Bab 26: Human Slave

Rockshire was the entrance of the Northern Empire, while the capital, Northcrest, was located in the middle. It was a journey of three days from Rockshire to Northcrest. Henry has deliberately ordered to not rush as he was concerned about Silja. That's Why the journey, which should take three days at most, took four and half hours.

When his king, Zachary, had given him a task to take the princess to North, he had specially given him instructions to keep her safe.

" How are you doing, my lady?" Henry asked, standing beside Silja. They had decided to take some break to eat as it was noon.

Servants and soldiers were preparing the meal and tent to spend the night. It was already midnight and it was their last halt before they reached the capital. They were just a few hours away.

"I'm fine," came a small reply. But her pale face was saying otherwise.

After traveling through the sea for more than a month it was normal for them to feel a little sick and take proper rest before starting the other journey. But the princess didn't want to wait at all and they started their journey the same day.

He had noticed that from the day the journey had started he had hardly seen her speaking freely to anyone.

When he had first met her he had assumed her to be a lively girl, this quiet and cold girl was very different from that.

"Are your hands just for show? Can you handle a dress properly?" Henry was about to leave when they heard the same high-pitched voice from the back.

Henry sighed looking at the scene in front of him.

Gwendolyn was scolding and beating her maid again.

From the last two days of the journey, this has become a normal scene for everyone.

Silja saw a scene in front of her and saw the small human girl trembling in fear, or it was cold.

It was a time of night and the breeze was so cold. With not sufficient clothes on her the girl's thin body was swaying in the air.

"Speak something…" Gwen yelled again. And the girl fell on the floor.

"I...im.. sorry...my lady." The girl apologized in a weak voice which was barely audible.

Silja, who was standing on the side, couldn't take it anymore.

She walked ahead and stopped in front of Gwen and the maid.

"What pleasure do you get from bullying a weak person?" She looked straight in the eyes of a spoiled girl. From day one the journey started, she has seen Gwen throwing her weight around not just her personal servants whom she took her from Rockshire but every other too.

As if she was the actual queen or their mistress.

"I will advise you to stay out of my matter. She is my slave," the girl folded her hand near her chest and lifted her chin.

It was none of other people's business what she did to them and how she treated them.

"How much?" in reply Silja asked with a straight face. She has enough of seeing the girl abused every day just for entertainment.

"What?" Gwen furrowed her brows.

"How much is her cost? I will purchase ner from you." Silja said looking straight into her eyes.

Apart from some humans, she has with her, the girl was the only human there as the servant. She had not seen many humans on the way too. What it means was there were a limited number of humans living between the dragons but she could already guess that their life was not any better than insects in the eyes of those people who think of themselves as superior to the other.

"Quite dreaming. I'm not going to sell her," how can she let go of her toy just like that.

"Just name the price." Silja had enough.

"No." The other girl was also stubborn. Henry, who was standing by the side, opened her mouth as if wanted to say something. In the end, he decided to not speak to the girls. Plus he was also curious about how Silja would handle the situation.

On the other hand, he was not very interested in what happened to Gwen. He was just tolerating her because she was the daughter of the duke of Rockshire.

"Here, these are the pearls from the Atlanea ocean. Rare to find. These can not be measured in price," Silja removed the small white pearl earrings she was wearing.

"I can exchange them for this girl," Silja said.

Mira, who was standing by the side, was shocked. "Are you for real…." Gwen was shocked. It was true that Atlanea was famous for its pearls and other treasures found from the ocean. And from the day she met Silja she has noticed the shiny pearls that the human princess wore in her ears. It would be wrong to say that she wasn't shocked. Because they actually look like rare pearls and it wasn't worth it to exchange them for a dirty girl.

"Yes." Silja nodded.

"Show me first." Gwen extended her hand.

Silja put the earrings in her hand and the girl examined them carefully before a smile spread on her lips.

"Done. She is yours," rare pearls were more expensive than any human slave. And if she wanted to annoy her again she could just buy another slave.

After getting the earrings she smiled triumphantly and left haughty. In her eyes, she has the upper hand in this exchange while the human princess was dumb enough to sell valuable pearls for half-dead slaves.

After she left Silja helped the girl up.

"Are you okay?"Silja asked the girl.

The girl who was sitting on the ground for so long had heard the conversation about how her owner had sold her.

But she was too scared to say anything.

"Mira, help her dress her wounds," Silja ordered Mira to get medical help for the girl. Anything else can wait.

It was midnight and few soldiers were patrolling near the camp area. Everyone was sleeping in their camps after the meal.

Suddenly Silja's eyes flew open. Her heart was beating fast and her forehead was sweating.

She sat up on the bed and looked around. She saw Mira sleeping near her bed soundly. Then she looked around for any possible disaster made by her. Thankfully nothing broke this time.

After taking a deep breath Silja lifted the silk quilt slowly. Her feet padded gently on the ground as she walked out of the tent for fresh air.

After standing five minutes in the fresh air Silja felt better. The trauma of unusual things happening around her was too much for her. She was relieved that nothing bad happened in this past month.

Maybe everything will be normal again now.

She was thinking about this and trying to put her heart at ease when suddenly loud shirk jolted her.

Silja looked up and a dark shadow passed just from above her.

'A Dragon.'...her eyes widened.