:Hello! This will be new for me, I've only written one other story for this fandom and that was a oneshot. If any of my old readers see this, I am writing this alongside the other one to give me some breather because I have writers block up the butt with the other story. Anyway, this to give me a breath of fresh air. This fandom needs to be more popular I swear, I love the series so much. I don't know how long this will be but, oh well. Let's see how I do. I don't own the Bartimaeus Trilogy in any way! Enjoy reading!:

He didn't know what he had done. He had dismissed his djinni. He was supposed be breaking his promise with the only girl who knew his name. He breathed heavily, feeling pain in his body as he grudgingly moved along the road. How had he gotten away? He had thrown the staff, and his feet had taken him somewhere...Had the boots done it?

He felt his throat dry, his body was becoming weaker with each step. Was he going to die? He was supposed to, he would guess. Where was he? He looked out, his blue eyes sweeping the area. He was far from the glass palace, he was far from his home...He could barely make out some kind of road, trees...Where had he landed himself?

He moved his hand, leaning against a tree and gazing at it. Red spilled along the body part. He was beginning to feel cold. So, he would die away from his home? Figures...He closed his eyes, thinking of what it would be like without him. Would Kitty and Bartimaeus be happy? He would think the demon should be, although the being should be a bit grateful that he had dismissed him.

He slumped down, the bark scratching his back through the already torn fabric. This pain...He let out a shaky breath, feeling his body begin to fall over gently. It was almost peaceful, but it was overly frightening all at the same time. He was dying, and it terrified him. But he had no other choice, did he?

He breathed in some of the fresh air around him, finally relaxing himself and allowing the embrace of death to come. As his senses began to dim, he heard a faint sound of a person, people. He smiled weakly, at least someone will know he truly died.

()()()()()()()

A group of three men stood around a bed, the furniture holding the body of a young male, his wounds patched and his person only wearing bandages. The tallest of the three men looked over him, curious of what he had been doing out there in the middle of nowhere. They were not completely far from a large city, but it was still a way's away. And where had the man gotten his injuries? If it weren't for them to arrive, he would have surely died.

"So, what do we do with him?" The smallest one questioned, crossing their arms with a huff. When seeing the injured man, this one had wanted to leave it behind. However, he was outvoted in terms of whether to heal the traveler or not.

The remaining man, a dark skinned one, shrugged; "Honestly, I've not a damn idea." He wanted to help the injured guy just because well...He was injured, morals and all that jazz.

They weren't honest men, the three. The only good thing about them was that they helped people every now and then. They would steal, murder, and anything that could get them any coin. Honestly, saving the odd man didn't give them anything, so it was odd on why they had saved him in the first place.

"If it was a girl, I'd have a clue..." The small one commented, giving the tallest an idea. Of course! They could find one nearby, and then they could get something out of this. Another idea they could have thought of would be just to make the guy one of them, but from the way his hair was done and his fancy (yet torn) clothes, they would think he was a big shot of some sort. Possibly a magician, although they tried not to associate themselves with that group.

"Let's sell him." The tall one suggested, earning the stares of his pals. The third one scrunched his nose up, glancing at the injured guy.

" Sell 'em?" He grumbled. "He's scrawny, and he looks as if he hasn't eaten in days."

"The kid was bleeding a shit ton, what the hell do you expect?" The small one rose an eyebrow.

"Well, still. Ain't no one gonna buy him."

"You'd be surprised." The tall one chuckled. "Some places are still looking for some servants and such."

"Illegal, dumbass." The small one jibed with a glare.

"Everything we do is illegal, shorty." He winked at the small man, earning an angered blush from his companion. "We just have to get him to the right guy, offer a price, and we have ourselves a good amount of coin."

The dark one nodded at this, they could do that. He tossed the injured person a look as they moved a little in their sleep. He wouldn't be waking though, with injuries that bad, he'd be out for a while. Maybe once he had woken up and such, he wouldn't be so worthless looking. Every person had some kind of good quality in them, didn't they?

The smallest one sighed, tossing his hands in the air and walking to a nearby bookshelf. "Whatever." He didn't approve of selling a human being, but oh well. The others wouldn't listen to him anyway. They'll just have to get rid of him some other way. Or..would someone actually buy him?

"I heard there's a rogue trader in the next city." The tallest spoke once more. "Maybe he'll offer a price."

"I doubt it." The dark guy mumbled. "I still don't get how anyone will take him. Look at him!" He gestured both hands in the bed's direction. Did they not see how puny this thing was?!

"He could be sold as a sex slave."

The other one looked at him in shock. "That's just gross, man." The small one seconded this with a gesture.

"Still gives us money." Tall sighed, looking out from their small hideout. "We'll find out if we can sell him in the morning, in the meantime." He heard a groan come the wounded. "Let's get the guy some water."

()()()()()()()()

In no way was he supposed to be reduced to this kind of humiliation, it wasn't right. The man stood there with his hands bound on a large wooden stage with two other people, a girl and a small child. His clothes were fresh, a tunic made just for him apparently. How could he be reduced to this? Why couldn't he have just perished like he was supposed to?

