WARNING: This chapter contains physical abuse that might be triggering for some readers
THIRD PERSON'S POINT OF VIEW
"Ahh!"
Leonariz's loud cry echoed through the room, which had no windows except for the single iron door where she was thrown.
She struggled to get up, bound by the shackles on her hands and feet. Her body ached from the impact of falling onto the hard cement floor.
The leader of the men entered the room. He looked down at her while puffing on the expensive tobacco he held.
"You will stay here, until the day that we will finally make use of you." the man said, a smirk etched on his lips.
"T-the deal... you won't hurt my people—" Leonariz whispered, but the man's loud laughter cut her off.
He walked closer to her, matching her height before grabbing her face, which was already bruised from his earlier slap.
"Are you telling me that I am not a man of my own words?!" he snarled, right in her face.
Some of his saliva flew out due to the force of his shout, even though she wasn't deaf.
"N-no." Leonariz replied in a weak voice.
She knew she had no choice but to be careful with her words and actions.
She worried that if she made a mistake, he would harm her entire tribe—that was her biggest fear, something she desperately wanted to avoid. So, no matter what they did to her, she wouldn't do anything to anger them.
The man moved his face even closer to hers, scrutinizing her entire face with the way he stared.
The man tsked. He forcefully let go of her face, causing her to fall to the ground once again.
Leonariz didn't get up anymore because of the exhaustion she felt, but her eyes remained fixed on the man.
He shook his head before approaching her and grabbing her hair to lift her up again.
She winced in pain but kept her gaze on the man.
"You poor little thing... you seems to have a pretty face." he said, blowing smoke in her face.
"They'll surely buy you. They'll going to dominate this body of yours, hmm... how do they call it these day?" he pretended to think.
"Aha!" He pulled her hair tighter and moved his face closer. Their faces were only two inches apart.
"Sex slave. They're going to make you their own and exclusive sex slave." He said with a grin, pressing the burning tobacco onto Leonariz's leg.
"Och! ponáei!"
("Ouch! It hurts!") Leonariz shouted, trying to break free from the man.
But the man only laughed and pressed the burning tobacco even deeper into her skin.
Leonariz could feel the heat and pain it caused. She knew she would have a hard time walking because of what he had done.
But she held back her tears. She bit her lower lip hard, trying to stop the words that wanted to come out of her mouth.
She needed to get on their good side. There was nothing good that would come to her and the Amazonians if she fought back and did things that would displease the person holding her captive.
The man laughed like a demon. He repeatedly pressed the burning tobacco on different parts of her body. With each application of the burning embers, Aello winced.
Her lips were almost bleeding because she was biting down so hard. It was because she didn't want to anger the man, and she was afraid he would hurt her entire tribe.
The man was about to burn Leonariz's other leg again when someone kicked him, sending him flying into the wall.
Leonariz's weak face registered shock as she looked at the bleeding man, the impact of his body against the hard wall evident.
"Kakogo cherta ty dumayesh', chto delayesh', Estes?"
(What the fuck do you think you're doing, Estes?)
Leonariz felt a shiver down her spine at the deep, dark voice of the man who had kicked the other man.
Leonariz looked up at the man. He stood in front of her, hands in his pockets, also looking at her.
His blue eyes held no emotion, nor did his face. It was the first time Leonariz had encountered someone like him.
A Russian, drawn from the stories of the man who had given them knowledge about the world outside the forest.
"Mne ochen' zhal', Demian. No eta skromnaya zhenshchina prodolzhayet deystvovat' mne na nervy—"
(I'm sorry, Demian. But this lowly woman kept getting on my nerves—")
"Ublyudok, on yavno ne eto nam prikazyval. Khochesh' snova ponesti nakazaniye?"
(Bastard, this is clearly not what he ordered us to do. Do you want to be punished again?)
The man shook his head repeatedly and quickly stood up. He seemed terrified of what he heard and quickly left the room.
Leonariz and the man named Demian were left alone. They stared at each other.
The man tsked. "I heard that you're able to understand this foreign language?" he asked, still looking at Leonariz.
Leonariz swallowed and slowly nodded in response.
Leonariz was nervous for herself. She didn't know why it felt like she was in even greater danger now that they knew she could understand them.
What if they found out she understood more than just English? That certain man had taught her a few more languages! Including the language that the two men had been using just a while ago, Russian.
"Huh... you're quite bright for a woman from a lowly and endangered tribe." the man said. His voice held a hint of amusement as he looked at her.
"Y-you people... won't hurt my people–right?" Aello asked.
The man's eyes widened slightly at her question, a smile appearing on his lips as he continued to look at her.
"Damn, you even know how to communicate with it?" he said incredulously, matching his height to Leonariz's seated form.
"Tell me... how are you able to learn this language?" Demian asked, a strange smile on his lips.
Leonariz felt the danger the man exuded, but she remained calm and met his gaze.
"I... do not know." she answered.
"Eh?" Demian's face showed disappointment at her response.
"It's no good then, I know you won't cooperate that much with us." he said, standing up and putting his hands back in his pockets.
He started to walk away, but when he was only a step away from the door, he turned back towards Leonariz.
"You better behave yourself, woman, you'll be living here for quite a long time before the auction. I hope you're still alive by that time." he said before leaving and closing the iron door.
The door made a loud bang due to its weight. The room was enveloped in darkness, only the light coming from a small hole in the iron door serving as the room's illumination.
Leonariz's heart was full of fear and anxiety, but not for herself—it was for her whole tribe. Especially since she knew these people couldn't be trusted.
Auction...
It seemed her suspicions were right. They were planning to sell her to whoever had taken her.