Chapter 13

The guardsman was still sleeping when light from the dawn started filtering into the longhouse. Soon enough I heard voices as the other cobras arrived. One of them found the sleeping guardsman and kicked him hard in the ribs. The snake came awake and sat up, looking around. “What happened?”

The other cobra kicked him again. “You fell asleep, you laggard! Did you manage to sneak booze in here again, you useless twit?”

“No! No, I wasn’t drinking, I swear!”

“So you just fell asleep on the job. Pathetic. Go and report to the Second Lieutenant for punishment.”

“But--!”

“If I have to take you there, it will be worse for you.” The guardsman got to his feet sullenly and handed the keyring to the other snake. He shuffled off but the look he gave me as he passed by told me he remembered what had happened. I wasn’t sure why he wasn’t saying anything about it but the rage in his eyes promised revenge if he could get it. I really hoped I got sold tonight. What a weird thing to think.

A little later we all got our water and gruel again. This time I was hungry enough to eat a little but it had the consistency of snot and didn’t taste much better so I handed my bowl back mostly full. I really hoped I got sold today. After the feeding, they started bringing people out for the auction block. I waited and waited so long that I began to be very afraid that I would have to stay in the little cell another night. But finally a big cobra came and unlocked my cell. “Strip,” he said.

I had expected that but my hands still shook badly as I complied. When I was done, the cobra said, “Fold your clothes and carry them with you. Follow me.” He turned and walked away. I hurried to follow, trying to fold my clothes as I did so. We stopped at a line of other naked slaves at the exit of the longhouse. “When the auction master waves you forward, proceed from here directly to the auction block. When you are on stage, place your clothes at your feet and face the crowd with your arms at your side. Obey the auction master absolutely.” Then he left. I guess he figured I didn’t have much of a choice but to obey. He was right.

The slave in front of me was a small, human male who was hunched in on himself. He glanced back at me and I instinctively tried to cover myself. There was nothing in his eyes but fear, though. He turned away and I felt ill. If everything went right, I would be free very soon. He would be off somewhere to work until he died.

The line slowly shuffled forward and I watched the young man get called forward. Before he reached the auction block, however, the auction master stepped down. He was a whip thin cobra in soft greys that managed to be handsome even with his unnaturally flat face. Another man, who was maybe some kind of dog zverid, joined him. The cobra and the dog beastman talked quietly for a moment and then the master nodded. He gestured and the slave shuffled to join the dog. I guess he’d been sold without bother for a bidding. I wondered if that was Sviato. Had the sale of my own body been just like that? I shivered.

The auction master waved me forward and I stepped out into the heat. I tried to keep my eyes on the master so that I wouldn’t have to see other people looking at me. As I walked, I saw the master turn to a gaggle of children and speak to them, no doubt telling them what to say about me. They scattered before I reached the block. I mounted the wooden steps, which were hot under my feet. Like I’d been told, I set my clothing down and faced the throng gathered around the block. My hands came up to cover myself, though. I couldn’t help it.

A line of hot pain blossomed along my backside and I turned with a hiss to see the master was right next to me. He had what looked very much like a riding crop in his hand. “Hands down,” he said softly. I turned back to the crowd and forced them down. I’m sorry, Mina. I’m so sorry.

“Now we have the most valuable specimen of the day,” the auction master said. His voice carried extremely well. I guess that was how he’d gotten the job. “An Althean woman from the city of Aisa. She has been trained in the arts of pleasure in the famed brothels of that city, as evidenced by her bejeweled nipples.” His crop lightly touched both of my breasts. “If she is considered skilled in the sheets by those perverts, I think nothing more need to be said.” That caused a wave of laughter.

“But,” the auction master continued, “I will also note that she was selling herself before she was brought to us.” His crop slapped me right in the bladder and I almost peed myself. I had been avoiding using the bucket. “She is willing, eager and experienced.” He glanced at me and said, “Spin in a slow circle.” I did. His crop came up and brushed my hair back from first one ear and then the other. “Note the other piercings. She also speaks Pekelnik. Introduce yourself, woman.”

