Page 6 of Given to the Fae
We enter the skin traders’ outpost, everyone on their guards just in case. It wouldn’t be the first time we were ambushed by opportunists intent on gutting us all and stealing our slaves. They’re worth their weight in gold these days, after all, especially the breedable females.
Gods, it makes me sick how they’re treated, but what’s worse is how they treat each other, what they feel they must do to survive the Dark Realms. Half the slavers I’ve met over the pastfew years have been at least part human and yet they sell their brethren with no more thought than they’d give to a horse or a pig.
Bere has to order the females separated sometimes because they fight each other like dogs for scraps...or for male attention. Even the bulls, used to tussling with each other, typically already know their hierarchies, so they don’t tend to tear each other to pieces. The females, though, are almost as ruthless as their cruel masters, and some of them are cleverer as well.
Is what we’re doing for nothing? I’m wondering this more and more the longer I spend out here in these backwater worlds.
No.
I have to believe that our work in the Dark Realms can change things for the better so that what I endured will one day happen for the last time…and then never again.
I let out a breath and have to almost force myself to draw another from the fetid air as I glance at the bulls in their smaller yard, sectioned away from the females who are allowed to wander, doing chores like cooking and cleaning for the outpost and its inhabitants.
I don’t care about any of it, but Bere will ask my opinion later on which of them we should trade for or buy outright. I assess the bulls as we go by, picking out the ones with the strongest backs and broadest shoulders, the ones that will be easier to sell in the lower Circles. The females are more difficult, though I know Bere will request a close look at them all anyway, so I don’t worry too much about them.
A large orc with long, midnight blue hair in a knot on the top of his head and two long knives at his belt appears from one of the out-buildings. He raises a hand in greeting and our procession halts. His eyes flick to the slaves we’ve brought, taking them in quickly before giving a nod.
Bere dismounts first, and I follow his lead. We approach the orc, and I notice overseers of various creeds watching for any problems. They slink around, their eyes always on the slaves and constantly moving almost as if they’re afraid they’ll be overrun at any moment.
I snort at the ridiculous thought. The rabble of humans I’ve seen so far barely look well enough to run twenty paces let alone take down even one armed guard together.
‘Come to trade?’ the orc asks, his eyes not leaving Bere’s.
‘Aye.’
‘I’m Sio. Commander Ogdan will be out in a moment.’
Bere points his thumb at himself. ‘Bere.’ Then at me. ‘Locke.’
‘Males or females?’ Sio asks, eyeing our cargo almost lazily.
Bere shrugs. ‘At least one or two bulls.’ He gives a sly smile. ‘Not sure about the females. We’ll have to see your stock to decide.’
Sio nods, clearly expecting this, and I pretend I’m as interested in seeing them as our leader is.
‘Get them out here,’ the orc mutters to one of the nearby goblins who are hanging about and listening to our exchange.
He nods and walks off. I hear him bellowing a moment later and there’s a flurry of activity as all the females in the outpost line up on the road for Bere and I to survey.
‘You inspected the bulls?’ Bere asks me and I nod.
‘Aye. The one with the longer hair and the other with the dog inked into his chest look the most virile at first glance.’
Bere nods. ‘Unload the cargo,’ he calls, and the others finally get down from their horses.
The females are let out of the cart. Tori’s eyes catch mine for an instant before she trains them on the ground in front of her. If she’s afraid or nervous, she doesn’t show it. I don’t worry about her. She’s trained for this.
Similarly, Soreno and the other bull are placed next to the females. He prances in place a little as if impatient to be rutting a female and I tell him silently not to be so deliberate. These cunts aren’t fools, and we’re all dead if they suspect anything. There’s no one all the way out here in the Eleventh Circle to help us.
Luckily, he calms down, instead making a show of leering at the females as they line up, as if there’s nothing else going on in his head except fucking them. He behaves like any other virile bull who’s been a slave all his life would.
I follow Bere down the line, pretending to be interested as he looks at their teeth, checks them for lice, feels their skin. I barely see them, their faces a haze of human attributes, rounded ears and naturally dull eyes, thin limbs and unwashed flesh.
‘The Breach will open again in a few minutes,’ Bere mutters to me. ‘But then it’ll be shut for more than a day. I don’t want to get stuck here for that long. Start at the other end and find me two more who look like good breeders.’
I nod and walk down the row. There certainly aren’t many who look healthy enough. I vaguely notice that one of the females is standing apart from the others. I look at her properly simply because she isn’t with them. Her eyes are a dark brown and her matted hair appears as if it might be as well but it’s hard to tell from the layers of grime.
At first glance, she seems the same as the rest, but there’s something about her. A stillness. She’s not vying for my attention like the females I’ve passed so far. She isn’t even looking at me. Truth be told, she seems bored. She stares at hazy mountains in the distance as if she doesn’t care one way or the other that she might be taken from this place. As I look closer, despite the shapeless rags she wears, I see that she’s a bit thinner than the others and she’s got scars on her arms. The right bicep is bandaged. A recent injury.
