Admission / Removal

"I am far too possessive, far too in love with you, to allow another man's claim to remain on your thigh."

It was a simple statement. I had never noticed the marking on her thigh, which was not a traditional brand - until a few evenings prior. A previous owner placed his personal mark, by means of needle and ink into her thigh. There was little reason to pay attention to it. A brand, made traditionally or otherwise, merely denotes a simple truth. The woman wearing this mark is a slave girl. Whether it is a kef, a dina, a mark of Treve, bosk horns, or otherwise does not matter. It may be placed in several commonly accepted sites; on the thigh just beneath the hip, the lower abdomen or the heel. It may be placed anywhere, really. Noemi, for the record, in addition to the personal mark on her thigh, has a breeder's mark, a small brand on her heel. 

She hesitated with me one evening, when I moved the hem of her brief garment in order to place my hand on her bare ass. It revealed the mark, and revealed, too, the fact that she considered it more than an identifier of her slavery. It was a link to her past, a reminder of her history. Having seen her reaction, I decided that was unacceptable. Noemi belongs, fully, to Szol of Ar. Her slavery, in recognition of Merchant Law in dozens of cities, is clearly marked on her heel. 

It was for this reason I made contact with Fedor Silas of Turia, a Physician of renown in the Southern Hemisphere. During my time with the Tuchuk, it came to my attention that Fedor Silas was skilled at removing such marks from the skin, by means of a simple salve, which penetrates several layers of skin to break up the embedded ink. The ink, then, is released over time through the pores. The salve was created, interestingly enough, for a more commercial rather than medicinal demand. The vanity, effeminate nature, and questionable fashion sense of the Turian elite, wealthy Merchants, Slavers and such, compel these men to shave a good deal of the hair from their bodies, including the brows. Some will then reapply the brows cosmetically, while others will have them redrawn semi-permanently by needle and ink. From time to time, they wish to change the shape or remove them entirely. Thus, the salve. Turians are, as I have said often in my life, an odd lot. 

Fedor Silas, of course, did not deign to meet me. He sent in his stead an Apprentice who explained the application of the salve. After about a Passage Hand, her thigh will be unmarked, leaving only the brand on her heel. I wonder if the slave world, Earth, has medicines such as this? Somehow, I doubt it.