The First Book of Adeline: Freedom

Interlude 2: Master of the House

Kerth was working the flowerbeds in the front lawn that morning, doing his best to ignore the stinging from the cuts on his back, courtesy of Idag's whip a couple days prior. Shayl had been right, as he'd expected; the head slave had found some excuse to pay him back for interfering.

Late in the morning, a fine carriage pulled through the gates, giving Kerth mixed feelings. While it was certainly true the master's presence helped keep Idag under control, there was no denying the dread and revulsion his arrival always stirred in Kerth's heart. The dread, from not knowing what would happen, whether or not he and Shayl would be sold or separated, possibly even sent to the other side of the world from each other. The revulsion came from knowing that the man cared nothing for any other person beyond an arbitrary value in coin. It infuriated Kerth, although he was wise enough to keep it hidden.

The carriage pulled up alongside the house, and a large, bald man stepped down from the driver's seat and held open the door. Kerth recognized him as Gedd, one of the Master's bodyguards. Like all the others, he'd had his tongue removed to prevent him from repeating anything he'd overheard in that capacity.

A smartly-dressed man with a bushy mustache and a narrow face stepped out of the carriage, eliciting a low growl from Kerth. The mustached man - Kerth's master - strode quickly into the house, muttering darkly to himself. Unfortunately, he was too far away for Kerth to catch what he was muttering, although Kerth assumed it meant his recent trip to Jing had not been as fruitful as he'd hoped.

Kerth continued his work in the flowerbeds, and perhaps two hours later, another carriage stopped in front of the gate, a small, covered trailer hooked to its back. The driver stepped down and walked across the lawn to the front door, exchanging a few words with Idag before the door closed. Several minutes later, the door opened again, and after listening to Idag's message the driver returned to the carriage and spoke with someone at the window, before returning to his seat and guiding the carriage into the yard.

The door to the manor house opened, and Master Argrist stepped out, flanked by Gedd and Idag. The master watched the carriage pull in with interest. A rotund man with a wisp of a mustache wriggled out of the carriage, his thinning brown hair plastered to his sweating forehead.

With a fake smile painted on his pudgy face, the visitor approached Master Argrist, hands outstretched. "Thank you for honoring this humble merchant with an appointment, Lord Argrist. I'm sure -"

"If you have something to show me, then get on with it, Merta," Master Argrist answered coldly, his eyes boring into the round man. "I don't have time to waste on empty flatteries."

"Y-yes, of course! An esteemed man like yourself must be very busy..."The merchant called Merta wiped the sweat from his brow as he scurried to the trailer.

Kerth felt his teeth clench and his blood boil as the man hauled out a woman holding a child, followed by a wiry man, all chained at the ankles and the wrists. Two or three other slaves followed after, although they seemed as though they had already given up all hope.

"Hmm..." Master Argrist mused, walking up to the woman and the child, Gedd following right behind him. The master circled the pair, eyeing them up and down, causing the woman to hug her little girl close. The man with them kept his eyes trained on the master, and even from over where Kerth was watching, he could clearly see the hatred seething in the man's eyes.

The master moved in closer, turning the woman's head side to side to get a better look at her, then nodded to himself and turned towards the man. The man only glared back, staring directly into Master Argrist's eyes.

"This one has spirit," the master commented, circling the man. As he stepped closer, however, the man pulled something from his pants and lunged, a glint of steel flashing in the late morning sunlight. The master deftly stepped aside, but the blade still cut through his shirt, leaving a small cut. Gedd immediately pounced on the man, driving him to the ground before pulling him back to his knees, arms held behind his back.