by Elissa Daye
When the guards came to do their daily taunt Lysandra ignored them. She could distinguish none of the banter between them, which seemed to enrage them even more than usual. She barely heard the key in the lock, nor did she feel the hands pull at her arms. She walked behind them, no longer here nor there, just a body moving around like a puppet on strings. When they clamped her to a stockade in the dungeon she let her head drop slowly against the wood.
“Wake up, my beauty. Lord Simeon and Lady Gingera have great plans for you.”
Lysandra could not look up. She had very little energy left within her. Her eyes drooped closed and when the first lash hit her back her soul was already soaring to a different place. A haze blinded her eyes as she walked among the clouds in a world much further from the darkness of her own. She smiled softly as her vision came into focus. The trees around her were lit with the sun’s gentle rays and the birds were singing happy carols from the branches above her. She sat down near the trunk of a tree and stared at her toes, marveling in the way they wiggled so carefree. Thoughts of life and those she had lost never entered her when she was here in her safe place. Her meditations as a child had led her here. It was one of the skills her mother had reinforced as a child, for Lysandra had been willful and wild. Her mother had taught her ways to relax and find peace in the world around her as a way to tame the magic of Lena that flowed through her veins.
When Lysandra had finally come back to her reality, her back ached from where the whip had stained it. Scarlet stripes covered every inch of her back, but her torturers had made sure that none of her skin had been broken. Lysandra wished they would just end it for her. Her life was worth nothing, not without her parents, not without her people.
Chapter 3
Before long the game they played with her became boring and Lysandra knew that it was only a matter of time before they did follow through with their threats. She waited in silence for the moment they finally ended her life for her, but it never came. When they had finally beaten her defiance from her body, they turned her into a servant in their halls. Lysandra watched the world around her like a shapeless stranger, performing menial tasks from morning until night. Her existence became less tolerable by the moment as her uncle’s sinister stares followed her around. Her magic had deserted her, for the hopelessness of her life had not given her heart time to heal. She prayed for the courage to get through the darkness, desperate for anyone to take her away from the horror that had become her life.
She never expected an answer to her prayers, especially not in the form of the balding merchant who traveled mysteriously to Elkliss Keep.
Bradford Marcus marched confidently into their stronghold. He was a traveling merchant, shorter than most men, with grey hair that was balding on the top. His blue eyes twinkled even in the twilight. He had come to see if there was any profit to be made from her wrecked kingdom. When Bradford Marcus informed her Aunt Gingera that he was into the slave trade, her eyes became beady. It was easy to see that a malicious thought circled around in her mind. When the wheels in her head stopped spinning she poked her husband in the ribs.
“I’ve just the little bird for you. Bring Lysandra forward.” Gingera watched in delight as the guards went swiftly to do her bidding, pulling Lysandra from where she stood eavesdropping. She did not dare to fight their hold; she had already learned that lesson.
“How much for this baggage?” The malicious glee was clear in her aunt’s voice.
“That depends. How used is she? If she has the right kind of experience I can get more for her. She doesn’t look very experienced to me. Why is her hair covering her face? Is she marked with pox?”
“She has a habit of getting underfoot. Very clumsy girl. She is incompetent as a household girl, so we have kept her in the dungeon for a spell. We beat her daily for her insolence, but I believe you will find we have broken that nasty habit. She is yet untouched.”
Lysandra could not look up at them. She had nothing to say. Moments earlier she had wanted nothing more than to fade away from existence, but if this man could take her away from here, perhaps life could be livable once more. Anything had to be better than this, even if she had to serve a severe master. He could be no worse than staying here with the enemy. Her dear mother’s face flashed across her mind. Long ago she might have cried with the slightest thought of her mother, but the past few weeks had taken all the feelings she had and wrung them from her body like a twisted rag. There was very little of the innocent girl left, and without the training she would have received from her mother she had no way of understanding the Adrianic magic from her ancestral lineage.
“Well, the particular man who I deal with is looking for women for his business. I’m afraid I must see her in full before I can take her from you.”
Gingera picked up her knife from the table and walked over to Lysandra. “Hold her up.” The guard did as ordered and held Lysandra up by her shoulders. Gingera took the knife and put it to Lysandra’s throat.
Lysandra looked up at her in silence. She welcomed the glare of her aunt, knowing that if she did not obey in this moment in time her aunt would follow through with the threat in her eyes. Instead, she moved the knife at the bosom of her dress. Lysandra fought the urge to wince as the loud tear of fabric resonated around the room. Her aunt yanked the remnants of the garment from her and jerked her hair behind her head. “As you see, she is bruised and slightly battered, but look at this young body. It used to hold much more weight, but a little starvation has eaten the fat right off her bones. All her disrespectful ways have been beaten from her and I am sure she will serve your master willingly.”
