A young male Fanalis sat in the hold of a slave ship with his knees dragged up to his face, it was the only way he could be comfortable in the overcrowded area. He was around the age of seventeen, his red hair was long enough to warrant a simple braid, as for clothing he wore what used to be a white tunic, but was now stained a tan color from not being washed for a few weeks. The other Fanalis that sat in the hold were either coughing, crying, or somehow sleeping.
"What's wrong?" A voice asked the Fanalis, he was having trouble figuring out where it was from, it had felt like a whisper in his ear, but no one was close enough to him to do that. "Why do you look upset?" The voice asked him, once again he looked around, none of the other Fanalis paid any attention to him, they had their own sorrows to deal with. "Get a hold of yourself Altair, it's just your imagination." He thought to himself while shaking his head.
"Altair? That's a very nice name." The voice said, this caught Altair off guard since he had said his name in his thoughts which meant that whoever was talking to him was in his head. "Great, i'm going insane now." He thought to himself. "Please, if you were going insane you would know, a voice in your head does not mean that." The voice said again, now that Altair was actively listening for it, he found that it was a woman's voice. "Fine then, but can you tell me your name if you even have one?" Altair thought. The voice in his head seemed to laugh. "You may call me Shiva, it's a pleasure to meet you." Shiva said to Altair, he was now able to feel a sense of mirth from the voice, it made him feel less depressed as well.
Altair woke up from his fitful rest when he heard the hatch above open and the sounds of boots walking down the stairs. "Great, these guys again." Altair thought to himself and Shiva, who was just stirring from her own sleep. The two men who walked into the hold were wearing simple tunics and baggy leggings, they also carried short swords with them. Altair didn't know their names and he sure as hell didn't care, both men were assholes to the others in the hold. "Who are those men Altair, in fact where are we?" Shiva asked from within Altair's head. "Slavers." Altair thought with a flash of rage, if he could break the chains on his hands and legs he could kill them both.
Altair could feel Shiva's worry about the current situation, she understood what slaver's meant. "Altair, if i lent you some power, would you be able to break free of those chains?" Shiva asked him, Altair suddenly felt more than just his own anger rising to the surface. "Yes, but wait until we get a chance." Altair thought. The two men went around with water and bread to the Fanalis, but the rest were left alone, Altair knew that a Fanalis was worth more than a normal slave, the treatment was enough to tell him that.
The two guards finished their business in the hold and left, after the latch clicked shut Shiva spoke to Altair again. "Why didn't you let me help you break free of those chains and kill them?" Altair noticed the scorn in Shiva's words, he thought for a moment about why he didn't "If i broke these chains now, then i would be free on a ship that's far from a town." He finally said to her. Shiva was silent for a while before agreeing with Altair, their time would come and when it did all would be lost to a storm of frost.
A week later
The ship finally stopped and Altair heard the sounds of people, today was the day that he and Shiva would finally break the bonds on his hands and legs. "Now?" Shiva asked, just stirring in the depths of Altair's mind. Altair rubbed his eyes before responding to her. "Wait until im away from the city, i don't want to even try and fight all of them." With the help of Shiva he might stand a chance of succeeding but Altair did not want to take a chance like that.
"Right then you slaves get up, it's time to make us some money." One of the guards said while jabbing his spear into the sides of sleeping slaves, Altair stood up shakily, he was fully able to stand up normally. but it was much better to put on an act for them. "Is that truly necessary?" Shiva asked him with a note of disgust. "Yes, let them think i'm too weak to fight back." Altair replied to Shiva angrily, he was tired of her second guessing him.
The sun blinded Altair when he stepped outside for the first time in months, that was one reaction he did not have to feign. He noticed the amount of people staring at the people being forced off of the ship as well, many of them were staring at the Fanalis prisoners with greed in their eyes. "How disgusting." Shiva commented when Altair looked at the crowd, she generally saw what Altair saw.
"This next one is young, strong, and healthy starting price 100,000." The seller said after making Altair turn around several times and open his mouth to show he had all his teeth still. He knew nothing of prices in this part of the world since back in Carthago, if he wanted something he would trade for it. Apparently he was worth a lot though, since the only buyers who kept raising prices for him after a while were very well dressed compared to the others.
The end amount of money Altair was worth ended up around 600,000. He still had no clue how much he was worth with this new currency. "Now?" Shiva asked him as they left the city, she seemed eager to have him kill those who would strip him of his freedom. "Not yet, let's wait until we are farther from the city." Shiva seemed disappointed in his response. After a while Altair noticed some of the guards talking and felt a desire to speak with someone other than Shiva, so he turned to the carts driver, an old man who was brandishing a pair of hand axes and said. "Greetings."
