“My mistress orders her acquisition at once.” Priceless said to the middle aged woman who stared at the purple tagged servant in front of her.
Priceless held her head up high and stood in imitation of Kaiji’s formal stance, hands behind the small of her back, she let the woman look her over, the fine clothes she’d worried were ruined before, were immaculate as if the nightmare had never come her way.
“Say that again, voice of…” The lumpy middle aged woman’s creaky voice trailed off in ignorance of who Priceless represented.
“Duchessa Aiwenor. She has the right given by the Prince, to buy any slave of the city of Pas’en that she wants. You do not have the right to refuse, I swear it on my mistress’s name.” Priceless spoke with slow, clear precision, her brown hair shone brightly, washed and clean by the very hand of the woman she loved for this purpose, and with a renewed confidence in her every gesture, she waited expectantly.
“I paid eight coppers for that girl, I won’t sell for less than sixteen since I have to go to the trouble of buying a new one!” the dour woman muttered, uncertainty colored her chubby face, her ordinary clothes showed that she was far from wealthy. Though they were bright in their blues and reds, it was clear that this was likely an effect of a recent washing, and that they were not going to last that way for long.
‘Probably never had a slave before the fall of Komestra made us cheap to buy.’ It was a bitter thought, one Priceless concealed, and said flatly, “You will receive thirty-two. Now bring me the child immediately.” Priceless ordered, and the woman turned her back to obey.
Priceless felt her heart pound in her chest as she realized what she’d just done. ‘I gave an order! I. Gave. An. Order!’ She felt her lips part with such shock that she covered her mouth with her right hand and held it there, shaking her head in disbelief.
The sound of walking feet, dragging, and whimpers reached her, so Priceless forced herself to restore her face to its neutral state and reached for the coins.
“Here she is… ah… voice of the Duchessa Aiwenor…” She held her hand out expectantly.
Her other hand held the forearm of a girl who tugged in futility and cried not a little bit. A bruise on her cheek told Priceless that Veema hadn’t been happy about getting into that house either.
“You want four times the price for damaged property?” Priceless asked with a raised eye and stared at the woman in silence thereafter.
“Ah, no of course not, twenty four will be fine.” She replied, offering the discount and staring fearfully at the bright purple tag.
Priceless held out twenty four copper coins and stared up at the woman, a moment’s desire born of a lifetime made her daring. “Now leave!” She snapped, and the woman shut the door, leaving Veema weeping and staring up at Priceless in fear.
Her pounding heart had slowed considerably, looking down into a face that mirrored her youth, she knelt in front of the girl and held out a hand to her. “Your name is Veema? Isn’t it?” She made her voice as gentle as it could be, and when the girl didn’t take her hand, only looked at her through sobs while wiping her eyes and face, Priceless didn’t pull her hand back.
‘No… Veena… my name is Veena…’ She thought, and then recalled the owner whose house she just left. ‘Oh… from Veena… to Bucket… to Veema.’ So she nodded her head in submission.
“Your mother is waiting for you.” Priceless said, inching a little closer.
Hands fell away from the girl’s face. “She did something wonderful, helped save my life, and the reward she’s receiving is to have you back. You’re going to live with her again, do you understand? There’s a wonderful place, with a powerful lady who is going to protect you both, nobody will get to you again. Do you want to come with me and see her? We’ve got one more stop to make, but if you take my hand, I’ll take you to her.”
Veema looked doubtful, she brushed back her blonde hair and pursed her little lips. “What’s my mother’s name?” She asked and clenched her little fists hopefully.
“Freyjin. She’s a slender blonde elf woman who used a spear in the Komestran militia.” Priceless answered immediately.
Veema’s little half elven ears wiggled with excitement as she shouted, “Mommy!” She then snatched Priceless’s hand.
“One more place to go, there was another who is getting a loved one back, but we won’t be long, the mistress is scary, but she’s good to us, so we shouldn’t keep her waiting.” Priceless said with a sweet voice, closing her fingers around the pale little hand and standing up, they walked away.
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‘Was it better for them to be on their knees so that their loved ones would know their places? Or was it better to keep them in armor and dignity on their feet so that they would see and be proud?’ Nua closed her eyes heavily and glanced at the wall where Freyjin and Vargas stood in full, burnished armor. With bright green cloaks and spotless black armor from head to toe, freshly bathed and standing tall, they were an impressive sight. With helmets on, Freyjin’s hair tumbled freely down beyond the back of the cloak she wore, and the shields they carried showed only faint nicks to hint at the recent use. They bore no weapons in the presence of their mistress, but that was not why they shifted on their feet ever so slightly.
They occasionally shifted their shoulders or cleared their throats, but stared straight ahead out the long window wall to the city of their captivity. The buildings and expansive view, not to mention the distant wall, were a testament to the power that brought them down. But that wasn’t why they were nervous either.
