The lashings don't stop but they do decrease, not that I care anymore, I just accept it as part of the training I receive every day. I don’t pass out anymore, the pain constantly exists and has numbed my back to any new pain. My days consist of waking up from a restless sleep whose comfort I used to long for, training to be a tool for whoever buys me, and being lashed when I mess up or say something wrong. I don’t speak unless spoken to and throughout the time I’m being trained my eyes are always cast to the ground. If anyone looks into my eyes anyhow, they would question if I was really alive. My silver eyes are dull and it constantly appears as if I am looking through everything, like I am not attached to this world, just a girl whose body happens to exist in it, a husk.

After my training I merely go back to the wall and lay down on the cold floor. I stare at the wall in silence. The cold of the cell doesn’t bother me anymore, and the stone floor helps spread the chill through my body like a loving embrace trying to ease away the pain and sorrow. I drift off to sleep and am met by the usual empty nightmare world. Silent and lifeless are the only terms that can be used to describe it since the day my mother died in front of me. A scene repeated in my nightmares every night, her blood blossoming from her body as she collapses and disappears, reminding me of my loneliness.

After my training really began I was finally given food in the form of hard or moldy bread that I got before the day’s session. I usually take it and sit up against the cell wall and nibble on it until it is gone. Some of the color has returned to my skin, but I still have hollow cheeks and my ribs still show clearly. I wash the food down with the water that is given along with it and then sit there waiting for the day’s teachings to begin.

The things lashed into my head are the basic rules of being a slave such as: Don’t make eye contact with your master, don’t speak unless spoken to by your master, don’t refuse your master, don’t touch your master unless told to do so, and most importantly, do exactly what your master asks you to do regardless of what it is. Every day while restrained to the wall I would be given situations and asked to detail what I would do in that situation and if correct would be given a new one. If I gave the wrong answer then I would be lashed and asked again until I get it correct.

This was my life for an unknown span of time.

After waking up today I silently eat the food left in the cell for me and then wait for the day’s training to start, but when the slaver arrives at my cell there is a rough cloth shirt in his hand and he throws it at me.

“Put this on and then come with me.”

The shirt is really just rough fabric sewn into the shape of a shirt, it’s rough to the touch and simplistic in every way. I slide it on to my bare top while thinking that this is the first time I have worn a shirt since the day I first got here. I follow the slaver out of the cell and up the stairs into the shed that lays at the top of them, the rough fabric of the shirt constantly rubbing against my raw back.

I am led away from the shed and towards the main house where I can see a carriage out front, this one doesn’t have any crest and is just a plain carriage unlike the one that showed up in my village to take me away. Standing outside in front of the carriage is Von Aston with his normal slimy grin.

“Ahhh, it's finally time for my investment to pay off is it? Well looking at you now tells me that my hire did a good job breaking you in so the auction should go well and I should make plenty of money, enough to cover your village's reduced tax revenue.” With that he strolls back into the house, that grin never leaving his face.

The slaver tells me to get into the carriage and to stay quiet. I obey and board the carriage with the slaver following behind me and sitting opposite me once inside. The door of the carriage closes and I hear the whip of the driver as we start to move away from the mansion and out into the countryside.

The countryside flies by as we ride in silence and once we have been going for a little bit the slaver speaks to me again.

“Right now we are on our way to the local auction house where you will be sold off to another master to serve so make sure not to do anything stupid and just stand there silently as they inspect you, do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. I think you will probably just end up as some maid so the scars on your back shouldn’t hurt your value too much as they can easily be hidden underneath clothes but when we arrive they will do an appraisal so they know where to start the bidding.”

I nod that I understand and then go back to looking out the window of the carriage as the sun follows us to our destination.

After a couple hours of riding in silence we arrive at the auction house, a single large building decorated with pillars and intricate stonework. Outside I can see many carriages and people arriving and entering into the building. Many of the carriages have family crests and are beautifully decorated while the people getting out of them are equally dressed up. When we arrive, however, we go towards the back of the building where other plain carriages are parked and what must be dozens of slaves are being led in through the back. Many of them are older than me and there is an array of skin tones ranging from the darkest ebony to the palest white. I even notice that some of them may not even be human.

