"Now I see that you can only bring suffering, now I see, that I've become like you." - Alys, Will of Winn

----------------------------------------

The lively chatter, the busy walkways filled with life and wheeled carts, smiles and laughter; it was all lost on the collared man’s hazed over eyes.

Walking through the city he was trying to get inside of was uneventful for him as he tried to get his mind working. No matter how much he struggled he was unable to get a foot hold on himself, unable to think about doing something out of his own will, he simply followed quietly behind Thomas.

There was a certain air to the sprawling city life, the people behind the stores, the customers, the ones simply walking about, each and every one of them looked weirdly perfect in a sense. Everything fit and meshed with its surroundings as though it was all part of a grand painting depicting perfect life.

Not just the people but the architecture as well, spotless roads and impeccable buildings encased the view in a state of opulence.

Regardless of the strange phenomenon that the city seemed to be afflicted with, both men arrived at their destination.

A rather large building with no windows greeted them as multiple people could be seen coming in and out constantly. Whatever this place was, it was popular.

Without a word, Thomas walked through the doors with a smile on his face. The collared man followed without a word.

Inside, the lights were dimmed and the décor gave off a feeling of being in a place lost to time. Jarring to the outside theme of perfection, the inside seemed almost messy in a sense. Not that there was any clutter or lack of tidiness, but rather the atmosphere itself was revolting.

It was hard to place the source of this issue on a single matter, the seedy eyes that watched people come in as though they were on patrol, the smell of sweat and intimacy covered by a fabricated scent, the empty eyes of the men and women who stood around doing nothing.

Both men wasted no time in this and simply continued to move forward.

Eventually they arrived at a grand staircase in the room that vaguely resembled a bar, immediately after reaching the top of the stairs they were met by a large double door guarded by two men with swords at their hips. One glance at Thomas and the door was opened as they entered the prestigious room.

A woman sat at her desk with a fake smile, her beauty was a façade that covered over a decade of unwanted aging. Still remnants of her beauty were still present, perhaps her desire to retain her previous appearance drove her to partake in her futile attempt at the impossible.

“Thomas, what a pleasant surprise,” she spoke with a commanding voice, “I was thinking you might have died in that explosion.”

Thomas smiled, “Madame Shirley,” he greeted with respect “Well I almost did. I was fortunately at the edge of the blast and by the grace of the emperor I survived.”

Madame Shirley hummed with interest as she took a puff of her cigarette, “Any idea what caused that? Frankly I don’t think anybody has seen anything like that before,” she exhaled smoke that lingered in the air as she continued, “People were frantic, they thought that the world was coming to an end, can’t say I blame them.”

“I wish I knew, it happened in an instant,” Thomas explained as he recalled his near death experience, “One moment I was riding my cart with the captured Banes behind me and the next a blinding light raced at us from the horizon, I put my cart to full throttle but the slaves were caught up in it.” His expression relayed more annoyance at the event now than the fear he must have felt at the time, “to make matters worse my divine stone died there and then as well. I had to walk all the way back due to that.”

Madame Shirley listened without interrupting, “I see, so you lost of the slaves I commissioned for you to get?” Her voice was even but held a jagged edge, “I don’t suppose you came here to reimburse me?”

Thomas merely waved his hand at his nameless companion, “Lucky I had the foresight to have this one ride in the front with me, this one is really special.”

Madame Shirley looked at the slave and decided to stand up to inspect him herself, looking at his face she roughly traced her hands on his features. Without so much as a warning she began to take his clothes without protest from either men. She carefully looked at every nook and cranny as though she was looking for something.

“What’s going on with this one?” She asked perplexed.

Thomas smiled at this, sensing he would get off the hook he explained, “As far as I can tell nothing, he’s healthy and has no defects, I knew this one would fetch a high price.”

Madame Shirley did not stop looking at the slave as Thomas spoke, “Well you are right all my slaves are Bane after all and although it’s expected that all of them will have some form of disfigurement in this industry, it’s not exactly a good thing.”

“So is this one really a Bane? I don’t think I need to tell you that the Paladins will have both our heads if you made a citizen of Croen into a slave.” She responded with steel in her voice despite her growing greed.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“Well, truthfully I don’t think he is a Bane, but he lacks a Self-stone and to make it better he’s amnesiac, so there’s no way to prove otherwise.”

The older lady gave a genuine smile at his shrewdness, “Well if you put it that way I can’t complain. Still why does he have a Rhyfel collar on? Isn’t this expensive?”

Thomas couldn’t help but feel annoyed at being reminded of the monetary loss, “Well that was my last collar so I did not have much choice, take it as a dedication to my job.”

“Well then we’re even, I’ll call you if I find a buyer,” she waved Thomas away, “Oh wait, the Rhyfel collar, is the range the same as the human collars?”

