Bab 3: Scarlet Hair And Blue Eyes As a Slave-III
Elise took the old bucket, filling it with water and poured it atop her head. Splash, splash, splash, the water droplets dripped down from the ends of her sunset hair to the ground bellow.
Splashing water over herself thrice, Elise put aside the bucket she used and followed the other girls who haad begun to walk away. After the bath, they received new clothes which were also tattered down. However, now the mud and grim allover Elise's body were wiped clean, bringing back her adorable face to the light. Her red hair also glittered back to its original color.
A few minutes after, they came back to their previous cell and everyone slumped back near the wall, most of them now leaned forward to the iron bars as it was warmer than the inner cells.
The baths were very cold, commented Elise in her heart. With only a heavy dress with holes and nothing to protect her limbs, her body had been shuddering from the passing wind that blew from the outer corridors.
Arian saw the girl suffering from the chilling night in silence and called her with a wave. "Come here."
Elise nodded to crawl silently next to Arian who had wrapped her hand on her shoulder. "It's warmer if you get closer here. What do you say?"
"It is warmer here." certainly, on the other corner of the corridors, the wall was warmer. She didn't know whether it was because of Arian or the warm wall, but her heart felt slightly ease.
"There had been no one for me to talk to for a long time. It has been lonely, but having you as my cellmate was a blessing in disguise, perhaps." Arian turned in a conversation.
Elise grew silence, she wasn't the type to talk with and with Airan's sad expression, she didn't have anything to reply to comfort her.
"Do you hear that tomorrow, we would be having an auction? "
"Yes."
"There would be many rules around the place, but if there is anything I have to warn you, it would be not to defy the person who would be buying you. " Arian said as she patted the young girl's head.
Elise noted down Airan's warning with all her might, in the young girl's eyes, Arian was an angel in the hell where she was thrown in. She had no one to talk to and her behavior wasn't as friendly to new people. But, nevertheless, Arian helped her as she entered the slave cell, giving her warning and helped her so the wardens wouldn't punish her with the whip.
"The buyer... are they scary?" Her fragile question lashed with very little hope.
"I wonder, I also don't know. It's different for each people, they have their own quirk and taste. I once heard they also like to use slaves as a sacrifice-"
"And also..." Arian trailed her words, looking to the side before completing it. "It's nothing, I just hope the person who would be taking you in is kinder than the gossips. You should go back to sleep, tomorrow wouldn't be a good day you should prepare yourself."
Elise's lips quivered as her head fell again to her hugged knees.
Just once, if God was even there, she hoped the person who would be taking her in would be a kind person. A kind person that wouldn't kill her or punish her by using whips.
When the morning came, Elise was once again woke up with the shout of the wardens.
"Wake up! Work you butts women!"
The young girl turned her head to the side where Arian was. She had also woken up, or perhaps she hasn't slept at all. Last night she heard the sound of thunder and woke up from her sleep to see Arian staring at the wall across them without a word. When she glanced around, she saw Elise woke up from her sleep and coax her with a pat on her head, bringing her dream across the girl.
"You should go," Arian said.
"What about you?" Elise asked as she stood up from her spot.
Arian gave a warm giggle. "Your soul was very warm. I think this is why you could see me. Go on, my dear. Don't ever stop your steps. What Ever might happens outside the world, should never break your wings."
Elise couldn't understand what Arian was saying, but as she was about to speak, the warden screamed at her. "What are you doing, you mute? Are you fucking deaf? I said go!"
Elise flinched from the shout, but she turned her head once again to where Arian was to found no one sitting there.
In confusion, she pointed her hand to the spot where Arian was. "The lady disappear."
The guard could only think that the young girl must have lost her mind on the way after entering the slave building and sneered. "I thought you were mute, who knows that you could actually talk. What did you say? A lady disappear?"
"Arian." Elise named.
"I haven't bothered myself to remember each slaves names. But there wasn't any slave in this cell room other than this one and you." The guard pulled Elise harshly to her cellmate that he pointed. "If you are about to get crazy, do it after you met your buyer. That will give us money."