Nua sat behind her desk, quietly reading a book while they waited. She politely ignored what would otherwise be tiny infractions of perfect discipline, though she raised an eyebrow pointedly when the throat clearing and the faint clink of metal from motion reached her ears a little too often. The pair stiffened up immediately.
Their eyes might have been perfectly forward, but she could tell that out of the corners of their eyes, they were watching her. Finally, she closed her book and looked over at them. “You don’t have to look at me like wounded birds watching a snake climb into their nest. I’m not going to beat you, and this isn’t a trick. In a little while, Priceless will be back, and I’m not going to hurt your families. I may be a monster in your eyes but…” She struck a sour face and looked at them with a long lingering expression, “I have my standards. You belong to me, and only an idiot damages what is theirs. Infants and toddlers destroy their possessions out of pettiness, responsible adults take care of them, look after them, invest in them. You are, all of you, investments I have deemed worthy of my time. Your reward, your heart's desires, is proof of my confidence in you.”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“Mistress… can I ask… a stupid question, a question that terrifies me to even think of…” Freyjin asked with great trepidation, her pretty blue eyes were shining with anticipation, but her body still shifted with uncomfortable anxiety.
“Ask.” Nua replied, folding her hands together with her fingers interlocked, she rested them on her desk and waited.
“Is it… is it possible to earn my freedom?” She thrust the words out like a desperate blow from a wounded warrior trying to survive a towering threat. Sweat was on her lightly tanned brow and trickled down to be absorbed by the clothing beneath her armor.
“I reward you today, and you already ask about leaving my service?” Nua asked the question, and arched her brow again, looking mercilessly at a face that so closely matched her own that it might have belonged to a sister.
“N-Not that I’m displeased with you… it’s just… I… I remember what it felt like.” Freyjin responded without further explanation, her hand on the grip of her shield flexed and she swallowed a lump in her throat.
“The answer is… yes. I do have an intent to create a path to freedom through faithful service. Nothing whimsical, nothing petty. I was going to wait to tell you this, but consider this a bonus reward, a little advance knowledge. As you continue to fight for me and serve me, I will let you choose those you want to go free. I will settle them in my towns and villages as my free subjects. Or as in your case… Veema will be here with you.” Nua watched the faint widening of the whites of their eyes.
‘Greed. For their own freedom, but greed. Greed is a weakness, a great sin.’ She reached down and took up her book again and began to read. ‘No matter, once I’ve converted them to the faith of the one god, and shunted aside the useless stars… they will grow stronger.’ It was a comforting thought that sustained her until the knock outside the door.
“Mistress, I have returned with those you ordered.” Priceless said from beyond the door.
Nua turned to her servants at the wall, “I may be cruel, but not for no reason, you have permission to embrace them. You’ve waited long enough.”
“Enter.” Nua announced, the faint click of the brass latch in the frame was followed by the gentle smooth swaying inward of the deep cherry wood door, and Nua watched as faces lit up like the sun. Veema charged her mother with vigor not dissimilar to Nua’s charge at Bracer, but with the polar opposite emotion.
Golden hair flew like a kite at her back, her arms spread out, her mother dropped her shield, letting it clang heavily to the floor. She crouched down and swept the girl up into her arms. They squeezed one another like desperately hungry pythons. “Veema! My Veema!” Freyjin held the little girl’s head in the crook of her neck, limbs shook like leaves as excitement took them over.
“Mommy! I missed you!” The little one cried in voice and in tears, “I thought… I thought…”
“Never mind… you’re safe now!” Freyjin whispered and kissed her daughter’s cheek over and over again.
The reunion between husband and wife was… much fiercer. “I thought I’d lost you!” Sergeant Vargas said before her lips covered his in a passionate kiss, her arms wrapped around him as tightly as she could cling.
Nua waited patiently. The woman he embraced was younger than himself by a few years, with hands rough and marked with many scratches. Her face was clear and without evidence of mistreatment. ‘A relief, Pas’en seems to be far from the worst place to be among the lowest.’ Nua thought with some satisfaction that only enhanced her contempt for her former masters.
She remained quiet while the couple fairly pawed at one another, until Nua cleared her throat. ‘Komestrans have something in common with Pasenians it seems, if I let them keep going, they’ll ask to borrow my damn desk!’
“I thought I wouldn’t see you till either we were in the afterlife, or I could watch you from it… so many times… so many times I almost went there ahead of you… just so I might watch you from the Starlands…”
It was an amusing bit of discomfort in its own way, but the clearing of her throat got their attention.
“Come here.” Nua ordered brusquely and waved a hand to the space in front of her desk.
There was a moment of hesitation. “I don’t order twice.” Nua instructed, the breath of death kissed their cheeks, sending a shudder down their spines. But with some trepidation, Freyjin brought her daughter, while Vargas brought his wife.
