Asia has long since forgotten her last name. She is simply Asia.

She once was a slave. It was by choice and she enjoyed it. She had lost my family. She doesn't remember them anymore but it doesn’t matter. She feel no pain for them, no sense of loss having not known them. She was, however, practical as a young woman and understood that she would not survive on her own. She took it upon herself to petition a slaver for his assistance. She offered this slaver herself… with conditions. She asked him to take care of her, not to abuse her, not to use her sexually and in return she would be his slave. She promised to be loyal and hardworking. She thought perhaps he was surprised by her offer, her frankness, perhaps her innocence. He accepted her offer and she became a house slave for Lord Brutin. She was true to her word and he was true to his. She worked hard for him. She was loyal and he treated her well. She was happy.

Happy, that is, until she met Sariam. He abhorred slavery. He wanted to save her, save her from slavery, save her from the notorious man who owned her, save her from herself. Her confession of contentment fell on deaf ears and he began to lavish attention on her. She was young, curious and he was strong, convincing. She fell in love with him and agreed to run away from her promises to Brutin. The few days they shared together in Sariam’s safe haven with his friends were glorious. They drank, they laughed, and they lost themselves in each other until Brutin’s hunter came to bring her back. Gunn taught her the true meaning of pain and fear. He offered no mercy for run away slave girls and delighted in using his perverse technology to torture those he held captive. She was returned to Brutin bruised, used and nearly broken.

Sariam realized that if he wanted Asia he was going to have to deal with Brutin head on. Humbly, he came and offered to buy her because by now Sariam returned the love she had for him. Much like a cat toying with a dying mouse, Brutin played with Sariam eventually agreeing to sell Asia not only for a monetary price but also for a personal sacrifice from Sariam. Sariam was to work for Brutin. His job would be to help Brutin capture those he wished to enslave… to do exactly that which he hated. Sariam took Brutin’s offer and he threw himself into the job. There were times when Asia thought Brutin had forgotten about his deal with Sariam but eventually her price was paid and she was free. Sariam and Asia married immediately.

Five days later, Sariam was dead. Ironic.

She doesn't remember much of what happened next. She thinks she lost a child. It didn't matter. She did find herself back in Brutin’s collar though and this time she was not a house slave. This time she was a pleasure slave only she had been reserved to Brutin alone. He never used her, which, frankly, didn’t bother her at all. She believes she was still reeling from Sariam’s death. As is bound to happen to any slave girl, a man eventually noticed her. He wanted her so he took her regardless of Brutin’s reserve status. She did enjoy him! When Brutin found out that she had been used, he took a very sharp knife and simply slit her throat. She was left to die on the tiles without further word.

Of course, she had no recollection of actually being dead but it was related to her that she was taken to a cemetery in RhyDin. It was unusual for a slave’s body to be given this special treatment but she thinks perhaps Brutin still held her in some regard even though he had killed her. It so happened that a couple was visiting the cemetery that day. A mentor named Mark and his student named Alexis watched the dumping of her body into an opened pit filled with other corpses. They made the decision to take the opportunity to work on Alexis’ Talent, her power or magic. Mark pulled Asia from the pit and they took her body back to his blacksmith shop where, shortly thereafter, she was jolted back to life. She still wears the scar, or necklace as she sometimes think of it, that Brutin gave to her… a permanent gift from him along with the brand on her thigh.

But the man named Brutin faded away from her thoughts as I grew to know Mark and Alexis. They took Asia to Lexi's planet of Kyre where Asia discovered Lexi was the Oba. Asia began to study under Mark’s care and discovered she had a certain amount of Talent, which she began to nurture. When Asia felt ready, she left them and joined a woman she had known and trusted from Brutin’s house.

She introduced Asia to the savage planet Brutin had come from and helped her to survive. Eventually, Asia learned enough to become more self-sufficient and took up the trade of scribe. She was never registered and had to be more careful than other free women but she learned to be satisfied with what she had. Time passed and she met a man named Khil. After a stormy relationship, they became companions and she helped him to build a small riverside city on the Vosk. He never knew the entire truth about her past. She had learned to lie well and to hide behind the many veils of free woman. There was love, a great deal of it but she grew weary of sharing him. There was a constant struggle between the harsh, demanding side of her and the side that wanted to be special and greatly desired. She knew he would always have his kajirae. She knew he loved them and she knew he could do without her. Asia died again. It wasn’t a true death as by Brutin’s hand but it was real enough to convince Khil so she was free.

She was alone.

She moved into a cabin named Hounds of Winter and revelled in her solitude, her books, her art, and her thoughts. But now she finds herself unsettled and she don’t know why. She finds herself thinking of a man who is surely long dead… the man named Brutin.