The wolves descend

Chapter five

It's been days since I've been sold to the slave trader. The only thing I've eaten is a moldy piece of bread and some water, that was yesterday and I haven't been fed since. If I'm right, it's been about four days since I've been here, I hear others begging the pudgy man to be let free or occasionally for food and water but he either kicks the cage and tells them to shut up or just flat out ignores them. I'm scared about the uncertainty of my future, I don't know what to expect from this situation. Obviously, I've heard of the horror story's slaves go through, but I've never personally seen one until now. If this place is any indication on how I will be treated, I don't think I will like my new life.

I've been trying to sleep as much as possible, only in my dreams can I escape the hell that I am currently in. I dream about my mom, being in our house while she cooks us some soup. A place where I don't feel scared or hungry, but every so often I have nightmares of what she's going through without me. Don't get me wrong, my mother is an extremely capable person, but I fear losing her husband and then her only child to the wolves is probably driving her mad. I just hope she can pull herself together enough to take care of herself and Thomas. Waking up I hear a loud creak of the cell opening, as I look around I see the short pudgy man standing over me with a smug smile, "You sweetheart will make me a lot of money." He exclaimed with beaming eyes, before I can even register what he said I am being pulled by the leash and collar that is still around my neck. Forcing me to my feet I am brought to a line filled with other slaves, this must be auction day I thought, remembering what some humans back in my town would tell me.

I knew I would either be thrown in a cage with a price or auctioned to the highest bidder. Odds are whoever bought me would probably mistreat and abuse me. I was never strong, and my intelligence is subpar at best, I was bound to be a pretty useless slave in my opinion. But whoever bought me I would try to impress them, I needed to gain their trust and once they rely on me enough not to run that is when I shall make my escape. I'll be damned if I serve some damn dog for the rest of my life. After walking for who knows how long, at this point we seemed to have stopped by a stage right in the middle of the city. Crowds of people were gathered around the stage, excitement evident in the potential buyer's faces. Sucking in a deep breath, I try to tell myself that I will get home once more.

The slave trader had his men split us up into two groups, men and women. The men went first, often selling for higher than the women, I felt bad seeing all the young men and boys up on the stage getting purchased like prized cattle. Men would usually sell for more simply because they could force them to do heavy manual labor compared to women. Most likely, wherever I went I would probably become a household servant, which sadly meant I would have to converse and see the person who buys me frequently. To be honest, I might not even get purchased at all I was very frail due to malnutrition, I was practically skin and bone but not in an attractive way sadly. With bones sticking out and my hollowed pale cheeks, I wasn't exactly the prettiest girl in the world, the only pretty thing about me were my dark green eyes.

I knew I wasn't going to be bought simply because of how unattractive I was. I would rather not be fondled with or forced to do things that an attractive woman would surly be forced to do, but I did want a chance at escaping and if it depended on my looks then sadly I'm afraid I might not ever escape. Pulling myself out of my thoughts I realize it is now my turn to get on stage, before I know it the pudgy man is leading me onto the stage, while I awkwardly stand there with fear in my sunken in eyes I hear the auctioneer spouting random numbers. Surprisingly, people were biding on me and many people at that, "SOLD TO OUR LOVELY QUEEN!" The auctioneer yelled, banging his gable on the table he was seated at. It felt like they were only bidding for minutes until the queen won. Before I have time to find my buyer in the crowd I am whisked away backstage, there the queen was already waiting with what looked like her ladies in waiting. The queen herself was dressed in rich silk covering her small soft frame, she wasn't fat like the slave trader, but she wasn't sickly looking like me, she was a perfect medium. As I gaze into her sapphire eyes I can't help but gasp at her Beauty, over her red silk dress she had a fur cloak that screams royalty. Her hair was down in large blonde waves with two pieces braided and tied together, her tanned skin didn't have a blemish in site, with full supple lips and a small upturned nose I couldn't help but compare myself.

Even in a terrible situation like this I still managed to be jealous, you would think I would be jealous of her freedom but here I was wishing I had her ethereal Beauty. After what felt like years of staring at one another, she simply handed my leash to one of her lady's and walked back to her carriage. Her lady in waiting seemed rather annoyed at the queen's actions, yanking me forward, she brought me to a wagon with a cage built onto it. Stepping inside the wagon the door was promptly slammed behind me, looking around it seems like I was the only one bought. As the carriage lurked forward I sat down with my head on my knees wishing I could go home.