“Turn around, and get on your knees.” Nua gave the order, and from where they stood, they saw the bronze collared Priceless gave them a small, encouraging nod. Her totally relaxed posture, with her arms comfortably at her side and the soft brown of her affectionate eyes, and the way she looked behind them to the one to buy their lives, set them at ease.
Nua walked around to the front of her desk. [Assassin Strike] She activated her martial art and the knife came out of its sheath.
Freyjin never saw it happen, it moved too quickly for her eyes. Vargas however, had a brief moment of understanding, a horrific memory, a hate filled face in green armor that ran him through before leaving him for dead. The memory came and went faster than the strike, and the strike went faster than his reflexes. The blade was sheathed, and for a moment mute horror filled his mind, expecting to see the blood of his wife and a severed head slide brutally to the floor. A lesson to a slave that neither his heart nor his body would survive.
But it wasn’t so. The blade was put back and his mistress stood behind them with her arms crossed in front of her.
The faint lines appeared first, then the leather collars slid forward and fell down, striking their thighs and sliding to the floor.
They stared down mutely at the impossible.
“Stand up. Or don’t, you’re free now.” Nua said matter of factly as if she had not just announced a miracle.
She looked past them to where Priceless stood. “Slave, in a few hours, after they’ve had some time, take Sergeant Vargas, his wife, and Veema to see Kaiji. Have Kaiji draw up the official papers of liberation, give them copies, and deliver it to the house of law, also have Kaiji keep one, and provide one to each of them.”
“Of course, Mistress.” Priceless said with a graceful bow and a happy voice that was matched by a joyful smile.
“Now, as to where to put you…” Four faces met hers as Nua spoke, “I have some villages and towns to my name. Veema you’ll be living here with your mother, so that answers one thing… a barracks isn’t the best place for a young wife though.” Nua turned her attention to Sergeant Vargas.
Nua went behind her desk again and leaned forward with her fists on the wooden surface. “I’m going to extend a loan to your wife of up to one gold coin to spend on a residence either within the city or the nearest village. To be repaid to me from either your plunder or a part of her work. When the loan is repaid, the residence will no longer belong to me, it will belong to both of you. There are no objections?”
It was a question that was not a question. “Some of the coin from the purchase can be applied to furnshings and small things, as I expect you have no clothing but…” She waved up and down to the simple smock worn by his wife. “The rest to be returned to me through Kaiji.” ‘I’m going to be working that poor girl to the bone until I get her a proper staff… I need more slaves.’ She sighed mentally and gave her thought not a moment’s reflection before moving on to the next matter.
“Of course, mistress. If… if I may though… can I see her, sometimes? Just knowing she’s alive, free… safe…” His chin wrinkled and lip trembled, “I’ll grind myself to dust for you, and… for my insult toward you the day you bought me… I sincerely apologize.” He bowed humbly and held the posture.
Nua managed a minor laugh and waved it off, “Apology accepted, Sergeant Elf Fucker… and yes, you’ll reside in the barracks with your fellow soldiers, but I will provide regular time off when possible in order to see her.”
“Every soldier, every slave, every man and woman on these grounds, will know my loyalty to you… our loyalty.” He said with deep reverence before he finally rose.
To the woman and child, Nua spoke next, “Veema, you will be training with the maids, it is true that you are free and many of them are not. But you were not set free by any work of your own. It was a gift to you from me, bought with your mother’s sweat and blood and great risk to her life. Do not abuse your position in my manor, or you will fall outside of my protection, am I understood?” The little girl had a serious face, and gave a tiny, solemn nod.
“Promise me.” Nua demanded.
“I promise.” She replied.
“Promise me.” Nua said more firmly, leaning forward just a little more.
The girl stepped back a pace to where her mother stood.
“I-I promise.” Veema said, looking down at her feet which shuffled like she’d been caught with a hand in a cookie jar.
Nua’s stern demeanor did not falter as she lectured the girl. “That’s twice you’ve promised the mistress of this house and the woman who owns your mother. That is double trust, child. As you treat others who serve in my house who bear iron or leather, bronze, silver, or even gold, so I will think you want me to treat your mother. I will not grant my trust a third time. I am the only mistress in this estate, I will have no one disrupt its order.”
The little girl gave a very tiny nod of understanding. “Now, the two of you pick up the broken leather. Keep it on your wall where you can see it, and if ever you think yourself better than anyone else who serves in my house… remember that it was not you who earned your freedom. It was slaves who risked their lives to give it to you. Now, all of you… get out. We’re done here.” Nua gave the order in a slow, even meter, enunciating every word.
Priceless knew the meaning behind it, ‘She knows her cold breath is a thing of terror, they can’t help but feel it when she speaks that way… she’s subtle. The hint of cruelty, prevents cruelty.’ Armed with this insight, the brown haired slave moved to the door with easy confidence, opened it, and let them all out, leaving her owner to work.