“Utala do not break.” Moril stated quietly. “They do not have our children to hold over us as hostage. Though I will not endanger them with sister tribes here, they will not see any warrior of our tribe break. We will break them when the time is right. If I am sold to a brothel and given to their armies, I’ll have better access to a knife and slay everyone in my way. It will take many months to bear a child a man might dishonorably give, plenty of time to find a way out. If I must spread my legs a few times I’ll be sure it is worth it.”
“The men better hope it doesn’t come to that.” Lanna chuckled.
An hour later the boat set sail again. One of the men near the stairs heard a sailor mention the next destination. It traveled down to Meeka who learned they sailed for Bepop, the largest slave market and trading city in the empire.
Several hours passed midnight Meeka felt something odd and it woke her immediately. She looked down to find a large form unlocking her ankles. On a post behind the man was a lantern he brought. It took a few seconds for her bleary eyes to focus and when they did they widened in terror. At her feet stood the Appraiser, she went to scream till he jumped atop her and put a knife to her neck. “One scream and you’re dead.” She squeaked and tried squirming out from underneath. He was too heavy as rum rolled off him like fog.
Moril and Lanna heard her quiet yelp and woke. “Get off her!” Moril shouted, waking up many to see him sitting on Meeka’s hips. Lanna struggled at her shackles, trying to reach the man and kill him, but she just couldn’t get close enough help so she yelled “He’s trying to rape her! Help! Someone!”
The appraiser used a fat fist to punch Lanna in the face. He commanded “Quiet! If anyone else so much as raises their voice above clearing their throat will die along with a child. There are plenty and at this hour I can simply throw the bodies overboard without anyone being the wiser. Who wants to test my patience?”
Lanna went to yell but Meeka whispered with the knife at her throat. “Peace, Sister, I do not want to lose you. I will not see harm done to anyone for this.” Her confident eyes clearly told Lanna she had a plan and her calm tone said she didn’t fear him.
“Very good, Platinum Whore. You know who is master here. I will sample wares from time to time before you’re sold to your future owner. Now, make things easier and spread your legs and get ready for a night you’ll never forget.”
“Yes, Master.” She played it up. Meeka went a step further as she remembered one of the first conversations she ever had with Cage. She spread her released legs and bent her knees invitingly, opening herself fully to show submission. His rotting grin grew as he lifted himself and knelt between her legs to look at her exposed flower and seemed to like it. Meeka’s skin crawled at his look, but she fought it and put on a smile as he began to undo his pants. It became difficult, but she managed to silken her voice and whispered “Master, I will make it more enjoyable for you if you kiss me first. It will make it more pleasant for both of us.” Lanna and Moril’s eyes widened at this and their struggling ceased, realizing what she planned. They hid their knowledge of this in a glare, to not let the man suspect anything.
He stopped fumbling with his drunken fingers and took a moment to consider. “You must be a talented whore to offer something in this position.”
Meeka shrugged as her hands were chained slightly above her head. “It is your choice. I can give you added pleasure you won’t forget or you can find what it is like without knowing what I have to offer. Choose to kiss me and find out or suffer knowing what might have been.”
“I’m intrigued, but if you bite me I’ll cut you good.”
“I never considered such a crude thing.”
The Appraiser pressed the knife closer to her neck and got closer. She plastered a seductive smile and bucked her hips meaningfully while holding her breath. She remembered how Cage explained her curse could be a blessing in the exact situation she currently found herself. She did as he once suggested and lured the rapist closer with her feminine wiles. He got closer and she could feel the heat rolling off him like his stink. His coarse beard grated against her skin and she watched as his cracked lips pursed. He didn’t close his eyes, even his drunken mind suspected deception.
Slowly, Meeka pushed her lips in a kiss and knew it had to be done and damn the consequences. Her curse would be known sooner or later. She lifted her head invitingly halfway and stopped, allowing him to meet her in his own time. The Appraiser’s clouded mind and lust didn’t require anything more thinking as his lips crashed down upon hers.
Instantly, Meeka felt the sensation of her curse being triggered. All the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as bumps stood all over her body. The curse slammed all its energy into the unsuspecting rapist, using their connected lips to bridge the spell. The instant his lips met hers it spelled his doom.
Meeka’s eyes rolled into her skull and her body relaxed as unconsciousness claimed her.
Lanna, Moril and all the captives who could see watched in fear as the man didn’t even have time to scream as his entire body froze within ten seconds of kissing her. He froze completely in place, above the unconscious Meeka. Moril gained control of her senses to say “Lanna Sister, we must get the stupid man off her. Swing your hips and try to use your ass to help me squeeze Meeka’s legs. Maybe we can manage to use the boat’s motions to get him off.”
“Be careful of the knife… his frozen hand is still near her throat.” Lanna then twisted and worked her hips and felt Meeka’s thigh.
