Day One- Success!

Hello Earthlings!

Well, despite my distressingly slow start, I managed nearly 3000 words on day one and I'm rather proud of myself for that.  This story is just flowing from my fingertips so far and I'm very excited to be writing again.  I will need that extra word cushion tomorrow, though, as we're going to be meeting some friends to go out for dinner.  (Indian food, yum!)

A note about the following section to anyone who is reading it.  My book involves a race of aliens.  I have yet to come up with an acceptable name for these alien folks.  For the moment, I'm just referring to them as the masters and mistresses.  If you see a capitalized Master or Mistress, you know that it's referring to a specific alien, but lowercase means the race in general.  I'll be updating that when I come up with a name for the species, but for now please be patient with me.  :o)

Second note: Sorry about formatting ickiness. This thing doesn't copy and paste from Google Drive to Blogger very well.  :o(

Rosie tended to be rougher on her flock, as she was less apt at keeping them in line before they caused problems.  Regardless, she was stronger and fiercer, so the Master trusted her with more wards.  Neither of them had ever had to protect their charges physically in the three years since they had come to the estate, but the possibility always loomed.  Wolves, bears, wild humans... there were many predators for a tasty sheep.

Sometimes Daisy thought that Rosie actually wanted an attack on her flock.  She enjoyed fighting and was bored with simple roughhousing with the other humans on the estate.  Daisy was prepared to defend her flock, with her life if necessary, but would prefer if it never became an issue.

A soft note rose up from the dense forest to the north and Daisy recognized it as the Master’s hunting horn.  A mild wave of disappointment swept through her, but she stifled it.  The chances that she would see Jack today were slim anyway.  Now they were nonexistent.  Reflexively, she glanced back towards the estate, but of course no golden-eyed gaze stared back.  

Daisy remembered the breathless moment when she had first met Jack, a few weeks after coming to the estate.  At first, Rosie had allowed her to stay close and had defended her from the sometimes aggressive attention of the humans on the estate, but she quickly tired of acting as her sister’s keeper.  She began to snap at her, chasing Daisy away when she sought her familiar presence.  They were housed in the same sleeping quarters, but before long it was only when they made their way to bed or when they were taking their flocks out to graze that Daisy saw her sister at all.  

This left her to fend for herself and she preferred to simply stay out of notice altogether.  Unfortunately, some of the more persistent humans quickly found her haunts in the barns or gardens.  On that memorable day, she had been sitting beneath a tree at twilight, eating her supper.  The sheep were safely in their pens and she was enjoying a moment in the beautifully blooming rose garden before going inside to do some mending.  

“Little Daisy,” a low voice said as a form stepped out from behind a large rose bush.  She startled and nearly dropped her meal.  Instinctively, she pressed her back into the tree trunk, her skin prickling as her muscles tensed for fight or flight.  Raising her eyes to the new arrival, she recognized him as Hayl, the prime male of the Herder humans on the estate.  He had been particularly overbearing since their arrival, taking Daisy and her sister almost naturally as his possessions.  Rosie didn’t seem to mind the attention so much, though she did not hesitate to show Hayl that she was willing to stand up to him, but he frightened Daisy.  

With a dark smirk, he leaned down over her.  “Why are you out here all alone, Little Daisy?” he asked.  “You should be in eating with the rest of us.”

She did not dare lower her eyes this time and carefully told him, “I just want to be alone, thank you.”

Her response seemed to amuse him all the more.  He grinned, showing his teeth, and replied, “Perhaps I will stay out here with you.  We could get to know each other better.”  He lowered a hand to touch her face but she jerked away from him, eliciting a chuckle.

“No thank you,” she said, trying to figure out how to escape him.  She couldn’t stand up without touching him, blocked in as she was.  “I’m sure you’d rather spend time with someone more interesting than me.”

He dropped into a crouch so suddenly that Daisy had to bite her tongue to keep from yelping.  He was larger than her and his fists were firmly planted against the tree trunk on either side of her, caging her in.  She cringed back against the tree, a growl building in the back of her throat.  He spoke in a soft purr and his words sent shivers of disgust down her spine.  “You know why you were brought here, don’t you Little Daisy?  You know why the Master bought you and your pretty sister?”

She knew, but she did not like to think about it.  “To herd the sheep,” she said in a small, defiant voice.

He laughed and she could see his sharp canines.  “You and your sister are fine, purebred Herders.  The Master knows that you will make excellent children- with the right stud.”  She could feel Hayl’s hot breath on her face.  He smelled like meat.  Daisy fought back a wave of nausea, her eyes still locked on him as her brain continued to search for some escape.  Rosie, help me! she cried out in her mind.

“Not yet,” she replied, trying to sound confident.  “The Master is too wise to risk both us and our potential children by breeding us while we are still so young.”

“Old enough, I think,” he said, his voice a growl from deep in his chest.  His hand moved down to touch her face again and this time she had nowhere to flinch.

“Hayl,” came another voice, one that Daisy didn’t recognize but that she was deeply grateful to when it caused the Herder to stiffen and withdraw his hand.  She could easily read the lines of Hayl’s body as he stood and turned to face the new stranger.  He was proud, showing confidence in his own strength, but at the same time, his hunched shoulders showed a defensive position indicating that he knew he was facing his superior.

“Jack,” Hayl replied.  Daisy did not recognize the name.