I almost did but then I remembered that I was supposed to be doing things that lowered my price. So far I hadn’t done anything and I couldn’t think of anything to do. Maybe acting like I couldn’t speak Pekelnik would help. I glanced at the cobra like I couldn’t understand him. But, of course, that was stupid since I’d obeyed all of his other commands exactly. His crop snapped across my backside again. “Introduce yourself now.” I kept my mouth shut. It was stubbornness now but I had to do something besides just act like the perfect little slave.

The crop came down again and again. Each blow was punctuated by the word, “Speak!” Tears started sliding down my cheeks and I was having trouble remembering exactly why I was refusing to speak but I clung to that one stubborn impulse. Until a particularly vicious swat made my bladder release. Warm liquid ran down my legs and pooled at my feet. I started crying harder. I could never remember feeling more humiliated in my life. Even my old life. The auction master was relentless, though, commanding me over and over to speak.

Finally I had no choice but to scream, “Please, stop! Please! I’m sorry. My name is Selene and I am from Althea!” The blows stopped instantly.

“There you have it,” the auction master said, breathing hard. “Perfect Pekelnik. A little stubborn but nothing some stern discipline won’t fix. Let’s start the bidding at two hundred gold pieces.” My eyes widened. That was more than I’d been sold for. I had a brief moment of hope that my little display would make it so nobody would bid on me at that price.

Those hopes were dashed instantly as someone called out, “Two hundred and five.” My eyes went to the man who had bid. He was a grossly fat zverdi of some kind. Hippo, maybe, or was that just the obesity? He was seated on a palanquin that had been lowered to the ground. My eyes scanned the crowd for Revaz or Kriv or Aliya or even Yana. I couldn’t find them but it was hard to pick out people in the dense throng.

“Two hundred ten.” That was from an older man. He was some kind of zverdi with skin that was more pink than I’d ever seen on a human. His head was bulbous and bald. He looked like some supervillian with an oversized brain. I wasn’t sure which of the two men I found more repellant. Other bids were called in but the bidding war eventually came down to the fat man and the bald man. I desperately searched for my friends but couldn’t spot them. Of course, the bidding was now more than double the price I’d been sold for. There was no way they could buy me unless Aliya or Revaz were secretly rich.

“Four hundred gold!” the bald man called out, calmly as ever. The obese man, who had been growing louder and angrier twisted around his palaquin to glare at the bald man. The bald man, his arms crossed, just stared back, cool as a cucumber in the heat. I noticed that his vest and breeches were both a dark blue and completely wrinkle free, which I had never seen among the zverdi. Were they silk? Real silk?

The fat man threw up his hands, “If you must have her, then take her!”

The auction master looked around and then said, “Sold!” He bid me dress which I did quickly. Even though I really wanted to bathe, nothing was going to keep me naked one second longer than I had to be. Once I was clad, I was led off the stage and to the bald zverdi that won me, who was now standing a little ways away from the crowd.

“I am glad you received my invitation,” the auction master said softly when we reached him.

“I appreciate you contacting me and waiting until I could be here for the auction. She is exactly what I was looking for. More than I wanted to pay but I’ll figure out a way to get some of the price back from that disgusting walrus.”

The auction master bowed. “As you say, Master Daniil.”

“I will stop by tomorrow to arrange the transfer,” Daniil said. “I trust that will be sufficient.”

“Of course, the Clan has no fear of such an illustrious personage defaulting on his bid. Please let us know if there is anything further we can do for you.” The auction master pushed me forward gently and took his cue to go to Daniil’s side. I guess he owned me now. What the fuck just happened?

“Come, Selene,” Daniil commanded, turning to walk out of the slave market. I followed, wondering if I should try and make a break for it. As soon as we began walking, though, two more men joined us. Both of them had the same pink skin and weird heads as Daniil but they were much bigger and bulkier. They bracketed me and quashed any hope I had of running.