Lysandra had always loved her hair. Her long hair seemed to change color in the fire as if it was streaked with sunshine and light. It was most unusual to see that many colors at once. As he looked over her body, she almost cringed. She had never been particularly fond of her figure, for she had been nothing like her mother. Her mother had been a petite redhead with long beautiful hair, a shapely body, and gorgeous blue eyes that illuminated the world around her. Sometimes Lysandra felt as if she was out of place in her world, but her mother had always told her that she was beautiful. She had always felt plump for a girl her age, but her days in the dungeon below had made quite a drastic change for her. She saw her own image in the mirror across the way and stared at the creature reflected back at her. The babyish face and pudgy figure that had made her feel so out of place were no longer present. While her body was covered with small bruises, it was still easy to see that her shape had changed drastically with her fasting. Her brown hair that once shone like a ray of light was a little drab at the moment, but its wild tangles were slightly alluring. Her eyes were shadowed, but the small face that framed them was almost impish. Her essence, her frailty and innocence, was still trapped within this body, but it was only something she could see. She was still a girl, lost, lonely, and afraid of the road that could change her life forever.
“Let her go. My comrade usually buys those that have a little more life in them. But the fact that she is untouched could make things interesting. I’ll take her.”
He ran his fingers over her body to get an accurate feeling of where her flaws might be. She felt like a piece of horseflesh, but she stayed still. Despite the fact that she knew very little of men, she was informed about what happened between a woman and man. She might not like where this road may lead her, but it certainly had more possibilities than the life she was leaving behind. She would do what her mother would want her to. She would survive. She would follow the path that destiny put before her.
The man leaned over and whispered in her ear. “It is good you show no fear.” Then he said loud enough for the rest of them to hear,” She may not know how to act properly with a man, but you’ll do. I’m sure Newyn will train her well. We will leave in the morning.”
Chapter 4
Lysandra glanced at the man who sat on the seat beside her. They started their journey by wagon. She had said very little to
him as she sat bound to the base of the seat. He looked over at her and grimaced. “I cannot take you to Newyn all bruised and battered, I’m afraid. We shall take a short stop along the way to see to your needs.”
Lysandra looked at him cautiously. She had no idea how far to trust this man. He had said that Newyn would pay more money if she was untouched, but what if he changed his mind? Fear clawed its way to the surface much too easily. It must have shown clearly on her face for he chuckled into the darkness.
“You really must relax, Lysandra. I have no plans to harm you.”
Lysandra sighed warily next to him. “How do I believe you? Everyone I ever trusted is dead.”
Bradford shook his head. “You must know that leaving you there would not have been any better than where you’re going.”
His words confused her. Was he trying to save her? How was selling her to this Newyn going to save her? “I’ll be a slave for the rest of my life, good sir.”
“Ah, yes. Perhaps. That may be so, but at least you will be alive. The first thing you need to learn is that destiny is a fickle mistress. The path you once traveled is no longer. What you do with the one that branches before you, well, that alone is up to you.”
His wisdom echoed around them, a wisdom that reminded her so very much of her mother. Her mother would have wished for Lysandra to live, to survive and carry on the legacy handed down to her. It did not matter where or how, for as long as she was alive there was still a chance for a better life. A new courage filled her; its light illuminated the eyes that had seemed so withdrawn. She knew what Bradford Marcus said was true. Her future was up to her. She could choose to be embittered and broken, or she could choose to live to fight another day. She chose the latter.
Lysandra’s thoughts were interrupted when she heard a lone howl in the woods. She turned around to see a dog covered in silver fur, or perhaps it had been a wolf? It was hard to tell with the darkness of the night around them. She could see the light of a full moon shining down around them, but it was not enough as the darkness swallowed it easily.
“Did you see that?” Lysandra’s voice was full of dreaded anticipation.
“What?”
“That wolf. Right there behind those trees.”
Bradford turned to where she indicated, but shook his head. “I think the night is playing tricks on you, my dear. There is nothing there but the shadows of the night.”
Lysandra looked back to the tree. Again, she saw the beast. It was staring straight at her through the darkness. A glowing silver light surrounded it. Its eyes were like amber stones flashing their lights into the darkness, just like a firefly dancing in the night sky. It was the most beautiful and mysterious thing she had ever seen. The hairs on the back of her neck rose in anticipation and part of her hoped the beast would come closer, but the wolf stayed hidden within the edge of the forest. She shook her trepidation away and closed her eyes to find solace in the sleep that had so often eluded her.
They traveled together for a few weeks, never trading more than niceties about the day and the scenery around them. Lysandra was not entirely sure that she wanted to know more about a man who traded human flesh for personal gain, but his trade was a contradiction to the aura that surrounded him. His aura was calming and that peaceful calm seeped into the world around her, blanketing Lysandra with a comfort she had not felt since her parents had passed. Lysandra decided to trust her instincts about Bradford, for he had promised her that everything would work out for her in the end.
When they finally reached a town close to Serraa, where Newyn’s house of women was the hub of the city, her wounds were almost healed by the time they reached it, but Bradford needed to make sure there was more light in her eyes before he showed her off to Newyn. When she promised not to run he let her sit beside him at the inn with her hands unbound. Freedom almost beckoned to her, but for some reason she stayed. Something held her down. Was it the way his face softened as he spoke to her? The more she sat with him, the more he reminded her of her mother, the more her intuition prickled her conscience.
