~I'm not going to lie. Sister-wives does not sound so bad right now. Maybe I was too quick to judge, maybe I could have learned to love Altan and had an amazing life being the mother of his children.~
I was in a donkey-drawn wagon. The man with the braided beard sold me to the man that drives it, he was an older looking man, but he was not un-athletic by any means. The man's original plan was to keep me for a slave. That was until I jumped off of his small cart and ran into the desert three different times and he had to chase me down each time. He finally tied me to the cart and each time I tried to untie his knot, I somehow made it tighter. He's proclaimed that he is tired of me already, and he has told me that he's taking me to a slave auction to get his money back, because according to him, "No one wants a slave with a death wish."
~ Yeah. Well, maybe I shouldn't be a slave then. Why can't he just let me go?~
The wagon hit a bump and I slammed my head against a sack of grain that was beside me. The sun overhead was blistering and my shoulders were turning a deep color of red. I'd been thirsty since that morning, but I still hadn't been offered any water. If the man knew I was a Water Mage he hadn't acknowledged it yet.
~Jeez, this is worse than being with Cai. I thought I had it bad, but each time I try to save myself I get myself in more trouble. Like really, If I hadn't tried to save myself I would be sipping expensive tea in a fancy palace in Kiziljer right now. I may have been in a forced political marriage, but at least I wouldn't be a LITERAL SLAVE.~
I looked away from the knot at my wrists and back to the dessert outside the wagon. I kept hoping that I would see Cai gallantly riding up on a horse to save me. Or Altan with a sword ready to take down the man who bought me. But there was no one. nothing but dirt. I was about a three days travel away from Kiziljer now. And the terrain was slightly different here. it was still desert, but it was a lot less sand dunes and a lot more packed dirt and small plots of vegetation.
"We are comin' up on the town now." The man driving my wagon spoke, then spat a lougie on the ground.
At his words I turned back to my knotted hands and tried to pull my wrists through the tightly wound rope. My wrists were beginning to rub raw and moving the rough rope on them stung. but still I had to try. If I could escape in a city, that would be much better than an open desert.
"Now when we get to the auction." the man went on, "You need to act real good."
"And why would I do that?" I asked, my words dripping with disdain.
"Because they sell the real bitches off to the brothels." the man didn't look at me as he spoke, "If you act good you may get a decent owner."
~Brothels? Like prostitutions dens?~
My mouth went dry.
I had joked to myself that Altan wanted me as a sex slave, but now if I'm not careful.... I might actually become one.
"Sir.." my voice turned from hate to fear, "please don't auction me off! I'll work for you! I'll be better I promise!"
He scoffed, "like I believe you. I saw the way you were, you'll be looking for an escape at any turn." He pulled the donkey leading our cart to a stop, hopped from the drivers seat, and came around the edge of the wagon. He leaned on the side of the wagon and said, "If I were you, I'd act good and docile til' the middle of the night. Then I'd look for my escape."
I watched him wide-eyed. then nodded.
~Why is he giving me advice?~
"I just don't want you to do it as my slave." he shrugged, "cause that would be a big waste of money." He reached forward and cut the rope that tied me to the wagon in one swift move of his knife. He grabbed hold of the rope that was between my hands, "My other advice." he whispered after I jumped out of the wagon onto shaky knees, "Is get a master who don't do that brandin'"
I blinked. "Branding? they brand slaves?"
"Shush." he gave me a stern look, and I looked back out before me. We were entering a town square and I could see before me people tied to poles. some were half naked and many of them looked malnourished.
~They must be slaves.~
We were already at the auction.
The man pulled me forward even though every part of my body told me to fight.
~No I can't fight.... If they think I'm bad, then they'll send me to a brothel...~
My stomach turned and I glanced behind me.
~Cai... Altan.. anybody, please save me.~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"She's a good worker, I'm telling you." I heard the man saying to the men who worked at the auction yard. I stood behind him with shaking knees. "the only reason we can't keep her is cause we need the money, more than we need her help. But she can cook, clean, sew, she even knows basic first aide."
~Don't oversell me here, sir. I can cook and clean, but I've never sewn anything and know NOTHING about first aide in this world.~
I looked around me as they started talking prices and my stomach felt sour at what I saw.... I counted 9 other people, most of them men, tied to posts in the hot sun.
~God... that one isn't moving... is he... dead? do they even feed us when we're tied up there?~
I felt hot tears running down my face but tried to hold them in.
~I need to retain as much water in me as possible.~
I licked one of the tears when it met with my lip and wondered when the next time I would have water.
"Look sir." one of the auctioneers said to my current owner, "I can't give you anymore than that. As you can see, we don't have a lot of buyers today." he gestured to the people tied up to poles.
"alright." My owner agreed. and my heart plummeted to the floor as one of the auctioneers approached me. he took me by the wrists and pulled me to the nearest pole then chained me to it...
~I might have hoped to slip through ropes... But chains, I'm not getting free anytime soon.~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Altannn" I whispered his name through my cracking dried lips. "Cai... please..." It had been a whole day and night now. It was already the next morning, and I was certain that I could die at any moment.
~How long before a human dies of thirst? I think I must be there soon.~
"I'm so thirsty..." I mumbled over my dry tongue, "Altan, I'm sorry I ran away."
"Who the hell are you talking to?" an angry man stood before me. he grabbed my hair, pulled my head back, then began to pour water into my mouth. Half of it poured on the ground around me before I fully understood what was happening and begin gulping as much as I possibly could.
When the man stepped back I coughed at the water in my lungs, then immediately sat on the ground and tried to get the water that pooled in the dirt before it soaked into the ground. I brought the dirty water to my mouth as another pair of feet come to a stop in front of me.
These feet wore sandals and were the darkest color of skin that I have seen since I entered this world. I look up to see an old woman who was as tall as I was while I was sitting. Her hair was white and curly all around her head and her eyes were....
~Am I imagining this?~
I gaped when I made eye contact with her. I'd never in my two lives seen eyes like that. they weren't a color.... It was more like they were a mirror. I could see my own reflection in them.
The old woman with her heavily wrinkled face and her very few teeth stared at me and I stared back. It was as if she was staring right into my soul. I don't know how long we stood like that, until another dark skinned person joined us. "Grandma." It was a young boy probably just a few years younger than me. he looked rather normal except his dazzling green eyes. "What are you doing here?"
The old woman looked at me for a second longer then to her grandson. "We are buying this slave." she said resolutely.