Under A Velvet Cloak by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

the weird variants. She found it challenging and instructive, but was able to handle it. It was not painful, just different.
    Kerena settled into a comfortable situation. She was treated well by Hirsh, Ona, and the household staff. The sex was tolerable and often interesting and challenging. She was free to go into town when there was time, and she did visit Molly, who was amazed and gratified by her success. And Hirsh started teaching her to read.
    The reading sessions were typically after sex; it seemed he did not like to spurt and run, but to have more of a relationship. He gave her a handmade alphabet book that illustrated each letter with a picture. A was for Apple, with the A in color, matching the apple. B was for Bum, with a maid’s plush bare bottom showing. It was fun. He showed her how the letters combined to form words, which could be sounded out, though many seemed to follow no reasonable rules and simply had to be memorized. It was a challenge, but she loved it, and he in turn liked her ready aptitude.
    “You are destined for higher things than being a man’s mistress,” he remarked.
    “What could be higher than being your mistress?” she asked playfully.
    And the scene wavered, assuming that fuzziness of outline that indicated a divergence of the timelines. Jolie, on the verge of napping, came alert.
    Yet no choice was being made here. Kerena was merely expressing her satisfaction with her present existence.
    Which suggested that this was the wrong path. But what else offered?
    Jolie scrambled for alternatives, testing each by sending the thought to Kerena. Return to the brothel? The lines fuzzed worse. Seek other employment? Still the fuzz. Disagree with Hirsh? Worse. Agree with him? The lines clarified. Why should that be? She would have to play it through to see where it led.
    She returned to Hirsh’s statement. “Well, I hope so,” Kerena said smoothly. “Though being your mistress is hardly a chore.”
    “You are kind. Ona really appreciates your effort.”
    “I am glad of that.”
    The lines wavered.
    Again, Jolie was in a quandary. What was wrong with this amicable discussion? Kerena was glad; she knew how difficult Hirsh’s wife could have made her existence, had she chosen. Instead she was supportive, and a nice companion. Should she be otherwise?
    The lines clarified somewhat. This was the right track.
    Jolie returned to the point of divergence. “I am glad of that,” Kerena said. “But surely she would be happier if there were no need for my services.”
    “Surely,” he agreed. “But I am as I am, and she is as she is, so we must make the best of it. We are excellently matched in other respects.”
    The alternates aligned, but now there was a thought in Kerena’s mind. They were making the best of a difficult situation, but wouldn’t they be better off if the situation improved? So that there was no need for a mistress?
    After the session, Kerena went to Ona. “Please, I do not wish to cause you distress, but there is something on my mind.”
    Ona looked at her with alarm. “The work is too much for you?”
    “No, not at all. I have learned Hirsh’s ways and they are challenging but not onerous. Betweentimes he is teaching me to read and write. I like it here. But-” She broke off.
    “There is ever a ‘but,’ ” Ona said sadly.
    “But I fear I am causing you distress merely by the need for my presence. You should be with Hirsh, no one else.”
    “Agreed. But I am long since resigned. It is hardly your fault.”
    “He- I-I do not know how to say this without risking offense.”
    “No offense, dear,” Ona said patiently. “Say what you must.”
    “Hirsh is teaching me to read. It is difficult, but I am very glad to learn, knowing it will surely help me later in life. You-if I could teach you how to-”
    “Now I appreciate your gist. I know how, but there is pain. As I told you, balms do not suffice. Despite your youth, you have had experience I have not, but this is