quietly when she opened it and she smiled. The old gamekeeper, Lyria, said that she always meant to get it fixed. Now that she was gone, Meriah didn't see the point. It was a familiar sound, something that always welcomed her home when she was finished for the day. A small gravel path led her from the gate to the front steps of the cottage. Off to the side of the path was her modest little garden, growing all kinds of things that she found in the forest. Between that and the game that she took, she fed herself rather well, and she'd never had to lean on the worker rations that were available to all the Mrr'tani.

She didn't take the front steps, though. Instead she walked around the back of the small cottage and took up a seat on the back steps. There was much that needed to be done before she could call it a night. From the sheath on her ankle, she drew a small knife and set it on the deck beside her where it would stay while she plucked the feathers. A small bucket sat by her favorite seat and the feathers went into it to be cleaned later. The light of the twin moons shone through the dome and she worked in their surprisingly bright light.

It took her only a short while to have the bird's carcass dressed and cleaned, and when it was, she opened the door of the cold storage box and threw it inside. She smiled as she looked down at herself, covered in blood and feathers and other, less pleasant things. With a quick look around, she stripped off her clothing, tossing it to the side of the porch where she would find it in the morning. She could put off washing it until then at least.

Picking the feathers out of her fur, she walked out the gate and a little ways into the forest. A small path led to a small pool surrounded by rocks and trees. It was fed by a small stream that flowed into it and the water disappeared on the other side through a crack in the rocks into an underground cave system. Two quiet steps took her into the cool water deep enough that she couldn't touch the floor of the pool. She floated for a time, letting the water buoy her while she gazed at the stars and the moons. Somewhere up there was where her people were from. She often wondered if they were still there, or if, like the humans, they'd run their planet out of all it could give. The books that she learned from when she was very young spoke only of human history and had little to say of the Mrr'tani. When she asked questions, she was told not to think about it.

Finally, the chill of the water soaked through her fur and she swam to the edge of the pool and dragged herself out, now clean and sopping wet. A quick shake took most of the water from her fur, and the rest would dry before she got back to the cottage. The thoughts of her people were pushed from her head with the list of things already forming in her head that needed to be done when the sun rose. There was never much time to be idle, and now that she was clean, there was even less excuse to be lazy. Besides, the sun would be up in fewer hours than she wanted to contemplate, and if she wanted any sleep before the morning came, she had to get herself to bed and to sleep soon. The greater questions of life could wait.

***

She was back in the tree, and the world had narrowed down to the single view of her arrow tip and the plunging S'cree. She could hear the sound of her inhale and the rest of the world stopped. She could feel as her heartbeat slowed and her breath almost froze in her throat. Every feather on the S'cree's body stood out in her vision with even more detail than she could have managed even at the time. She could feel the feathery touch of the arrow's vanes against the side of her cheek and the shaft against her whiskers. On the air was the scent of the forest and an early blooming flower. Everything was as it should have been.

Then, overlaid atop her own anticipation of the kill, she could feel another, more foreign feeling. It was excitement, hunger, determination. The feelings came on slowly even as time seemed to stop around her. Slowly, her eyes closed in a blink and when they opened again, they were looking down at the tall grass beneath her, watching the vibration of the long blades. With vision sharper than any she'd ever experienced, she saw her talons raking forward into her field of view and the feeling of determination increased. There was one single thing in the world and that was the rodent in the grass. That was what would feed her chicks back at the nest and what would keep her alive until the next time she needed to hunt. There was no awareness whatsoever of the danger in the drawn bow in the tree across the meadow. At least there wasn't until she realized what she was seeing. Only then did Meriah's consciousness recognize her own figure crouched in the foliage, about to loose the arrow that would end the bird's life.

The pain was sudden and sharp, and she couldn't breathe. Time sped up and the ground rushed towards her and she knew that she'd failed. She knew that her nest and her chicks would not survive the coming days. Life would move on without them.

As the S'cree's eyes shut, a sharp sound rapped at the back of Meriah's mind. Three quick, loud taps and then they stopped. The view shifted again, this time she was looking up through the blades of grass as death itself descended on her and there was nothing but a paralyzing fear. She couldn't move, she couldn't breathe, she could do nothing but look up and watch it come. And then salvation came in the form of a precisely targeted arrow. Another three taps sounded when the arrow hit the S'cree, more insistent, louder, and closer to the forefront of her consciousness.

Again they sounded, this time much louder and the feeling of the outsider hit her again as the dream faded into black. She awoke on her bed with the light of the morning sun beginning to light her window. She looked around her room, the vision clearing from her head as she heard the tapping again. Her door! There was only one person who ever knocked on her door, the Master. And there was only one response to his summons.

"One moment, please, Master," she called, throwing the sheet back off the bed.

