The auction woman joined in the laughter, making Charlie feel like she was being mocked. "You're right. You don't need a slave that can speak if they're only going to be needed in bed. As long as they understand what's expected of them, that is."
"What's surprising is that she can't speak, but seemed intelligent enough to know how to do that."
"True, but you know as well as I do that she had to have learned about it from someone else. Maybe it's just that she was imitating what she'd seen. After all, if she can't talk, just how smart can she be?"
"Another reason why I'm sure the boss will sell her as a pleasure slave. A pretty face, unable to speak, no marks to mar her appearance, almost like she had been made just for her buyer's pleasure."
"Who knows. But also consider this, with her masculine appearance, do you really think she'd interest many?"
"Doesn't matter about that. I've heard about how some of the buyers have strange tastes. Almost like they want something that they feel like others wouldn't agree with."
"What I'd like to know is whether her buyer would want to breed her? I mean, she might be good to give birth to more pleasure slaves, but you never know with some of these rich people. I hear some will buy slaves with a pretty face just to mutilate them. Like they're upset that someone else looks so good."
Charlie suddenly felt like she was listening in on a conversation from the boy's locker room. The kind of conversation she always preferred to avoid. Although, even as she moved to the other side of the wagon, she could still hear all the details. Which wasn't surprising as the wagon wasn't exactly very big, not to mention the open space around the bars that allowed sound to flow through freely.
Nor did she understand what they meant about her having a 'masculine appearance.' If anything, she'd always thought that she had more of a feminine appearance.
"You know, sometimes I wonder what it'd be like to be with any of the slaves that sell for a lot. I mean, for that much, they have to be good," the caravan woman commented.
"Maybe, but I think sometimes some of the buyers spend so much as a way to show just how important they are, rather than how good the slave is," the auction woman replied.
If this is what the women were like on this world, Charlie could only imagine what the men were like. Especially with that kind of conversation she heard from women from this world. She hoped these women were just the lower end of what to expect from this world, but it wasn't like she had any guarantees about any of that.
One small blessing that she was grateful for was the fact that those women had started to walk away, still talking about whatever. If they were still on the same subject, Charlie really didn't care. She just wished that she hadn't been able to hear as much as she had.
If whoever tried to buy her thought that she'd willingly submit to anything like anything those two had said, then they were going to be very surprised and disappointed at the same time.
When the door was opened to the new 'pen' that Charlie was expected to stay in, she was surprised when she felt a hand shove her inside before she'd even had a chance to step towards it, making her lose her balance and fall face first on the ground inside the 'pen' as the door was slammed shut behind her. Though, the laughter sounding from those behind her didn't surprise her as the door was locked.
If anything, it let her know that at least some of these people were cruel just for the sake of cruelty. Which merely meant that she needed o avoid them altogether. When possible, that is.
As she climbed to her feet, she couldn't help but feel wary about those around her. She could feel the hostility directed at her and she couldn't help but worry that she was going to have to fight.
The pen looked to be around thirty or forty feet square and probably could hold twice as many people than it currently did. While they'd hardly be able to move, Charlie doubted that those who had put them in here really would care about that. The metal bars extended from floor to ceiling, though Charlie couldn't see everything in the pen with how many people were inside.
Like some of the rumors she'd heard about what happened when people arrived in prison. How they'd end up in a fight in almost five minutes from when they were there.
She couldn't say how much that would apply to this situation, but it at least brought it to mind.
Charlie looked around at those in the pen with her. She'd been travelling for a couple days from the city where she'd been stuck at because of being quarantined. The trip had been rather lonely, as she had been the only one in the caged wagon and those who worked in the caravan hadn't done anything other than essentially feed and water her like she was a pet that might try to attack them.
The others in the pen with here were all naked themselves, looked to be around her age or younger, and were a mix of both boys and girls. She couldn't say what it was about the girls, but she felt like most of the hostility was coming from them.
Charlie looked away from them, and sat down with her back to the bars, trying to ignore the chill from the metal. She wasn't sure what might happen, but she at least felt more comfortable without having to worry about any of the others trying to attack her from behind.
She didn't feel like trying to check their thoughts because she had a feeling that she wouldn't like to see what they were thinking of right then. Nor about what they thought of her. At least not since she'd heard that conversation between the two women at the last city when they'd sent the other people from that caged wagon to be auctioned off.
