More than an hour had passed since Todd had given his 'uplifting' speech.
When it had ended, all of the new slaves had been funneled past the tents and put into the central area of the camp that was made for them, a muddy pit filled with bonfires that laid at the center of the surrounding basin.
Kalen and everyone around him had looked at the surroundings of the camp as they were shuffled forward, and found that it was nearly impossible to escape, contradicting the apparent emphasis on threats in the speech they had just heard.
'What would they even be afraid of with all of the guards here? What's there to be cautious of?'
Kalen wondered as he felt Layla hold onto his sleeve.
With the way the camp was set up, there were multiple rows of tents on the outside of the slave pit, essentially acting as a series of barriers without the need for walls. Affording the occupants of the pit just enough freedom of movement to wander within the mud.
And while everyone was looking at the imposing tents and guards, Kalen had been searching the pit for an area to rest with Layla and the others. This had been when they had told him of their intentions.
Both Ayana and the old man didn't want to stay.
For some reason, the old man was forlorn, and a dark mood had come over him.
When he said he was going to leave them, he hadn't given the three much of an explanation, but they hadn't raised any arguments either. Though he had tried to dispel the accusations against him in the wagon, his actions in the village still remained fresh in their minds.
But harder for Kalen to accept was Ayana's decision to leave. Though only temporarily, she had said she wanted to understand the camp some more, and had told him that while she'll be back later that night, that they shouldn't get used to being together anymore.
Kalen had felt a strange kind of determination coming from her as she said this, and a myriad of thoughts had swam around in his mind.
His wounds he had sustained during the escape, like the gash around his head, were beginning to heal by themselves now, so there was no longer any need for her experience in healing, nor was there anything she could do.
'But that's not the reason I think you should stay. Isn't it better to stick together in a place like this? Didn't you say we were tethered?'
With Layla at his side, he could only extend himself so far for the older girl's sake, but he still didn't want her to leave. Being so close in age as well, Kalen felt the buds of a bond blooming with her that he hadn't experienced with anyone from Willowhearth. As the only people who had interacted with him in his village after learning of his curse were much older, or figures of instruction.
So Kalen repeated in his head what he had said an hour ago, all the while looking at Layla by his side.
His sister had latched onto him ever since their collars had been affixed, and even after Kalen had found a place for them to sit down, she had refused to leave his side. Kalen saw no downsides to her clingy behavior as long as she didn't touch his skin, but the causes of it were eating at him.
He could find nothing in his mind with which to calm her down, so for the next few minutes, he poked at the bonfire in front of him with a stick.
As the sky grew darker overhead, Kalen's face began to be illuminated more by the fire and eventually a voice came out from the darkness.
"...Can we sit here?"
Kalen snapped to the direction of the voice and saw two dark-haired figures standing over the fire and looking at him. He shifted back in his seat, unaware of their intentions.
'They're slaves like us, but I don't remember their faces. They weren't in the crowd, which means they've been here longer. Then why come over here?'
Despite the quantity of slaves in the pit almost rivaling the number of guards Kalen had seen, there was plenty of space available to sit. Though there weren't that many bonfires, it was only starting to get dark now, and the majority of the newer crowd hadn't gathered to sit at them yet.
So as a result, there were still nearby ones open.
"There's space nearby isn't there? Go sit at one of those fires."
Kalen motioned to one of the other fires, trying to sound as unwelcoming as possible.
He didn't want these people here when he had to look after Layla.
In fact he didn't want these people here at all, and after seeing them give a look to one another he was assured they knew that.
"Relax, okay. We're just here to sit by the fire."
But they persisted, and sat down on the opposite side of the fire.
Now that Kalen was looking at them in the light, he realized that they couldn't have been much older than himself, and since coming to Yurth he had learned that he was just under the age of adulthood in the Empire.
"Here, as a token of goodwill."
The boy on the right tossed something to Kalen over the fire, the edge of the flame narrowly licking at the object as it flew past.
Kalen caught it with his spare hand.
"What is this?"
"You don't know? It's a meal token, with that, anyone can get one extra meal per day. Like, for example, that young girl at your side."
Kalen listened seriously, considering the small stone in his hand. It was shaped like the egg of a chicken sliced in half, with the etched imprint of an eagle on the flat side.
"If that's true, then why haven't we gotten one already?"
Kalen looked up to the two boys.
"Well, it's clear you just arrived in the new batch, so they'll hand out tokens for you tomorrow. You've got to make sure to keep those too, as one slave only gets a single token for their time here, and you have to show it to the guards every day if you want to eat."
"So we'll need to have these stones with us to eat? What's the point of that system when you could just hand out food on a per-person basis?"
Kalen's brow furrowed.
The system didn't make any sense, and the fact that someone could take someone else's token away from them before they could eat seemed unreasonable and stupid.
He was starting to doubt the explanation when the boys spoke up.
"It looks like you've figured it out, but the system is in place precisely to encourage the theft of those tokens."
"This camp is nothing but a temporary housing area for slaves, but even if it's only temporary, there are too many of us here. They wish to artificially create an atmosphere where only the strong or clever will survive, and turn our mistrust away from them and onto each other."
"That way, the day they go to sell us, they have a smaller amount of stock to easily transport, and a pick of high quality slaves that are more intelligent or strong. After all, most people will pay more for those qualities."
Kalen's mistrust started to run away as he thought about it. The strategy of the camp was foreign to him; something that would never have been thought up by the residents of Willowhearth. It didn't fit into the way of life in which he had been raised. It was no wonder he hadn't understood it.
The strategy was insidious, but the very thought of that made him remember something the elder had said.
'Any word is more credible than those of these soldiers.'
"I see. Then, if tomorrow comes and we are handed these same tokens, I'll have to thank you for your sacrifice. I understand what this token means if you are willing to give it away."
Kalen overturned the stone in his hand, while thinking about the good an extra meal a day could do for Layla's growth. He nodded with sincerity to the two boys, choosing to accept their gesture of goodwill for now, even if its fruits couldn't be seen until tomorrow.
The boy who had tossed him the token shook his head in response.
"Oh no, it wasn't a sacrifice to us. Maurice and I still have plenty of the tokens ourselves. That one was someone else's."
Kalen blinked.
"Oh…"
He realized that the boys in front of him hadn't sacrificed their own meals to help him, but had taken the token from another one of the slaves here.
But if they hadn't done that, then would they even have offered it?
Was Kalen really still expecting to see such selfless generosity in a place like this?
Suddenly Kalen didn't know what to make of the gifted token in his hand.
"Hey, it's the name of the game around here. You have to start looking out for yourself first, especially if you're carrying around…your sister, I should assume?"
One of the boy's asked before receiving a nod back. Kalen sighed.
"You are right, I should start to prioritize our safety before worrying about others."
He held the stone token aloft.
"I want to thank you for this…?"
"Wellynd."
The boy who had tossed him the token, as well as who had done most of the talking replied.
"And I'm Maurice."
The skinnier of the two said.