Chained Hearts: From Slavery to Sovereignty

Cassian stood at the bustling market of his village. The chatter of villagers and the voices of owners at various stalls trying to sell their products and the scent of delicious food wafted on his nose, but he could not pay attention to anything.

Because he had been standing in the middle of the bustling market with his hands tied, in the most humiliating way. His bloodshot eyes were digging holes in his uncle and aunt's faces, his so-called family.

They were family in name only, as how could a family sell their kin in a bustling market like animals and cattle?

Cassian found himself in the most humiliating state. He was being sold to a merchant by his own blood kin, who called himself his uncle. His eyes became bloodshot because of all the humiliation he had received here. He looked at their faces with anger burning inside his eyes, and suddenly his head jerked to the side, and he could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. His throat rolled with choked emotions, and his eyes burned with unshed tears.

Cassian lifted his face and spit out all the blood in his mouth onto the disgusting face of his aunt, who had just laid her hands on him.

His Aunt Zara instantly shrieked like a chicken with disgust and scolded him with foul words.

"You bastard, how dare you spit at me! I am your aunt. Is this how I let you live till today, just to spit on me? I will not let you leave like this," Aunt Zara said and instantly tried to pull his hair, but Cassian backed down, and Aunt Zara almost tumbled down. She lifted her head and looked at Cassian with an almost crazy look in her eyes, trying to teach him a lesson. But as she was about to lunge at him again, the merchant laughed and said, "Mrs. Till, if you damage the property, you will get fewer coins."

The expression on Aunt Zara's face instantly changed, and she said, "Ah, no worry, mister. Just this bastard has a sharp mouth, and I am trying to discipline him," Aunt Zara said with a flattering smile that made Cassian sick.

Aunt Zara continued with a flattering smile, "Oh, mister, I have always tried to treat him like my own child, but he totally didn't deserve it. He is the real jinx in our life. He had devoured his parents at a young age, and now he wants to jinx us too."

"How could our humble family take care of such a jinx? From the day he arrived at our home, our crops withered, sickness plagued our house, and the only breadwinner of our family lost his job. How can we survive like this?" she said and started crying loudly, gaining the attention of everyone with her crying and overdramatic story.

And his Uncle Hiram also nodded with his wife, trying to gain sympathy. But only Cassian knew the truth behind their crocodile tears.

His parents died when he was only seven years old in a fire accident, leaving him with his baby sister, who was only a year old at that time. They were so young at that time, so they were given under the care of his uncle's family.

But that was the start of his hellish life. He had done everything he could, from doing dishes and washing clothes in the river on the coldest night to scrubbing the floor of their home, just to get bread for a single day. He thought they would eventually accept him, but alas, when had anything ever happened according to his hopes?

Even when he was ten years old, he started earning by himself doing all kinds of things, but all of it went into his aunt's pocket without leaving even a penny for him and his sister.

Now they were here claiming he was jinxed when he was the one who earned eighty percent of the income in their home. How shameless.

The merchant laughed, his pot belly jiggling, and gave Cassian a sick smile which instantly made him shudder. "Haha! Jinx or not, he will surely fetch a good price."

His uncle and aunt, hearing this, smiled broadly. After all, this was what they came here for. Aunt Zara continued, "Mr., now we should talk about the money."

"Here," he said and threw a pouch towards them, which Uncle Hiram instantly caught. Both of them looked at the content inside the pouch and smiled broadly.

"Then we will not disturb you, mister. Now he is your property," they said and started walking away without even looking at him.

Cassian felt his heart become cold at their indifferent faces and the lack of remorse. he felt tears trickling from his eyes but held them back. He couldn't cry, not now. He was not weak. He would never give them the pleasure of knowing how much it affected him.

The merchant tugged at the rope, and Cassian jerked forward, hearing, "Boy, we don't have much time for your remorse. Let's quickly get done with it." He started dragging Cassian's rope forward, and he followed like an animal.

But that was not the end of his humiliation and misery. The villagers started to murmur among themselves.

"So, the Till family finally decided to get rid of this jinx," one aunt said with disdain. She was their neighbor and his aunt's friend.

Another aunt continued, "Ah, he is still so pitiful. After enduring so much in their home, he still has to face this day."

"Hmm, what? This is still best, or Zara should have abandoned him on a cold night to die, but she has fed him until now. It's basically right for him to pay for this," the previous aunt continued with a sneer.

"Yeah, right, he is a jinx who killed his own parents and is now waiting for his uncle's family to perish. It's good that we will finally get rid of this jinx."

When Cassian heard the mention of his parents, his blood ran cold, and their words cut him like a sharp knife. He didn't know the villagers had this superstition, that they would consider a seven-year-old child a killer just because of someone's foul mouth.