Thomas grunted slightly at this query, “Actually I’m not sure, it might be longer or shorter but just as long as he has it on he should not be able to resist much if anyone orders him around.”

“Fine, I trust you’ll come if another job shows up.”

The two shook hands and the business deal was over. The man left in a big rush, he walked as though he had just escaped death.

“Alright follow me,” Madame Shirley commanded her new slave. The walk was short as he was led to a room in the same floor, “Wash yourself and put on the clothes you find inside, after just wait there,” she addressed him without so much as a glance before she made her way out.

Finally alone in a room, the man began to do as he was told. His body moved on autopilot, getting in the shower he scrubbed himself clean and was out looking for his new clothes on the matter of minutes.

Then suddenly his trance was broken.

He felt like he had woken up from a long slumber where he was watching himself move like a robot. Having is free will taken from him, being touched by that lady, looking at him as less than a person, all these flooded his mind with indignation. The anger this created made his brain feel as though it was literally on fire, it was a strange feeling but above all he was curious.

About the people in the city, the city itself, the Self-stone, the Divine Stone, an explosion in the wastelands, the collar on him, the way that the guard was able to move so quickly. He wanted to know about it all.

But there was a bigger issue at hand. The collar, he remembered Thomas speaking about range. He theorized that since Thomas was the one that placed the collar on him, then somehow his proximity correlated with the effectiveness of the collar. Despite the fact that he said that he should still be under considerable influence, he felt perfectly in control. As long as Thomas was not near he should have free will.

He tried to reach for the collar but the moment his hand touched the black surface his arm felt numb, no matter how much effort he tried to use, his grip on the collar did not get any stronger. A defense mechanism he realized.

He would need someone to take this thing off him.

But for now that was not possible, there was no telling how he should act outside or where to go. Before he escaped, he would need to gather information, play along, and if he was ordered to do something unsavory then he would have to show his hand and attempt to escape. That would be his last resort.

Finally he looked at the clothing he was meant to wear, he was unhappy to say the least. The black pants and the shoes were normal at the very least but the shirt on the other hand, if it could even be called that, was another matter.

The short-sleeve shirt was extremely tight and left his abdomen exposed. He had never seen a shirt like it before, well as far as he knew.

He would have to bide his time for now. With that in mind he waited there just as he was asked.

After no more than a minute the door opened without so much as a knock, the lack of privacy did not escape him.

“Good,” Madame Shirley spoke as she walked in, “Listen I want you to observe my establishment and learn from the others what to do, just don’t go into any rooms or refuse the requests of any of my customers.”

His expression remained even, without showing emotion to the woman just as he had when he first met her. Truthfully, he was pleased with this development, this served as some freedom to figure out his next step. If security was this relaxed because he had a slave collar on him then he might have an easier time escaping after all.

He merely nodded his head at her words, he was tempted to respond verbally but ultimately decided against it, after all he did not talk when he was truly under the control of Thomas. Consistency was key to pulling this off, the smallest mistake could lead to them discovering that he had free will.

Waiting for her to leave, he made his way to the main hall he had been in earlier. It was dimly lit and filled with people drinking and getting handsy with the “workers” of the business. He simply observed from a dark corner and tried to gather all he could from people’s conversations. He was not aware of what exactly would be useful knowledge but when your starting point is literally zero even the little things help out.

As he hid his face and eavesdropped he very quickly learned his inefficient plan, since none of the slaves actually spoke there was no small talk between them and the customer. All he heard were perversions that made his ears red with embarrassment, he could not fathom how people could say such things with a straight face. Talking to those that could not respond empowered them as they were essentially talking to themselves. Then a thought crossed his mind.

If I was able to see and hear everything that happened to me while I was that trance, then are all these people stuck in that hell?

The guilt of not being able to help them pang at his morality, but unfortunately realized that he was barely in a position that could be used to help himself. Taking the burden of trying to help everyone at this stage would only bring him misery.

“This one is good.”

A sultry voice struck his ear and made him turn to face a woman who was eying his body without regard for his actual self, not that he could blame her, she expected to be talking to a living doll nor maybe even to herself.

Even though he was only given a few minutes to observe the scene, he had already formulated a plan to escape these situations, it was very simple too.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke quietly as her eyes widened, “I think you have the wrong idea about me…” He struggled with the next word, he picked up some key conversations from the patrons so he might as well put them to good use, “I actually have a slave kink, yeah sorry not a real one though.” He spoke casually, trying to sound relaxed as though he found the situation humorous.

“Oh!” She exclaimed, “My bad, I was thinking you looked too good to be a Bane,” the embarrassment at her apparent blunder made her want to leave the conversation, unaware that the other party was just as embarrassed at the thing he had just said.

Seeing the woman go to the bar and down a drink put the collared man at ease, talking was his biggest weapon. Slaves could not talk, he could, it was embarrassing but with that alone he could slip his way out of doing what the customers wanted.

Perhaps this really will be easy?