They didn’t get far as they heard barking and the swift run of a man up on deck. The door opened suddenly, almost ripping off its hinges and the large dog jumped down in the room and growled, barring its teeth at everyone. His mage stormed down with his staff glowing a bright orange. He yelled “I sensed powerful magic! Show yourself or die!” The Familiar barked making the mage’s attention be drawn to the lantern that wasn’t supposed to be there and he looked in that area to see a hunched form and said “Ekks, go!” The Familiar ran hard the dozen strides then stopped, tilted his head and looked back to bark several times. “What do you mean cold?” Ekks barked again and the mage created several floating orbs to brighten the hold. The mage slowly approached and aimed his staff at two slaves with gold earrings to say “Do not move, Golds.” He made a light approach and found a frozen form and his weathered brow drew. “Is that you, Appraiser?” The frozen form remained still and the mage magically picked the form up and pulled it off a female with spread legs. His eyes widened as he saw the man dead and frozen as solid as ice and larger due to expansion. He maintained levitating and turned to the unconscious woman and the two chained to either side and demanded “What happened here! What magic is this?”
Moril answered hesitantly, knowing Meeka would explain regardless to keep others from being harmed. “That stupid man tried raping this poor girl while she slept. She is cursed, or her lips are. She warned him not to touch her lips, but he did. She warned him that you do not tolerate raping obedient slaves and he laughed saying he didn’t care. Look at his undone pants and how you found him between her legs. You know she is obedient, we all are for the children’s sake. He didn’t follow the rules, do not harm her for giving clear warning to the fool.”
Lanna knew what her sister was doing and confirmed with a straight nod.
The mage looked at the undone pants, the earlier position he found the man in and the words the woman spoke. He said “The rest of you, did it happen like this?”
“Yes, it is as she explained.” Someone on the other side of the ship said and lifted her head, showing she had clear view of the scene from where she lay. Several others corroborated the story. Morril and Lanna met the woman’s eyes and when the man and Familiar looked critically at the sprawled Meeka the woman winked, showing that they would work together as one.
Ekks barked and nosed the dangling ankle chains. “I know, she couldn’t have done it on her own and I don’t sense any lingering traces of magic.” The mage said and the
dog barked. “Yes, I believe she is simply a cursed, illegal magician. It does bring up a problem…” he used a touch of magic to turn her head. “Ah she is already platinum, that makes things less complicated. Ekks, take the trash out…” the dog barked. “I don’t care if you break off a leg to eat when it thaws, just wash it beforehand. I don’t need you sick.” The dog’s tail wagged as the mage lowered the frozen body into the open jaws. The Familiar effortlessly dragged a man three times his own weight by the arm, up the stairs and out on deck.
The mage used magic to unlock Meeka’s wrists and pulled her off the table to levitate her unconscious body and follow him.
“Where are you taking her?” Lanna questioned.
“Silence, Slave!” The mage said and slapped her with an invisible hand, making the warrior see stars.
The mage left the slaves hole and breathed easier after shutting the door. He saw his Familiar break off the dead appraiser’s leg and threw the rest overboard. The dog picked up his prize and trotted over with it between his teeth and followed him to the mage’s quarters. Inside he bound Meeka with rope and placed a cloth around her mouth.
Minutes later Meeka groaned and slowly realized she woke somewhere else. “Wha…” she felt something over her face and looked around to find herself in the corner of a room with the mage staring directly at her and the cruel dog Familiar doing likewise.
“Awake I see and a fast recovery too. You’ve been hiding a very deadly secret.” The mage began.
“Where am I?” Meeka asked as she found herself tied in the corner of a room upon a soft chair. She knew she was sounding odd with a cloth over her mouth, but at least she was glad to still breathe and felt her flower remained unsoiled by the Appraiser.
In a passionless tone the mage said “Remember your place, Platinum.” Meeka looked down, hating to do so, but if it meant she remained alive she would successfully pretend to be submissive. The mage bought it. “You are in my cabin and will remain here till we reach Bepop. If I had known you were a magician you would have been separated from the other slaves long ago. Now answer me this, what is this curse placed upon you and how do I bypass it.”
Meeka shook her head. “It cannot be broken or removed.” She then pretended to cry slightly, like an overly emotional woman she wasn’t. “A mage cursed me as a baby and my family tried to seek help from the Magical Council who sent a sorcerer to break it…” she shook her head trying to keep to the made up story she created. “I was young, but I remember hearing the mage who cursed me did it as a test that eventually caused his untimely demise. Then my family were going to Castle Emroc to live near where many mages go and hope one might be able to do it, but they were killed by the tribes people who took me in and made me one of them. All I know is if my lips touch living flesh, my curse activates and freezes the body completely in a few seconds. One said the freckle on the corner of my mouth is the mark that makes me a magician.”
The mage brought his staff around and made it glow orange. When it stopped he said “That is true, I sense the faint trace of magic in the tiny mark… but I cannot read how such a complex spell had been applied to you. I fear you will never kiss without murdering.” He sat his staff aside. “Now, Platinum, I doubt you aren’t aware of this, but your price just went up. When we reach Bepop you will not be joining the usual slaves. You are to be the special prize only the nobles might be able to afford. Since you are a rare prize I will have to take you somewhere special until there are more slaves like yourself. Now listen to me carefully, if you do anything to slight or disappoint me in any way I’ll kill every slave on board without a thought since your worth thrice what they will be combined. All I’ll really need is you to meet my slave quota. You will remain in this room until we reach the markets. I will have a bath brought in and cloth for mage-slaves given. You will be presentable in this room and out when I personally take you to a place where we hold those like you. And if you are to do everything I say I will increase rations of the slaves. Disobey they die, comply they get more food.”
