I swung around to face the door and called, "come in!" After the mental conversation with Mia, my new "adult" voice sounded weird to me, so I took a moment to steady myself as the door swung open. After all, I was in charge here. Whoever was on the other side of the door was required to be nice to me.

  A tall, thin woman dressed in a deep purple satin dress and light green hat glided into the room. It was all I could do to keep a straight face: the poor woman looked just like an eggplant. She was probably in her upper forties or early fifties, but her hair did not show the slightest touch of gray and the lines on her face were softened by the application of some sort of powder. She curtsied and stood just outside the doorway, her face completely inscrutable. I waved her into the room and smiled in what I hoped was a disarming manner. The woman returned the smile and curtsied again once she had approached close enough for easy conversation.

  "Welcome to your estate, Mistress. I am Clemencia, your steward. If you could spare a moment, I would like to bring a few matters to your attention."

  "You can just refer to me as Arabella if that's possible," I responded, disgusted once again by unearned titles thrust upon me.

  "I believe that 'Madame Arabella' would be...possible. Unless you have taken a title?"

  "I have," I answered, my mouth running ahead of my brain. Up until that moment I hadn't decided on a name. "I will be Arabella Unbowed."

  Clemencia nodded.

  "It is a wonderful name. I will let all the servants know that you shall be addressed as 'Arabella Unbound'."

  I opened my mouth to correct her, but something deep inside me suggested that 'Unbound' was indeed the safer choice.

  "You said that you had matters you needed to bring to my attention?"

  "Yes, ma'am. First, to let you know that, per your agreement with Bandar the Grand, the Pegasus named Ronaldo has been delivered to your stables. Twenty-thousand mana has been deducted from your vault as payment. Now, if you would like, I can show you how to access the estate management system from your chambers. From there you can decide what the estate will produce, order supplies, call all your servants together for big announcements, and even name your estate."

  I wasn't interested in running a bunch of slaves around so that they could produce the raw materials that ran society, but I'd have to at least keep up appearances. For the time being, however, I was still trying to figure out how my new body worked. I didn't have time to fuss over other details. Plus, I wanted to go have a chat with Ronaldo. I was looking forward to seeing him again as he was the closest thing I had to a friend at this point. If I thought he would have agreed, I would have asked Bandar to let me have some of my old friends from the kitchen, especially Grace and Maggie, but slaves were rarely sold. They simply were not important enough to bother trading.

  "I'd rather not go into all that right now. I'm still a bit...affected by the Metamorphosis. But, to celebrate my arrival here, I'd like for you to give everyone as much leisure today as possible. Only essential duties should be performed."

  Clemencia smiled at that.

  "Your wishes shall be carried out, Madame. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

  "Yes, please. Lead me to the stables so that I can inspect my new acquisition. Then you may be dismissed. I want you to enjoy the day as well."

  "Of course, Madame Arabella. If you'll please follow me."

  My new steward led me out of the bedroom and through a well-furnished antechamber that opened up to a shotgun hallway.

  "What are all these rooms?" I asked as we passed several doors to our right.

  "Those are your guest quarters. There are six of them on this floor. If you think you'll need more, please let me know."

  There was no way I was going to invite a bunch of others to stay in my house, but Clemencia didn't need to know that. I contented myself with looking around as she led me down the hallway and through a door to our left. I found myself on a small landing overlooking an elegant atrium, complete with marble columns and smooth stone floors. There was a staircase to the right that we descended. A pair of valets that also functioned as guards were standing on opposite ends of an ornate double door the color of ivory. The men gave me a salute as I approached.

  "Thank you," I said as I paused for a moment on the threshold. "Please consider yourself relieved of duty until your next shift. Today I want as many people as possible to celebrate my arrival."

  It didn't take magical senses to tell that Clemencia disapproved of my behavior, but she said nothing. Instead, she waited patiently for me to catch up before she continued down the front path, which was lined on either side with maples until there was a break in the trees. We turned left and walked for a few minutes before reaching the stables. The primary building was long and rectangular. It was made of wood that was painted bright red with white trim. Rain barrels stood at each of the three visible corners.

  "The Pegasus is within, Madame Arabella. Would you like me to show you to its stall?"

  I shook my head.

  "That won't be necessary. You're dismissed too unless there is something you need to do so that I can get back to my room later."

  "No Madame Arabella. Your estate is yours to command. If you require my services, no matter what time of day or night, you can think my name and I will be able to find you."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "How is that?" I asked, curious about how she could locate me so easily.

  Clemencia pointed to her thick gold necklace set with a large piece of amber.

  "This necklace is attuned to the assistant you wear on your wrist. As long as you will it, I can sense certain things about you, such as when you want me to find you. If you would like entertainment or solitude, I can sense that as well."

  For the first time in a while, Mia chimed in.

  "Information sharing to the amulet is programmed to be non-optional on the Citizen’s end. Preference update available: information flow can continue, be altered, or stopped entirely.”

  "For now, don't mess with it. Just let me know if we're about to do something that would alarm her."

  Clemencia waited while I finished my internal dialogue. When I was ready to give her my attention again, she continued.

  "I imagine your assistant was confirming what I told you. Have you decided what you're going to name it?"

  "I think it's already named 'Mia'," I answered, trying to keep the confusion out of my voice.

  Clemencia nodded.

  "Yes, Mistress, that is its acronym. You can name your assistant whatever you want, just like you can change the name of your Estate. In fact, you can change my name too, if you wish it."