In the kingdom humans are considered the superior race and those that aren’t human are treated almost as livestock. Dwarves, elves, orcs, all of these and more are treated as slaves to be used however humans see fit. I never saw any of the other races in my village but I knew of their existence.

The one thing we all have in common is the fact that we are all property and the dead look in all of our eyes.

The carriage comes to a stop and I am directed to get out, so I do. After I get out the slaver follows and while doing so I hear a shout, “Alvin!” A pale man with a red beard is walking over towards where we are getting off the carriage raising his hand in greeting at the slaver. The slaver, Alvin, looks towards the man and a smile grows on his face as he walks towards the man until they eventually lock elbows with each other.

“Jack! I haven’t seen you in a while, how's business?”

“The usual pain in the ass, especially with all the new…” They launch into a full conversation but I don’t understand a single thing they are discussing and just stand there looking at the ground in silence waiting for my next instructions. Eventually I notice the conversation has shifted to me.

“So is that your little special assignment for the baron? I must say it does have a pretty face, maybe if it was older and a bit more developed in some places I’d buy it off you for myself. He chuckles as if he just told a joke.

“Yes this is it, it was a little tough for its age, but in the end it broke as they always do. Now it will be perfectly obedient to whoever its master is, isn't that right?”

I nod my head in acknowledgement.

“Anyhow, I will catch up with you later Jack, I need to go register it before the auction starts.”

“Alright I’ll see you later than Alvin.”

With a wave Jack turns on his heel and walks towards another group of slavers talking amongst themselves.

“Follow.”

Alvin continues towards the auction house with me following right behind him.

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When we enter, the back of the auction house is filled with slaves and their masters milling around and I am led towards a group of people wearing plain white shirts with a strange symbol over the right part of their chest. As we approach, one of them steps towards Alvin.

“Ah, Alvin, it is nice to see you again. We haven’t seen you here for a couple of months, the guild was starting to worry if something had happened to you. Is this a slave you are registering for the auction?”

“Yes, and I think you will make a good profit off of it.”

“Hmm… well at first glance it would be hard to tell so let us inspect her and see if what you claim might be true.”

With that he turns from Alvin to me and begins to run his gaze over me as if he was appraising an item. He does a full circle around my body taking notes every so often as he does so. Every now and then he pokes me in my arms and legs, jots something down and continues on. He inspects my hair, running his fingers through it and inspecting its color. While inspecting my face he gets really close, inspecting my nose, the ridges of my face, and then finally my eyes.

“Silver eyes eh, quite a rare sight…” He mumbles this to himself. While all of this is happening I just stand there as I was told to in the carriage earlier. He also asks Alvin questions as he is doing his inspection.

“How old is it?”

“Eight.”

“Does it follow orders well?”

“Of course.”

After looking over my face the inspector nods to himself and then says, “Okay, now take off your shirt so I can inspect your upper body better.”

I listen and remove the rough shirt from my body. When I do the man takes a bit of intake of breath.

“By the gods Alvin, no wonder you were able to train it so well, its back is nothing but a field of scars, some of these are still bleeding too. Could you have gone a bit lighter on it?”

“What can I say, it didn’t break easily.”

“I see. Well we can get a healer to clean up the fresh wounds at least but the scars will stay there and will make it harder for us to sell it.”

With that, he finishes up his appraisal quickly and looks over the notes he had been jotting down.

“Well, even with the scars on the back it does seem like it could sell pretty well, it’s young so it will last for a good while and also more likely to pick up on its tasks. It has a good figure and once some of the filth is washed off I’m sure the looks will only improve, and then there is the fact it has silver eyes, quite the rarity. With that said the starting price is easily five hundred zorans if not a little higher.”

“See, I told you it could sell well.”

“Yes you did, now you can leave it to me to prepare it for the auction.”

“Alright then, I leave it with you.”

With that Alvin nods towards the inspector and makes for the exit leaving me behind.

“As for you, follow me.”

He begins walking towards a set of rooms off to the side of the area and on his way he says something to a woman in the same uniform as him and she nods and starts going off somewhere. When we enter the room I am met by a single wooden basin filled with water and a group of slaves waiting by it. The slaves are all looking at the ground while some sneak glances at me, most of them seem to be about the age my mother is… was. After we are inside the man stops and then turns to me.