A carriage--the first one I’d seen in this world--waited not too far beyond the grounds of the market. Another of the same kind of zverdi waited by the carriage. He opened the door and Daniil climbed inside. “Come, Selene,” he said when I hesitated outside the carriage. When I climbed in, Daniil was seated. He patted the seat next to him and I reluctantly sat. My stomach was so tight I was glad I hadn’t really eaten anything since that shish kebab the day before. This man had just paid four hundred gold for me. You didn’t do that for a maid.

The two bodyguards hopped on the runners on either side of the carriage and we set off. The ride was surprisingly bumpy and unpleasant. I guess even the rich in this world were worse off in some ways than a regular person in mine.

“Alright, Selene,” Daniil said, crossing his legs primly. “Do you know who I am?” I shook my head. “You must not have been in High Rock long. My name is Daniil and I am Head of the Seven Arm Sept of Clan Octopus.” So that was what he was. I could see it now that he said it. “As well as being blood brother to Boss Nagaev. I run things for the clan here in High Rock.” I just nodded. It seemed impressive and he was clearly rich but I wasn’t sure what to say. ‘Wow, I’m so glad such an important man owns me?’

Eventually I just settled for a safe, “I see.”

“Tell me about yourself, Selene.”

“Didn’t you hear it from the auction master?” I asked, carefully.

“I would like to hear it from you.” I couldn’t think of a reason to put him off so I spun him a tale, keeping it vague and trying to remember everything Revaz had come up with. Daniil seemed satisfied when I finished. “You really do speak our language fluently,” he said. “Most impressive. The reason I have purchased you, Selene, is that I need a tutor for the Althean tongue for my son, Vitaly.” Daniil sighed. “I wish him to take over the Sept when I retire but he is both lazy and willful. I need to send him to Globster to see how Clan Octopus makes its money but he needs to speak Althean first.”

I couldn’t help but ask, “You spent four hundred gold for a tutor?”

Daniil laughed. A short bark. “It is absurd. But I need the right tutor. Vitaly is a demanding and hedonistic boy. If you want him to learn, you will need to convince and guide him with the tools at your disposal.” I was very, very, afraid I knew exactly what tools he had in mind. So he wanted me to teach his brat and be his whore at the same time? Was this world some kind of hentai game? “Besides his tutor, you will be his maid and servant. Whatever he desires, so long as he learns. You are a gift to him. If he squanders it, however, I can think of other things to do with you.” His voice was suddenly cold and hard as steel. “I will get my money’s worth, one way or another. Are we clear?”

“Understood, sir,” I said, my voice squeaking. How had I gotten myself into this? Revaz had seemed so certain that it would work but now that I thought about it, it was a really stupid plan. I had learned where Mina had been sold but now I was a slave to one of the most powerful people in High Rock. If I ran away, he had the resources to hunt me down. Where had Revaz and Aliya been anyway? My guts turned to ice as I realized I might have been played for a complete fool. What did I really know about Revaz anyway? I barely knew him. Maybe he had just run off with his new riches. I felt like a complete and utter moron. Tears started leaking down my cheeks before I could stop them.

Daniil looked away from me and out through the window. “Shed your tears now, Selene. I will not tolerate them when you are presented to my son. You seemed largely obedient on stage despite your little show of defiance. If you do not obey me in all things, I will break you before I give you to my son. The beating you received on the block will seem as nothing compared to what I will do to you.” I was glad I had already pissed myself because I think his cold promise would have made me do it.

My tears had dried by the time the carriage had stopped. We travelled for at least a couple of hours so we must have been outside the town. When the footmen opened the door and I stepped out, I saw that I was right. We were in a lush little field and I think I could see High Rock distantly to the east, though the setting sun made it hard to be sure. Directly in front of us was the largest house I’d seen since coming to this world. It was made of the same sandstone the High Rock Fortress was built of. The main building was only two stories but the villa stretched over a huge expanse of land, with several different buildings. It reminded me of the compound of an old daimyo.

Daniil swept inside and the two footmen bracketed me to make sure I followed. The interior was blessedly cool, I guess because of the thick stone walls. An older woman, whose skin was too mottled to be human, hurried up to him.

