This broken path.

**
I should really kill myself for doing this! Instead of writing in \'My Beloved Shadow\', or even IS(which I AM trying to get published) I wrote this. *lol*
Their is a good deal of angst, mostly towards the end. This one isn\'t nearly as long as \'My Beloved Shadow\', it does have an end.
**



Sleep slowly starts to leave Aisling and for a moment she’s in her bed, in her bedroom. Everything is all right and perfect, but then she starts to move and pain shoots through her body. Her eyes open wide as she bites back a moan of pain.

“Ah, your awake, good.”

Aisling turns her head at the sound of the voice and finds herself looking at a woman. The woman seems familiar and, when Aisling tries to remember how, it hits her like a sudden storm.

She had been wandering around in the maze, enjoying the afternoon sun. She had chosen her lavender dress, the one will all the lace and embroidering, and her favorite black slippers. The dress brings out the dark purple of her eyes and the even darker purple of her hair, making it stand out more than the deep red streaks in it.

Aisling had been day dreaming as she walked, thinking about what she would do when she returned to the castle. You see, Aisling is a princess and the only child of the king. As cold hearted as the king might be none of it has touched Aisling, she sees only an adoring father.

And, suddenly, out of the bushes jumps several men. They grab her, one closing a hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming. One of them chants and she’s swallowed by darkness. She awakens some time later to find herself in a cage, in the slave masters hold.

She had refused to eat, though they had forced her. The place had been oppressive, no windows, no lights, moist and smelling of death and urine. Her little girl dreams were being tried but somehow she just knew that her father would save her. When, two days later, they had dragged her out onto the auction black her hopes had begun to fade.

Aisling had fought them men who took her out, had fought him as they displayed her, ripping her favorite dress so that everyone in the audience could get a good look at her.

She had developed early, so at seventeen she is more than ripe with the right curves. And, as befitting a woman, her skin is milky white, unblemished and unmarred by hard work.

She had felt suddenly ill as they started bidding on her, even more so when the auctioneer mentioned that she was a virgin, it seemed to drive the men bidding wild. And then she had her a voice above the other’s, a voice that was musical and soothing. Aisling had looked, actually looked at the crowd, the tears drying up for a moment.

The woman stood in the front of the crowd, her scarlet red hair pulled up severely with ringlets hanging on the sides of her face. Her skin, unlike Aisling’s, was dark and her eyes a deep green. She had been wearing a very revealing gown of deep emerald. It had no sleeves, only a thin strap, and the front dipped low to reveal full breasts. It fell around her legs in layers, petticoats making it stand out though it hugged close to her body till just below her waist.

She had looked up at Aisling the moment Aisling looked at her. The moment the auctioneer slammed his hammer down and announced that Aisling had been sold, to a Madam Shanasa, everything had gone black again. And now, here she is, in a strange room with a woman she’s never met before.
“Please, I shouldn’t be here…” Aisling sits up, only to realize that she’s not wearing anything and immediately burying herself under the blanket, her face red with embarrassment.

“I’m not suppose to be here. I’m princess Aisling Koku. I-if you take me back now, I’m certain my father will reward you.”

The woman, who is now wearing men’s clothing and who’s hair is flowing freely around her, moves to sit on the bed next to Aisling. She’s smiling, her face practically lit up with humor.

“I know, dear, but I’m afraid I can’t. You see, laws are laws and I bought you fairly. If your father wishes you back he will first have to find you, and then pay me a lot of money.

But, see, I don’t think he’ll find you for a long time. I’m sorry, but that’s the way life goes. Your merely a dowry for him. Now, if I keep you instead of taking you back, as you say, I stand to make money, lots of it.”

She leans over and touches Aisling’s cheek and then does something so unexpected that Aisling is left speechless. She kisses Aisling, nothing too demanding or harsh, just a gentle touch of lips. When she pulls back Aisling comes back to herself and burrows deeper into the blanket, whimpering.