The cart's driver tried to ignore the words directed at him, but after a while began to feel uncomfortable with the eyes boring into the back of his head. "I don't have any reason to talk to you." He said quietly while flicking the reins to get the horses to move faster. Later that evening while Altair sat on the ground enjoying the fresh air and open sky, the driver of the cart brought Altair a bowl of hot soup and said. "The boss wants you to be strong for when you get to his estate, and put these on." He pulled out a package that had a fresh set of clothes in it.
Altair tried on the simple white tunic and baggy leggings, the clothes also came with a pair of leather bracers and some simple yet sturdy leather sandals. "The boss seems to like you quite a bit boy." The driver said to Altair before turning to try and leave, before he could however Altair asked him a question. "What's your name mister?" He could feel Shiva getting annoyed with him for getting friendly with an enemy.
"My name? It's Argyle." The old man with a smile.
The next day
Altair was allowed to sit in the front of the cart that Argyle drove, rather than in the back with the rest of the slaves, apparently he got very lucky with who bought him. Argyle was explaining everything that went on at the plantation that they were being taken to. "Sure all of you are slaves, but here in Reim you can earn your way out of it, that's why this noble likes to buy slaves to work his vineyard, they make him money and he will after a certain number of years make them citizens of Reim."
"Lies." Shiva said, trying to exert an influence of distrust over Altair who quickly shook it off, he did not believe everything that Argyle had to say. "Then what did he buy me for?" Altair asked the older man, for a moment Argyle was silent before saying. "Most likely, he wants to have you make him money in the arena, if that isn't the case then he may want you to marry his daughter of something." Argyle chuckled at the last part of his little speech.
Altair thought for a while on what Argyle said, if he was forced to fight in an arena, then he could train his skills again, and pick up a few more, possibly some sword skills too. "So thats your plan now is it?" Shiva asked him, she seemed to be pleased with his choice after this new information was brought to light. "See Shiva? We just had to wait and see if a better option was available." He replied to the voice. "By the way, you never told me who you are, and why you're in my head." Altair said to her, Shiva seemed conflicted for some reason, Altair decided to leave the conversation where it was before she said cryptically. "All will be made clear soon, my dear vessel." Altair knew when Shiva was pleased with something, and that sentence was dripping with warmth.
Altair was impressed with the size of the actual estate that then owner of the vineyard lived in, Argyle stopped the cart in front of a large gate and the other guards began to get the slaves out of each cart, they seemed to treat them with more care than the ones of the ship did. That pleased Altair greatly. "Please keep your guard up around these people. they may seem kind now but they might also have horrible intentions." Shiva said to Altair, her words had a small amount of distrust in them, meant to keep Altair from making a poor choice.
"Argyle! is that him?" A well dressed man with a pot belly said while waddling over to the cart and pointing at Altair, his red hair made him stand out. "Yes sir, this is Altair." Argyle said while jerking a thumb towards the teen. The man moved over to Altair and looked him over, he nodded after a few minutes and said. "Good, very good Lucia take him inside and show him where he will sleep." The man said while waving over a girl who looked to be around Altair's age, she had blonde hair framing a pretty face. He also noticed that she was nearly as tall as him, and he was about six feet tall.
"See you later kid." Argyle said before flicking the reins of his cart and disappearing after turning a corner, Altair felt a tug on his arm and turned to face the girl in front of him. "This way please." She said quietly. Altair followed Lucia inside the estate which was filled with multiple open spaces an fountains, Altair found it to be tranquil, Shiva on the other hand was emanating distrust at everything but Lucia.
"These are your quarters." Lucia said while opening a large door. Altair walked into the large airy chamber, it was shocking how much space there was. "This belongs to just me?" He asked her. Lucia nodded with a small smile on her face. "If you need anything later on just tell my father and he will attempt and find it for you." Altair nodded while still looking at the room, the amount of natural light coming from the large windows was plenty for him to see out of, and if the climate was anything to go by he wouldn't need a fire anytime soon.
"You are to be at dinner tonight, my father wants you to get used to life as a noble of Reim." Lucia said to Altair before exiting the room and closing the door, leaving him alone with Shiva who said. "She seems nice." Altair smirked when she said that. "What is so funny?" She asked him. "The fact that you have been telling me to keep my guard up, and your's is dropped by one girl." Altair said to her, his thought was filled with amusement at Shiva's hypocrisy. "Get some rest, fool." Shiva said to him, only a little embarrassed. Altair was smiling when he stretched out of the large comfortable bed and closed his eyes to rest for a short while.