Chill ran down through her blood as she stepped out of the cell. She clearly talked with Arian a while, ago. But the lady disappeared. Did she once again talk with a ghost?
Her mother cursed her for seeing ghosts, her aunts and the places where she stayed at also called her monsters for talking to them. But to her eyes, the ghosts were far kinder than humans who always beat her up. She looked at her the red bracelet on her wrist, the bracelet which was said to control her power of seeing things that shouldn't be seen with naked eyes.
Her head slumped down again. She couldn't understand why Arian became a ghost at the slave building, but the reason must be not far off from the guards who killed the other girls.
"How evil." she murmured to see another girl agreeing with a faint nod. Everyone there had their sympathy for each other but none could do anything that would help themselves. One wrong moves and either the slave traders would beat them to death or perhaps activate the magic on the shackles and have their body blown to little bits.
The guardsman brought the rest of the girls into a carriage that was wider than the one she used previously. Unlike the previous container, the rail guard of the container was made up of steels wrapped in white carpet.
As she entered, the little girl's eyes swept the scene and the people inside it. They were docile and quiet, unlike her whose eyes always wondering about to see the whole place.
The distance between Ulriana and Afgard wasn't as far as the little girl had thought. On the way to enter the Afgard, Elise heard merry chatters and sounds coming off the road. People were laughing without restrain, kids gigglings, the sounds of traders calling new buyers in, and the smell of freshly baked bread that made her stomach growled aloud.
Timidly, she covered her stomach to see around the carriage mate who didn't mind her stomach growling in hunger as their own stomach was also crying in volume.
Her curiosity about the place outside the tent made her want to peek in between the slight rip on the tent, but unlike the previous ride, the gap on the tent was hard to look at. Elise retracted back her curiosity and caressed her back which had been hurting from the entire uneven road.
Riding a carriage also needs skill, Elise thought to herself as she got back to looking at the wooden floor of the carriage. Her day at the slave building was short, but she couldn't praise god enough for it as she hadn't suffered from the guards beating. Thinking that way, she couldn't help but turned sorrow from Arian's ghost who had to stay behind at the cell. Arian didn't look that much older than her, perhaps she was still only sixteen or seventeen. For her to die in the slave building, it could only mean that she died from the guardsmen's beating or by hunger.
Her little heart hoped that she wouldn't be lonely and could ascend back to where she belonged beside god. To lose a kind person, Arian's family must have felt sad for their loss. But Arian was still fortunate enough if she has someone mourning for her death, unlike her who has no one.
As they entered the place to the back alley of the auction building, the slave traffickers pulled the chain on their hands which was tied in a line. As he pulled one, the others follow and so did Elise who was at the third from the end.
Before they walk down the carriage, the other guardsman held a black cloth to wrapped the slaves' eyes.
Not knowing where they entered, the place was quiet with a few footsteps from where they were.
Turisk played his final round to examine the newest slaves and pulled the hair of the women with a lascivious smile. "They are fairly fresh."
"Virgins." The other traffickers commented.
Turisk hummed in a tune and Elise felt the presence of a man in front of her. His curly hair brushed her neck as Turisk sniffed aloud. "This one is very young."
"Her family didn't want her." The traffickers explained, rubbing salt to Elise's wounded heart.
"Thought so. " Tursik said before stepping back. "Okay. The auction would start after another half an hour. Bring them carefully especially the virgins. Sorcerer like virgins for their sacrifices. "
Elise's heart sunk in cold water. It seemed the sacrifice that Ghost Arian said was for the sorcerers. Although she couldn't understand most of the terms they used. Her probability of being buy by the sorcerers must be high according to them.
As slaves were lower than other beings, they were ordered to sit on the marbled floor. the other slaves Elise down at the cold floor while hugging their knees.
Elise rounded her last pray in despair.
