The Captial of Amir

The rest of the journey was like a faint memory. It was like I was going through the motions. The woman and her child encouraged me to eat, but it got harder for me to want to as time went on. We were immediately put onto ships heading for Astan as soon as we got to the port city. The voyage took another three weeks to reach Astan. When we reached the docks at Astan, we were led off the ship, chained together. I could feel the sun beating down on me and feel the hot air entering my lungs, but I did not look up. I had no energy to be curious and look around at the city, and I also wanted to avoid people seeing my eye. All I could see was the shuffling of feet and the sounds of a bustling city. Each step I took was heavy, like walking through a swamp. I had become so weak and gaunt from hunger. Finally, we were told to stop and wait.

This must be this city's slave market...

I could hear people haggling over prices on slaves. When no one was looking, I looked up to see what the place looked like. It was a big alley, with tarps overhead to shield from the sun. Cages with wild beasts, humans, and demons were all being brought and sold here.
No different from the market in my city.

I could see all kinds of different people wearing clothing I've never seen before. Loose-fitting clothes that flowed off the body. Some people were wearing head coverings, while others wore just the bare minimum. As I scanned the marketplace more, I made eye contact with a woman. She was tall, with light tan skin, long spiky hair, loose, baggy clothing that covered her chest and legs, and yellow-green eyes. From her eyes, I could tell she was a demon. Her eyes were like the eyes of a crocodile. I looked down, trying to avoid any more eye contact. Seconds later, I heard a voice.

"Do you want to leave this place?" It sounded like an old man speaking.

"..."

"You could spend your whole life living in a place like this." He said, "Or you can look at me and give me a response."

I thought about Rean. I thought about what he would do in this situation. I clutched the ring he gave me while thinking.
What should I do? I can't let myself stay like this... I can't give up, not this life...

Slowly, I looked up and gave him a wide-eyed glare. I showed him exactly what I was. He said nothing but smiled and walked over to the slaver, who was currently occupied with another customer. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but moments later, the slaver walked over with a happy grin and unlocked my cuffs and pushed me over to the old man.

Looking again, I saw that the same woman was standing behind the old man with some others following behind as well.

"From this day, you will serve as a bodyguard."

I just nodded.

As I followed behind the old man, I could feel myself losing consciousness. I tried to stay upright, but my legs were crumpling. I fell over, unconscious.

***

I woke up the next day, feeling better, but not great. First things first, I was starving. I looked around and saw a piece of bread with some sort of dried meat. I devoured the food left on the table. After that, I started to think about my situation more clearly. The first thing that came to mind was that they were quite lax about security, as it seemed like I was free to move about. Also, I noticed fresh clothes in the corner of the room. I was still wearing the dirty and torn clothes from when I was first caught all those months ago. I quickly changed, throwing my old clothes into a corner. The room itself was just big enough to fit a bed, a cabinet, and a table, with a small window that let in sunlight. It seemed like it was around morning time by how the sun felt.
Ok, I can't just sit in here and wait forever.

I exhaled slowly and cautiously opened the door. The room opened up to a courtyard, with doors lining the hallways around the courtyard. Down one of these hallways, I could see the outside. It looked open, like I could just run out and never look back.
Maybe I could just run out there ... I might be able to leave.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tap on my shoulder. I let out a yelp before swiveling around.

The woman was sitting cross-legged, with a smile on her face. "Heya!" the woman said. "Whatcha looking at?"

I fell back. It was that woman from yesterday.

"..."

My mouth hung open. I didn't know what to say.
Where did she come from? How did I not hear her?

"If you're thinking about leaving, I would recommend not to." She was now stretching.
Could she tell by the look on my face?

"And why not?" I responded.

"I was in the exact same situation as you. How do you think you'll get money? Get food? Find a place to sleep? Now, you're alone in this city. Nobody is giving handouts, especially to a runaway slave."

As she was listing these things off, it made me realize. She was right. I didn't know how to get any of those things. I didn't know how I would survive on my own. But even still, how would I know if I didn't try?

"This place won't treat you like a slave. You'll get an important job, and if you're good enough, you might even get rewarded... But if you insist on testing it for yourself, I won't stop you."

My eyes widened.

"Really?"

"Yep, just know that you can come back if you fail." She said with a grin.

I sprinted, making sure she couldn't take back those words. I made my way down the hallway leading to the outside. As soon as I stepped out, I saw walls surrounding the villa, with a gate and some guards standing by. The villa was sitting on top of a hill, with the city below it. I ran past the guards, but they didn't make an effort to stop me, so I just continued down the slope, slipping into a crowd of people. After I felt that I had gone far enough, I made my way to an empty plaza area. Now that I was actually looking at the city, it was pretty amazing. Large domes and windcatchers dotted the city. The city itself was sloping down towards the sea, and looking around, I could see massive wall-like structures surrounding the city. It almost looked like a cracked eggshell with the top part missing and the part nearest to the sea. Some parts of the walls looked to be hundreds of feet high and were a very dark grey. I could see structures built into the wall, like vines climbing a tree.
I need to stop thinking about this and start thinking about how to survive.

In my mind, my goal was to make it back to my home city, to try to find my family. But I didn't know where to start.
I should have tried getting some more food before I left.

I wandered around the city until it was dark, but I still couldn't come up with anything. Nobody would hire someone like me, so I decided to do the only thing I felt like was left.
Stealing.

On a busy street, I moved around people until I saw someone to target. He was a middle-aged man, quite fat, and with no hair.
Alright, he shouldn't be able to chase me down if he finds out.

As we walked toward each other, I got prepared.

"Bump!"

"Sorry," I said.

He just turns and grunts, but then he pats his pockets down.

The man spins around, "Hey! Stop! Pickpocket!" He pushes people out of his way, trying to get to me.

I sprint away as fast as I can.
I guess I'm not very good at this.

I weave through people and change streets, but when I turn around, he is keeping up with me, even gaining.
How can he be so fast while being that fat!? It doesn't make sense!

I make a right turn into a back alley and then a left turn. I don't know the city, so I pray that it leads to another street.
Please! Please!

A dead end.

"You little shit," the man huffs out between breaths.

"I-I'm sorry."

I extend my hand with the wallet in it.

The man reached out but went past his wallet. He grabbed my shirt collar and threw me into a heap of garbage.

"You think you can steal and then be forgiven by just giving my stuff back?"

The man rains down punches on me. I put my arms up, but it doesn't help much.
This sucks. This sucks so much. When do I get a break? Why is everything so hard?

"This is a lesson for you to never steal again, especially from me." The man got up and walked off.

My eye is swollen over, my arm feels broken, I'm covered in filth, and I'm bruised all over. When does it end?
Should I give up?

I pull myself off the trash heap and start limping out of the alley.
I can't give up. Nothing's worse than that.

I limped back to the villa, and standing there was the woman.

She smiles and waves at me.

"Welcome back."