'Faster,' her mind screamed.
They were close. So very close behind her she could almost feel them. Her heart jolted again and again at the thought, her face breathless.
There was little her tiny legs could do to serve her now.
She searched around frantically.
Faces.
So many faces.
No help came from them that day. They were like ghosts, waiting silently to watch her fail.
They turned to look at her as she scurried past them in the market, pushing all she could lay hands upon out of her way. She saw no compassion, only slight frowns of irritation, surprise and confusion as they observed the 13 year old girl.
Please, she heard a tiny voice escape.
Help me.
The faces were rocks, her pleas trivial.
Her mother's voice, ever so sharp and reprimanding when she gave in to fear, resonated within her mind. We do not beg, she had told her.
She stifled her falling tears and quietened herself. She would do as her mother had taught her, she would not beg.
"Got her!"
Her mind turned numb as she was roughly hoisted from the ground, her frame dangling in someone's arms.
Her father's.
'Don't run again, little dove,' he shouted in her ear, before placing her on the ground. His hand anchored firmly on her shoulder, digging so deep she could feel the hard bruising.
Two men and a woman came running behind him.
The woman was dark haired with eyes that held the softest expression. Eyes that had held her lovingly for many years while she had found sleep. Arms that her tiny form had grown accustomed to.
The woman hurried to her side, her long thick braid bouncing gracefully off her shoulder. She grasped the tiny girl from her father's grip and embraced her.
The little girl held on to her mother tightly, afraid to let go lest this be the final time they would ever be so close. She inhaled her scent, eyes shut tightly, willing the gods to change promised fate or halt time in this moment.
All was destroyed as her father pulled the two apart, telling one of the men to take a hold of his wife. She heard her mother's screams as she was taken away from her, her expression wild with fear and agony.
She held her mother's gaze and tried to give comfort the only way she knew how.
Taking her idol from her pocket, she held it tightly to her chest, gesturing to her mother that she was not alone. Reminding her that she still had the gods her mother believed in.
They would keep her safe. They would bring them together again.
They were the only token left to her of sweet memories. Memories that had no place in her future.
'This is the child agreed upon?' A fat, balding man emerged into view, his eyes roving over her in scrutiny, 'Tis as if she would break upon slightest blow!'
'Apologies, Laurus,' she heard her father's voice, 'She is the only bargain I am willing to afford at this time. If you would grant more time...'
'I do not have time nor patience for your despicable requests. Perhaps you should have thought about the reprival before you made boastful gambles upon drunken nights!'
The other man chimed in, 'One among many wagers he has lost Dominus, last he had to bid farewell to his livestock and savings. And now,' he turned his eyes towards her, 'His own daughter is the price for his foolish endeavors.'
'A price I am willing to pay, much to my wife's dismay,' her father interjected, 'As long as I am assured of the settlement promised.'
'Very well,' Laurus circled around her eyeing her from head to toe and she swallowed silent tears, 'This one would be worth perhaps 30 dinare and the wager you lost worth 25. Sentaurus, grant this man the remaining balance of 5 and we shall conclude business.'
The other man ruffled through a purse, taking out a shiny coin and placing it firmly upon her father's palm.
'Perhaps this measly amount will ensure another week of mindless slumber, eh?' Sentaurus winked.
She felt panic grip her heart and she looked at her father, not understanding what had just happened, "Father," she managed a whisper, her eyes conveying what mouth was incapable of voicing.
She could smell the drink on him as he leaned down, a grin plastered on his face.
'It is for the best, little dove.' he stroked her cheek gently, 'And to think I never thought you would be of any use to me.'
'No!' she heard her mother's scream above the crowd. She turned to find her familiar soft eyes but she could not see her. With so many faces surrounding her, she could only hear her mother's voice, her screams.
Her eyes darted from the man Laurus to his slave, both of them eyeing her as gift long overdue. She could see the satisfaction in their eyes and something else she did not quite understand.
The man Sentaurus grabbed her roughly, dragging her away from her father and the distant, relentless cries of her mother.
"Let me see her,' she finally mustered her strength to voice, 'One last time.'
The slave pretended not to hear, but Laurus gripped her chin with a force that sent her jaw rattling.
'Then you better do as told if you wish to ever lay eyes upon her again,' he sneered.
She looked back, but all she saw were those faces, cold and indifferent, her father now among them, pleased as he counted his earning.
Sold for a profit of 5 dinare.
Her worth to her father settled within seconds as she was wretched from her mother's arms.
She could never forget.