Chains of Love
Chapter Four- The Price of Life
Finally the day Rachel had been waiting for. Today she was to be transported to the centre of the City of Lima, where the Forum stood proud and tall. An auction was to be held there, and this auction would only send her to a place where she would again be a slave, but she hoped for a safer haven compared to the barracks.
From what she had heard from the other girls in the barracks, she would be treated worse than she was treated in her slavers care and if Rachel was honest she didn't think it could get much worse, but surely her future treatment depended on her buyers intentions.
She of course was one of the so called lucky ones, saved by their virginity. It was hard to consider yourself lucky when you're being prepared for a life of servitude, but considering the horror stories she had heard and on occasion witnessed, she was thankful that her father had kept her away from the city and the lustful beasts that scour the streets...lustful and merciless beasts such as Caius.
He was vile; when it came to him, Rachel didn't know any word that would do the man true self any justice. He was strict and behaved no better than a wild animal; he took a random girl from the less profitable girls to satisfy his lustful urges.
The fear wasn't just put in the woman it was put in his men also; this was the only saving grace of the man. He had his men so scared of the consequences, that they didn't dare touch the valuable stock indecently.
They had left the barracks and were quickly loaded into the back of the caged wagon; thankfully this one was open, meaning she would be able to see the areas of the city that they passed through to get to the Forum. She had yet to let go of Portia's hand, it was something that over the past month she had found great comfort in, it calmed her enough to relax, which allowed her to think her actions over logically.
Her first viewing of the city wasn't as magical as she had always imagined it would be, but then again she was peering at the slums of the city through metal bars. The stares of the citizens they passed varied from pity to desire filled; neither look was appreciated by any of the girls who were paying attention to the streets.
The poorer looking streets looked to be overly crowded and seemed to go on for an age as the cage rumbled along the mismatched cobblestones that layered the path through streets. It was noticeable when the cobbles smoothened out and the rotten air cleared, that they were heading towards the government inhabiting area.
Rachel almost gasped when a sudden heat enveloped her body through the gaps of the open cage. For the first time in over a month, she was able to feel the suns warmth embrace her in its golden shine. A similar reaction echoed through the other girls, most of who had been deprived of the sun for longer than she. It was a simple pleasure, but a pleasure none the less.
"Feels nice huh?" Portia whispered into her ear, her smile growing quickly as Rachel nodded happily. Their hands tightened together whilst they both closed their eyes and relaxed into soaking up as much of the suns ray as they possibly could.
The further into the centre of the city that they travelled, the louder it seemed to become. Stall owners were shouting offers to the passing public, each trying to be heard over the rival stall. The uproar of scandalous bargaining was also evident in the air, and Rachel absolutely loved it, the atmosphere was electric, these people were a perfect audience just waiting to be awed by her vocal abilities. Well they would be, should she ever be allowed such a chance.
Continuing on down the wider main streets, they passed houses that were almost as large as the barracks only they didn't have the depressing presence that the Caius's abode held. Just as Rachel was viewing a large house that sat on a raised hill along the city wall, the sun was suddenly eclipsed, as the cage they sat in went under a large stone archway.
A large circular podium sat in the very centre of the structure that was behind the stone entrance. People who wore bright varieties of colours on their clothes were starting to arrive and crowd around the podium. Some uniformed men were gesturing for people to move away from certain areas, as they were setting up raised seats.
Looking up through the metal bars, Rachel saw that the podium area in the centre was sheltered, so that area alone was shaded, where as the rest of the space was open to the suns beams. It was an odd design, but an amazing advancement for the people of Lima City.
"Wow" Rachel whispered in awe. Of course she had heard all about the Forum from the few girls she had ever had contact with, other than Portia, but actually seeing this iconic structure with her own eyes was something else entirely.
She had been so caught up in the view of the place that she hadn't even realised that the carriage had stopped and the girls were being ushered out of the cage and then ordered into lines along one of the walls.
For once Caius himself was leading the group instead of having one of his brainless lackeys do it, but then again Rachel already knew that he was the type of man who did little to no work himself, but was always around when the time came to reap the grand rewards. And in the slave trade the rewards were truly grand.