  I had to push down another wave of disgust. Of course, I could change all their names, I was the only person on the estate with a semblance of free will. Well, I wasn't going to change anyone's name, at least not without them asking first.

  "What about it, Mia. Do you want a new name?"

  There was a short pause. I could sense Mia was struggling with something, but our connection was not close enough to give me insight into exactly what.

  "Clarification requested."

  "Well then, 'Mia' it is for the moment," I responded internally before using my voice to answer Clemencia.

  "The name 'Mia' will suit for now. Now, please go enjoy yourself for a bit. I'll call you if I need anything."

  Clemencia curtsied and withdrew, making her way back up the path towards the house. I watched her for a moment before walking up to the main doors and drawing in a deep breath before unbolting them. To my surprise, there was not even a hint of manure in the air that came rushing out.

  The interior of the stable was lit mainly by the door I had just opened and by the stall windows. The stable was not symmetrical like I'd initially thought. Stalls lined the right-hand side of the building, leaving the opposite side open. Several piles of bulging burlap sacks took up about half of the storage space and a small tool closet built into the wall made up about half the remainder. I completely forgot all about such mundane details, however, the moment I spotted Ronaldo. He was every bit as sleek, as gorgeous, and as impressive as I remembered him. He must have heard or otherwise sensed my approach because he had turned around in his stall to face me. His black horn bobbed up and down gently as he fidgeted with what appeared to be impatience. I noticed for the first time the golden tag in his right ear set with dark red rubies.

  "Thank goodness the eggplant lady is gone. I thought I was going to die laughing," he thought at me. His voice sounded the same as it had just a few short weeks ago, although my newly enhanced senses could now easily distinguish between normal speech, telepathic communication, and my mind-link with Mia.

  "Hello, Ronaldo, it's good to see you," I replied, feeling a bit bashful now that I was in the presence of the being who had started me on the path to freedom.

  "You're a good bit taller than I recall. I think I liked you better when you were a klutzy stable-girl."

  There was an odd edge to Ronaldo's greeting. I wasn't quite sure if he was playing with me or not.

  "So how does it feel to be in charge now, rather than taking orders?" He continued, bitterness now evident in every word. "Are you living it up?"

  I shook my head as tears gathered in the corner of my eyes. I had hoped that Ronaldo would have seen me differently than other Citizens. After all, we had been slaves together under the same master.

  "I just woke up from my Metamorphosis a few hours ago and I already hate it. Did you know my Steward told me I could change her name any time I wanted? And she said it so casually!"

  I was yelling through our telepathic link now, but I couldn't help myself.

  "And I'd love nothing better than to say to her, 'you know what, I'm just going to let you all live your own lives and do what you want', because I don't need hundreds of people to cater to my every whim, but I can't even do that! Can I? Because I'd probably just get myself killed and then all these people would go to a new master. So I have to pretend to be something I'm not to the whole until I can figure out how to change things! But I'm all alone and I have no idea how to fight people that have been hoarding power for centuries and even if I did I'd still probably get killed!"

  At this point, I was sobbing and would have been completely incoherent had I been attempting normal speech.

  "And you think I'm just like all the others, but I'm just as trapped as you are. I can't live my life by own rules! I was born into the same system that you were, but I would give anything to live in a world where everyone got to make their own choices in life. I'd give anything to see you free!"

  I finally stopped ranting and stood there, panting as the tears continued to flow. One side effect of being endowed with magical powers is that you still have perfect vision even while crying. So I could both see and feel Ronaldo's shocked expression as my words sank in. Then he pawed at the ground and half-unfurled one of his wings before folding it back again.

  "I'm sorry," he said, his voice almost a whisper in my mind. "I shouldn't have assumed that you'd be the same as the others."

  'Sorry' was a bandaid that couldn't possibly plug the bleeding hole in my chest, but it was a start.

  "And I truly believe that you want me to be free, but how far does that go, Arabella? Would you really risk your own life to help free me and my kind? Would you raise your hand against another Citizen?"

  That question stopped me cold. All I wanted to do was help people (and other sentient beings) as best I could. I wasn't interested in sneaking around attacking people.

  "I...I don't know if I can hurt someone. But surely we can figure out a way to free you without fighting."

  Ronaldo held my gaze for a few long seconds before turning away to nip at his wing.

  "I guess that'll have to do. So you're sure about this, then? You'd be willing to try to find a way to free all the Pegasi around the world?"

  Up until that moment, I hadn't thought beyond letting Ronaldo live his life on my Estate as he wished. A thousand excuses presented themselves: I was still figuring out my powers, the empress was spying on me, I already was different enough, I needed time to consider all the angles. But the response came flooding out of me completely unbidden. The stables shook as mana pounded through our mental link, charging each word with the power to bind and enforce. The rational part of my mind screamed to stop before I said something stupid, but my emotions were firmly in the driver's seat.

  "I, Arabella Unbound, pledge myself body, mind, and soul to freeing you and your kin from bondage to humans and to find a place for you to live in peace. I will never give up as long as I draw breath."

  Ronaldo, who had weathered the telepathic shouting without flinching, suddenly shuddered. Similarly empowered words came surging back through our mental link as his spirit responded in kind.

  "I, Ronaldo Ignacio Albora Perez Loscaros, pledge to aid you to the best of my abilities. As long as you are working to free my kind, I will follow you to the grave, if necessary."