Karia rose again, beginning to slowly walk out with the boy. His friends whom he clearly wanted to protect, had been left there in the small hut, scared. The assistant led them to the younger, in similar hut that instead had two older slaves watching fewer children. The female of the older slaves gasped when they noticed the little boy holding Karia's hand. Karia looked at the boy, seeing his hand barely reach out to them. She let go and lightly pushed him to walk over.
"Sister…?" The boy looked through the small portion of children, more like toddlers.
Karia looked over, clearly seeing the contrast. His sister was the only one with many scars all around her body. You would think they were a birthmark. Although that may have been, this was another child she needed to take home. Knowing this, Karia guessed that the older sister was the last to look for there. She slowly approached her, stopping just far enough. The little boy went in closer, shaking as he glanced all over her.
"Come." Karia kneeled and spoke softly once more. "We will go to your older sister now."
"But…" The boy took his sister's hand.
"Bring her." Karia smiled and reached out to him. "I want you three to come together."
The little boy's eyebrows quickly shot up, looking back to his sister. "… can you stand?"
The little girl looked up at him, not moving an inch. He slowly kneeled down and tried to pick her up, which looked easier than expected. Karia was surprised, but looked at the older slaves who stared, worried for them. They looked at her and realized she was looking at them. Karia did not mind this and gave a simply genuine smile as they turned to leave. This gave the older slaves little relief that the children were not about to be brought to their demise.
"… Your choice in children servants are quite… odd…" The assistant watched as they walked out of the hut.
"They are my choice after all." Karia smiled, keeping a hand behind the little boy. "If you wouldn't mind, the older sister, please."
"Of course," The assistant gestured as they began to walk again. "Right this way, Lady Shiarama."
As they continued to walk along the path between the working slaves, Karia noticed the looks even more. They all stared and averted their eyes once the assistant looked at them. Although, as they finally got to where the older sister had been, it looked like more of a place fit for the dead. The slaves were either barely working or laid lifeless onto the ground.
"All halt!" The assistant rose his voice and made each of the remaining slaves stop as they stood in their places. "Each considered young women, come to the front!"
As he said these words, a short line of young women was made standing before Karia and the two children. She immediately recognized the one she'd been looking for. Although, this would have been suspicious to the assistant, so she asked the little boy before making any moves. He gestured to her, the one wearing rags even worse than the others, the one she noticed first.
"Her," Karia looked directly at the young woman. "Please, let me have all three."
"You remember, the children are 250 precs each." The assistant walked to stand in front of the young slave. "This is a blossoming adult."
"Then double, please, I want to buy all three together." Karia looked at the assistant, watching him turn to look behind her, then she turned to see the lord.
"Hello again, Lady Shiarama." The lord smiled, but it was unsettling even for the assistant. "Are you sure about paying so much for just a young woman? Alphed, bring her along, let the others go back to work."
"… Of course, Lord Grecius." The assistant grabbed the slave by the arm, ignoring the quiet whimpering heard from her.
"Please, let her walk free." Karia asked, worried for her.
"These are only precautions, Lady Shiarama." The assistant continued, dragging her along. "She is known to have run away countless times."
"…" Karia looked at the scared young woman. "Alright then, please be a little gentler, I wouldn't want my potential servant too harmed."
The assistant barely lightened his grip as the lord led the way. Karia followed while the guards stayed behind them, making sure nothing happened. The lord guided them back to the main building where they met. Taking the slaves into the office. At this point, Karia had gotten so use to the stench that came off them from the huts, the children, even on her dress. She simply accepted the smell and proceeded with the payment.
"250 precs for the children, 270 for the young woman." The lord wrote his signature down on the paper with Lady Shiarama's deal.
"Of course," Karia sat in the seat in front of the desk, looking towards the shaking young woman.
"May I offer you a day's wait?" The lord placed down his quill pen, smiling in an eerie way. "To clean and prep them up before you take them? Absolutely free of charge, I do insist!"
Karia glanced at the slaves again, concerned as to what they could possibly do just before they have the chance of freedom. "I appreciate the offer, Lord Grecius."
"Ah, well then, Alphed, will you-" The lord noticed Karia was going to speak again.
"But, I will be taking them as they are." Karia smiled, gesturing to a guard for the payment. "Hopefully this will be enough for the full 520 precs payment, and extra for tax."
The lord immediately perked up his attitude once he noticed a bag full of shining gold coins placed onto the desk. They settled the payment and happily let the slaves go along with Karia. The guards oversaw guiding them back to the carriage they came. Karia walked in, getting help as she took the steps up, but then she looked back at the children.
"Actually, Rol, let me help them inside first." Karia stepped down and let them go inside first. "Please, go in, I mean no harm."
The little boy adjusted his hold on the youngest sister, looking up to the oldest. "Sister, she's not faking it, I can tell."
The oldest looked up to Karia, still shaking, even in her voice. "Then why were you calling us potential servants?"
Karia smiled and held her finger up to her lips, barely whispering. "A cover story, now come along, I don't bite."
The slight struggle in trusting Karia made it a little difficult for the oldest to cooperate unlike the youngest and middle. Though they finally managed to get inside the carriage, leaving the guard servants to stay on the outside of the carriage for the way back. On the way, they barely spoke a word to each other, and the young woman had still been uncomfortable of the thought in having to work for someone again. The little boy made sure to keep his younger sister from falling on each turn. Karia noticed the bond between those two were stronger than the oldest, it was almost odd. Once they arrived back to the main house, the once slave children had been given a whole different view of the world. Karia requested high maids to take the children into the baths, and her following.
