The life of Ts'ala

[aldriona]

I have decided to write a collection of mini stories, describing various events in the ophian Ts'ala's life up until when she joined Talarra.

I will attempt to keep them in a chronological order, but I make no promises.

[aldriona]

The first thing she remembered in her life was her mistress. A much younger version of her, only three feet tall and with emerald and turqouise scales that shone like gems in the sunlight. Even as a small child she was beautiful, slender and graceful by nature. She was always at least half a head taller than Ts'ala, but then again she was a year older than her as well.

She played with her toys in the sunny courtyard. Currently it was an elaborate game with polished marbles stacked in unsteady piles and knocked over with the help of marbles of another colour. Ts'ala's job was to fetch the marbles and bring them back to Mistress when they rolled out of her reach.

There had been a time when she had felt jealous, when she wanted to play as well and thought it was unfair that she only got to watch. But she knew better now. She was lucky to be in a pretty place like this, to get to be in the sun and watch Mistress play. Most slaves in the household weren't so lucky, they worked inside or with heavy work in the fields all day long, this she had been taught. She was blessed to be the private belonging of her Mistress and that her only job was to keep her happy.

At a word from Mistress she went out of the courtyard and into the house. Soon she returned with a silver tray and a big glass containing colourful fruit juice and ice cubes. She walked slowly, cautious not to trip on anything or to let the glass slide off the tray. It felt so heavy, but she didn't want to anger anyone by being clumsy and stupid again.

She worried about that a lot.

She stumbled some times, she dropped things that were too heavy for her or did mistakes. She had been told that it would get better, that she'd learn once she got a little older and a little stronger, but a small voice inside her persisted in telling her she'd be like this forever, clumsy and awkward and a disappointment.

All these thoughts vanished at the bright smile on Mistress' face when she recieved the juice, her favourite flavour. As long as she could make her smile, everything would be all right. Mistress was happy, and so was she.