Tama

  I felt my troubles melt away, my thoughts became distant as I looked into my reflection. I only had one clear thought, and I really savored it before I let it go. Thank you, Tama, for everything.

  ?

  ? I stood, turned, and made my way back to the camp, taking my time to really enjoy the scenery. On the surface, it was a destroyed city, a place where once had been life. But if one looked closely, as I now did, I saw so much more.

  ?

  ? “I stand corrected,” Anna said in the back of my mind. “You are both scary.” She indeed sounded terrified. I smiled as I kept walking.

  ?

  ? We made it back to camp with no hassle. T he city was destroyed and abandoned after all. As I reached the camp, I overheard Tama talking to her slaves. “Nya! Tama loves fish, and it is important you know how to cook them!”

  ?

  ? I smiled and shook my head. For someone who hated the idea of slavery, she was really good at owning slaves. I entered the camp to see Tama was cooking on the still-burning blue campfire. The fact that it had burned nonstop for three days while not using any known fuel was insane to me.

  ?

  ? I actually considered that for a moment, then reconsidered how I was looking at it. I walked over to the campfire and Tama’s cooking. Looking at the campfire, I studied it for a while.

  ?

  ? Tama did not interrupt me and continued going over how to cook fish ‘the right way’ and how ‘the black parts were the tastiest.’ I winced at her poor slaves having to eat burnt fish because Tama liked charcoal .

  ?

  ? Paige looked resigned to her fate, but Tristy stepped up. “Um, Mistress Tama, might I try to cook it differently and see if you like it that way?” she asked timidly. Tama’s head shot up, causing Tristy to step back from fear. But Tama’s smile was as wide as can be. Of course it wasfrom her perspective, Tristy was warming up to her. This was sadly not the case for poor Tama; rather, Tristy just really did not want to eat burnt fish.

  ?

  ? Still, she was bold. Any normal slave owner would have punished her severely for that. Tama was probably the worst slave owner if you counted on her expecting things of you, or giving you punishments, or really anything related to being a slave.

  ?

  ? There was a reason Tama called them friends and not her slaves. I watched as Tama happily handed the pan to Tristy, who fearfully began to cook. She seemed decent at it. I wondered if her parents had taught her before they died.

  ?

  ? After a while, she cooked a decent fish. I was impressed and watched as Tristy, as a slave should, gently slid the fish and made it look nice, then carried it on the nicest, least broken plate she could find over to Tama. Then she bent down to her knees, bowed her head, and held the plate above with the fish on it. “For you, my Mistress, please allow this humble slave to serve you.”

  ?

  ? I winced hard. Tama watched as Tristy did all of this, and the look on her face screamed why. Made even worse when Tristy got on her knees. Tama looked like she was about to blink away like she did with all things she did not like.

  ?

  ? “Tama, just thank her and accept the fish, please,” I said, trying my best to prevent another misunderstanding.

  ?

  ? Tama looked at me uncertainly, and I saw the sadness and confusion in her eyes. We definitely needed to talk someplace private about this. I hoped she would have at least understood the slaves’ position in the hierarchy, but she clearly seemed to be trying to treat them as friends when doing so only damned them further.

  ?

  ? When a misplaced word out of her mouth could kill them, there was no true friendship. She needed to understand that.

  ?

  ? After a long moment, Tama slowly took the fish from the plate and said, “Thank you, Tristy, it looks amazing!” Her voice sounded strained, like she was trying not to cry.

  ?

  ? “Of course, my Mistress, I live to serve,” was Tristy’s instant, almost grateful reply.

  ?

  ? I saw the moment Tama, cracked it was subtle, but I saw it. She vanished from sight and was gone in an instant. I winced as Tristy shakily looked up, noticed Tama was gone, then fell to her knees and began to sob quietly.

  ?

  ? Tama was going to have to answer for this. “TAMA!” I screamed loudly. I knew she could hear me.

  ?

  ? For a moment, nothing happened, then the world shifted around me, and I was standing next to a ruin wall. The slaves and campfire were nowhere to be seen. Only Tama, sitting by herself in the fetal position, sucking her thumb and sobbing uncontrollably. “Why!” she cried out. “Why!”

  ?

