Page 4 of Shackled to the Orc

The trap is connected to a set of ropes and bells that will alert whoever set it. They must be sitting like spiders in the middle of their traps.

I fall back down with a gasp, my head hanging as I slowly sway on the rope trap.

I reach up, each movement slow and careful, and open the pocket of my pants, nearly dropping the supple deerskin pouch filled with my most valuable possessions, the herbs I use for healing. I put it into my mouth, clamping it under my tongue.

I don’t know how long I’m here, my head like a balloon, and my cheeks must be turning bright red. I’m starting to get faint, beads of sweat trickling up my forehead and dripping to the ground. I’m a captive marionette to my unseen captors, if they get here before I pass out and die.

How long can a person stay upside down?

Low, deep voices. My heart pounds, my temple throbbing as blood rushes to my head. Two men, wearing the charcoal grays of Corwin’s troops, step out of the treeline, their combat boots muddied, huddling in their heavy jackets with blades at their belts. One has a crossbow slung over his shoulder. They aren’t high ranking enough to be given higher technology. My thoughts feel slow, panic and adrenaline swirling dizzyingly.

“Here, kitty kitty,” laughs one of them, staring at me with beady eyes. He’s pudgy, his cheeks fleshy, his uniform straining against his bulk.

“Ho ho ho! Right at the fucking finish line, we catch another. Think we can get her to Corrigan by midnight?” This one worries me more. He’s got a compactness to him, a thick strength, and his hand is near his blade, even with me trapped. He looks left and right, searching to see if I’m alone. He’s got no helmet on, and he has strange patches of his hair missing.

“Hell, it doesn’t matter, she’ll sell tomorrow. How old do you think she is? Twenty?”

“Yeah, at most. You think she’s still a virgin?”

“These village girls have taken twenty dicks by the time they're twenty. I fucked one for a loaf of bread last week. Hey, you, you ever taken a cock before?”

I spit at him. It lands impotently in the marsh. “Pretty enough though. If there’s no rush…”

“Don’t get any ideas. The doctor checks them in Corrigan. Virgins are worth more, and we’ll get a bigger bonus. Careful with her. You bruised the last one up bad. Captain was pissed, said she wouldn’t fetch a good price.”

“Captain. Fucker doesn’t have to do patrols. We do all the work, and he gets paid. Plus, that one wasn’t my fault. She tried to bite me.”

They approach me cautiously, speaking about me like a piece of meat. The one with the patchy hair looks down, and darts forward, grabbing my knife. “Look at that. Were you going to poke us with that? Got any other blades on you?”

I twist, trying to rock the rope, dizzy, trying to grab at the sword at his belt, my vision swirling. He reaches into his pocket and brings out a grey handkerchief. He rushes forward, and his hand is on my mouth and nose, and I can’t breathe, panicking, trying to hold my breath as long as possible, but when he pulls his hand back ever so little my body can’t stop itself from breathing in a hacking breath. I smell the stink of something sharp.

Somniferum Raptura.

I feel like I am in a dream, my mentor Mariel showing me the huge book with plant after plant in it. It smells like sharp peppermint, she said. A plant has the unique property of releasing pollens which make nearby animals…

Everything goes black.

4

MAYA

Iwake up in near darkness as someone tries to force something down my throat. I slap at the hand, to a yelp of surprise as a wooden ladle clatters on the ground, water sloshing out.

“Don’t waste that!” comes an angry hiss from across the jail cell. I double over, coughing, and the pouch of herbs drops from my mouth. From some miracle, I didn’t swallow it. I tuck it into my pant pocket, looking around, trying to get my bearings.

There’s an uncomfortable feeling between my legs, and I groan, putting my hand down.

“Nothing happened to you.Yet.The doctor inspects us on arrival.”

“Inspects us?”

“General auctions for all but you and Red over there,” comes another female voice as my eyes slowly adjust to the dim light that seeps in through the prison bars. I’m in a room with five other women, all under forty, dressed in simple clothes, with rips and stains.

Even a small criminal charge can land you in the slave auctions. The lordprotectorCorwin finds it more profitable to sell undesirables than to have mouths to feed in prison, and when the tributes from the villages are low, any slipup can land you here. With the blight, our harvest was low, the tribute pitiful, and I always suspected he uses the fear of the slave auctions to stop us from revolting.

The jail is windowless, but there’s a lamp flickering somewhere in the hallway. Across from us is another cell, this one with three men, one toothless and staring at us blandly, the other two with thin blankets pulled over them and sleeping on the stone floor.

The stink of unwashed flesh and a small bucket makes my stomach roil. I yearn for the crisp, clear air of my village.

---