Sold to the King

Chapter 2.

The darkness had finally engulfed her.

With her hands upon her head being held uncomfortably by body straps, the young woman felt her body move uncomfortably with the swaying of the boat being buffeted by the waves of the sea. With her eyes blindfolded and her lips gagged, the young woman could not even scream to beg for mercy, remaining on her knees and with her arms tied above her head, unable to resist anything.

Voices in a language she did not understand had begun calling her "slave" and "gift", putting a leather collar around her neck, taking away her sword and everything she had left.

After endless days and nights, waiting for her wounds to heal even in that uncomfortable position, receiving blows and screams with every mistake made; the young woman understood that she would never be free again. Thinking that those savages would eat her or r**e her, great was her surprise when she knew that they planned to do something even more undignified: They planned to give her as a gift to a wealthy king.

Embarking in various places since her capture, the young woman felt how around the room where she was captive, the slaves and merchandise that had been stolen disappeared frequently, giving her to understand that soon they would arrive at their final destination and she would be delivered for an object.

That day like every other day, her captors disembarked, the young woman felt how several slaves from the ship were taken away by those despicable men, as well as other stolen goods and merchandise. Waiting depressed in the darkness, surrounded by other people who had been turned into slaves like her, something different happened.

Suddenly the young woman heard hurried footsteps on the bow of the ship over her head, and under the blindfold over her eyes, she could feel the blinding light of the lantern of one of those men who had suddenly opened the hatch of the ship's storehouse. Jumping slightly in surprise, the young woman did not understand anything of what those men were saying, entering the warehouse of slaves and merchandise extremely agitated.

—Why should we give this slave to that damned Magnusson? This woman we cared for so much as an offering for the warrior king of the tree island or the king of the cold mountains, not for the weak king of the coast.

—Orders are orders —answered his companion with a tone as angry as the first one who had spoken—, the slave belongs to whoever wants to pay for her, a harem is a harem anyway. Besides knowing her character, she is sure to be beheaded before dawn tomorrow.

Taking some oil lanterns from some nearby tables, both men began to search among the slaves until they found the confused young woman, who through the blindfold could see how the lights were stalking her, leaving her more and more frightened.

—I have heard that King Jimmien is a demanding man, a king without a shred of pity and love —said the second man looking with some pity at the poor young woman—. The slave will only be able to entertain him for a few hours before she ends up broken, I hope she is good enough not to be broken for us.

Shrugging somewhat indifferently, the first man approached the young woman and quickly loosened the straps that bound her arms to the ceiling of that warehouse. Grabbing her by the wrists he quickly put her in steel shackles, then began to pull her in the direction of the exit.

Without understanding anything, increasingly frightened, the young woman tried to struggle with her captors, who, taking advantage of the fact that she could not see and was extremely weak, simply pulled her carelessly, forcing her to advance out of the ship despite her attempts to resist. Feeling extremely lost by so many stimuli at once, the young woman could not avoid being led out of the warehouse. Stumbling on the steps leading up to the bow, and listening to the laughter and derisive words of those unpleasant men who spoke in her language, laughing and insulting her.

Receiving the rays of sunlight for the first time in weeks, the young woman felt dazed and dizzy for a second, filling herself with all the light of the outside despite being blindfolded, breathing deeply, and perceiving coastal air as the purest she could ever feel in her lungs.

Being pulled out of her reverie by those men, the young woman had no choice but to reluctantly keep moving forward, walking along with the bow of the ship in an unknown direction, losing herself to the noise of that city and all that was going on around her.

Without even being able to complain or ask for help, the young woman stumbled forward out of the ship, walking slowly along the crowded docks, being tugged with rapid steps by those hurried men. The men of the tribe of savages who had gone for her were in a hurry, for they knew they could not keep the king's aide waiting long, fearing his wrath for their tardiness. So they advanced with great strides, little caring that the weak young woman almost fell for all the effort she was making at that moment.

Finally arriving at the slave area of the market after several minutes, the men hurried to walk to the slave pavilion, where the king's attendant still waited impatiently beside his court. Seeing the return of those savages who had gone in search of that "special" woman to the tribe's ship, Jessy turned to look at the young woman with curiosity.

A young woman walking in a most ungraceful manner, being pulled hard by the brutal hands of those men, was coming closer and closer in her direction. Looking her up and down, Jessy noticed that the slave girl was wearing dirty rags of what was once a dress similar to that worn by the women in that tribe, with her body full of dirt and her beautiful reddish-brown hair in a mess.

—She doesn't look beautiful at all —Jessy denied, regretting having wasted his time.

—Don't judge her yet my sublime one, let me show you her whole face —asked the old man.

With a single nod of his head, the old man ordered the tribesmen to force the young girl to kneel for the prince; so obeying, those men took the young girl and carelessly forced her to lie on the floor in front of the prince in a position of submission. Approaching the young girl, the old man quickly removed the blindfold from her eyes and grabbing her chin tightly forced her to raise her face to show it to Jessy.

Opening her eyes in pain, trying to struggle as she was pushed and touched in such a violent manner, the young slave blurred her gaze outside for the first time in weeks. Feeling a deep pain from so much light in front of herself, the young woman observed the face of a beautiful man that made her blush, she did not know what was happening and stood still in fear.

Observing the young woman with surprise, Jessy realized that that beautiful slave had green eyes like beautiful emeralds. Green, which was a color revered by the royalty of that part of the continent for its resemblance to emeralds, which meant abundance and prosperity, besides having an extremely high value as precious gems; dazzled the young prince.

The Shah had no concubine with green eyes.

—What is the value of the slave? —Jessy asked, turning suddenly to look at the elderly merchant.

—Since she has such beautiful eyes and such a beautiful face, she could cost a whole sack of jade. But since she is a gift for the Shah, we will sell her for only 10 sheets of jade to His Sublime Excellency —replied the old man, bowing again.

That high price, which could buy 4 male slaves in good health, was reasonable for Jessy. That young woman had an exorbitant beauty, and being an exotic fruit, she deserved that high value. With another nod of his head, the servant in charge of holding the prince's money quickly approached the merchants and gladly handed over the jade plates, something that was noticed by all the other customers in the pavilion.

—Thank you very much my Sublime One, I assure you that you will not regret the act that this girl has to show —assured the old man, receiving the jade plates gladly.

—I hope she won't disappoint me, her eyes would still be pretty outside her skull —Jessy replied coolly, turning to finally withdraw with his court.

Feeling a strong shudder all over her body at those cruel words, the young girl could not say or ask anything at all, letting out a soft cry of indignation when her eyes were again covered without warning by those savage men. And passing into the hands of the prince's servants, the young girl was again led through the marketplace in the direction of the royal retinue's carriages.

Soon she would be taken to the Shah's palace with the rest of the merchandise.