Disclaimer: I own nothing, okay? Okay. Moving on.
… Rin POV …
I stared blankly at the merchants and onlookers that passed by. Some stopped to stare, others went out of their way to avoid looking at me. I stood between several other girls who were all around the same age as me. There was a wide space around despite the crowded market place, but no one wanted to come near us.
My arms were chained to the ones next to me and theirs were chained to the others. My legs were shackled together and the shackles were driven into the dirt ground to prevent any movement or possibly escape. I didn't understand why they did that. We were slaves, captured from neighboring towns they burnt and pillaged. The men were gathered and executed, the women they raped and killed, the boys they worked to death in the unstable mines. The only survivors were us, the girls and young women.
We were branded, the mark etched onto our arm and a scar cut into our cheek. We have no home to return to, no place to go, we were paraded like livestock waiting for someone to buy us.
Some of the girls had killed themselves, lost their minds, or tried to run and were killed. I had watched as my entire family died in front of me. I had nothing left as I stood watching the people passing by.
After some time, the slave master was ready to start the bidding process and people started to gather. I briefly wondered what would happen to me if I wasn't bought, but soon dismissed the thought. The curious onlookers had left in a hurry, not wanting to witness what happens next. The master stood in front of the first girl, gesturing to her as he talked. Murmurs arose in the crowd as the men discussed their interest or disgust. There were few women in the market to begin with, and none had stopped to pay us any attention.
A few minutes passed as the slave master continued to talk before two men stepped forth wanting to examine the girl. They were granted permission. I tried not to watch, but I could see out of the corner of my eye what they were doing. They studied her face for signs of disease and ran their hands all over her body. The people in the crowd watched as they scrutinized her as though she was a damaged product to purchase for as little as possible. I could not bring myself to pity her, I had pity left only for myself.
Too soon it was my turn. The few before me had been bought, unchained, and handed over to their new masters by a metal chain leash hooked onto the collar around their neck. Only the shackles around their legs were released, their hands were chained behind their backs now. I tried to look strong as I stared defiantly at the crowd while the slave master spoke about me. More lies than truths, but no one seemed to care.
I couldn't tell if I was unappealing or disliked for whatever reason, but no one seemed interested in me. I could tell the slave master was getting impatient by the twitching around his lips. My heartbeat began to accelerate as I feared no one would want me. I didn't want to die. Not here, not like this, not as a slave.
After several more minutes of quiet murmurs and the booming voice of the slave master, someone came up to inspect me. He was an old man with a willowy stature and graying hair dressed in an old charcoal coloured suit. He studied my face and skin carefully as the previous few had done, but did not touch me unnecessarily. When he had finished, he took the slave master to the side and spoke quietly for a few moments, I couldn't hear what they were saying, but it made me nervous.
The old man bought me nonetheless and I was made ready to be led off like some animal. He led me through away from the crowd and through the market place without saying a word. When we reached the edge of the market, he led me towards one of the waiting carriages and motioned for me to get on. I did and he followed, sitting opposite me.
I made a point to stare, silent and unmoving at the floor as the carriage began moving. I could feel the gaze of the man burning against my skin as he watched me, equally silent.
"Girl, what's your name?" the man asked in a hushed tone, husky and deep. He sounded stronger than he looked.
"Carol." I answered him quietly.
"Not the name the slave dealers gave you, your birth name."
I was stunned silent as panic began bubbling in me. We were the identity the slave master gave us, each one of us. Whoever we were, we had to throw away when we were taken from our homes and brought here, but the man sounded sincere. Truthfully, I had no intention of disregarding my past, I vowed to die as I was. "Rin."
"Your age?"
"Fifteen."
"Do you have any family?"
I looked up at that. Realizing my mistake, I looked down again quickly, there was hatred in my eyes and I fought hard to keep my voice level and quiet. "No, they were all killed."
We spent a few moments in tense silence before the man continued questioning me as though nothing had happened. "Where are you from?"
"A small village in the forest east of here."
"Were those other girls from your village?"
"Some were, some were from different parts."
The man was quiet again, but it didn't feel tense as it had before. I took a quick peak at him and saw that he appeared deep in thought. I didn't know why, there wasn't much else to ask. My whole life, reduced to a few simple words.
"I am the head butler at the house you are to work at from now on. My name is Kain. The other servants you will meet when we arrive there. The master is currently away on business and his son, Master Len, is in charge now."
I nodded my head slowly. I should've expected as much, who else but the filthily rich would want slaves.
"I can't possibly imagine how harsh your life has been since you were taken here, but I am sorry. It is not fortune that has brought you here now. The young sir, has a strange temperament."
I nodded again at that, I wasn't surprised in the least. It didn't matter what I had to do, I promised myself during the massacre of my people, that I would survive no matter what.
The rest of the ride was passed in silence. As the carriage turned and came to a stop, the coachman opened the door for us and I followed the butler out. I was awe struck by the massive estate in front of me. It looked to be the size of the entire market place if not larger. I would've continued to stare if Kain had not called for me to follow him.
