His to Save (Mastering Melody Book 3) Read online

And three weeks later, another pregnancy confirmed our family would grow some more, bringing even more joy to my life in the only way it would arrive.

  12

  Ten Years Later…

  Today we were celebrating Demarco’s eleventh birthday.

  It wasn’t like the traditional sense of what one would do for a child’s birthday — such as a throw a party — but we did have cake; cake we made from scratch every time a birthday rolled around for one of the children.

  And yet, today would be different because we were to have guests.

  Master wouldn’t tell us who would be showing up, telling us it was a secret. However, we had a bet among ourselves that it was Morné and maybe his fiancée he mentioned the last time he visited. We were eager to meet her, as Morné would often bring us treats and gifts when he came to visit.

  I had no doubt he wouldn’t forget Demarco’s birthday, so it had to be him because he had been coming here at least once a year since my arrival. His visit was also the only time Master let us join him for dinner ever.

  The children were excited, although most of them wouldn’t be up long after his arrival, and I would likely be exhausted by then myself considering my current pregnancy was in its seventh month.

  After the birth of our second son, Kopano, when Demarco was less than two years old, Master decided to wait only six months after the birth to get me pregnant again.

  The doctor wasn’t happy at first. He warned Master he should wait at least a year, but eventually gave his approval as long as there weren’t any complications — which there hadn’t been, luckily. I also had to make sure to take vitamins and exercise appropriately, and from that pregnancy on, I haven’t spent more than six months without carrying a child.

  This pregnancy was my tenth for Master, and he admitted after finding out about this one that he enjoyed being a father to the point he wouldn’t stop getting me pregnant until I couldn’t carry any more babies due to age or complications. Since it wasn’t for me to question him, turning thirty-six this year meant I could have another decade or so left naturally.

  My children brought me such happiness that this didn’t bother me as it might’ve before and I looked forward to each pregnancy, as well as the birth that brought another beautiful little life into my world to love.

  We didn’t know the sex of the baby in my womb as we hadn’t known the others, and even though he didn’t say it, I believe Master wanted another daughter.

  With our seven sons — Demarco, Kopano, Mamello, Shaka, Tau, little Marius, and Oyama, in that order — the house was rarely quiet. During our time alone, Master often admitted he preferred spending time with the girls, Naledi and Onalenna — who were the two youngest — because they were less rambunctious and sweeter.

  I didn’t live in fear of what would happen to our daughters when they were older, because I had zero control over it, but inside I did wish for this baby and any more to be boys. I had no idea how I would handle my daughter’s being sold to men who would use them as slaves or married off, which most likely meant I wouldn’t ever see them again.

  Even if I didn’t say anything after my rant all those years ago, Master knew how I felt about it and would refer to the baby as ‘he’ even when inside me, as if calling it such would make it true.

  My worries for my sons were different. They would grow up to become men who would follow in their father’s footsteps, brought up around slaves — including their mother — and would know this life as their reality. They would see many women as their property, and although I would never wish death upon my children, I often wanted something drastic to happen that would free them from such a future.

  It hadn’t happened yet, and likely wouldn’t, considering how well-guarded we were inside these walls, and with how little others were invited in.

  And thinking of others, I concentrated on baking the cake and getting things ready for dinner with our guests.

  Since dinner would be later than our regular eating time, the youngest five children ate a separate meal and were already in bed by the time our guests arrived.

  Demarco, Kopano, and Mamello grumbled about having to wait but were told they either ate dinner early and went to bed or waited. They chose to hold on, of course, because boys their age didn’t like going to bed at the same time as the babies.

  We used the formal dining room for the yearly dinner and tonight, as the doorbell rang to announce their arrival, the table was set, the food hot and ready.

  Except for Master, who stood behind his chair, the rest of were made to stand off to the side with our gazes lowered to the ground and hands behind our backs. The boys didn’t have to do this, but they often followed our lead as they were used to spending their days trailing us around the house.

  I heard them enter and walk toward Master with quiet chatter amongst themselves, and grinned at hearing Morné’s voice because we were right about him visiting us.

  Then I frowned, because I heard two new women’s voices instead of just one, and couldn’t figure out what was going on until we were allowed to join the table.

  A few more minutes passed before Morné’s distinctive chuckle rang out in the room, and he said, “Come join us, ladies. And wow boys! You’ve all grown so big since last year.”

  I lifted my gaze with a smile as the boys responded to his comment with their typical loudness, only to freeze in place at the sight of Rohan sitting to Master’s left. There was a woman by his side, her arm looped through his, and he stared down at her with the same grin I remembered well.

  Rohan sitting here inside the house of the man who bought and kept me from ever returning to him caught me by surprise. It wasn’t like he didn’t know I actually survived; Morné had ended up telling him the truth shortly after the visit in which he revealed Rohan and Tiaan were alive and well to me.

  I hadn’t found that out until three years ago during one of his visits where he got drunk and admitted he should’ve told Rohan sooner. Master hadn’t been too pleased with his behavior but by then his failure to inform Rohan of my continued existence didn’t mean anything.

  At that point, Master owned me, we were about to have our seventh child, and I no longer fantasized about Rohan or even loved him anymore.

  At least, I believed that as the truth until tonight, where seeing him after so long brought back all the old memories I had worked so hard to shove aside, even though I had never forgotten Tiaan.

  “Melody,” Master said in a firm tone from where he sat, nodding toward my seat when I jerked my gaze to his from where I stared at Rohan. I saw awareness of the situation in his eyes and he trusted me to continue behaving as I should even in the face of the man I bore my first child with. “Sit down so we may begin eating.”