As her feet hit the floor, she shook her head, trying to clear the strange sense of another within her head that didn't want to go away. She could feel anxiety that wasn't her own. A nervous energy that was well contained, but just there beneath the surface. As different as the feeling was, there was something familiar about it, as if she'd felt it before.

She didn't have time to think about it, though. The Master was waiting. She stood and took only long enough to pull on a well-worn and comfortable robe as she headed for the door, her bare feet making almost no sound on the wooden floor of her cottage. When she opened the door, the Master turned from his survey of the meadow to regard her. He was tall for a human and he stood a good fifteen centimeters taller than Meriah. He was trim and fit, and she heard that others of his kind found him reasonably attractive, though she couldn't say the same, given his lack of fur and the strange features of his face. She did admit to a bit of fascination about him, though.

The Master had practically raised her, and one of her very first memories of him was when his face was covered in the fur that some of the humans could grow. She never understood why he removed it. Now he looked far too fleshy and fragile, like a human kit. He was the closest thing to a father that she'd ever known, and though she harbored a fondness for him, she was always careful to observe the courtesies that she knew were expected of her, given her station.

She bowed when she opened the door, bending a knee and lowering her head to the point of almost touching it. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that he'd brought along another, a Mrr'tani male that she didn't remember ever meeting before.

"Good morning, Master," she said, keeping her head bowed.

"Good day to you, Meriah," the Master said. He reached out his hand and placed it on her head. "Please, be at ease."

The feel of the Master's hand on the back of her head was one of comfort and she couldn't help but smile. She knew that favor that she held with him. Though she was but one of his Mrr'tani servants, he was never anything but kind to her, and sometimes she suspected he saw her as something more than simply a servant.

"I apologize, Master," Meriah said as she straightened, "I have just awakened, and I have not had a chance to start tea."

Meriah made it a point to always have tea on hand in the mornings. She would drink it while she watched the sunrise, and she would have it on hand in case the Master should appear at her door. She tried to hide any sign of the twisting in her stomach as she admitted her mistake.

"Think nothing of it, Meriah," the Master said. "I understand you had a late night last night."

Meriah nodded and stepped out of the way of the door, motioning the Master and his guest inside. The tension inside eased slightly at the easy tone in the Master's voice, and she hurried along in front of him towards her small kitchen area. It took little effort to fill her dented kettle and put it on her stove. With a match to the kindling inside the stove, soon she had a roaring fire within. The ritual was second nature to her and she had plenty of attention to spare for the strange feelings inside her head. It felt almost crowded, as if something was pushing against the inside of her skull.

"I did, Master," she answered the unspoken question as she worked. "I took a S'cree in the early morning. I must take another two before their numbers are back in balance."

She frowned as the subtle feeling of anxiety calmed just slightly in the back of her mind. For some reason, her eyes were drawn to the Master's guest. He was of average size for a Mrr'tani, though she could tell by looking at him that he'd not had the easiest life. His ears drooped atop his head and his fur showed the scars of a hard life. He looked underfed and even though the clothing that he wore was clean and dry, it hung from his body as if he was a kit playing dress up. As she watched, one ear raised on his head and she could see the telltale notches. There were two of them, one on either side of his ear. It told her that the man with the Master had shirked his duties and ran away twice. Once more and he would be delivered to the camps.

The anxiety had turned to curiosity, a burning desire to know the answer to a question. What the question was, she could not tell, but she felt her eyes widening as she realized that the feelings were coming from this man. They felt so familiar to her because they were from another Mrr'tani, but they were alien because they were not her own.

The whistling of the kettle brought her out of her thoughts and she turned away, hiding her own curiosity behind the busywork of putting together a tea tray for the Master and his guest.

"Did you use the rifle I left for you?" the Master asked.

Meriah shook her head, still collecting the pieces to the tray. "No, master. I prefer my bow. It is quieter and less likely to disturb your rest."

The Master chuckled and when Meriah turned around, she saw genuine amusement on his face. She could feel herself relaxing, letting go of the tension that she didn't know that she was carrying. She'd been worried that he would be mad that she didn't use the tool that he had left.

"You are a fascinating creature, Meriah," he said. "Not many would turn down a rifle when it was offered."

"There is a connection, Master, between the hunter and the prey, and the rifle serves only to distance the hunter from that connection," Meriah explained as she brought the tea tray across to her small table. She noticed that neither the Master or his guest had taken any of the meager seating available in the cottage.

"But it would make the hunter's work easier and quicker," the Master countered. "Surely that counts for something."

"Taking a life should never be easy," Meriah said sharply. As soon as the words left her mouth, she shut it, almost wishing for a way to bring the words back. She bowed her head quickly with a quiet squeak and blushed beneath her fur. "Please, Master," she said, maintaining her penitent posture, "I did not mean for my tone to be as it was."