Inside the mansion, it looked to be even more extravagant than the outside. The halls were a deep velvety red with paintings hung on either side. I was led to a large room where I was handed over to the head maid who introduced herself to be Lily. Soon after, I was given fresh clothes and brought to a small room that was to be mine. There was a small bathroom attached and I was instructed to shower quickly, change, and find her down the hall in the kitchen area.
After I had finished, I walked down the hall quickly hoping I wasn't late and found Lily with several others who were getting dinner ready. We had a quick introduction before I was told to help with pealing the vegetables, it wasn't hard as I was used to such tasks.
No one spoke to me during the whole of the preparation except for ordering me to do something else. They chatted amongst themselves occasionally, but I didn't mind. There was nothing for me to say.
As the clock struck six, Lily left us to set the table as she went to greet the young master. We retreated back to the kitchen when we were finished and waited until Lily came back. We rationed out the remaining food ate what we were given, the rest we left for the butlers when they get around to it. I was told to go back to my room and rest as I had no other duties yet.
Later, as I was getting ready to go to bed, there was a knock on my door and I found Lily on the other side. She didn't say anything and just gestured for me to follow her, I did. We went up the front stairs, past many paintings and doors down hallways, before we came to a stop at the end of a long hall in front of a particularly ornate door. She turned, quickly told me to not speak until spoken to, before knocking on the door twice. A few minutes of silence passed before a voice on the other side told us to enter.
The door opened to a dimly lit study full of books. A boy with messy blond hair tied roughly behind his head and casual clothes walked out from behind one of the shelves and studied us closely.
"You can leave now Lily."
I watched as she stiffened at the order before quickly bowing and leaving the room. She gave me a meaningful look as she passed me buy and I felt very nervous all of a sudden. I did what I found to work the best with the slave master and stared silently at the floor.
"Look at me."
His voice was harsher than before, deeper, but I continued to stare defiantly at the floor. Silence, then, one step, two, three, he was standing right in front of me. I resisted the urge to step back, away from him. I felt movement and the next thing I knew, his hand was at my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.
He was taller than me by half a head or so and had a slim build. Nowhere near as intimidating as the guards working for the slave dealers or the soldiers who destroyed my home, but something in his eyes spoke otherwise. They were a deep blue that sparkled a fiery orange whether from the light of the room or of their own, I couldn't tell. For the next minute, he neither let me go nor spoke, just continued to stare at me. My nervousness had turned into fear after some time and I knew I was visibly trembling. He finally let go of me when I couldn't help but start to fidget as well.
"What's your name?" he asked as he turned away from me and towards the desk and chair.
"Rin." I replied softly, having gone back to staring at the floor. I heard the chair scrape against the wood of the floor as I assumed he had sat down. There was a pause in the conversation again and my nervousness only intensified.
"Tell me, do you know why you are here?" he asked, his voice soft again, almost kind.
His question made me nervous, like it was a trick. I choked out an answer and kept my voice as level as possible. "I was taken from my village and made a slave in this land. I was bought by the head butler of this manor."
"That's right, you're a slave now." he was in front of me again before I had the time to react. I looked up in shock, and saw an intensity in his eyes that stunned me. He was smirking and in the dim lighting, his teeth glistened. "You're my slave now. You're here, because I wanted you to be. Never forget that."
He had me pushed up against the door now, both his hands on my shoulder keeping me from moving and his face only inches away from mine. I was shivering uncontrollably and I felt tears welling up in my eyes. He wanted to see my fear, fine, but I refused to cry, to show weakness. These people, these tyrants, they reveled in fear, in the pain they can cause.
"You're my slave, whatever I say, you listen and do. Understand?" his smirk had widened as he talked.
I nodded in response, never looking away from him. As he had previously ordered.
"Answer me." his eyes immediately hardened.
"Yes."
"Good girl." he let go of me and sat down again in the chair. "You can leave now."
"Yes Sir." I turned to leave, but he stopped me.
He looked thoughtful for a moment before his outlook turned devilish again. "Address me as Master Len."
"Yes Master Len." I waited a moment before turning to leave this time, in case he changed his mind again. He didn't.
As I left the room and closed the door quietly behind me, it felt like weights were being lifted from my shoulders. I had not realized how tense and stifling the atmosphere was in the room with him. All the anxiety and fear I witnessed in the last few minutes evaporated as I made my way back to my room. At least for the rest of this night, I was free from the confines of this nightmare.
A/N: First, sorry for being gone for forever. Summer programs are intensive among other things going on in my life so I kind of forgot I was writing this.. XD It was meant to be a one-shot but it was getting long so I cut it up, plus I'm not done, just wanted to get something posted before I go back to the other stories.
This'll probably be a two-shot, short and dark.. okay, maybe just bittersweet. As usual, creative criticism is encouraged.
PS. I found bits and pieces of stories I wrote in the past cleaning out old external drives, so if I disappear for an extended amount of time again, you can blame those.