Suddenly the girls were being shuffled around again and due to having not being paying dire attention like she normally would, meant that Rachel had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Luckily Portia was still attached to her hand, leading her to where they were needed to be; it wasn't the first time the small redhead had come to Rachel's rescue.
"Group one, you will be going first and you'll be sold individually. Group two, you will be sold in your pairs and you'll be sold last." Marcus shouted at them over the growing noise of the place.
Sighs of relief could be heard leaving every pair of worry bitten lips from the girls of the second group. The ones who were to be sold separately weren't so reassured with the decision made, their partners had become like sisters, or even in some cases lovers, being split up was always inevitable, but the shock and heartbreak was still present.
To Rachel it was almost as if the world was out to make her life a complete misery, how cruel to gift her with the best friend she had always dreamed of, to only then rip said gift from her desperately clutching fingers.
She would have begged anyone in group two to trade with her and Portia, but she knew nobody would agree, nobody wanted to be separated from the partner. And surely one of the guards would notice a sudden change in the line up.
The second group were instructed to return to the cage, whilst the girls of the first group were stripped of their tunics and told to put on leather bikini like attire, and then they were given a body veil that covered them from head to toe, but the fabric was thin enough that the girls were able to see through it. The only purpose of the body veil was to keep the audience from seeing what was on offer, which meant they wouldn't wait for a particular girl to be centred before starting to spend their money.
Portia continued to hold Rachel's hand as they were lead to the centre podium. Through her veil Rachel could see that the forming crowd had already tripled in numbers during the short time it had taken to girls to get prepared.
From the moment the girls stepped on the circular stand the auction kicked off to a slow start, but time began to blur when the bids started to rise into ridiculous amounts, amounts of which Rachel was sure he father would have had to work his whole life without ever spending a dime to be able to throw that sort of money away on a mere slave.
It wasn't long before it was Portia's turn, Rachel had tried to hold onto her hand till the end, but Marcus regretfully had to pry their fingers apart so Portia go enter the centre and find her new master among the buyers. This was one sale Rachel refused to watch, she clenched her eyes tightly together blocking everything out but the sound, it didn't take long for that dreaded hammer to fall signalling a successful bid, Rachel winced as the clap echoed out.
Then it was her turn, she was the very last to be shown of her group. Saving the best till last Caius had said gleefully whilst giving her a firm slap on the rump making her jolt away from him. He was already dreaming of sitting in his bedsit counting through his gold after today, so Rachel's reaction went un-noticed.
She was gently led by her elbow into the centre of the podium by Marcus who was frowning; Caius was walking on her other side, getting ready to announce Rachel's traits and the value that would be the starting point, before she was shown to the crowd.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, do I have a treat for you. As always I've saved the very best till last, here we have a farm girl from outside of our fair city. She is as green and sweet as the first apple of the season, just waiting to be plucked. She's adept in all chores and duties, as well as educated and best of all obedient. The perfect slave for a grand house, so let's start to bidding at..." Before Caius could finish he was interrupted by various people shouting large numbers, the crowds excitement sky rocketed.
Just as the bidding started to get serious things slowed down for Rachel, it was then that her veil was abruptly ripped from her body, exposing her in her barely there leather bikini to the salivating audience.
The price of her life went unbelievably higher as her body was revealed. As it was some slimy looking scoundrel looked to be winning. His toothless grin made Rachel want to vomit, but she swallowed harshly and shivered her disgust away.
Scared of her fate Rachel sought out a friendly looking face in the crowd, hoping to maybe communicate through her eyes to anyone begging them to save her. It was then that a stray sliver of light reflected from the suns beams like a spotlight towards one of the raised platforms that were constructed along the sides.
That stray bit of light hit rich golden hair that caused a glare against Rachel's view. It was hard to make out the person who Rachel thought to be a woman, so she had to squint against the light in hopes to see her.
Whoever it was, was wearing a deep red dyed toga, meaning they were obvious above the rich standard, heading more towards the insanely wealthy. The stray light seemed to vanish which meant that Rachel was then able to see the person properly, and she saw that it was in fact a woman, who looked to be in her 30's.
