Read Necessary Evils (Adventures in the Liaden Universe®?) for Free Online

she was required to analyze vine, leaf, and fruit, keeping a log of her findings until--
    Until
, she thought, one hand rising involuntarily to her throat, unsteady fingertips caressing the ceramic threads woven into her skin...
Until my master gives me other work.
    She bit her lip, fingers curling into a fist. As a general rule of life, it was not well to look too far into the future. Certainly, it was beyond folly for a bond-slave to do so.
    Indeed, it were best for such persons to cultivate a short memory indeed, and an indifference to all except her master's pleasure--especially those who found themselves bonded to a master whose pleasure derived chiefly from another's pain.
    Well.
    Once again she bent to the vines, taking a firm grip just below the node and bringing the shears to bear. She could swear that the plant writhed in her fingers, seeking escape. Not impossible, according to the stories whispered here and there. For though House vel'Albren had made its considerable fortune in wine and custom blends, it was whispered that in the not-so-recent past they, like others of the formerly Closed Houses, had also specialized in the production of . . . custom organisms. Given that her master's character seemed representative of the character of his House, it was not--unfortunately--impossible to imagine that the vines
did
object to being trimmed, and that such action gave them pain.
    Which consideration, fact or fancy, had nothing, she thought sternly, to do with herself. Her sole concern was to avoid such personal pain as she might, and endure what she could not avoid. If trimming the vines gave them pain, well, then, it--it was the master's will. She was nothing more than a tool of the master's will, as devoid of choice as the shears in her hand.
    The vine was severed with a snick, the sample dropped into the basket at her feet. Two more snips and she was done with the day's sampling. She slid the shears into their holster, lifted the basket, turned, and--
    "Eeep!" Her voice quavered upward in surprise, and she jumped, feeling the vengeful talons of the vine she had just trimmed gouge her back through her thin shirt.
    The woman before her tipped her head, pale eyes puzzled in a grave, pale face. She extended a small, neat hand as if to offer assistance, and moved a step forward. Seltin stood her ground, feeling more than a little foolish.
    "Oh!" the woman said, her voice so soft it scarcely made itself heard over the din of breeze through leaf. "I did not want to frighten you."
    Seltin had her breath back now, and some measure of her wits. She threw herself to her knees and bent her head, keeping withal a firm grip on the basket.
    "Mistress," she said, humbly, for everyone here--and elsewhere, for that matter--was her better. "Please forgive me."
    "Ah!" The other clapped her hands, in irritation or in summons, Seltin knew not. She kept her head low, and her back bent, and tried not to think.
    She felt pressure, then-- light, not hurtful--on her head. It took a moment to realize that the other must have placed her hands so, as if in benediction.
    "You show proper respect," the woman said, in her soft voice, and the pressure was gone as she took her hands away. "That is well. Truly, you are forgiven, child. But you must not come again to these vines which are under our care. We shall do what is needful here. And you shall turn your ministrations to those vines which are under the care of the humans of the House. Is it agreed?"
    What
?
    Kneeling, Seltin blinked. Kneeling still, she dared to raise her head and look up into the other's face.
    Pale she was, but not unnaturally so; her eyes of so light a green they appeared nearly colorless. Her hair was an extremely light brown, fine as cobwebs, silken strands rising and dancing in the small breeze. She wore, not the heavy purple robes which were the standard dress of the House, nor yet the crimson shirt and tights of a slave, but a drift of iridescent fabric from shoulders to