  ? I sighed and gently sat down next to Tama before speaking. “Tama, I understand now how you see things. The water, the lake, the soul. It makes so much sense. But there is something you are missing about the world. Sometimes, people need to be treated a certain way. Those slaves can never truly be your friends, no matter how much you want it.” I pursed my lips and gently massaged her head.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  ?

  ? She continued to sob uncontrollably as I did. “But, but Tama thought if she, Tama thought maybe if she was nice, they would be friends,” she managed to get out between wracking sobs.

  ?

  ? I smiled down at her sadly. “Oh, Tama, I understand how you feel, but that was never going to be the case. They are in a bad position, and they need you to be their Mistress. They do not want you to be their friend, they do not want you to coddle or be nice to them. They want to serve you like they have been trained. Do you remember Tera?”

  ?

  ? At the name ‘Tera,’ Tama stiffened, and her teeth clenched. “Tama does not want to talk about Tera!” she snapped at me. I smiled, knowing I hit the right point. I could literally hear the growling in her voice.

  ?

  ? “You know for a fact we have to talk about Tera, Tama, and you know why,” I said in a cute tone as I smiled down at her. She stuck her tongue out at me, and I laughed.

  ?

  ? “But Tera chose to be a servant, and if she wanted, Tama could put her back!” Tama said defensively. Her tail wrapped around her like a belt as she continued to suck on her own thumb. She looked like an overgrown toddler. It was hard to be serious when I wanted to pick her up and coddle her.

  ?

  ? “Tama, you cannot put Tera ‘back’ just as you cannot put Tristy or that other quiet one back. What you and the world has done to them is not something that can just be flipped like a switch,” I said quietly, trying to appear solemn. Though my mask was slipping she really did just look so adorable like this.

  ?

  ? “But Tama can! She just has to royally decree that Tera is all better!” Tama said seriously to me .

  ?

  ? I lost it at that. I laughed hard at her antics. “Tama, Tama, you cannot be serious. You cannot just command someone to get better,” I said between bouts of laughter. I wiped tears of joy from my eyes. Sometimes Tama had the strangest ideas.

  ?

  ? I sighed heavily as I calmed down, and I looked carefully at Tama as I considered my next words. We sat there in silence for a long time, the only sound being Tama sucking on her thumb. Which was simultaneously the most childish thing I had ever seen her do and the cutest. I honestly never wanted her to stop, even though I felt bad thinking it.

  ?

  ? Finally, I took a long moment as an idea hit me. I looked at Tama closely again before speaking. “Tama is Tama.”

  ?

  ? Tama looked at me confused but nodded. I continued, “Saki is Saki.”

  ?

  ? Tama looked even more perplexed but nodded again. Then I leaned in until our eyes were inches from each other, and I said, “Tera is Tera.”

  ?

  ? She froze, but said nothing. After a moment, she nodded slowly.

  ?

  ? “Tell me something, Tama. Are you Tama or are you not?” I said as I smiled at her. She took her thumb out of her mouth and sat up. She glared at me and said, “Tama is Tama!”

  ?

  ? “That is right,” I said. “You are all of you, and you are none of you. When you take away a piece of you, are you still you?”

  ?

  ? Tama considered for a moment before nodding. “Exactly,” I continued. “And that means that Tristy is Tristy, Tera is Tera, and Tama is Tama.”

  ?

  ? Tama stared at me for a long time, her thumb long forgotten to my chagrin as she stared into my eyes. I stared right back. “Tama wants me to treat Tama as Tama. So why shouldn't Tama treat Tristy as Tristy?” I asked her quietly as I stared into her sapphire eyes.

  ?

  ? “But Tama wants to be their friend ,” she said weakly. Her tail slowly unraveled and twitched .

  ?

  ? “Yes, but what does Tristy want? Did you ever ask her? I know you have a high perception, Tama. I know you could hear her,” I said simply.

  ?

  ? Silence filled the area again. Then slowly, Tama climbed to her feet and wiped away her tears. She looked at me strangely before saying quietly, “Tama is thankful you are her friend.” She then turned without another word and walked back to the camp.

  ?

  ? She did not blink, she did not run. She walked slowly back to the camp, seemingly lost in thought.