"Meriah," the Master said as he took a seat, "you've been with me for longer than any other of my Mrr'tani. One of the things that I like about you is that you never hesitate to speak your mind. I appreciate that more than I can tell you."

Meriah looked up from her bow and saw the smile playing across the Master's face and she relaxed even further. She could feel a very faint sense of amusement occupying the same place as the anxiety she felt earlier, and when her eyes were drawn back to the other Mrr'tani she saw one side of his muzzle quirking into a lopsided grin.

She set the tray down on the table without taking her eyes from the other of her kind. She couldn't help taking another look at him now that she could at least accept what was going on. Though he looked undernourished and slightly unhealthy, there was something about him. It was his eyes, she finally admitted. There was a sharp intelligence behind them, and they regarded her with more than simple curiosity. Even as she looked at him, feeling a little like s specimen in the parks that the humans called 'zoos,' she could feel the amusement focusing into an even more intense curiosity and scrutiny. The focus made her blush, finally realizing that she was staring.

Turning her head away from the guest, she busied herself in preparing the tea, trying to regain control of her own thoughts. With the other feelings inside her head, she didn't even feel like her mind was her own and it made it difficult to perform even the usual motions of pouring tea. She relaxed into the routine and let the muscle memory take over from her conscious thought and as she did, she spared a thought to what was going on.

She knew she should tell the Master about these feelings, but for some reason a part of her found that idea to be unappealing to say the least. It was something that she could barely understand herself, that she couldn't even convince herself was happening if she was going to be totally honest. Why would the Master believe her when she told him that ever since she'd awakened from a strange dream, she could feel his guest inside her head? He would just tell her that she was imagining things, or worse, send her to be evaluated. The last thing she wanted now was a visit to the clinic. The humans there were more curious than they had a right to be about her kind, and every time she went there, she felt like she was being studied rather than being healed. She didn't want to think about what they would do with this complaint. Besides, the man hadn't said a single word since she'd opened the door.

So instead of saying something, she made herself go through the motions perfectly, pouring the Master his cup of tea first. Then she poured another and bowed slightly to the older Mrr'tani. Only when the Master and his guest had taken theirs did she pour one for herself. All the things that either of her guests would need was on the tray, so she took her own mug, comfortable and familiar in her hand, even with the little chip out of the rim - earned when one of the huge field rats from the meadow was loosed inside her home last winter. Her hands cupped the warm stoneware and she shook her head a little, trying to clear it as she waited patiently for the Master to begin to tell her why he and his guest were there.

"This is Jacques, Meriah. He came in with the last round of new servants, and he'll be serving as my manservant."

Meriah nodded and looked at the other Mrr'tani, giving him another look over. He really didn't make her think of someone that would be attending to someone as powerful in the human world as the Master, but it wasn't for her to question his choice. Some of her consternation or confusion must have shown on her face, because the Master chuckled quietly.

"He's a little ragged now, but he has impeccable taste."

The look of intense scrutiny was still on his face as she watched him, and it made her feel self-conscious, knowing what he was to the Master now. And here she was sitting at the table in nothing but her dressing robe. She could feel a touch of heat gracing her cheeks beneath her fur, but she didn't let herself look away. This was the man that she would be speaking to when she needed to talk to the Master, the one that would decide what information could be passed from her to him.

She'd trained the last manservant well, and they had a very companionable relationship, though old Ives had been a part of the household since far before Meriah had even been considered. He'd been more involved with her upbringing than any other beneath the dome. She felt a pang of loss as she thought about him, but she stepped on it and controlled it long before it reached her face.

She couldn't help that her eyes lingered on those two notches on Jacques' ear, nor could she help wondering just why it was that the Master would choose such an obviously unfit servant to be so close to him. A human's manservant was one of the servants of the house that was the closest day in and day out to the Master. It was always a position that was filled by one of the most trusted Mrr'tani in his service. This one had already proven his nature. She looked back at the Master, almost dragging her eyes away from Jacques.

"As you say, Master," she acknowledged quietly. There was nothing else that she could say or do. But she made a note to keep an eye on the new arrival. The human across the table from her was truly her Master, and she understood that she was but another piece of his property, but she saw so much more than that when she looked at him. He was her mentor and her guardian, and she would not allow a newcomer to harm him.

The feeling of curiosity spiked with a sense of concern and worry when the thought crossed her mind. She realized that her face had hardened and that the muscles were tight in her muzzle. Her whiskers were forward as they always were when she found prey or danger. Jacques could read her face just as well as she could, and in that one moment, she finally stopped pretending that whatever was happening was solely in her imagination. Still, she didn't make any move that would acknowledge what she felt.

"So tell me about your night, Meriah," the Master said as he leaned back in the chair, a content smile on his face.