He had woken up in a large moving cart, his body comforted by straw a while back. He was told he had been sold to someone, like he was some kind of cattle. He had let out a rage of emotions, speaking of his title and how he wouldn't stand for this. But his words died on closed ears, no one cared. Where he was at the time, they didn't know of his reputation. And they cared less about who he was. He was nothing but another person to them, nothing but a commoner.

Now, he was treated even less than that. The heat beat on his back, his body began to pant with sweat. He gulped, trying to will his mouth to become moist. It was so hot out here. There was buildings around, sandstone from what he could see. But wasn't this sort of business illegal? Had it not been stopped centuries ago?

He had finally accepted this fate when he had been moved from cart to cart, state to state, country to country. How far he had traveled, he hadn't any idea. He thought of his past life to give him comfort, but it only provided him pain in his heart. He could've done something, if he had been found by friendlier company. But no. Karma was a cruel mistress.

He felt hot and humiliated, but he did not feel dirty thankfully. He had been cleaned beforehand to look his best, which he supposed made sense if he were to be traded off to some fool. The moment he was out of here, perhaps he could defend himself and run? He hadn't the slightest clue of where to run though, and how would he get away? He wasn't too strong, but his mind was...Did that matter in this situation?

He heard the sounds of hooves clapping against stone. Ah, he must truly be far away in order to hear horses being used as transportation. He kept his head down, closing his eyes for a moment as his ears took in the sound of a shrill, female voice.

"See, I told you father!" The voice called, causing gasps to erupt from the crowd. The man opened his eyes to look to the trade owner, who looked as if he were to wet himself at that very moment. Oh, so it was illegal.

He heard the sound of two figures dropping from the horse, walking past the crowd to the stage. A loud, boastful voice sounded throughout the area; "You have disobeyed my laws, disrespecting my name, causing hatred-" He cut out the rest, feeling too hot at the moment to react.

Was he going to be released? That would be nice. It was odd, thinking of being freed, as if he too were a demon of some kind. He wondered if all beings like that felt this way when the words of any kind of dismissal were said. He thought of what Bartimaeus had felt when he had mentioned his dismissal. He had the small urge to shake his head, perish the thought of that Djinni. It needn't matter now.

Maybe after this was over, he would stay here. It would be refreshing to start anew, although he had no clue how to do just that.

He looked up, staring down at the girl who was standing beside her father. The man was tall, handsome in a way, tanned, and dark hair and eyes. The girl next to him did not contain much of his features, other than the dark skin and the way her face was held. Her hair was copper and her eyes were a deep green. They were clothed as if they were royal in this area.

The girl felt a person looking her way, turning to the blue eyed captive and felt her eyes widen. She made her to the stage, ignoring her father as he ordered some nearby townspeople to take hold of the man who had organized the trading. She locked eyes with the man, their eyes never leaving each other.

The man looked down at her, unsure of what the girl was thinking. He took in her features, she was pretty, he guessed. He hadn't much experience with girls, seeing as most of of the time spent with them were in terms of business purposes, including Kitty. He could only imagine what she was doing at this moment, though he wouldn't mind seeing her again.

The girl's father announced that the captives could go on their own, seeing smiles appear on their faces as they were released from their bound hands. The blue eyed male walked to the father, allowing him to break his binds. The girl walked to his side.

"Father." She called gently, motioning for the man to come to her level. He gave his ear to her, the girl whispering frantically to him. He nodded at her words, chuckling softly.

"I see." He stood up straight, looking over the man carefully. He was small, but he could see potential in those ice colored eyes of his, he might not have looked impressive physically, but with some training...

"You there." He called, the blue eyed male narrowed his eyes. He needn't call for his attention, he was already giving all of it to him. "My daughter believes that you could be of use to me, and since I graciously saved your life..."

Yes, he was grateful for the rescue. But now he was just annoyed. Was this man really important? And if he wasn't, perhaps he could indulge himself in the urge to kick sand in his face?

"I would like to offer you a position," He voiced, this gained the man's full attention. "If you would like to hear it?" The young man nodded in response, thinking of the possible outcomes.

The girl stepped forward.

"What is your name?" She asked, a smile coming onto her face. The man looked at her, something was a bit odd about her, although he couldn't put his finger on it. She carried a kind of aura about her, was she a magician? Were there magicians in this land? He would have to find out somehow...

He pondered the question, his name? Well, that would be useful to know in terms of conversation purposes. He didn't know what to say, however. He hadn't the slightest clue how far his other name had traveled, and he wasn't comfortable with revealing his name to just anyone. He had revealed it to three people in his life and that was it. One he loved deeply, one he began to care for, and the other one...

He stared at the girl, her smile never fading, her eyes began to shine. He responded smoothly to her;

"Drake."

:Okay! That's a start. I didn't know how to do this, I know that some people might criticize this because I don't know timezones and stuff, but I think it'll be fine. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the prologue. I'll update a chapter as soon as I can!: