The First Step

[Grace Galaxy]

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Word Count: 386

S'no problem, really. Something to look forward to when I got home.   P.S.That table is kind of hard to read. >

★ ★ ★

The difference between a master and a slave, in many cases, is conditioning. Grace might have ended up more demure, had her mother had her way. It was her father's influence that had lead her down the path that she was on. She was no master - no, she had not been conditioned to see the world in such a way. The world wasn't something for her to dominate and control; it was something for her to see, to experience, to understand. An endless sandbox filled with buried treasure, and occasionally, dog poop.

Hadley, conditioned to view the world in strict hierarchy, had such a different experience than she did, even in shared moment. She wondered briefly what that would be like; she wasn't necessarily inclined to get herself enslaved just to find out, but it was a curious thought. What must the world be like to him? She would have to ask, someday, when he was healed.

Hadley hadn't woken her, and even if he had, she would have just gone back to sleep, had it been too early. Sleeping in a stable - or let alone, in her parents' home when her father had forgotten to do something he'd been asked to do - had accustommed her to a variety of sounds, and she wasn't particularly easy to irritate, unless someone was being purposefully obnoxious. As she led Hadley toward the stable, she considered the flexuous path that lay ahead for him. Decisions to be made, paths to be considered. For now, he could just be helpful, and she would try to help him figure out the rest as it happened.

When they arrived at the stable, Taj took a perch. He seemed not to like the way Grace moved when she lifted heavy things or did strenuous work. She grabbed a bag of feed for the horses and hefted it, nodding to the other bags. "Grab a bag and give some to each of the horses on the left side of the stable. I'll do the right side." Perhaps he would like a riding lesson, after they mucked the horses stalls. With two of them, tasks should be much more efficient. If he was good at it, she could potentially hire him on as an assistant, giving him security in his new freedom.

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