"Number 22 please step forward." that was me, number 22. I was no longer a person, just a number. I did as the slave trader asked; stepping forward so that I was next to the podium the director was standing on. "this beautiful specimen is not just easy on the eyes but also a hard worker, collected from the farmlands, this girl has backbone, she'd be just as suited for work in the fields as a maid!" the blasted director spoke with a jaunty tone as if he was talking about the weather not the outcome of what was probably to ne the rest of my life.
And then the bidding started. Apparently I was desirable as a slave because it seemed as if the bidding went on forever, but finally a short stout man dressed in frills won. He already had a large group of slaves gathered behind him being held by what looked like guards, wearing the king's colors. Great, I was going to be a slave in the palace; the rest of my life will be spent taking orders from whiny prissy royals who've never worked a day in their life.
Two slave traders hustled me off the stage towards the man and his little group, they watched me carefully to see if I would resist, but I didn't, I had given up a long time ago, after my third failed escape and my fourth whipping. Fun times. The man who'd bought me motioned for the soldiers to come and take me from the slave traders, they exchanged a few words and then they left. I was herded into the line of slaves rather roughly, a little to roughly in my opinion, so I mustered up some energy and spit on the little man's froofy shoes. He sputtered for a second, turning bright red. "H-how dare you! Those shoes were expensive! Do you know who you just spit on? You just spat on the royal slave master! I can make your life a living hell, so if I were you I would behave!" well then! Someone's got a temper. The little act of rebellion had earned me back a little of my spirit, as well as a few quiet laughs from my fellow slaves. While the "royal slave master" went back to his bidding I examined my fellow prisoners. There were 8 of us all together. The person first in line was a pale boy with strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes glittering with mischief, he was tall and lanky, towering over the two little kids behind him. One boy and one girl, both with big blue eyes and blonde hair, looking like angels. Probably twins. Behind those two and next to me was a mocha skinned girl who looked to be a couple years younger than me. Her brown eyes were bright with a little fire, she was still giggling from my little spectacle. On the other side of me was a red haired girl who was probably the same age as me, she had green eyes that at the moment were filled with tears. I felt a little bad for her, but I was in the same exact situation as her and I wasn't crying, even the two angel twins weren't crying. In the end I decided she was a crybaby and a wimp. Next to her was a (if I'm to be completely honest with myself) very attractive blond haired boy with Caribbean blue eyes, he looked my age to but, judging from his soft hands and pale face, he was from the city. After him was another little girl, she had deep blue eyes and brown hair, with freckles covering her cute little nose, she looked like she wanted to cry but she was holding it in.
While I'm describing every one I should probably also explain what's happening. My name is Maximum Ride but I go by max. I have brown eyes and brown hair, streaked with blonde from the sun. I used to live on a farm in the country with my mom and sister Ella, my dad left when I was two. A couple weeks ago, the day before my 18th birthday, a group of slave traders visited our farm, they killed my mother but my sister, Ella, got away. They captured me, stuck me in the back of a wagon, manacles and all, and took me to the city. A week and a half long journey with 4 meals of I don't even know what to keep us alive. So here I am, my life ripped away from me, my mom dead, my sister missing, and me. A slave. The slave master had finished his shopping spree and the soldiers were now poking us with their swords telling us to walk. Oh goody, we're walking to the castle. The pale boy in front groaned and muttered under his breath, something along the lines of "why me? Why my life? I'm a slave, haven't eaten in days and those bastards expect me to walk 6 miles to the fuckin castle?" exactly my thoughts. I snorted and smiled a small tired, bitter smile. The boy gave me a wry smile in return, "I'm Iggy." "I'm max, Maximum Ride." he raised an eyebrow "nice name." really? We're slaves, our life's are about to change probably for good and he wants to talk about my name? Fine then. I smirked "your one to talk... Iggy." he grinned "touché my friend, touché." For some strange reason I started to laugh, probably stress, but I couldn't stop laughing, after a second Iggy started to laugh to. The other slaves were looking at us like we were complete freaks but that just made me laugh more. Oh well, sè la vee!
By the time the castle had come into view I was ready to collapse, and the three little ones had already collapsed, I was carrying the brown haired one, whose name was Macey, on my back, Dylan (the blonde) was carrying Gazzy (the boy twin) and Iggy was carrying angel (the girl twin). The two others were nudge and Lisa. Lisa was the red haired one and Nudge was the one with the mocha skin.