  I sat through the whole meal eating on autopilot, most of the conversation going on between Morné, his date — not his fiancée yet, apparently — Master, and the woman by Rohan’s side that seemed to speak for him, while us females and the children ate in relative silence. Although the boys could speak freely, the rest of us weren’t allowed to speak unless spoken to.

  And I spent the whole meal time making myself behave, such as managing not to stare at him and not trying too hard to learn the woman’s name or her role in Rohan’s life.

  As the evening dragged on, the boys were dismissed to go to bed, and I longed to escape to the peace and quiet of my room, yet couldn’t leave until our guests retired for the night.

  Finally, when everyone finished eating, our guests and Master stood. Master directed Layla to bring wine to the library while Morné thanked us for the lovely meal and bid us a good evening.

  After he had led them out of the dining room, we hurried to clean up before our bedtime.

  “That was him, wasn’t it?”

  Lira asked the questions, but the girls gathered round me in the kitchen as we washed the dishes and I nodded, the tears I held back upon seeing him blurring my vision. “Yes. And he didn’t acknowledge me with even a look.”


  “Maybe it was easier to pretend he doesn’t know you?”

  Mia shrugged, but it wasn’t because she didn’t care. Rather, we understood the nature of our world and really, what good would a look from Rohan do? It wasn’t like he could speak to me.

  “I thought the woman he was with seemed really nice. Did you know her?”

  This question came from Greta, and I shook my head while rinsing off the plates. “No. They were close the whole night, though. That might be his wife or girlfriend.”

  I sighed when Layla entered the kitchen and stood beside me with her hand out to dry off the plate. “We were discussing Rohan.”

  She laughed and took the plate out of my hand, rubbing it with the towel. “I thought you were. Go on.”

  “I just want to know how Tiaan is. He will be thirteen by the end of this year.”

  They exchanged looks because they knew. They figured it out when I would bake a cake even though it wasn’t anyone’s birthday here in the house, and although Master didn’t care if I baked a cake, he merely requested that I refrain from discussing or mentioning Tiaan in front of the children.

  Over the years, his decision to let me talk about Tiaan with the other women had eased some of the pain from the grief of not being able to have him in my life.

  “Maybe you will find something out before he leaves,” Jesmine asserted as she finished sweeping the floor. “They are here overnight, after all.”

  True. We fell into silence after that, finishing up our duties and getting ready for bed.

  After bidding the other ladies goodnight and peeking in on the sleeping children, I closed their door gently and headed down the hall to my bedroom.

  The sight of a guard standing by my door stopped me in my tracks, who saw me at the same time and said, “Your presence is requested in the library by the Master.”

  Instantly I dreaded what awaited me in the library as the guard led the way and when he stepped aside to let me walk through the door, I took a deep breath before entering.

  Only to find Rohan waiting for me in the middle of the room. Alone.

  He must have seen me take a step back because he lifted his hand, palm forward, to stop me, and shook his head.

  And then he did something I never thought would be possible — he spoke to me in English.

  “Hello, Melody.”

  The words were hoarse as if he didn’t use his voice often, but even so I wanted to cry at the beauty of it. Instead of greeting him back, I took a step closer and asked, “How?”

  “Technology.” He smiled and pointed a finger at his ear. “Wonderful for me, but a lot of noise. Never use it much.”

  “I’m happy for you.”

  Unsure what to say after that, I stood still as he walked toward me in a more civilized manner than ever before, and when he stopped with us less than a foot apart, I suppressed the desire to touch him.

  “Tiaan is well.” He lifted a hand and touched my cheek, his eyes shining as his gaze dropped from my face to my stomach and back again. “He resembles his mother in looks and attitude.”

  Tears threatened, and I held them back, not wanting them to ruin what was certainly a brief period of time with him. “Thank you. I wonder about him every day.”

  Grief filled his eyes, mirroring my pain back at me. “I am sorry I couldn’t save you from my own family. I failed you.”

  “No.” Oh, the tears slipped out then, even as my lips curved in a smile and I reassured this man who carried as much pain as I did for too long. “Forgive yourself, Rohan, because you did save me, by telling Morné about me. If you hadn’t done that…”

  I didn’t need to finish the sentence; we both knew what Frans might’ve done to me if given the chance.

  His hand cupped my cheek before sliding down to my chin, his eyes studying me as if this were the last time he would ever lay eyes on me.

  “When Morné told me you survived, I wanted to visit you and reassure you but decided it best not to. You were no longer mine, and you needed to adjust to your new life without any confusion.”

  “I understand.” And I did because Master had made sure of it.

  Dropping his hand from my face finally, his stepped in and wrapped his arms around me, hugging me as best as he could with my size. He didn’t give me the chance to reciprocate before pulling away and pressing a kiss to my forehead, whispering against it, “I loved you.”

  I sniffled at that, understanding this moment as closure and a goodbye wrapped into one, and smiled before closing my eyes and replying, “I loved you, too.”

  “I will protect with Tiaan with my life,” he promised, his voice cracking as his touch disappeared completely. “I wish you well.”

  When I finally opened my eyes a few seconds later, he had left me alone, and I held his vow close to my heart, knowing Tiaan would be well in the loving care of his father.

  As I turned to head to bed, my Master appeared in the doorway with an approving grin on his face and with a few short steps, I stood in front of him.

  Then, I sank to my knees and thanked him for the gift he had just given me the only way a slave could…

  With my eternal loyalty.

  THE END!

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  About the Author

  Talia Zane is an author of dark erotica tales and His to Save is the third and final novella in a series involving Melody, following His to Use and His to Take.

  However, this isn’t Talia’s first time publishing…and she would prefer to keep who she is a secret. But you’re free to guess!

  Contact her at:

  [email protected]