“May I ask a question?”
“I suppose you are entitled.”
“Where are you from?” Lysandra sat there, her eyes looking quizzically at him, almost hoping to hear something that would make sense of the feelings that rushed through her. He had to be from Lena. There had to be a reason this man had come into her life when he had.
“A small town to the east.”
“What is the name, Sir Marcus?”
“Does it really matter? One town or another. They all are the same in the end, my dear.” He dodged her questions artfully.
“Please, you must tell me.”
“To do so may interrupt the path that fate has created for you.” A merry twinkle sparkled in his eyes, and for the first time, Lysandra no longer felt alone.
“All right, good sir. I shall meet this path you are sending me to.”
The conversation stopped there and Lysandra did not bring it up again, for she felt an absurd need to trust the man that was leading her to her new life. They spent a few more days together. When Lysandra was feeling and looking more human he told her they would move in the morning. He offered her a drink of wine that night and she drank it swiftly, for she trusted him perhaps more than she should. After a few minutes she thought it quite odd that a fog overpowered her senses. She had tasted wine before, but she had never felt like this. Her head began to droop onto the table and soon she drifted into a peaceful sleep.
Chapter 5
When Lysandra awoke it was clear that she had been asleep for quite some time. Her head hurt masterfully and her limbs were weak. She rubbed the cobwebs from her head with her palms, looked around the room, and stared in shock. Lysandra was surrounded by many women, all of which were wearing very little clothing. Some of them wore none at all as they lounged in the steaming pool in the center of the room. Women were rubbing oil into each other’s bodies as they chatted in quiet whispers and giggles while staring at the newly acquired girl. Lysandra must have hit her head hard, for she had no concrete memory of how she’d gotten to this place. There had been a man and a wolf somewhere in her memory, but she could not hold onto it for the life of her. The only thing Lysandra was certain of was that a man had purchased her from her captivity at Elkliss Keep.
“Ah, the chickadee awakens.” A voice that reminded her of a purring cat sounded near her. “Welcome to Ghelli House. Newyn will be quite pleased now that his little nightingale has shown some life. He did not like the idea of wasting his money on such beauty without being able to use her to his advantage.”
Lysandra shrank away from the woman’s voice. When she finally turned to look at her, she gasped aloud. The woman was an exotic beauty, with hair as black as oil cascading luxuriously down her shoulders all the way to her well-molded bottom, which was covered in dark red silk. Her eyes were painted like smoldering coals, and her lips were the shade of the reddest apples in the orchards of Elkliss.
She was looking over Lysandra with the same interest.“Not our usual type here at Ghelli House, but I think I can make you work nicely. Newyn will have to try you out himself.” The wicked laugh from the beautiful face was a contradiction to the quiet subtlety she exuded.
“Try me out?” Lysandra pulled her legs closer to her body and squeezed her eyes shut to block out the laughter of the women around her.
“Oh, you are very unused, aren’t you? We do so love training virgins here.”
“I will not be used for any man’s pleasure!” The water in the pool started to circulate bizarrely around the women. They looked from the water to Lysandra. Lysandra tried to regain control over her emotions. When her anger receded, the water settled around them.
The woman grasped her hand and heaved her down beside her. “You must never do that. They have ways to beat that out of you.” Her warning was quite clear.
“Who are you?”
“Lelah, and yes, I have knowledge of your kind. Newyn would use
that power to make his customers pay much more money for their adventures here. He would use you until you had nothing left. Look at these women. Do they look ill-used?”
While Lelah’s tone made her seem likable and sincere, there was something beneath the surface that made Lysandra pull back. Lysandra looked closer at the women around her. When she focused her attention on them, she noticed that they did not look as if they had lived a hard life at all. They seemed to be enjoying a life of luxury here, even though Lysandra was sure they were at times ill-used.
Lysandra continued to hold Lelah’s hand and vivid images of women beneath men filled her head. Their faces contorted in what looked like pain, but as it continued to flow from Lelah’s mind to hers she soon realized it was raw desire that filled up the space between the images. She released her hand in confusion. Memories of her uncle and his vicious attack on her mother came to her mind. Lysandra had only just barely witnessed his violent molestations from the doorway before her uncle’s men captured her as well. This was not the same picture that Lelah’s eyes painted. While her mother had been viciously attacked, the women here were being upheld and cherished.
Lelah put her hand on Lysandra’s face for a moment. Then she pulled it away and looked at her with great warning. “You have much to learn about blocking your memories. It would be better to bury those far away. No one can know who you are or where you’ve come from. Your life before Ghelli House never existed. It’s best for you to remember that.”
“How is it that you’re here? You could leave any moment.” If Lelah were able to read her so easily it was clear that she also had powers that she had hidden deep within. Lelah must have the power to leave if she so desired. Why would anyone want to stay here?