Shanasa laughs, “Child, you’ll have to learn to control yourself. No matter how much you dislike someone touching you, you must always act as if you enjoy it. That will be your first lesson, pretending.”

“W-what is the second lesson?”

Aisling is wide eyed and feels suddenly very cold.

“Sex. But, for now you just rest, I won’t make you do more than necessary the first day. They all get to rest the first day. Demeter will be in in a few minutes to bring you something to eat.”

Shanasa had stood up while she spoke, moving towards the door. She pauses and turns around to face Aisling, her face stern.

“If I find that you do not eat, I will personally come in here and force you to eat. I don’t care if I have to beat you. You will be healed before it is necessary for you to be seen.”

And with that she leaves, shutting the door behind her. When the door clicks as she locks it Aisling buries her head in the pillow, crying.

She cries hard enough that she drifts into unconsciousness, only coming back when she hears the lock on the door being turned. When she looks up she sees a boy no more than a year or two older than her. His hair is stripes of crimson red and jet black and falls to his shoulders. His skin is black like coal and he’s wearing only a pair of tight red pants, no shoes.

He’s carrying a tray of food and, remembering the woman’s words, Aisling sits up to take the tray, wrapping the blanket firmly around her.

“Greetings, miss Aisling.”

He says softly, sitting the tray down on the bed, in front of Aisling. He looks up at her and she’s amazed at his eyes, pure black with red for the pupil.

“Madam Shanasa said I was to stay and make certain you eat everything.”

He kneels down at the side of the bed, hands in his lap, and waits. Aisling feels uneasy as she turns her attention to the food on the tray. It’s nothing like what she’s use to, foreign looking meat, dry bread, and some type of pastry that turns out to be tart. But she eats it all, her appetite coming to her as she starts to eat.

When she finishes she looks over at the boy who stands up at the sight of the empty tray.

“The Madam will be pleased. Do you desire something to drink? We have milk, wine, and water.”

“W-water, please.”

He bows and leaves the room, taking the tray with him. While he’s gone she looks around at the room. It’s simple enough in it’s décor, though it’s not something she likes. She likes purples and pinks, the room is red. The walls are painted a dark red, the floor has shaggy carpet that’s a bright red.

The blankets, the whole bedding, is a crimson red with gold veins all over it. It’s made of a material that feels almost like fur. There is no window in the room, only a single painting of a sunset over a lake.

The only other furniture in the room, aside from the bed which is just large enough to fit one person, is a dresser with three drawers that is almost the same color as the walls. All of it is awful to Aisling, too bright, and all of it reminding her of the woman who had bought her at the auction and has plans for Aisling that only she knows.

The sound of Demeter coming into the room wakes her from her thoughts and she turns to look at him. He walks up to the bed and holds out a glass which she gratefully takes. It doesn’t take her long to drink it empty, the meal had made her very thirsty.

“Mistress Kala is finding you some clothes. Madam Shanasa had us to burn what you were wearing. The slave traders had it filthy.”

A single tear escapes and she bites her lower lip. The dress, burned… It had been a gift from her mother before she died. Aisling can’t help it, unbidden in her mind comes the image of her beautiful dress, burned to nothing but a pile of ash, she breaks down and cries uncontrollably in front of the boy.
Demeter is a little nervous when the girl starts crying. He really does feel sorry for her, but usually the new ones aren’t so sensitive. Uncertain what he should he, he runs out of the room.

“Madam Shanasa! Madam Shanasa!”

Shanasa steps out of her room, her face a mask of annoyance. Not that she didn’t enjoy Demeter’s interruption, she had been doing some necessary paperwork, adding up the profit and loss for the past month. But she also doesn’t like the sound of things.

“What is it, Demeter?”

He comes to a halt in front of her, bowing his head low.

“It’s the new girl, Madam, she’s crying and I don’t know what I should do.”

Shanasa rolls her eyes and pushes the boy out of her way.