“I think that you had best go back and mind your Herders,” Jack told him, his voice was deep and even, sending little rumbles through Daisy’s chest.  

“This is one of my Herders,” Hayl began, but Jack cut him off with a simple shake of his head.  Daisy could see Hayl bristle and prepared herself to run when the fight began, but to her surprise, Hayl dipped his head minutely and left.

She thought that nothing could relieve her more than having the aggressive male leave, but now she found her terror doubled as she was confronted with an even more powerful human.  She tried to make herself sit up straight as she shifted her gaze to this Jack and her breath caught as her eyes met his.  

She had seen eyes like his before on the Master’s breed of West Barrow Hunters, pale yellow centers with a ring of dark brown, making her feel like she was being stared at by some sort of phantom.  He was only slightly taller than Hayl, perhaps six feet, but his frame was leaner and his chest deeper.  His arms and legs were thick and muscular, built for speed and to help his master take down prey.  The moon reflected off his shaved head and silver-gray skin, making it look almost watery.  But she couldn’t take her gaze from those queer yellow eyes.

He didn’t say anything to her, but stared at her for a long time before turning and walking away.  When he had disappeared back into the estate, Daisy sagged back against her tree, feeling that she’d run a marathon.

Some casual questions amongst the various other humans taught her in time that Jack was the leader of the West Barrow Hunters on the estate and had won a number of prizes for the Master with his strength and skill.  He was, without question, the favorite human on the estate and the four other West Barrow Hunters were his loyal entourage.  She heard some of the silly house-humans speak in awe about the unity with which they lived and hunted.

She found herself searching for him as she went about her duties on the estate.  Rarely over those first months was she rewarded with a view of him, usually surrounded by his West Barrow brothers and often moving with a sense of purpose that indicated he was doing some work for the Master, though what Hunters did when they were not hunting, she did not know.  Once or twice, he had turned his head or raised his eyes at just the right moment to catch her staring at him.  Those yellow eyes pierced right through her and she always blushed furiously and hurried away.

It took time, but she slowly became accustomed to her new home on the estate.  She got to know the other humans and they generally left her alone, though she found better hiding places to take her supper so that she would not be disturbed by Hayl again.  She became familiar with the Master and his family.  He and his wife did not have much to do with the Herders, leaving that to his older son.  This one, Master Athanaric, was fairly easy going, as long as no harm came to the sheep.  There were six Herders in all, each with his or her own flock to manage during the day.  One day one of the older Herders returned in the evening carrying a lamb who had wandered off and fallen down a rocky hill, breaking a leg.  She would not forget the look on Master Athanaric’s face as he led that human away for punishment.  She was doubly anxious to keep her flock in good condition after that.

There was only one other master on the estate, and that was the Master’s young daughter, Mistress Ayodelle.  Daisy found it hard to judge age in the masters, but she estimated that Mistress Ayodelle was no more than one hundred years, still a child.  She would occasionally come to watch the Herders work or even play with them.  

The first time Daisy had seen the mistress approach, she had still been getting to know her little flock.  She had been afraid that the coming of a mistress was a sign that she had done something wrong and was to be punished.  She had wrapped her arms around the neck of the sheep she had been stroking and watched the approach with large, anxious eyes.  

Mistress Ayodelle seemed to sense her distress and paused a ways from the flock.  Softly, she called, “It’s ok, Herder girl.  I won’t hurt you.  I just want to see you.”  She had the slightly odd flutelike sound that most masters had when they spoke out loud, but the very fact that she was using her voice comforted Daisy.  Now that she was closer, Daisy could see that she was still small, only a little taller than Daisy herself, perhaps half of her future full-grown height.  

Daisy released the sheep and stood, keeping her eyes on the ground, and Mistress Ayodelle approached.  She reached out with one of her long, thrice jointed arms and lightly patted Daisy’s head, giving her a greater sense of reassurance so that she braved a peek into the mistress’s face.  Her eyes were large and inky black, like all of her species, but Daisy was able to see that they held only curiosity and affection.  Daisy smiled tentatively.

“I am Mistress Ayodelle,” the girl said, speaking slowly, like Daisy might expect one to direct at a small child.  “Master Abidan is my father.  I came to see you since you’re new here.  You seem like a nice human.”

Daisy nodded as she examined the mistress.  Her skin had the same milky, translucent appearance as most of the masters that she’d encountered, with the pale violet veins visible beneath.  She was quite lovely for a mistress of her age.  “Yes, Mistress Ayodelle,” she said, softly.

Mistress Ayodelle’s face flushed with pleasure at Daisy’s response.  “What is your name?” she asked, “And how old are you?”

“I am called Daisy,” she answered, dutifully, “And I am fourteen years old.”

The mistress looked surprised. “Oh!  I thought that you were younger,” she said, sounding somewhat disappointed, though Daisy was not sure why.  “I am going to watch you work, ok?”

Daisy nodded and then, noticing one of the sheep had wandered a bit, gave the mistress a questioning glance and, receiving a look of encouragement, darted off to bring it back.  Mistress Ayodelle had stayed with her for nearly an hour, talking to her and, eventually, playing a game of chase with her, which pleased Daisy immensely.  

After that, Mistress Ayodelle had come to visit Daisy fairly, though Rosie said that she hardly ever saw the young mistress.  Daisy kept a secret joy in her heart that perhaps at least one of the masters on the estate preferred her over her sister.