Nudge. She was ... Nudge. She hadn't stopped talking since I had first asked her name, she was even talking now, after walking 6 miles and carrying Lisa half way (she feinted). She was also incredibly, scarily, perky. I mean, the girl was ripped from her home and sold into slavery, for god's sake! Yet here she was, happily jabbering about this month's latest style, and all the wardrobe alterations she would have to do! I wanted to strangle her so badly, but in a way she was strangely endearing. We arrived at the palace gates and 4 knights led us through into a bustling courtyard, full of servants and knights who studiously avoid looking at us, cowards. I glare at the ground as Iggy tried to talk to Dylan over nudges chatter. We are ushered into the castle through a wooden door in the servants court yard, there we were greeted by a chubby red faced woman who smiled sadly at us "hello, welcome to your new home, let's get down to business shall we?" she spoke with a soft Irish accent, nudge nodded enthusiastically and opened her mouth "YEYESYESYES! Hi I'm nudge and you know I really, really don't want to be a slave, I miss my family, but I still think it'll be AMAZING to work in the same castle as royalty, it mean oh my god, can you imagine being royalty all the dresses and shoes and cute princes, I think if I was a princess I wo-" Iggy slapped a hand over her mouth and we all breathed a sigh of relief, except the woman who had greeted us, she was just staring. An awkward silence followed, finally interrupted when Iggy cleared his throat loudly and the woman came down from whatever little dream world she was living in. "Right. Well, I am here to assign you your work positions. First I'll need to know your names and your skills, yes? We'll go down the line then" she nods at Lisa, indicating she should go "I'm Lisa, and I can sew and bake" she says sullenly, there's something about her that really pisses me off.
Dylan is next "Dylan, and I guess I'm pretty strong, and I can, uh..." He blushes lightly and looks down, "I'm really good with pastries." Iggy snorts and I elbow him in the gut, sending him a light glare while Dylan looks down, bright red now. Poor guy. The lady clears her throat loudly and nods, "well that's lovely dear, now what about you sweetie?" She asks, looking down at angel sadly. Angel grins up at her "I can kill a grown man, pick locks, steal, spy, and win any fight." She finishes smugly. Well then. The lady raised her eyebrow and put a hand on her hip, "I don't have time for this dear." Angel nods, smiling, "ok." She says and places a hand on her hip, mimicking the lady's position. The lady glares at her, "I don't have time for this, and I'll speak to you after." She says tiredly, I almost felt bad for her. She moved on to Gazzy next, and he grinned up at her the same way angel did. "I'm Gazzy, I can make any bomb, my natural gasses have been known to knock grown men out, and I make scones and pies." He finishes proudly. The poor lady just shakes her head and moves onto nudge. Oh god, help me. She takes a deep breath. Here we go. I subtly scooted away. Iggy covered his ears. Macey cowered into my side. "HI! OHMYGOSH IM NUDGE! Kinda weird name I know, but my mom was an artist and she wanted me to be UNIQUE! My dad was all like "NOOO WE SHALL NAME HER MONIQUE" and then my mom was all like "mm mmm mm old man, not on my watch!" And then she slapped him so my name was Nudge! Ohmygod I love my mom so much but then dad died so she died 'cause she loved him so it was just me and porky, that's our pig, BIT HE COULD TALK! And I'm not crazy I swear! Anyways I can TOTALLY sew any clothes and of course HAIR AND MAKEUP are my SPECIALTIES! Seriously I could make a hobo look like a runway model. Hobo is such a weird name don't you think? I always wondered who came up with that, I mean out of ALL the words in the universe you choose hobo. WHY!? Actually words in general confuse me, i mean who came up with words? Why don't we just speak in grunts? Like, ugha mugha ugh lugh jugah? I WONDER IF ANYONE ACTUALLY KNOWS CAVEMAN? Is that a language? Cause it should be. I SHOULD MAKE MY OWN LANGUAGE! It would be called nudgeyfashion! NO! That's a horrible name, why would I ever suggest that!? IT COULD BE MADE UP OF FASHION TERMS! OMYGOD I'M A GENIUS, not to toot my own horn or anything. OHMY GOD, that's such a funny saying. I wish I had a horn, then I could squeak it in Max's ear and she would glare at me and then I'd die cause her glares could, like, kill anybody! And- oh! Am I rambling again? I should probably stop, huh? Ok, SO YEA!"
Well then. Macey was shaking. Iggy's mouth was hanging open. The poor, poor lady had slid down the wall and had her head in her hands, mumbling to herself. Oh nudge.
After a while she looked up at us and sighed, "Ok. What about you?" She asked me reluctantly. I crossed my arms, why should I tell her? "No thanks." Sure I felt bad for her, but that doesn't mean I'm going to cooperate. She glared at me and her jaw clenched "would you please just answer the question, I don't have ANY time for this." She shrieked. I smirked "I'm ok." She growled... She actually growled. Ok then. I think nudge actually sent her around the bend. Macey tugged at my sleeve and looked up at me with big round eyes, "max, I think the lady's crazy, you should be nice to crazy people." Is she the cutest thing ever? I think yes. I smiled down at her, ignoring the apoplectic women who had turned a hideous shade of red. I told her I would then turn back to the lady, "I'm max and I can kill a man, run faster than a horse, sew, housekeep, run a farm, take care of children, and I'm incredibly strong. Oh yea, and I'm terrible at obeying authority." I smirked at the lady.