“Welcome home, Master,” she said.

“This is Selene,” Daniil said without preamble, gesturing at me. “I will present her to Vitaly this evening at supper. See to it that she is ready.”

“This?” the woman sniffed. “Hardly befitting a man like he young master. She smells of urine.”

“Get her cleaned up, Borisova,” Daniil said in a tone that brooked no argument. The woman sighed but grabbed me by the arm and dragged me out of the room. Her grip was like an iron vice and it was hard to keep up with her pace.

We left the main building and stopped outside of another, smaller one story building. She let my arm go and I instantly grabbed it, rubbing it sullenly. Borisova bent down and undid her sandals. Then she grabbed me again and dragged me inside. We were in a building that seemed to be exclusively a bath. The floor was all of marble and there was a deep pool in the middle. It was maybe the fanciest thing I’d seen with my own eyes, in this world or the other.

Borisova glared at me. “Strip, fool. I assume you can understand Pekelnik since you are to be the young master’s tutor. I need to bathe you before anything else. Did they find you in some alley in High Rock in a pool of your own piss? Because that is what you look and smell like.” Well, so much for getting some sympathy from the other slaves. Though I guess I didn’t know for sure that was what she was.

I took off my clothes and tossed them beside me. Borisova glared at them and muttered something about having them burned. “Into the pool!” she snapped. I jumped and did so. It was only lukewarm but that actually made it kind of refreshing in the heat. Borisova appeared with a cake of soap and a scrub brush. She got to work and it was not a pleasant experience. She scrubbed me like I was a piece of furniture not a person and made some hurtful comments about my body and piercings. I wondered where she got off. Even if her skin weren’t all mottled and wrinkled, Mina had a much better body than she did. I didn’t argue or defend myself, though. She seemed like the vindictive type.

When I was scrubbed raw, she dragged me out of the pool. Her own clothes were soaked but she didn’t seem to care. She set me on a small stool and then carefully brushed out my hair. I think she was careful because she didn’t want to damage my hair, not because she was trying to avoid causing me pain. Once that was done, she told me to stay where I was and not ruin anything. She left and returned a little later with some clothes. Her first outfit didn’t work because my breasts were too big. She got mad and actually slapped them hard enough that it hurt.

Her next attempt was more successful. She dressed me in a rather skimpy--even by Pekelnik standards--white bikini top with gold tassels and white breeches with gold embroidery. Even the sandals that laced up to the knee were white. They also had thick soles with slightly elevated heels. Just when I had thought I was done with heels. But the wedge shaped soles were a lot easier to balance on than the spike heels of Mina’s sandals had been. A gold choker and gold armlet on my left arm, both with complicated metalwork patterns, completed the outfit.

When I was all dressed, Borisova circled around me a couple of times. The look on her face was what I would have expected from somebody examining a bag of garbage that showed up mysteriously on their lawn. “I suppose this is the best it is going to get,” she said eventually. “And we’re out of time. Come.” She took my arm again but this time it was more gentle and we walked at a reasonable pace. I guess she was worried about ruining her hard work.

We went back into the main building and she led me to a curtained-off entryway. It was dark now but light came through the curtain. I could hear talking beyond but it was too muffled for me to actually pick up words. An octopus zverdi--I thought, he had the same bulbous head but his skin was grey--in fine looking black clothes was standing beside the curtain. “Is this our newest?” he asked. His voice was deep and rich. “How lovely she is.”

“Don’t bother to flatter her. This is Ivan,” she said to me. “He will take you inside. Do as you’re told and pray to your ancestors that you please the young master.” With one last, long sniff of disgust, she turned and left.

Ivan stretched out a hand and said, “Shall we?” I didn’t have much of a choice but to take that hand. He brushed aside the curtain, revealing the room beyond and said, softly, “Welcome to your new life.”

Bad End - Rich Man’s Slave

Just kidding! I am going to end Book One here and complete the novel for the contest. Thank you for reading and to be continued!