So much of this world was already making Charlie feel sick to her stomach. She wasn't sure what was worse at the moment, but she knew that she at least wanted to get out of there and get back to what she had come to this world to take care of in the first place.
Something striking the bars behind her startled Charlie out of her thoughts. She quickly looked and saw someone wearing a dress, who otherwise looked like a young man, holding a basket of what looked like hunks of bread.
Charlie wasn't sure if this was a joke or not. Though, it felt like it should be a kind of practical joke that Ralph might have gotten someone to do. If they were still in this world and hadn't returned to their own world like Charlie expected they had.
"Lunch time!" the young man called out. "One each! No more!"
Charlie held out her hand and the young man put one in it. She didn't see him offer any water, so she moved aside for the others to get some themselves. She figured that they'd bring some water later.
As Charlie bit into her bread, she was surprised at how similar in taste it was to the wheat bread she was used to from Earth. It was a little more chewy, but she suspected that it had to do with what was used in making it rather than anything else.
"That's mine!" a voice cried out.
Charlie looked up in surprise to see a girl who looked like she was older than Charlie by a couple years with light brown skin, dark blue hair, and amber eyes prying a hunk of bread out of a younger girl's hands. The younger girl looked like she was eight, had a light tan, rose colored hair, and hazel eyes. The younger girl also looked so emaciated that Charlie could help but no longer feel hungry. He condition wasn't to the point where she didn't have any energy, but it was clear she hadn't eaten much, if anything for a while.
The voice came from the child as she pleaded with the older girl who looked at the younger girl in contempt.
"It's only yours if you can keep it," the older girl replied, apparently not caring at how much of the bread was torn apart as the younger girl tried in vain to keep hold of the bread.
Another voice crying out in similar despair pulled Charlie's attention past the younger girl who seemed to be trying to pick up all the crumbs of the bread that had fallen. Putting each in her mouth as soon as she got it, making Charlie feel completely disgusted at the manner others seemed to be treating this young girl.
As she looked past the young girl, Charlie witnessed a similar scenario. This time however, it was a young boy who looked like he might be about seven and was just as emaciated as the other girl. He had brown hair, skin as tan as the other emaciated girl, and hazel eyes. Another girl who also looked to be around a year or two older than Charlie was stealing his bread from him. Charlie couldn't make out more than the other girl having light brown skin and dark purple hair.
Charlie wasn't sure what to make of what she witnessed, but couldn't help but lose her appetite as she saw tears streaming down both of the children's faces as they scrambled to collect what crumbs they could that had fallen around them.
Charlie looked at the others in the pen and felt even more disgusted as she saw either contempt on the faces of the others or indifference. She would have felt better if there was at least one person who looked at those two with any level of compassion or pity. At least then she would know that there were others who at least cared about them.
When everyone had gotten a piece of bread, even if theirs had been stolen, the young man walked away. Charlie then sighed as she looked at the bread she had, that she'd only taken a single bite out of and began pulling it apart into two pieces. She tried to make them the same size, but without anything to cut it, she didn't think she'd have been able to do any better.
Still, when she was done, she walked over to the two children who were still searching desperately for any crumbs they might have missed. She ignored the looks she felt cast her way as she took the two pieces of bread she'd made out of her hunk of bread and merely shoved it into the two children's mouths before they could react.
Their eyes went wide with surprise before they began eating like they were scared the bread would be taken away again. Charlie couldn't blame them and gently rubbed their heads as they wolfed the bread down.
A couple times they started to choke on the bread, but they were able to quickly get it dealt with before Charlie could do anything in response.
When they finished, they looked at Charlie with wonder on their faces, as well as more than a little fear. Charlie merely smiled back at them and returned to where she had been. She didn't want to make them feel like she had claimed them as her own, but rather thought that they should decide if they trusted her or not.
Although, she also really didn't care at the moment. If she got involved with them, then that would make escaping here that much harder. Especially with how emaciated they were. She seriously doubted that they'd be able to run very far if it became necessary. She didn't expect that they'd be able to keep up with her if she had to break into a sprint for any reason. So, she knew it would only hurt her if she decided to start taking care of them.
Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but feel like she ought to care for them, since no one else seemed to do that here. Almost like she was being asked to do something that would just make what she needed to be doing that much harder. Like something out there wanted her to stay being a slave or something.
Still, she didn't expect that they would head over to her and settle themselves down on either side of her. Charlie couldn't help but sigh. She didn't object to them being there, but she also wasn't exactly happy about it.