Meriah took the Master's relaxation as invitation to her own relaxation and the tension in the room seemed to flow out of it as she began to tell him about her hunting during the night. Her story lasted longer than the tea in the mugs, and when she was finished, she had almost forgotten about the subtle little press of another's emotions in the back of her head.

***

"Good day, Meriah," the Master said as he walked out the door. He turned around on the other side of the threshold and ruffled her fur on top of her head. "I'll leave the rifle with you and you can use it as you see fit."

"Many thanks, Master," Meriah replied with a bow.

"Now, go rest for the day. I'm sure you're going to have another few long nights before you've got the S'cree reined in."

"I expect a week of night hunts, Master," Meriah said.

"I'll have the cook send out some food and leave it inside your door for you for breakfast and dinner."

Meriah bowed as the Master turned and walked off the small porch. Jacques followed him close behind and Meriah closed the door. When it was closed, she heaved a sigh of relief. She could still feel Jacques' emotions perched there in the back of her skull, and the intense curiosity that she'd felt from him earlier had dulled somewhat over the course of the tea conversation. Now she could feel his concern, tinged with something she was even more aware of: fear. But beneath all of it was a core of excitement that burned brightly. It was barely there, and she could tell that it was something that he was trying to keep well controlled, but it was there nonetheless.

She could hear the Master's voice outside the door and she paused, quieting her breathing to listen.

"Well, you've seen her," the Master said. "What say you?"

"It remains to be seen, my lord," another voice answered. Meriah could only assume it belonged to Jacques. "But she has the gift. Did you not see her face?"

"I saw the same old Meriah. She's not the most trusting of the Mrr'tani, Jacques."

"It was there, my lord. And from the way that she looked, it has just recently come on."

"So what does that mean? Is she the one they're looking for?"

"I cannot say yet, my lord. Many can feel others, but very few can make others feel them, and I did not feel even the slightest trace of her."

"I got you out here so that you could tell me these things, Jacques. I didn't save your skin from that third notch just to have you tell me that you can't deliver."

"My lord," Meriah heard the hesitation in his voice. He should be afraid, she thought, if he was facing the final notch.

"What I said was honest. I have the gift. It is rare for a male to have it, and when we do, it is weaker than any female's, but it is there. What I said is that I did not feel even a trace. It means that she was hiding from me. I would guess that it was unintentional, possibly instinctual, but it was there."

"Bottom line, whiskers," the Master demanded. Meriah had to stifle a sound. She'd never heard the Master use such language around any of her servants. Perhaps he did realize what kind of Mrr'tani he was dealing with.

"I have never met one so young that could hide so well, my lord. It speaks highly to her being one of the ones they seek."

Meriah could feel the press of Jacques' fear against her mind and she focused on stilling her breathing. She used the same technique that she did when she was hunting and she needed to be still. It worked just as well now as it always did in the bush.

"Fine. You are to ensure that not a soul knows about this. You and I are the only ones. If I find from anyone that they know, I will personally deliver your third notch."

There was a steel in the Master's voice that Meriah had never heard before, and as he spoke she felt a determination within the other Mrr'tani.

"If she is one of the Mothers, then I wish her safe possibly even more than you, my lord."

Meriah heard steps on the gravel outside her door and the voices faded as they walked away. Thankfully, so did Jacques' press of emotions in the back of her mind. Still, she didn't move. She stayed where she was with her back against the hard wooden door, willing her knees to keep her up. They did, but only by pure strength of will.

What did they mean, the gift? Was that what it was? The feeling that she had all morning was a gift? From what it sounded like, Jacques had the same gift. That made her want desperately to fling open the door and run out to ask the questions that were swirling around in her head, but she knew that she couldn't. She could tell from the Master's voice and the words that he used that he didn't entirely trust this Jacques. She had felt his emotions, though, and she knew a little deeper than the Master. Still, she didn't trust the other Mrr'tani. The notches in his ears told her that he was not someone that she should be associating with.

She stood up off the door and made her way to the table where she started cleaning up the remnants of the morning tea. While she was moving the dishes to her little sink, she thought about what it all meant and tried to figure out what to do about all the new information. By the time she finished washing out the tea pot and the cups, she'd made up her mind. She would do nothing. There was nothing to be done about it now, and she still had her duties here beneath the dome. The S'cree were over-breeding, and the Master had a hunt coming up that would need more Chailani, the canid creatures that resembled something the humans called a 'fox.' She couldn't very well have the S'cree eating all of them in the meantime.

The decision made, she closed the curtains tight across the windows, shed her robe and climbed back into bed, curling her long, sinuous tail around her hips as she drew the light sheet up to her shoulders. By the time her eyes closed and her breathing deepened, she had put the entire conversation out of her mind.