With the morning sun rising in front of her and Roosters doing their morning yells to wake all to the coming morning, Lili, Robin and the 4 brothers found themselves now in front of a new village. This village was much like Einsway except its tavern was a lot smaller with just two floors and a few rooms to give. Here with all of them cramped into one room with just two small beds, they were meant to spend the night.
To earn her worth Lili was made to work in the Inn as a morning cleaner. To her relief, her left arm had started to work again somewhat, so she could do basic tasks as long as she didnt put too much pressure on the arm. Robin and the thin man on the other hand had headed outside the walls to hunt. The other 3 had gone off to do something else and amazingly left Lili alone in the Inn with its 2 working staff members and a small group of 5 wondering peasants.
With wide eyes Lili while cleaning the floor with a broom looked around for signs of the brothers, but didnt see them anywhere. She couldnt help but wonder if this was a trick or a test of some kind. Why was she left alone completely unattended? Even her two-meter-long chain had been taken away.
With her hood pulled down she sneakily pretended to sweep the floor as she slowly made her way to the 5 men who were drinking and eating. Coming to their side she was immediately noticed by one of the men who just handed her his wooden beer mug and said.
"Hey, you slave girl. Get me another one of these."
Placing her broom against another table she took the mans beer mug and tried to appear as cute as possible as she spoke to them in a soft tone of voice and said.
"I, I, I have been kidnapped. please help me, ohh kind sirs."
The men just looked at one another in seeming confusion as the one that handed her the beer mug said.
"And what does that have to do with us? Now be a good little slave girl and get me more ale, or I'll be the one to discipline you instead of your master. Looking at your pretty little face and those cute little lips of yours certainly gives me a few ideas of how a girl like you could be disciplined. Hahahaha!"
Immediately she noticed what seemed like lustful smiles come to the mens faces as they laughed, the sight of which sent chills into her body and made her run away quickly to do as the man had said. After that, she didnt dare to ask anyone for help again, it truly seemed like she was on her own here and it was up to her to get herself free. Nobody was coming to save her.
With this in mind, Lili kept her head down for the rest of the day and just concentrated on her work. After cleaning the common areas of the Inn she moved to the kitchen where she was ordered by the man who owned the place to go and take out the trash. When she asked where to? The man simply laughed and said. "The river of course."
Lili felt baffled by this answer but did not dare to argue and just did as she was told. Dumping the bucket full of trash and waste into the river she couldnt help but wonder if it was even safe to go swimming in rivers such as this that were close to places where people lived. As she was thinking of this she noticed an old man coming to the riverside. The old man didnt seem bothered at all by her presence as he just pulled down his pants and started to take a shit in the river.
Seeing this Lili's face turned ugly as she immediately turned away and felt like puking. Just a moment ago she had even thought about washing her face in the water. The thought of it now just made her feel sick.
Seeing all of this, she couldnt help but wonder, had nobody ever taught these people about hygiene or proper ways of trash disposal? Oh, how she wished she could just go back to her little home in the woods where it was clean and peaceful. Thinking on this matter she also couldnt help but wonder what might have happened if she never met Art and just stayed at home. Maybe then she could have done something to fight off those armored men, but then again that would have probably been even worse.
Feeling depressed by these thoughts Lili hung her head low as she returned back to the Inn and continued on her work. Later that day the brothers and Robin returned to the Inn with a new young mans face at their side. The man seemed to be in his early twenties with short brown hair, green eyes and a shaved face. Looking at his appearance Lili immediately noticed that he had a Lute on his back and had the typical look of a bard.
Confused by this new face the thin tall man then explained by saying.
"Lili, say hello to Whimsy Warbler. Your new master in music."
Bowing her head lightly at the man, Lili said.
"Hello, nice to meet you. Whimsey Warbler. I am Lili."
Seeing this the man smiled kindly and said.
"Well met Lili. I have heard great things from these brothers about your skill in song. I look forward to seeing you sing tonight."
Raising a questioning eyebrow at the mans words Lili turned to the thin man, who then said.
"Indeed, its time for you girl to earn your keep. If you wish to eat tonight that is."
Hearing this Lili couldnt help but feel worried over the man's words. The last she had eaten was in the morning and now she had been working the whole day. Once more she would be forced to sing while starved just in order to earn some food.
That evening as people were done with their daily work and started to gather in the Inn Lili was lifted on stage by the fat man Lute in hand. Standing there with a collar around her neck and a chain that was attached to the fat man who stood at the side of the stage, Lili couldnt help but let out a sigh.
No eyes of sympathy for her could be seen in the crowd. They just looked at her with curiosity and expectant eyes, clearly not seeing the slave collar as a big deal.
Before she started to sing the fat man placed a wooden bowl in front of her on the edge of the stage and said nothing. The sight of this made her feel confused. What was the point of the bowl?
Then she felt a light pull on her chain and saw the fat man looking at her, clearly trying to tell her to get on with it and start playing. She immediately realized his meaning, but couldnt help but frown at the man. To have a collar around her neck and to have some fat bastard pulling on its chain was extremely humiliating and dehumanizing. In that moment she wanted to scream at the man and protest him treating her like some dog, but managed to hold back, knowing that this would obviously be a bad idea.
Taking a calming breath of air, she adjusted the Lutes strap on her shoulder and sat down on a stool on the stage. With her left arm still not working properly Lili wasnt able to hold the Lute properly so she had luckily been given a stool and also the Lute which belonged to the bard had a strap.
From there the following events of the night went on much like they had gone back in the village of Einsway. The only real exception was that this time she did not faint embarrassingly and have two boys rushing to her rescue. No, the show went well, long into the night, until she was finally allowed to leave the stage.
But as she left the stage Lili didnt feel happy, but cheated. The wooden bowl on stage was overflowing with copper coins which the fat man happily took and dumped into an empty leather pouch. Truly people did give tips in this world. Many of the customers had constantly been tipping her more and more coins in hopes that she would continue playing more and more.
Realizing this Lili felt enraged by these people and especially the people of Einsway. Did the people in Einsway truly just think that she was playing music for fun? Would they have actually given her coins if she had just asked for them? But most of all she felt annoyed by the fact that all the work she did today amounted to only some bread, soup and a mug of water.
Made to sit on the floor in the corner of the Inn next to Robin, Lili watched as the brothers ate lots of meat and drank their alcohol happily around the round table. Apparently, slaves were not allowed to eat at the table and during the coming night, she would be made to sleep on the floor.
Feeling cheated and humiliated even more, her sole saving grace was the fact that at least she wasnt sitting on the floor alone as Robin was there next to her. Also, her mind felt more at ease as she listened to Whimsey Warbler singing on stage and playing his Lute that she had been allowed to borrow during her performance.
During the night Lili feeling infuriated by the events of the day felt like she really needed to do something drastic here and soon. Made to live this kind of life, sleeping on the hard wooden floor and eating low-quality food was not healthy for a young girl.
Unable to fall asleep Lili suddenly felt Robin pull her close to him and lend his arm as a pillow to her. Clenching her little fists Lili felt like exploding at this moment in time as she turned to Robin and was about to say something, but then to her amazement, she noticed the boy was not looking at her creepily as he said.
"Dont mind me, Lili. Just act like I am not even here. Think of me as nothing more than a tool meant for you to use."
Hearing this Lili's expression immediately softened. She couldnt help but feel hopeful as she heard the boys words. Maybe together they might actually make it through this and obtain freedom again.