Author's Note: This is my response for the Men of Tortall Forum Challenge, it's a lot of fun over there so be sure to check it out and leave a review! :D

February 2010 Prompt: "Free"

I am Not Tamora Pierce

He took us mama. Just scooped us up and threw us into a wagon. It was such a bumpy ride, and at first I was scared. So, so scared.

The guards would glare, and if we didn't do like they told us to, they would hit us. I got a bruise across my leg from a bearded man's boot.

The trip was awful. The big blond man, we called him Giant, he would kick us if we got under his feet, but he never hurt us too much, just enough to let us know we were wrong.

It was so scary, mama, another little girl, she was pretty with big blue eyes, but the guards liked to tease her. They would tug her skirts, and grab her as they walked by.

I heard her scream in the middle of the night, there was cloth tearing and her whimpers. I curled into a ball on the ground, tucking my skirt around my legs against the cold and tried to ignore it all, praying to Mithros for morning and The Great Mother for protection.

When the sun burst out from above the tree line, the little girl sat in a ball on the ground nearby, a blank look in her eyes, like they were glazed over. There were a few drops of blood on her ripped skirt. She wouldn't eat, mama, no matter how much the other girls and I tried to convince her. It went on for a week of travel. Then the blue eyed girl died, and all we did was lay her off the side of the road with branches thrown over her.

When Giant found out about it, he bellowed like a bull at his guards, he threw one to the ground and slapped another. Then he turned on us, demanding to know what happened. A little boy, a year younger than me, he told Giant, pointed out the guard.

None of us saw it coming. I didn't know what to expect, but before we could blink, Giant picked up his big axe and split the guard in two.

Hot, red blood splattered onto my face. It dried on my already dirty skin, I tried wiping it off, but it was too late. It stuck to me and pulled my skin tight, I tried scratching it off, but it wouldn't come off. I ended up scratching marks into my cheeks, letting my own blood stain my skin.

I didn't get to wash it off for two days.

It was scary mama, but we finally got to the castle. It was wonderful, filled with toys, and food. A little man greeted us, he sent us to a bath room filled with warm water and sweet smelling soaps, maids cleaned the scratches on my face and put something on them to make them feel better. I was dressed in a pretty pink dress; it was so soft and warm that I couldn't stop rubbing it.

Then we were all sent to supper. Tables creaked with so much food and it smelled so good. I wasn't afraid anymore.

Then the man came to talk to us all. He reminded me of a rat but he was so nice. He apologized for everything that happened to us on our journey. He yelled at Giant, demanding him to say sorry, to beg for our forgiveness. The little rat man, he could do that, he was a mage. So Giant wasn't that scary anymore, he fell to his knees, groveling our feet, and then the mages.

Life with the mage was so wonderful; he gave us so many toys, and so much food. It was great.

Then the greatest thing ever, I thought at the time anyway, the mage asked to see me privately. It was the peak of my life; I put on a pretty white velvet dress with lace and skipped up the stairs to see him. I was ecstatic.

When I got there, he was twisting a pretty little jewel in his hands saying he was going to get one for me.

Then, I don't remember anything until I woke up in a dark place.

I wasn't scared anymore. I was terrified.

I couldn't feel my arms, my legs, my anything. I couldn't see anything but darkness. Every now and then I would feel banging like someone was hitting me, but I couldn't feel it. I just wanted to get out. To get away from it all. I wanted to go back with the mage.

I wanted you mama.

I cried and screamed and thrashed enough to get me spanked if anyone else saw me. No one talked to me, no one was anywhere. I felt trapped.

I couldn't feel anything, but I could feel tired, like I never got to sleep, like in that dark place someone was making me work like an ox and pull huge wagons, but I could never rest.

Then it happened, there was so much pounding on the outside of me, it felt like someone was going to get me out. I was so happy, I pushed harder and harder, even if I was afraid they might hurt me, anything was better than being locked in here.

That's when I was released. I pushed my way out of the hole calling for you mama.

Then I saw it wasn't you, it was her.

I don't know her name but she had hazel eyes that I could trust, even as I looked at for just that moment, and she looked at me like she was frightened. She looked like someone who would protect me. She was someone that would protect the small.

I couldn't look at her anymore though, I was drifting away, and I could feel something pulling me away, like the wind. I still couldn't feel my body, but that's okay.

I felt content, and safe.

I was free.