Hello everyone. I'm back with a new story. I think it's pretty good, I hope you like it.
winterslegend
Chapter 1
"I'll buy him for thirty pieces of copper, no more. He's a scrawny little thing, barely even alive and much more then he's worth" the man in white flowing robes said handing the other man money.
"Come on boy," he said yanking the rope around his wrists.
The man looked back at him "Do you have a name?"
The boy with brown hair peered up at him with hard eyes "Trowa."
The man tugged on the rope again "Alright, you will call me Master Rashid. You will not be my only slave, I have much status in these parts and I am expected to have plenty of slaves."
Trowa had learned after his many months on the slave boats that minimal answers were expected and was the only form of response abided by. He gave a small shiver in remembrance of the slave boats, he pushed the memory to the back of his mind and wished upon wishes that he would forget the hellish voyage.
Rashid looked back at him then back at the slave stand which was quite far away by now, the man gave a laugh "You're lucky you know. I'm a much nicer Master then some of the other dealers back there."
Trowa bowed his head "Yes Master Rashid" not believing the man.
Rashid gave a small laugh and shook his head and climbed up onto his horse which was tied to a stall on the outer rims of the bazaar "Come on boy. We're almost to you new home."
Rashid's home was, in fact, proof to his wealth and stature. It was made of yellow polished stone with marble stairs and balconies. There were trees and plants in his front yard and the newly named Trowa watched in detached fascination as other slaves trimmed the trees and plants with sharp blades.
"Welcome home Trowa. You shall remain here until I either decided to let you go or until your death. Whichever one comes first," Rashid gave a loud laugh and looked down at him from the giant horse.
'Comforting' Trowa thought with an inner scowl.
"Aye! Heero! Come over here!" Rashid screamed to a boy with dark brown hair leading a train of horses.
The boy gave the reins over to the boy next to him with peculiar features. The other boy's eyes were sharp and black, his hair was also black as pitch while his skin remained pale as snow. His pitch black hair was tied back into a ponytail and he wore a white suit, customary for high class slaves.
Heero, as Rashid called him, was fierce, Trowa could see it in his eyes. His clothing was strange for such weather as well, a black loose under shirt and leggings and a green tunic on top. His blue eyes were strange since there were very few blue eyes in Arabia. Trowa himself had been expensive for a slave because of his foreign green eyes and lighter brown hair.
Rashid clapped Heero on the back "Ah Heero! Meet your new friend Trowa. Get him some decent clothes and teach him the ropes around here. He'll be the animal keeper you had requested."
Trowa was surprised, such familiarity between slave and master. It was strange to see. He had witnessed slave abuse in the market where he waited to be purchased. Stories from other slaves had prepared him for the worst, broken arms, severe bruising and beatings, whipping.
Trowa shook his head, whatever the reason, it had nothing to do with him. Heero must be a very good slave so Rashid treats well.
Heero turned to Trowa as Rashid rode off to his house's front door. He looked him up and down, judging him. Trowa knew that look, it was the look that a herder gave his cattle. He was looking for weaknesses, flaws. The green eyed boy raised his chin, he had no flaw.
Satisfied Heero turned and beckoned the other boy to follow him "You will care for the animals in Master Rashid's stables and zoo, wash them, feed them, clean up after them."
Heero led him to a room with fine furnishings, Trowa almost stopped to stare at the marble lined flooring and rich fountains draped with greenery but Heero kept walking. He led him to a closet in the other room and pulled out a dark blue tunic and a lighter blue undershirt and pants and finally some actually fitting black boots.
"You're lucky you're normal build, a little skinny but you'll get fattened up. You should thank Allah. He blessed you with having such a kind master. Master Rashid never beats us, he feeds us well, clothes us and sometimes he even pays us," Heero said, his voice as monotone as his eyes.
Trowa had no shame when he discarded his rags for the finer clothes which were soft against his skin, the shoes were comfortable and soft, he was glad he even wore shoes.
Heero showed him after he'd gotten dressed where the stable was. It was at the back of the house near the back door to the kitchen. There were chickens, goats, horses, pigs. Rashid also had a menagerie in large room in his larger house, a fenced in area at the corner of the room containing a family of monkeys, there were cushions for dogs and cats to sleep in, a cage for even larger cats, lions actually, and a few tigers.
"Why does Master Rashid keep lions and tigers?" Trowa asked, actually speaking for the first time of his own free will.
Heero smirked "Master Rashid likes them, he enjoys their company. Plus, the prince comes by every now and then. He also loves the animals."