Bab 4: The Masked Man In The Slave Street, Buying a Slave-I
A few hundred of years ago, after the great war, the Empire was concerned by the emperor and divided into 5 lands. The Northland, Warine. The Southland, Marshforth. The Eastland, Downbridge. The Westland, Hurthend. And lastly, the middle of the empire, Runalia. Each of the lands had their own lord and was famous with many tales behind the land. Some were ferocious with only mythical creatures or beast around and some mixed with each other to learn how they could co-exist with the human.
And one of the lands that were utterly different tab the other four lands, had no single mythical beings in it due to its rule. That land stayed in the middle of the Empire, called Runalia. Runalia is regarded as the only place where humans live without mingling with other mythical beings. As long time before the Empire was even founded, the humans in Runalia feared other beings than humans and sorcerer. This fear ran down through their blood to the point that even until now they could never allow any beings to stay inside the land. Just as how humans react strongly to mythical beings, the Mythical beings also didn't want to intrude humans live and lived in their perspective lands.
In Runalia, there was a place where all humans would love to visit and that was Afgard. Other than its beauty and for being the main city of the Runalia, Afgard was best known for its slave and the black market. The patrons to the market weren't only sorcerers who searched for sacrifice, but also lustful nobles with the frightening hobby.
The town was wide in diameter and shielded with tall cobblestoned walls that circled the whole tone, guarding it against any invasion from another empire. All around the town was filled with houses and large buildings while in the middle of the path, shops, and trading stalls lifted the merriness.
On this day, the town was holding the Spring festival which was celebrated by making flower crowns to your head, giving it to your beloved as you dance around the bonfire. Near the water fountain, a man with a higher build than the other humans walked through the sea of people while humming the same tone that the choir children sang in the town's heart.
The man's whole body was covered in a somber black cloak and his face was shielded by a masquerade mask that had golden patterns around it. Even in such a simple black cloak and mask, it couldn't hide the nobility aura that surrounds the way he walked. Although it was a festival, no one could hold back their eyes from the strange person who was walking with a masquerade mask.
Strolling to his destination, the man couldn't care less about the people eyeing him and instead thought in his heart that his attire was normal enough. Next to him, a young man with a slightly different height with golden hair like gold strands had his emerald eyes shopping around the window. He had charming features and a sweetly seductive smile. Although he looked a little older than his age, the young man was still around seventeen in age. From time to time, he noticed some of the girls looking at him shyly and smiled sweetly while waving for a greet. After having a crowd gathering to them, the masked man had a slightly irritated expression in his face. Crowd and noisiness, it was the things that he dislikes the most. Unable to bear the crowd, he stepped fastly to have the young man who stopped to converse with the girl running toward him in haste. "Wait! Milor-"
The masked man turned his face and warned, "Don't call me that here."
"Oh, I forgot that we are now undercover." The young man replied naively and saw him giving a stare of warning or perhaps a mocking glance that asked him how he could say such a thing here. "I apologize." The young man replied with a grin, with a face that hasn't reflected on his blunder. The masked man didn't bother to chastised him for the matter and went again with his lazy steps.
Long after they walk the stone path, the young man who felt a little tired finally asked the masked man. "We have got the rest of the things that we needed, where are you heading to now?"
"Well, somewhere I need to go shopping."
"Shopping? A hermit like you?" Even though the masked man was older than him and had a rather cold ambiance that would make him hard to approach, the young man had a friendly tone that didn't change to the age contrast of the people he talked to. Having an arrogance that couldn't be hated.
The man raised an eyebrow to his words. "I'm not a hermit. If I am, how could I walk beside you now? And, what are you doing here following me? I had enough babysitting you once."
"The church's order, they fear that you would do anything while going on. They put me here as a leash for you." The young man replied with a shrug of his shoulder.
"A leash." The masked man repeated sarcastically with a sneer. "The church should know that if I want to, I could end them at any time I like. Even you, my dear little friend could never stop me." The haughty words coming from his lips wasn't a joke but rather the truth that he could do based on his whim. One who heard his words and know his identity would have the self lying on the ground prostrating in fear to plead for their lives. Yet the young man's devilish smile didn't change and seemed to have heard these words before from his mouth many times that the fright had lost its effect.