“Go clean something, Demeter, make yourself useful.”

Demeter bows his head, knowing he had done something wrong, though uncertain what it had been. He goes to find something to do, most likely scrubbing out the oven in the kitchen since no one else likes to.

Shanasa walks into Aisling’s room, shutting the door firmly behind her. Aisling doesn’t even look up, curled as she is in a tight ball beneath the blanket. Her sobs are pathetic to Shanasa’s ears. It’s not that Shanasa doesn’t sympathize with the girl, she really does, but in this life one cannot afford such weakness.

Shanasa had been seven the last time she cried. She walks up to the bed and pulls the blanket away roughly. Aisling screams and tires to cover herself, her tears forgotten for the moment.
“One thing you’ll find out quickly here is that I do not allow such self pity.”

She leans on the bed, grasping Aisling’s head firmly in her hand and forcing the girl to look up at her. The girl really does look pathetic, she thinks to herself, a princess through and through. But Shanasa will not deal with any antics or dramatics.

“You will find yourself with a good beating if you do not obey the rules and do not obey me. I am law here, of which you’ll discover soon enough.”

Shanasa lets go of her head, standing.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” Aisling said, sniffling back a sob as she curled up, trying to make herself seem small. “Y-you burned my dress!”

Shanasa laughs, “Is that what all this was about? Silly girl, soon you’ll be able to buy all the dresses you want.”

“It was from my mother before… Before she died.”

Shanasa understood now, the dress had had meaning to the child. Well, she can’t do anything about it now, not that it would of mattered, the slave traders had torn the dress until it had not been fixable. She had done it a service, burning it.

She can barely even remember her own mother, a sickly woman with whom the gods and cursed with a long, painful, life. Shanasa is certain she is still alive even now.

Shanasa turns on her heels, moving towards the door. She leaves without a word, shutting and locking the door behind her. As she walks down the hall a young woman in her mid-twenties steps to the side, matching pace with Shanasa as she walks by.

“How is she?”

The woman is taller than Shanasa, placing her at five feet eleven inches, with medium brown hair that falls to her shoulders in tight curls. Her features are soft, her form willowy, her hazel eyes shine with life and eternal kindness.

“She will live. It seems the dress meant something to her and she didn’t like that I had it burned.”

“You really are too hard on the new ones, Shanasa.”

She stops and turns to glare at the woman.

“Is their a reason I should be kind to them, Mina? One reason.”

Mina sighs, glancing around her, her eyes suddenly filled with sadness.

“They are here.”

“All the more reason to not be kind. It is better they learn from me just how cruel things are, than to truly learn it the hard way. Their skin has to be tough to go out there.”

Shakily, Aisling crawls to the end of the bed and pulls the blanket back up, then curls up beneath it. She refuses to cry this time, though a few stray tears escape. She hates the whole thing. Hates the stupid room and it’s red coloring, hates Shanasa for keeping her here and being so mean to her.

“Father, please, save me…” She pleads, but it just echo’s back to her.




**
What do you think so far? I\'ve had the idea playing in my head all week. I know how a lot of people fuss that their isn\'t nearly enough Yuri, that it\'s overshadowed by all the Yaoi out there. Well, here\'s a Yuri piece! *lol*
Dark Leather is Yuri, too, in a sense...
Took a little bit to find their names, the main characters anyways. Had to actually look them up online.(btw, babynamer.com is a good site for names. I have more sites, but I don\'t know there urls right off the bat...)
Aisling is English/Irish Gaelic and means Vision.
Shanasa is Hindi and means Desire.
I don\'t have meanings for the other names. Thought it would be funning making Aislings name Koku, not only did I mix a Japanese name with that of another country, but I half way named her after my horse. *lol* Have a black/brown colt who\'s name is Ryu Koku. He\'s a wild one! :D
Anyways, I believe that\'s it. Oh, let me know if you want me to write more!