Jade gulped in lungs full of breath as the pirate governor let the collar out a notch. She was relieved momentarily until he delivered the verdict of foregoing rape but reserved the right to heavy petting. He did call her “Pet” as if she were a dog or a cat. What did people do with their pets? They petted them. Her stomach clenched at the thought of his hands on her body. Suddenly her shoulders drooped. She was a slave and at the mercy of this man. Would living be preferable to death? She realized the answer was yes. She wanted to live. Where there was life there was hope.<br/><br/>She remembered some of the filthy, greasy men who were partying in the great hall and realized that this man, El Senor,as the priest called him, was all that stood between her and their unbridled depravity. Jade glared at the darkly handsome man, narrowing her eyes.<br/>“You call me ‘pet’. Does that mean that I belong to you? If it does, does that mean that you protect me from the scum in your hall or does it mean that I need to fear that you will throw me to them on a whim to let them abuse my body?”<br/><br/>Jade was practical if nothing else. Her father had driven survival into her brain. She knew the value of cooperation, had learned it at her father’s knee.<br/><br/>At his glance,  she edged toward the bed, giving it a look with all the trepidation that people reserve for snakes. She sat gingerly on the corner of the bed, watching for El Senor to make  a threatening move toward her.<br/><br/>“I will not fight with you.” She said, with a toss of her head. “ I will not kill you in your sleep.”<br/><br/>Jade ran her finger under the collar, massaging the bruised skin under it.<br/><br/>“In time, I may grow used to this, if it will keep me safe from the common rabble of your court.”