Star Wars_ Fate of the Jedi 05_ Allies - Christie Golden [67]
“Good breeding,” Madhi said.
“Very,” Shohta said.
“And you think I’ll be happy with how you serve me?”
“I do hope so, mistress.”
“And what could I do to you, if I was unhappy? Legally?” Madhi watched him intently, and Shohta began to squirm, ever so slightly.
“I—well, you own me. You could do anything you wish.”
“I could beat you? Starve you? Whip you in public?”
“Not in public. Behind closed doors, yes.”
Madhi was relentless. “I could, if I owned your children, beat them in order to punish you?”
“Yes, you could.”
Madhi’s eyes bored into his. “I could … kill you? Force you to be … involved with me?”
The slave was clearly uncomfortable now, but he squared his shoulders and answered the question. “Anything you wished. I am yours to deal with as you see fit.”
“Anything I wished,” Madhi repeated. “Because I had good luck in a game of chance, I now have a living, breathing, thinking, feeling being that I could do all manner of things to just because I wanted to.” She regarded him for a moment more, then turned back to the cam. She could feel the heat of indignation in her face, and hoped it came through despite the makeup.
“This is the ugly reality of slavery. Oh, the Chevins let the Chevs paint, let them perform their traditional plays, so they can make money off the paintings and performances. They are overall decent to their slaves—because you don’t damage valuable property. Maybe the Chevs are lucky. But they’re only as lucky as the people who own them decide they are. What if Shohta here isn’t lucky?”
She turned back to him. Shohta’s eyes widened, but he stood still. He was, Madhi mused with a pang, a very well-trained slave indeed.
“Well, I am going to do whatever I want with you, Shohta. And do you know what that is?”
He licked lips that had gone slightly dry. “No, mistress. Please tell me, that I may obey.”
“I’m going to free you.”
His jaw did not quite drop, but his eyes widened even further.
“Do you want to be freed?” This was the moment, and she knew it. If Shohta said no, he was happy being a slave, then this whole thing would have backfired. She’d have to scrap the whole segment and start over, and the most important thing to her—the wants and needs of those who were the actual slaves—would mean nothing.
For a long time, he didn’t speak. Then he looked her in the eye.
“A kindly mistress is still a mistress, and a comfortable cage still confines,” he said, quietly. “Yes. Yes, I wish to be free.”
Madhi blinked rapidly. Her voice, when she turned back to the cam, was quite unprofessionally thick.
“Then consider it done,” she said. “And later today, when businesses are open I will make it formal. I’ll be hiring you as a member of my staff, if you would like. Otherwise, you are free to go wherever you wish.”
“I think … I would like to be … employed by you,” he said, turning over the phrase on his tongue with not a little awe. He bowed, deeply, as he had been doing all his life. But when he straightened, there was a new expression on his face. One of pride, of confidence, of gratitude that had nothing to do with subservience. Madhi couldn’t help but smile.
She was sure that on the next world they went to, the Freedom Flight would decide to make actual physical contact. And Shohta Laar would be right beside her when they did.
SOLO SAFE HOUSE, CORUSCANT
THREEPIO WAS ACTING WEIRD.
Allana did not think it was a malfunction, but he was definitely behaving in an unusual manner. Over the last couple of days, he had seemed both more pleased and more annoyed than usual. Threepio was always a little annoyed about something, or else he didn’t seem to be able to be happy. That puzzled Allana, but she had encountered living beings who were the same way, so she simply filed away this insight into the droid’s personality without further worry.
But recently, the golden protocol droid didn’t seem to be annoyed with anyone else. He seemed