However, despite that, she put an arm around both of them, only wishing that they weren't all naked. Both of the children snuggled in closer to her at that point, which brought a smile to her face. While she couldn't say what might happen now from this turn of events, she planned at least to take care of these two until she found a way to escape.
Even if she had to leave them behind.
"I'm Cithis," the girl said suddenly, pulling Charlie out of her thoughts. "And he's Haln."
"What's your name?" the boy asked.
Charlie could only make a sound in her throat. While she wanted to tell them her name, she couldn't without removing the seal on her voice. Unless she used her magic and she suspected she might as well remove the seal if she did that.
"What's wrong?" the girl asked, sounding rather worried. "Are you okay?"
Charlie didn't even make another sound in the throat. She merely sat there with the children, wondering if she had gotten herself into a situation that she wasn't going to like. Not that she could say why.
The looks in her direction weren't any more hostile than they were before, but with how these two children looked at her, she suspected that an important element had changed. She just didn't know what it was right then.
The children didn't say anything more after that, nor did anything happen. Not until the same young man came. This time he had a big pot of what looked like a stew with a number of bowls.
Charlie had thought that they were only going to be fed bread, but felt like she could kick herself as she saw the stew. Those who had brought her here hadn't given her the same thing for every meal, so she suspected that she should have realized that these people wouldn't do anything differently. Or at least in regards to meals.
However, she did notice that there wasn't anything to drink. She accepted her bowl of stew, and waited for Cithis and Haln to get theirs as well. After that, she waited until the young man looked at her, a confused expression on his face.
Charlie mimed drinking, hoping to get her point across. The young man looked even more confused and Charlie could hear annoyed grumblings behind her. Which she could certainly understand. After all, she was essentially holding up the line.
A woman with bright purple hair and matching amethyst eyes came over after a minute, looking rather unhappy, to say the least.
"What's going on?" she demanded of the young man. "Why'd you stop feeding the slaves?"
The young man merely pointed at Charlie. Which had the woman shift her glare to Charlie. Which made Charlie want to forget about getting anything to drink, and merely disappear into the crowd behind her.
However, she knew she'd need to get something to drink sooner or later. So, she merely mimed drinking again, hoping that her point would get across.
The woman glanced at the others behind Charlie sighed and motioned for Charlie to step aside, walking over and up to the bars. Then she waited for Charlie to walk over to that point as well, which then would free the line up.
"What do you want?" the woman demanded.
Charlie repeated her mime, not sure what else to do.
"Stop that," the woman snapped, clearly not happy with having to deal with this situation. "Tell me: What do you want?"
Charlie could only make noises as she tried to say that she just wanted some water. The woman's eyes went wide with anger, her eyes looking like they wanted to burn Charlie where she stood. Charlie didn't look at Cithis and Haln, but she got a feeling they were getting nervous themselves.
"If you're not going to tell me what you want, then I can't help you," the woman said, even though helping Charlie was clearly not anything she was inclined to do anyway.
Charlie wasn't sure what else to do, so she merely made the same noised that she had when she tried explaining that she just wanted some water, while also miming what she wanted. She couldn't say what response she might get or if her point would get across, but it wasn't like she had many options at the moment, either.
The woman Charlie was trying to communicate with looked like she'd run out of patience with Charlie was had opened her mouth to say something, or merely go off on Charlie when another woman said," Don't worry about her. She was just brought in today and can't talk."
The other woman had emerald hair that was starting to turn gray. She had piercing blue eyes and looked like she could be very imposing if upset and very kind if she chose to be.
The woman who had been unhappy with Charlie's behavior glanced at the other woman and nodded. "Then I'll let you handle her."
The other woman nodded, apparently not concerned with the angry woman. "So, what do you need?" she asked Charlie.
Charlie repeated her motions, mimicing drinking water, hoping that her point would get across. She also couldn't help but feel the gaze of the two children on her, as they apparently had already finished their stew.
The woman merely pointed to something behind Charlie. "If you want water, you have to get it from the trough. We put fresh water in it every day. I know the people who brought you here would give you water with your meals, but this way you can drink some whenever you want."
Charlie nodded her thanks, hoping that it came across as she wanted and turned to look at what the woman had pointed at.
While it was starting to get hidden behind the crowd again, Charlie felt her heart sink as she realized that it was indeed a trough. The kind she remembered seeing in old west movies where the horse would be tied up in front of and could drink as they chose.