“Strip down and go get in the tub of water, these slaves will clean you up so that you look your best for the auction, we can’t be selling filthy goods now can we?”

With that he leaves the room leaving me and the other slaves in the room alone. I strip down and get in the tub, the water is freezing and my teeth start to chatter as the cold flows through my body. Once I am in the tub, the slaves begin to scrub me from head to toe and the water turns a muddy brown with spots of red as all of the dirt, grime, and blood from being in that cell for so long washes off me. They eventually get to scrubbing my back and as they do I can feel the burn as the water gets into the fresh lashes and I bite the inside of my mouth as they continue.

“I can’t believe someone would do this to such a young girl.” In a quiet voice one of the slaves, an older female, says aloud.

“Yeah, she may not even really be here anymore, her face is just vacant and she hasn’t said anything, just looked down at the ground.” Another one, this time a younger teen.

I just stay quiet as they continue to clean me up and right as they finish up a new woman enters the room. She is an older lady, probably in her late thirties and she has a hard expression that probably comes from years of hardship. She is wearing the white shirt that the man from earlier had on as well. She walks over to where I have just left the tub and gives me a once over.

“Hmm… I see. Well I can't do anything about the scars but I can at least heal your back a little bit. Turn around please.”

I do as I am told and turn around, and I can feel as the woman puts her hands on my back. She starts muttering something I can’t understand and then a strange warmth flows through my back and washes over me. The continuous pain that I have felt since being lashed constantly fades away, the burning and itching I felt disappearing as well. She continues muttering the whole time and when she stops she removes her hands from my back.

“There, that should do it. You probably feel much better now that you don’t have open wounds rubbing against anything.”

I nod and she gives me the briefest of smiles.

“Good.”

With that she leaves and I am given my clothes back to put back on. I do so and as I slip my shirt back on the man from earlier returns.

“That’s much better, now you look sellable. Now follow me, the auction is about to begin. I will give you instructions on the way so make sure to listen.”

I nod and follow him as he exits the room heading further inside where a line of slaves has formed next to a doorway.

“This is where you will wait while the auction is going on, as it does the line will move and you will continue in it until you get to the front, at which point you will be instructed to move to the stage where you will be presented and bid on. Do not leave this line and do not speak at all. Understood?”

I nod.

“Good. Well the auction is about to start so I must take my leave.”

With that he walks away and I am left standing in the line of slaves in silence.

Eventually I can hear the sounds of the auction starting as they begin to call out the slaves and prices are thrown out as the bidding starts. The line begins to move slowly and I shuffle my way forward with it. What feels like hours pass as I slowly creep closer to the front of the line and eventually I reach it. There is another man in the same uniform as before waiting at the front of the line and he instructs me to go on stage when he tells me to. I can hear the previous slave’s bids now that I am right next to the stage, numbers are being thrown out everywhere as the bidding starts low and eventually I only hear two voices going back and forth until I finally hear sold.

With that it becomes my turn and the man tells me to go out on stage. I do so and as I am I can hear myself being introduced.

“Our next slave is a young, eight year old female who has thoroughly been broken in and although it has some scars, its looks and obedience more than make up for it! Also it has the rare trait of silver eyes for you collectors out there!”

As I walk out on stage I am assaulted by the gazes of hundreds of people who are looking at me as if they are wolves and me a sheep.

“The bidding will start at 500 zorans, and begin!”

With that, the crowd jumped right into it and numbers began getting thrown around like crazy.

“550!”

“600, no, 650!”

“I’ll pay 700”

“800!”

The numbers just keep rising and slowly people start to fall out as the price rises until it is seemingly between two people. Two men were fighting it out between themselves over whose slave I would be.

“2000!”

“Urghh… 2300!”

“2300 going once! 2300 going twice!” The other man who has just been outbid bites his lip but doesn’t say anything else.

“Sold for 2300 to Viscount Stuart!”

With that I walk back behind the stage where I am led to another room and told to wait there until the auction is over. I stand in the room in silence for what feels like another hour when eventually the door opens and in walks the man who had won the bidding on me, Viscount Stuart and with a smirk he looks at me.

“Hello my new slave.”