Trowa nodded and looked over at the caged lions. He gazed into their eyes and was memorized by the intelligence he saw in there. The lion seemed to see him, really see him. It was sizing him just like Trowa was to him, the lion gave off an aura of royalty, of nobility. Trowa slowly withdrew into his own body again and was surprised to see that the lion was staring at him. Most animals never held a human gaze, but it did. Trowa barely heard Heero when he said it was time for them to report for dinner.
The servants ate in the kitchen it seemed, there were more slaves then Trowa had thought before. Heero nodded to everyone and pointed to each of them in turn, there were three other males, one was the curious looking one, "Wufei", then Heero, and then the gardener, a long brown haired, blue eyed guy who was looking at him with a peculiar smile. Dressed in completely midnight blue with a strange glint in his eye this strange boy looked like death on blue wings, his name was quite odd as well, "Duo ." The females in the servants were numbered at four, one had long (really long) blond hair and rather scary eyebrows wearing a deep red dress "Dorothy," the girl sitting next to her had brown hair twined in two, it resembled a twirled braid actually, her name was common but not in these parts, "Sally." After her was a woman who sat really close to the Death look alike. She had strange short cropped blue hair and a yellow suit, he recognized her as the other gardener he had seen outside "Hilde." The last one had thick curly hair that reached her chin, a pink tunic with paler pink billowing sleeves and pants completed her ensemble but Trowa could see the knives that lined her belt, her name was "Catherine." 'She must be the cook,' he thought eyeing the strange woman.
Duo smiled brightly and patted a empty seat "Sit down! Have a bite! You look like you need it buddy."
Trowa studied the braided man and decided that he was harmless, for now anyways, and sat down next to him. He breathed a sigh of relief inwardly since this was the first time he'd sat down for the past three days, the slave cages were cramped and left no room for sitting and much less lying down during the night hours.
For the first time he noticed the food before him, it was more of a banquet for Trowa though who'd been living off water and crusts of bread for a very long time. He eyed the meal of bread, cheeses, fruits and an actual chicken set before him. Duo poured him a cup of some dark amber liquid and quick sniff of it determined that it was barely beer. Something he had once enjoyed a life time ago. He took a sip and memories of the better days in his life flooded his mind.
He was nearly brought to tears. For so long... all he could remember before this moment was damp, moldy, rotting cabins below deck of a slave boat from hell.
Trowa could still remember the rotting bodies pushed off into the corners of the cabins, the sickly, malnutrition, rotting corpses of almost friends. He remembered the one day he stumbled over one as he went above decks and fell... the face almost completely decomposed was writhing with maggots and rats. He's hurled in the corner, the stench mixing with the other nauseous fumes.
Trowa shook his head and nearly kept himself from hurling.
Duo gave him a piece of bread "You'll get used to it. Start on something easy buddy."
Trowa accepted it knowing that most of the slaves in this room were also from foreign countries so they had also experienced the horrid nightmare.
The group gazed at him sympathetically knowing what he was going through. Catherine smiled melancholily, she'd only arrived at Rashid's six months ago and was adapting to this as well. Heero had been here the longest with nearly seven years under his belt but he was still plagued with cruel images that haunted his dreams at night, and sometimes in the day, all he had to do was close his eyes.
Trowa continued to sip the drink and eat the bread and then, after a little while picked up a date. He eyed the purplish fruit before biting into it and he could almost feel nutrition and health flow into him. As if a dam broke he began to eat hungrily. His nearly not existent stomach filled with food. His body consumed the vitamins and the liquids up with a frantic vigor. Duo gave him a cup of water knowing too much beer would make him sick and in his fragile state he couldn't afford that.
Trowa stopped panting after he drained his cup and looked down at his hands, had he really eaten? He touched his stomach and a faint smile reached his lips. Perhaps this wasn't a wonderful dream after all. Cathy stood and took his arm, leading him to the slaves quarters.
It was a separate building then the main house, a two story house actually. Rashid was very generous to his slaves, unusually so, but it made his servants all the more eager to serve him and serve him well. He lost nothing and gained a large amount. That was how he did all of his dealings and he had a huge house and property in the result not to mention a sizable vault.
Cathy led him into a small one room living quarter, it had a comfy bed, a window with shutters, a basin for washing and shelves to hold whatever he decided to buy with what Rashid's pay check would allow him. She knew he would adjust but for now, sleep was good. Rashid didn't expect him to start work until the day after but until then, the others could do his work as they had done after the other slave, Trieze, had been granted release.
She laid him down in his bed and covered him with a thick woolen blanket, she smiled at the slight figure and ruffled his hair affectionately for leaving the room. He would be fine.
