Page 4 of Dominion
CHAPTER TWO
The carriage stopped moving, which woke Mateo up. He hadn’t even realized he’d drifted off to sleep again. He looked up, shocked by what he could see. The sun had long since set and the stars were shining brightly in the nighttime sky. Rising to his feet, he surveyed the area they were in. He could tell they were in the thick of a celestial city. Surrounding them were many buildings that were made of bricks, stone, and wood. Some were only a few stories tall, while others looked to be at least ten.
Ten stories was something to marvel at, which Mateo did as he peered up at them in awe. He’d heard stories of long ago cities, before the Great Calamity, with buildings so high, they reached into the clouds. He couldn’t imagine seeing one that tall these days. How could one even build a structure that impressive? The area was heavily populated, which was something he wasn’t used to, having lived in the badlands. People walked by their carriage and looked in as if they were examining the wares of a seller.
Mateo watched them as they looked over his body and those of the other prisoners. Other people who weren’t interested in the new arrivals, continued to go about their business as they were free to do so. Seeing the difference in their statuses left Mateo with an even more foreboding feeling. They were in the marketplace to be sold off, no doubt.
Their bandit captors began unlocking their chains from the hoops on the carriage, one by one. As they were doing this, an older man with a graying beard and potbelly stepped up to the carriage. His eyes scanned over each one of the prisoners with a securitizing gaze. His clothes looked to be those of a man of some measure of wealth. Leather pants, boots, and a vest covering a white cotton, button down shirt. His salt and pepper hair was balding at the top and his gray eyebrows were bushy over his brown eyes.
He didn’t look all too impressed with the prisoners in the carriage as he examined them, only a few managed to garner a grunt of approval, Mateo being one of them.
“Most are so thin,” he said. “The children especially.”
The lead bandit stepped up to him. “We went into the badlands for this lot, sir. Many fled…some we caught in the lushlands.”
The lushlands were where they’d captured Mateo as he was hunting. The lushlands were full of resources and plenty of people lived there, but as they were far from the temple of the gods, they didn’t have as much protection from the gods. Bandits hunted the lushlands regularly, so it was a risk to live there and hunt there. If you didn’t want to be captured, you lived in the badlands because prior to this incident, bandits didn’t go past the lushlands to get to the badlands.
All that was changing now as it would seem people were becoming a more sought after commodity than before. Mateo listened to the two men talk about them as if they were mere objects void of emotions. It was another cruel reminder of the reality that had befallen him.
“Bring them, the auction starts in a few minutes,” the older man said, then he walked away, leaving the head bandit to his charge.
“You all come now, no fighting or you die,” he warned.
Mateo wanted to fight, but the threat of certain death kept him from trying. Also, he was bound in chains and connected to several prisoners with no real means of escape. So, like the others, he climbed down from the carriage and followed the prisoners as they shuffled towards a large, wooden platform where many people were gathered.
The adult prisoners were told to stand on the side while six children were led onto the stage. Their tiny bodies were covered in dirt and muck, much like the other prisoners, except for the clean streaks on their cheeks left by their tears. One of the children’s mother tried to reach out to her son as he was led up to the platform, but she was punched in her stomach by one of the bandits, causing her to double over from the pain of the blow.
“Stupid whore! He not yours no more,” the man growled as he shoved the crying child forward and pushed her back against the wall.
Mateo remembered seeing them both on the ship, they had been separated then, too. And even on the carriage ride over, the bandits had chained the children apart from the adults. He guessed that was their way of making sure she and her child understood they’d better get used to being separated.
Mateo watched his first ever auction take place. He’d heard of such things growing up, but until this moment, had been able to avoid it. Living far away from the gods’ temples had its disadvantages and advantages. The older man with the rich clothes who’d inspected them earlier stood on the platform to address the crowd.
“We have a fine lot for you tonight, a fine lot,” he boasted, which was odd to Mateo since he’d clearly heard the man complaining about them while still in the carriage. The man continued. “We start off first with these children. They are young and can be trained to do your bidding without much fight.”
“I could use some in my brothel,” one of the patrons said.
Mateo looked at the woman and shivered in disgust when he saw how lecherous her gaze was as she looked at the young boys and girls. He knew that slaves had no rights, and the whims and desires of those considered elite or blessed had no conscience. These were all lessons his mother had taught him, and she’d learned those lessons from her mother, and so on. Knowledge handed down through the generations to keep them safe.
The man on stage continued to promote the children he wanted to sell. He walked over to one of the children, grabbing him by the chain on his neck. The chain connected all of the children together, so not one could get away. He yanked the child forward and the boy stumbled as he moved into position. His blue eyes were cast downward, avoiding the crowd as his little body trembled in fear.
“Look this one, so young…so fair. He’s pretty, make a nice servant in any house,” the man said, then he reached down, grabbing the boy’s chin, and forced him to look up at the crowd so they could see his face.
There were some murmurs from those gathered as they looked over the children. Mateo was afraid for his own fate, but even he couldn’t fathom what those children were going to go through. Being young, would they be easily broken? Would they survive whatever their owners had in store? He didn’t want to think about it and turned away once the bidding started.
The customers and seller haggled over the price, many wanted bargains and didn’t think the children were worth the asking price. There was much debate, but in the end, everyone—except the children—were satisfied with their purchase and sale. Once the children were led away, the women were dragged onto the stage.
Again, the seller went into bragging about his human wares. They were all naked, so it was easy for the customers to see exactly what they were buying. The seller lifted up the breasts of the heavier-chested women and patted the breasts of the daintier-chested women, showing the crowd their worth. The women were made to turn around and bend over, exposing their private parts.
The crowd made remarks, many nodding in approval right before the bidding started again. One by one, and in some cases, two by two, the women were sold off to their new owners. Some were going to serve the moderately wealthy, while others were going to serve in brothers, baths, and public labor, such as maintaining public toilets or streets.
Now, it was the men’s turn to be auctioned off. Like the children and women before them, the chains around their necks had been connected the moment they had stepped off the carriage, and not one of them could free themselves from the others. Mateo followed in line onto the stage and stood before the crowd of over sixty people, all looking at them with ill intent.
No decent human being could own another, was what his mother had told him. Everyone should want freedom and grant it to others. She didn’t believe in the way things were, which was the reason why she wanted to raise her children in the badlands away from the bustle of the worshippers of the gods, which she had refused to believe in because of their cruelty and exploitation of others.
Mateo looked around, seeing the city that was thriving under the control of the gods; and everywhere he looked, he saw corruption, greed, lust, and vanity. He’d heard the ancient tales of why the gods had destroyed the old world, but what he was seeing now didn’t seem any different. The only exception was that the gods were now in control. What kind of gods were these?
“Look at these strong men… they serve you well,” the seller said. Then he instructed the prisoners to turn around and bend over.