Staring at the woman, Rachel noted that whilst the blonde haired woman didn't look overly friendly in the slightest, she was the only person there that was not grinning lustfully upon her. Rachel just hoped the woman was there to purchase and not sitting around to watch what a spectacle the City of Lima's people made of themselves when offered a piece of un-touched flesh.
This all happened in a matter of seconds though it had felt longer. Determined to make some kind of non-verbal contact with the woman, Rachel's stare never wavered. Her heart stopped beating for a few moments when she saw the blonde woman lean over to the man at her side and appeared to speak into his ear.
Hastily the man got to his feet, due to the raised seats he was clearly seen from the podium, so when he shouted out his bid, the hammer fell immediately accepting the man's bid as the final offer for Rachel.
Not believing her possible luck Rachel was stunned, she continued to stand still and stare at the blonde woman who was conversing with the now sitting man, she gestured over at Rachel, which made Rachel think she was the topic of conversation. However curious she was about what they were saying about her, her mind was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she had just been brought by one person in the crowd she had wished upon.
Maybe the world wasn't completely against her.
Time seemed to skip from one moment to the next as Rachel listened to girl after girl be sold, though at least these girls were fortunate enough to be sold with their closest friend at their side.
After her moment in the spotlight, Rachel had been returned to the cage, where she was to wait till the end of the auction to be collected and escorted to her new master's domain. She couldn't have been happier upon her return to the cold barred prison, as she was once again reunited with Portia, she had been so sure that she would never see the young redhead again.
They had suctioned into an immediate embrace the moment Rachel found her in the back of the box and neither we looking to let go of the other until they were pried apart.
Rachel's eyes became blinded with the tears that she had been trying to keep inside since the day had begun. The feeling of losing Portia was very close to what she felt when she was taken from her father, from her home. It was just too real, when Rachel wished for it all to be one long dreadful nightmare.
"Please don't cry Rachel." Portia whispered as she felt Rachel's tears water down her bare skin. She pulled back from the hug just enough to be able to see her friends face, her hand came down from Rachel's chestnut locks to cup her cheeks, her thumb swiped gently at the cascading tears.
"This isn't the end for us Rachel, we'll see each other again, you'll see." She continued when she got nothing but a sniffle and a quiet whimper from Rachel as a reply to her plea to halt her tears.
Portia sincerely hoped that her words of comfort held some truth. She really wished that she had had more time to get to know Rachel and to just be with her, though her feelings were sudden and unexplored, she truly did love her friend dearly.
Nothing more was said between the two as they settled back into their embrace, each breathing in the other, in hopes to ingrain the others scent into their mind, should they need such a comfort later on in their lives.
Not long after, the cage door creaked open and Marcus's sad face appeared in the open gap. He watched the pair cuddled together, and honestly felt pained for having to split the two apart. How many families and friends were these girls supposed to lose, before it broke them completely? He knew he would be forever haunted by the part he has played in the destruction of their happiness.
"Rachel? You need to let go now." Marcus ordered quietly.
When Rachel's emotionless face turned to look at him over her shoulder, he felt a lump in his throat and a sting in his eyes. This girl's torture had already begun.
Without a word Rachel moved out of her friends arms, but not before she bent down and placed an angel's kiss, so airy and light it almost didn't happen, on Portia's lips. She watched her friends eyes flutter underneath her closed lids, as a single tear fell down her porcelain cheek. Rachel turned from her heartbreak and made her way over to Marcus's outstretched hand, although she ignored the offer of being assisted down from the risen cage.
It wasn't as if she meant to be cold to her unofficial bodyguard, because Marcus was a god send in devils clothing he truly was, Rachel just felt an uncontrollable chill spread throughout her being. She couldn't even bare to say goodbye to her best friend. Her soul just seemed to abandon her.
Around her, people milled about getting on with small asinine errand, completely oblivious to the torture and devastation being brought down on one small brunette. Oblivious though they were, they were not ignorant to her pain, which to Rachel made them just as responsibly as those who had chained her.