Chapter Three
"Get up!" A harsh voice growled at first light.
"Get up, you mangy dogs!" Another rough voice yelled.
There was a thud and then a grunt as a heavy boot kicked someone. Alanna groaned as she got to her feet, her arms automatically trying to cradle her wounded side, where she had been viciously kicked the day of her capture. Holding a chained hand to her throbbing head, she watched as the guards went around kicking those who didn't rise or that looked them in the eye.
Cursing, she breathed into her hands and stomped her feet in an attempt to return feeling to them. Looking to her left, she saw a small huddled bundle. Leaning over, she shook the girl awake.
"Anya," she whispered softly, afraid the slavers would the girl still didn't awaken she hissed more loudly, "Anya!"
"Wha- What?" Anya mumbled groggily.
"Wake up!" Alanna glanced up at the guards and then swiftly picked Anya, setting the girl on her feet, her muscles straining with the effort and her teeth clenched to hold back a scream. Anya yawned and blinked sleepily before quickly lowering her eyes as a slaver came over.
His brown hair was unwashed and long, covering his eyes in greasy locks. Stubble hung from his face, disguising his features, but a long pale scar marked his chin.
Alanna stared straight ahead as he came over and positioned herself protectively in front of the girl, a fact that was not unnoticed by the slaver. A grim smile revealed rows of crooked teeth. Looming over her he spoke Common with a harsh southern slang.
"You think you can protect the girl?" He pointed a finger at the cowering girl cringing behind Alanna.
"Look here, boys!" he boomed, spittle flying from his mouth. "Lass yonder is a'thinking she can protect girl!" He gestured to Alanna.
One of the slavers, who had an arm in a dirty sling made of rags, looked up from where he was stirring the fire and growled a warning, "Watyha thata one, Jarth. She bites. I got ta hurt ta prove it." He glanced down at his arm and then back at Alanna, menace in his eyes.
Alanna felt a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth and swiftly hid her expression behind a blank mask. The man at the fire had got what he deserved; he had taken a blind sweep at Anya, who had been holding trays of food for the men. Alanna, who had been sitting in front of a pot-containing soup, had taken the ladle in her hand and used it to whack the man around the face. He leapt to his feet, after staring despondently at her in disbelief, and launched himself at her in fury. Alanna had waited, rigid and vigilant, as he barrelled toward her and then she struck, hard. Using her balance, she had thrown him over her shoulder and broken his arm as he sailed through the air. Next, she had wrapped her iron chains around his neck and had flung herself to the ground, pulling him with her. He had lost consciousness by the time the kicks and punches had eventually forced her to release him.
Though she had not escaped without injury, she wouldn't hesitate to do the same thing again. Each breath she took sent fire searing through her lungs and she suspected the kicks had broken or fractured some ribs. Still, the respect she had earned, as prey who fought back, was somewhat worth it.
"Bites, eh?" Jarth enquired, turning to Alanna. A harsh smile fleetingly danced across his face. "Do you know whata we do to dogs that refuse to submit?" he asked Alanna, his breath blowing wisps of her hair. The men close enough to hear started to laugh ruthlessly, and, not for the first time, Alanna began to feel afraid. Leaning down, Jarth whispered into her hair, his breath fetid with ale. "We sell them to Tahakén."
There was an ominous silence as the slaves that had travelled with the slavers for many years looked up in horror and the men laughed again.
"Indeed?" Alanna asked, determined to hide her shaking. "What's that?"
"What's Tahakén? 'What's Tahakén?' she asks," the man by the fire mocked. "Tahakén, lass, is your worst nightmare." He snorted and resumed prodding the fire.
Alanna swallowed, but declared bravely, hoping she would not be proven wrong, "I have been in some pretty bad places. There is not much that can scare me."
Jarth started to laugh and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "Oh, I truly doubt you have ever gone somewhere as awe inspiring, terrifying, or tragic as Tahakén." Alanna frowned and glared at him. "Pray that you never venture within one-hundred leagues of Tahakén."
Alanna finally lowered her gaze, telling herself she couldn't stand the stench of the man. Turning, Jarth walked away, bellowing orders for the camp to move. As his orders were repeated, the camp became a flurry of activity, and Alanna was dragged over to a wagon that held cooking utensils and other various everyday items.
The slaver kept a wary eye on her as he locked her chains onto a loop behind the wagon and pulled it tight. Alanna winced as her ribs protested, and gasped against the pain. She heard a grunt and looked to her right to find Anya thrown on the mist-sodden dirt. Leaning over, in a way to protect her ribs, Alanna offered Anya a dirty, callused hand and helped Anya to her feet.
