Paige had been honoured when her master had called for her earlier that week. His old friend Lord Snaresburgh was throwing a party at his fabulous castle in Devon, and had asked Paige's master if she could be sent to help.

Paige was delighted her master trusted her to do a good job - she'd only been his slavegirl for just over a year and she'd not been to any parties before. The very next day, she was sent off (tied securely in a box and loaded into a van Lord Snaresburgh had sent especially!) and arrived a few hours later in Devon.

She was a bit intimidated by the the resident slavegirls at the castle - there were five of them, all tall, and mostly very tanned and exotic-looking. They didn't pay much attention to Paige, and she was very glad to be given a job to do - offering guests refreshing pieces of fruit when they returned to the castle after wandering in the gardens.

But after an hour, Paige started to feel very lonely. No one seemed interested in her fruit - they barged past, back to the great hall where cocktails were being served. A couple of the other slavegirls were capering on the lawn, playing a sexually charged version of croquet with a number of gorgeously attired ladies. Paige started to feel very, very lonely and left-out.

And she wondered; was her master missing her? She missed him - he was strict, and sometimes hard to please, but he always noticed she was there! Why couldn't he have come? He might have even fed her a strawberry from the platter if he was pleased with her....