Chapter 6

I was so immersed in eating that I didn't here the footsteps come up behind me; didn't here the sound of a dagger being pulled out of its sheathe. I only became aware that I wasn't the only person in the clearing when the point of knife pricked my throat, and a rough voice interrupted my eating.

"Well, what do we have here?"

The dagger at my neck flicked upwards, indicating that the owner wanted me to rise. I did so slowly, dropping the bread and keeping my hands at my sides. I stole a glance at the men surrounding me as I did so, and mentally grimaced. Bandits.

The bandit who had spoken first smiled a slow smile, revealing oddly perfect teeth. I was momentarily shocked; who ever heard of bandits rich enough to afford tooth cleaning powder?

A wheel clanked, and then a wagon with a cage on top rolled into the clearing. Now it all made sense.

These weren't just bandits. They were slavers.

A young slaver stepped forward, addressing the slaver who had his knife at my throat. "What do we do with her, boss? We bin trackin' her all this time, now what?"

The lead slaver turned to grin at one of his colleagues.

"Open the cage, Therrin. Another wench for the markets."

It had been three weeks since I was captured, and the routine of the days was clear. Woken at sunrise, we were fed half a small loaf of bread and a cup of water. We would then be pulled out of the wagon, and left to run – or stumble, really, with the chains around our feet – around whatever clearing we had stopped the previous night. After stumbling around for an hour, we were forced back into the cage, and then the wagon would roll on to its next destination.

During the first couple of days in the cage, I had been scared for my life. I was sure that one of the slavers would try something; rape me, or disfigure me permanently. But by talking with the other slaves, I discovered that women were worth a lot more as bedwarmers if their virginity was intact. And no-one would pay much for a scarred slave.

We may have appeared idle to the guards – indeed, several complained that we were so weak that we wouldn't sell – but we were anything but. The floor of the wagon had soft wood due to rotting in one of the corners, and every day we would gently peel away more wood splinters. By the time we had reached the Ayorthan border, there was enough space for a small dog to slip through.

Unfortunately, none of us were the size of a small dog.

As we neared Amonta, the first city in which we were to be offered for sale, our efforts became more desperate. Now we were picking away the wood as often as possible, trying to make the hole large enough for us to slip out of. We had almost made it that large when disaster struck.

It was during the night. Two slaves were picking away at the hole, when a slaver went to go relieve himself. In the bright moonlight, it would have been easy to see everything that was going on inside the cage. And see he did.

The man and women who had been picking were taken out and whipped – thirty lashes each. By the time they were finished, the slavers had decided on a new course of action. We were to have our hands attached to our ankles by a series of bars, and our legs weighted down. This done, we were to walk alongside the slavers.

It was two days later that we arrived in Amonta. We were taken to the slave pens in the corner of the city, had our chains removed, and were thrown in. The chains may have been off, but due to all the chaffing we still couldn't move much.

The day after we were told that we were to be sold that day. We were herded onto the platform, and then the slavers would take turns in announcing our attributes. My arm was grabbed by the lead slaver, and I was pulled to the front of the platform. He then began announcing me and my talents in fluent Ayorthan. Thanks to Mother, I was able to understand most of it.

"And here, ladies and gentlemen, we have a fine specimen! Captured just over the border in Kyrria, she is a healthy 25 year old young woman. Is able to do all labour suitable for women, and can be yours for only 20 gold pieces! Do we have twenty?"

The bidding began. There were two main bidders for me – one was of ample girth, and judging by the quality of his clothing, owned a brothel. No doubts as to what would befall me should he win this bid. The other appeared to be of the upper nobility, as he was accompanied by a footman and a maid. He also looked disturbingly like Mikael… but no. It was a trick of the light.

"We have 70 gold pieces from the man with the footman! Care to top that, sir?"

The brothel man looked at me, as if sizing me up, and then shook his head.

"Congratulations, sir with the footman! Would you like to come up and collect your prize?"

Upper Nobility sent up his maid. The slaver handed her the rope around my neck, and she led me jerkily back down to her master. Once back in his company, she curtsied, and tugged on my rope, indicating that I should do the same. I kept eye contact with him, refusing to bow my head. I had once been the crown princess of Kyrria – I would have certainly outranked him.

He looked me over and smiled.

"Perfect. You may call me Sir Eduane of Ayortha. And your name would be?"

He said it lightly, but I knew that if I didn't reply there would be a whipping.

"Areida Tanner."

He gestured to the maid. "Beth, please make sure that Miss Tanner is cleaned up. Have her presented to me after dinner, and make sure she looks like a lady. I want to find out something…"

And with those words, he swept away. Bess followed, tugging on my rope, as she followed him to a large manor. My new home.

A/N: Hi everyone! I really don't like this chapter… but I won't be able to get another chapter up for three weeks if I don't post this one, so I guess this is it. Anyways. Replies to reviewers:

sealednectar: sorry, I won't be able to update for a long time. but I'm glad you like it!

StardustPixie: my first cliffie! muhuahua… ok, now I just feel stupid. but thankyou for taking the time to review.

hottyjessy: hahahahaha! YOU WERE WRONG! anyway, Jess, love the latest chapter of The Unbreakable Bond!

pussycat doll: yes, conflict is coming, but it may take awhile… and I love Queensland. so nice and sunny!

pearlwalrus: you better review, steph. I'm doing a huge favour for you.

That's all for now…

Ellie