She nodded and would do that, finding the compromise much better.
Meeka slightly jumped as the bindings fell off. “Now sleep. In the morning you will do as I say or else. Do not move from that chair because if you do you kill everyone. I’ve set spells to do just that.”
Mage and Familiar watched as she obeyed and closed her eyes. In minutes her breathing evened as she slept to further recover from her curse. They slept as well.
In the morning, Meeka awoke as the door to the cabin opened, showing day had returned. The mage and Familiar looked at her as a man brought in two large meals, glasses of wine and a barrel of water. He magically moved her meal across the room as she remained sitting in the chair, afraid to move and endanger those below. She began to eat and her raging hunger got the better of her and it disappeared in a few minutes. She washed it down in a sweet wine. Meeka hated getting such a better meal than the others, but she wouldn’t slight him for their sakes.
When he finished eating he commanded “Strip and get into the barrel to bathe. You will not stink my room further.” She did so, hoping he remembered the others. When she didn’t hear shrieks or sounds of death she moved to the barrel and slipped in. She groaned though the water is cold and washed off her body and hair. The mage never took his eyes off and she noted he wasn’t doing it for pleasure. This is a job, nothing more. He saw her as an object, not a woman. Meeka got out after cleaning her hair to find the mage holding up a simple, white dress. It wasn’t anything fancy, but to Meeka it looked like a wedding gown compared to the dirty linen. He tossed it to her, afraid to get close and she put it on.
She felt better than ever after cleaning and having a full stomach.
He pointed to the chair and she sat. Meeka then began running her fingers through her once again blonde hair, finding annoying snags. He didn’t stay in the room as she finished the process of untangling the three weeks worth of tangles. Only the Familiar, gnawing on a bare human leg kept her company. She stayed there all day under guard and would cringe when the dog chewed the bones.
This routine of eating, bathing and waiting in the room lasted for another three days until she heard someone yell that the port of Bepop came within view. Meeka waited in her chair until the boat docked and the mage returned saying “We are here. Get up, Platinum, you will accompany me and do not try anything. There is nowhere for you to go nor anyone who will offer help.”
Meeka stood and walked to the door with the Familiar following behind to discourage trickery.
The noon sun stabbed at Meeka’s eyes as she had been kept from it for over five days. She felt a not too gentle wet nose press against her backside. She moved and saw the captives being led from the ship by close to a hundred slavers from the market and while she looked she found Moril and Lanna staring at her. Meeka looked away for a moment, too embarrassed to be seen in a dress while they had little more than rags and hadn’t had a bath. She feared they wouldn’t treat her kindly after she had been taken and practically pampered since then. She looked again to find the two women looking at her in relief. They must be glad I’m alive. Meeka thought. I wish I could go to them.
Meeka gave them a small, sad smile, hoping they would understand it wasn’t her idea or that she wished to be back again. She rubbed her callused wrists where they had healed somewhat and the shackles on the others. A growl forced her to keep quiet and get moving. The two warrior women nodded that they were well and for her to know they understand.
She picked up the pace, hurried behind the mage and walked down the ramp. Dozens of different sized boats were docked and over half were triple mast cargo ships. Some belonged to fishermen and others to rich lords who could afford such vessels. She even found three loaded battleships with ballista for weapons.
Bepop was quite large with many homes, warehouses and other trades that make a city like this thrive. Meeka maintained the fast pace the mage set to learn as much of this place as possible. Thousands called this
place home and it became clear the different social classes. There were owner and slaves. Nearly every person wearing average clothing has an underdressed slave following, working or carrying whatever they were told, but most she found were many, many mages. Men still wore a loincloth and women usually wore what they were first given. Meeka saw three brothels on her way deeper into the city and slave women wore bright, clean clothes and jewelry and a iron collar with a brand, marking them as enslaved brothel women. Those women wore fake smiles to lure in men who would pay for their service and it made Meeka sick, especially when some lost teeth from being beaten, likely by the men using them.
Before she knew it Meeka stopped before an area blocked off by a large stone wall with guards facing inside the slave grounds. These walls weren’t to keep people out, but in. The compound is nearly as large as half her hometown in Kote. The mage said to the slave master of Bepop “I’ve got a platinum magician slave to deliver and to be held until you have enough to ship her to Eeroan.”
The gigantic man of coal dark skin approached. He wore fitted leather armor with a coiled whip freshly slick with blood and a short sword hung on the other hip. She realized immediately that these slavers were different than those she’s used to. These were stronger and crueler than others of the same trade. These men made breaking slaves into a cruel art. The giant man of muscle looked Meeka up and down critically. “But she is not yet completely broken. She is dangerous by how she walks, likely good with a knife. If she is to be in my care I do not allow unbroken slave to leave my business.”
Familiar's Ancient Throne (Book 2 of the Death Incarnate Saga) Page 17