The Heroic Legend of Ianthe Chapter 5
As expected when Ianthe's intentions to go down to the slave market was discovered there was a lot of resistance particularly from those who cared about her wellbeing.
The biggest protestor was Vahirz. He tried to insist on going with her until he was reminded of his duties at the palace now that the King was back from war.
Even down at the slave market there were still those who sought to waylay her.
A clerk assisting in the every day running of the enterprise insisted on accompanying her the moment she stepped foot here. In fact he persisted in trying to persuade her to leave to no avail.
"Forgive me, My Princess, but such quarters are hardly suitable for one of your station," said the Clerk, anxiously.
"Oh? And why ever not? And if you tell me it's because I'm a woman you'd better think twice about uttering such nonsense," cautioned Ianthe, brow raised.
Judging by the utterly miserable expression on the Clerk's face Ianthe had a nagging suspicion that's exactly what he'd been thinking. Her carefully phrased warning had the Clerk rephrasing what he had in mind, attempting a different approach.
"If you require a slave, we can easily send a messenger," suggested the Clerk.
Shaking her head in refusal, Ianthe said "That's not it. I wish to learn from them myself. Of their culture, their homes. There's only so much I can learn from history texts alone, leaving far more that can be heard firsthand. This'll be my only opportunity to do so before the prisoners are sold to new owners."
Remaining skeptical of the situation, the Clerk said "As you wish, Highness."
"Filthy bastard! Get back and do as your told!"
Up ahead were some crudely made cages with a selection of the new slaves were inside. Apparently a few of them were causing trouble for the underling of a slaver in charge of this part of the market was stabbing at one with a pole.
Frowning, Ianthe demanded "What's going on here?"
Upon seeing her the underling instantly ceased his actions, dropping to one knee, and bowing his head.
Doing a complete flip of facial expressions, from being merciless to attending, the Slaver said "Princess Ianthe. This is a surprise. Whatever brings you to such wretched quarters?"
Ignoring the Slavers performance, moving closer to the wooden bars of the pens, Ianthe said "Are these the men from Lusitania?"
A bit taken aback by Ianthe's indifferent attitude towards him, sweating a little, the Slaver said "Yes, Highness."
Softening somewhat as she gazed at the Lusitanian's, Ianthe greeted "Good afternoon."
Ianthe didn't take her eyes off any of the men standing in the pens in front of her. No matter how much time passed Ianthe would never forget the way these Lusitanian prisoners looked at her. She's been around slaves all her life, but never like this.
The faces of these slaves are filled with unrivaled contempt, disdain, scorn, and malice towards her.
Well we'll see what Ianthe can do to change that.
Turning her back towards the slaves to face the Slaver, Ianthe commanded "Until I tell you otherwise, you are not to lay a hand in aggression towards these Lusitanian's."
The Slaver, his underling, and the Clerk all stared at her flabbergasted.
"I beg your pardon," said the Slaver.
"You heard me. And I will not repeat myself," said Ianthe, sharply.
Recovering from the bout of surprise created by Ianthe's statement, the Slaver said "But, Princess Ianthe, if I am to properly undertake my job in reference to conditioning these barbarians to become slaves under Pars then I have to use force."
"Not in this case," disagreed Ianthe. "I have some questions I would like to ask them. I'd rather receive answers when they can still speak in complete sentences and have their wits about them."
"But-," persisted the Slaver.
Holding up a hand, Ianthe said "I will not be long-."
Ianthe failed to keep focused on the slaves as she'd been speaking to the Underling, Slaver, and Clerk.
While Ianthe had been distracted one of the Lusitanian's reached through the bars once he noticed she was near enough and snatched her by the hair. Ianthe yelped in alarm as she was hauled backwards into the bars of the pen.
"Get your hands off the Princess!"
The Underling came in striking the Lusitanian prisoner that had hold of Ianthe hard on the arm he had in between the bars. The force behind it was enough to get the Lusitanian to release her hair.
The Clerk caught Ianthe as she staggered backwards and the Underling proceeded the discipline the one who'd attacked her.
"Are you hurt, Your Highness," he said, panicky.
Nodding, Ianthe said "I'm fine."
The Underling shouted "Your slaves now, ya got that? You wanna live, you do what you're told, when you're told!"
Ianthe involuntarily raised a hand to the back of her head where the Lusitanian had managed to grab her. But even after this she would see her orders obeyed.
"That's enough," she yelled.
"But, Your Highness, these savages just attacked you. They should be punished," argued the Clerk.
"I made myself very clear before. You will not beat them anymore than they already have been from the war until they are sold. Do so again in my presence and I will make sure you are reprimanded," said Ianthe, eyes like cold steel.
Ianthe's were practically incinerating the men with such rage. They couldn't look away.
No one ever dared to disobey the Crown Princess when she was like this. At only thirteen years of age Ianthe still demanded respect and reverence that none could deny.
All three men backed down, conceding to her.
Satisfied, Ianthe said "Good. Now tell me, are there any other Lusitanian prisoners or is this all of them? For I wish to speak to others if I cannot converse with these."
.
Authors Note:
Happy New Year!
Hope this a good start to a brand new year! ;D
Just to let you guys know I'll be sending my laptop in to get my battery changed two days from now. It's highly unlikely I'd be getting it back before a week is out afterwards. Fortunately there are a couple of story's I can update without the use of my Itunes so you'll still get updates for certain story's. I'll do my very best for the rest. That's all I can promise.
Heads up guys! We've got trouble. I received this alert from another fellow author.
Subject: #SAVEYOURINTERNET
Can you imagine a world without the following:
- Youtube
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Tumblr
- Reddit
- Memes
What if I told you that all of this could potentially go away before the end of next year. #Article13 threatens to stop almost all user-generated content and their creative freedom, such as fanart and fanfiction.
To everyone in AND outside the EU. Just because you don't live in the EU, doesn't mean Article 13 won't affect you. The wording of Article 13 is so loose that it could be manipulated in a way where only big companies can upload content on the internet.
Article 13, as written by the European Parliament, will create large unintended consequences for everyone. Let's come together for a better solution. #SaveYourInternet
Sign and share this petition to as many people as possible [remove spaces to access links]:
: / www . change p / european-parliament-stop-the-censorship-machinery-save-the-internet
Spread the news. Do what you can to help stop #Article13 from passing.
: / www . youtube saveyourinternet/
Why Article 13 Will Destroy YouTube
: / youtu . be / gBTJb08VYUU