Anya murmured thanks as the carts assembled into a line, and other slaves were tied to Alanna and Anya. With the guards astride dirty ponies, clutching cheap spears and shields, the wagons began to move.
Alanna and Anya trudged on through the dirt behind the swaying procession. As they walked, they talked to each other in hushed whispers. Alanna was able to answer some of Anya's questions today, unlike the days previous when she had been unable to utter a coherent word.
Alanna, keeping her identity as a noble and the fact that she had been a squire secret, told Anya she had grown up into a large family with only brothers for company during the day. This wasn't entirely untruthful, because Alanna considered many of the squires at the Palace to be her siblings. She told Anya she had started working at the palace as a servant in the laundry. When Anya asked, with a child's innocence, what the balls were like, Alanna paused and thought about her answer.
"The balls were amazing," she finally answered, cautiously picking her words. "The women were stunning, and the men were handsome. They wore the finest fabrics and consumed the finest of liquor in the land." Alanna paused and moistened her lips. Noticing Anya's encouraging looks, she continued,"The squires dressed in golden tunics with full sleeve scarlet hose. Polished leather were their boots." Alanna blinked furiously, trying to hold her tears.
One of the women behind her in the chain spoke up. "And the prince? I heard he has a face that looks to be carved by the gods."
Alanna stiffened, and her jaw clenched. "Prince Jonathan," she spat in a voice scarcely concealing her rage, "uses his piercing sapphire eyes and midnight hair to entice women to his bed." As she called Jonathans image to her mind she felt a sharp stab of longing before she remembered what he had done to her, and fury replaced it. "Once he has bedded them, he tosses them aside and moves onto the next."
Alanna glared at the muddy ruts created by the wagon wheels. Feeling she had made her statement too personal she hastened to add, "That's what the gossip is anyway."
The women behind her sighed.
"He sounds dreamy," the original speaker swooned.
Alanna didn't say anything, and as the women went on to discuss the men they had seen or bedded, silently agreed with her. Yes, Prince Jonathan, heir to the throne of Tortall, was indeed dreamy.
All day the chain of wagons and prisoners slowly wound its way further into Tusaine. Reaching a great square, the wagons made for the field next to it. As the wagons drove into the field, Alanna could hear muffled screams and sobs beneath the hum of men talking and laughing amongst themselves.
The slaver Jarth, who seemed to have taken an interest in Alanna, came over with the keys to their chains. Starting from the rear he undid the chains, demanding a kiss in exchange.
Reaching Anya, he released her and then stared at Alanna. Extending a large, grubby finger, he caressed her cheek and leaned in. His breath was hot and stale in her face. Dangling the key teasingly, he whispered. "Give me a kiss and I'll release you."
Alanna glared at him and twitched her head. "No. I'd as soon kiss a pig," she snarled.
A sudden harsh look crossed Jarth's face before he quickly concealed it behind a grim laugh. "Oh, yes. You will be a fun one to break."
Backhanding her around the face, he undid her chains and then lifting her up by the manacles around her wrist, he looped her arms over a small hook at the top of the wagon.
Alanna hung groaning as her shoulders protested against her weight, her feet being unable to touch the ground. Jarth leaned in and hissed, "I'll leave you to sort out your attitude all night. Maybe then you will be mellow and timid like women should be." He turned and walked away, picking up Anya's chain as he went.
"Oh." He turned around. "Hope you sell tomorrow, because if not, you and I will become acquainted in my tent." His eyes filled with lust, he walked away, dragging the petrified Anya behind him.
Alanna tensed at the implied threat and then swiftly relaxed as the pressure put on her arms began to hurt. Jarth's words came back to haunt her as she hung from the wagon as the light turned to night, and the stars began to dazzle the sky. Hope you sell tomorrow.Alanna felt sick. She knew where she was- what this place was. It was a slave market, and tomorrow she would be put up for sale.
Alanna swung from her shackles, moaning silently against the pain, slowly fading in and out of sleep. Gazing up at the stars, tears streaking down her face over the hand mark on her cheek, she prayed her brother would be okay. She prayed all her friends and Faithful would live without her, all except her ex-lover, Jonathan.
In another land, across the border leagues away, another man stared up at the stars and prayed that Alanna was alive and that she would return. Tears streaming down his face, he returned to his chambers, his dreams full of the woman he loved and let go.
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So Yeah. You are all going to have to wait for the next chap, isn't even written yet, thought I'd give you this as a treat.