"Are you just going to sit there and watch them harass us?" The little boy had his arms held up, allowing a maid scrub him down. "This hurts ya know."
"You have quite the personality." Karia almost laughed, but she smiled enough to cover it. "I brought you three here to be raised as my own."
"What?" The oldest peeked over the separating walls. "So, the servant thing was a lie!"
"I told you; it was a cover up." Karia responded calmly, smiling as she watched from a few feet away. "I want to raise you three as my own children because I am not brave enough to go through the trials of childbirth."
"… Wouldn't people start talking bad about you?" The little boy spoke up, knowing better than its expected he would. "We look nothing like you guys here."
"Exactly." The oldest added to his words, almost disturbed by the maid who was constantly scrubbing and washing out her lice filled hair. "We were slaves, there should be nothing but more work and torture to deal with… like this."
"How about we have some food and water after this?" Karia stood up, continuing to smile. She walked over to the head maid. "And please, have them in light garments, nothing too tight."
The head maid nodded and continued to stay watch, helping little by little with newer maids. The maid in charge of washing the youngest felt concerned. The many scars shown across her body were simply horrifying. Although the other two had many scars, they were not as fatal as the youngest. Throughout her entire body there would be even the slightest sign of a scar, but nowhere on her face. It seemed to be that as slaves had been horribly treated, they would only keep a good cover in case they were sold off for a higher price. Though these three were lucky, they had been taken in by a Lady who was more commonly known for her gentle and endearing personality. They had grown to adjust to living in this new environment and even learned proper lady and lord etiquette. Karia learned what their birthdays were, even though they hadn't properly remembered themselves, she went back to the slave owner with caution. This was a process in her goal to raising some of the best children to live in their newly adoptive bloodline. Karia named them by her own intuition, seeing that they were fit for the future the Goddess had shown. The youngest was named Kari, as she had seen much of her personality the same as her own. The middle who was once a little boy was named Jolen. In hopes of his strong spark of care he had for Kari before coming to the house, she had seen he would protect her at all costs. Finally, the oldest, Jilliace, yet she was not one with high spirits, she had not been seen as potential leader of the household. They had all gotten a few inches taller; Kari was now 10, Jolen was 15, and Jilliace being 17. Through all this, Lillian had stuck around in the sidelines, mainly watching the children rather than ever interacting with them. Although, this family was still not complete, one more child was missing.
"Children, are you awake?" Karia called out to them from their room doors, raising her voice toward each separately. "I have an announcement to make!"
One of the doors cracked open, the morning had dragged on in Kari's eyes. "Mother… Where are you headed…?"
Karia perked up a soft smile and calmly walked over to Kari, leaning to pet her hair. "Oh, I'm sorry I woke you, Kari, I will simply be heading out to get someone. Be sure to keep the house under control for me, alright my sweet child?"
"Yes, mother." Kari rubbed her eye and attempted to stay awake. "Do you know if breakfast is already prepared?"
"Ah, yes, you go wash up before heading down to eat." Karia pat her back, gesturing toward the washroom. "I will have Jilliace join you if she has not awoken-" The door across suddenly opened to a fully dressed Jilliace, but not in a dress. Karia stared for a moment, processing the odd attire that she had been wearing not one fit for a lady. Jilliace's face had slight shock, unaware that her mother would be in the corridor. "Might you explain…. This?" Karia looked up and down at the dark shirt and pants, even a light satchel over the shoulder.
"Uhh, I," Jilliace stuttered for a moment, collecting her words. "Exploring, I… was going to go exploring out near the forest! Just to stroll out in the sunny weather!" She put on a smile and barely oddly moved her arms around, as if speaking with movement.
"Hmm…" Karia squinted her eyes, but then closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh. "Be back before breakfast has finished."
"But, Mother-" Jilliace attempted to arrange a longer period of time out.
"I want you to be here before I am to leave, if not then I will not bring you any souvenirs." Karia walked away, gesturing to the maids. "Oh, and be sure to help Kari in the washroom, I will be waiting to see you both!"
"Wha-" Jilliace had her situation caught up with Kari's morning wash, she was frustrated. Although this may have been, she felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down to see Kari. "Fine… but can you please convince mother for me?"
"You owe me peanut butter and strawberry jam." Kari laughed as she innocently smiled, skipping away to the washroom alone.
Jilliace went off to the opposite direction, disobeying Karia's words. Soon came the time to eat breakfast and Jilliace was not there, neither was Jolen. Karia sat there with a happy Kari, the only one who was able to show. Kari managed to convince her mother to not worry about them, seeing that they weren't there they may had already had something to eat. Karia simply accepted the fact that they were finally at that age, some who could rebel against parents. The other two were to have their punishments after she returned, but Jolen came near the end of breakfast. Karia quickly stood, realizing that he was covered in dirt. She tried to ask what happened, but he simply did not answer and looked to the floor, almost in shame. Kari, being his sister, seemed concerned as well. He was then told to go to the washroom and return after he was cleaned off. As the two finished their breakfast, Jolen returned with Jilliace following behind.
"Ah, everyone is here now." Karia stood up from her seat, gesturing Karia to as well. "I wanted to make sure the two of you knew beforehand, I will be leaving for a few days."
"What?" Jilliace spoke, confused but not rashly. "To where, and why?"
"You will see, I am going to bring back someone wonderful to join us." Karia smiled and walked off to the head maid waiting by. "And I would expect to be given record of any who has ever left in my absence."
"Safe travels, Mother!" Kari yelled out to her as she watched Karia walk out the front door.