"Don't jest. If you are about to go berserk, I would rather be by your side and help you to see the end of the world rather than dying." The young man stopped at a fruit shop and exchange a bronze coin for a couple of apples before throwing one to the masked man who caught it in ease without looking back, making the young man to ask himself whether the masked man has an eye on the back of his head.
"Have you heard about the news sent by the faeries? Ruhan said that the faeries had just lost their queen." The young man veered the conversation.
Finally intrigued, the masked man gazed at the apple before throwing it back to the man while tapping his mask. "I can't eat this with the mask on the way, Alex."
Alex shrugged his shoulder as he took the apple back and continued. "But that's the first time I ever heard someone like the queen of faeries could die out of old age though. I thought they were eternal, like you."
"That's where you are wrong. I am not the King nor Queen of the faeries. Dying wouldn't matter much to me and I could never die." The man pointed.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm just surprised that they actually have a lifespan and thought that they were trying to hide her assassination, but who knows that she did actually die because of old age? What are you searching here, anyway?" Alex looked around at the street that gradually lessened from patrons. He found it odd, Runalia loved it luxuries but it was the first time for him to know there was a street that had fewer people, unlike how bustling it was in the street they walked before.
"Something." The man ambiguously replied and took a sharp turn which was instantly followed by Alex.
Seeing the very large statue in the middle of the alley where the masked man entered, his steps came to a halt immediately. Alex's eyes meditate around, examining the long and narrow alley which the masked man entered and exclaimed with wide eyes. "What are you thinking of going in here?!"
"I think you knew that I'm here to shop, don't you?" The man replied without looking behind, continuing what he started to the dark and eerie alley.
Of course, Alex knew that the man was going to buy something that he would arse himself to go far from Warine to Runalia, however, the post sign on the place, two lantern light standing still as a mark with a statue of a woman barely wearing any clothes and collar on both her neck and wrists, was enough to label what building was at the end of the alley. It was none other than the statue of a slave building that he once heard from rumors before. Although it was only a rumor, he was sure that even with one eye that the path was none other than the path to the slave building.
Alex ran up to catch the man's step and tried to halt his step by clutching to his cloak. "No, I don't! Lord Ian, this is the path to slave auction building! You're not supposed to enter here!"
Ian scoffed at the child, walking leisurely in ease no matter how hard the young man tried to put all his weight to pull him down. "What's the matter with me entering here? There's something I need to buy in dire."
"Buy in dire? The church had been making trouble by sniffing around each of your steps. What would happen if they know you are buying a slave for a sacrifice? Ah God! Please stop walking, milord!" Alex grabbed and pulled, taking the hem into a bundle to pull the cloak with all his might, but it seemed his determination wasn't enough to stop Ian.
"And who told you I'm here to buy a sacrifice? I have enough power and do not need one at the moment. I'm going to buy something different. " Ian replied as he pushed his way through the front entrance of the auction building.
Alex found it odd for him who had everything within his palm wanting something and asked carefully, "T- Then... What are you buying here?"
Ian hummed teasingly not replying to anything as he turned his face to the manager who wrote down his name in the attendance book. Casting aside his black cloak to the servants who had opened the beaded curtain to the auction hall, Ian turned his face with a grin beneath the mask. The grin itself was beautiful to his charming fair skin yet under the masquerade mask that had a pattern of a crying person with droplets of golden tears, the grin looked ominous to the golden-haired young man.
"A cute little puppy pet." Ian said lazily.
"P- Puppy?" Alex entered to see the auctioneer stating something and Ian walking down to the stair connected to the stage. The whole hall was mostly dimmed with little light from candles, the purpose to help to hide the noble's identity from each other. Alex had long known that Ian was crazy but today again he realized that his craziness couldn't be healed. It had run thick into his blood!
Hadiah
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