Chapter 17: The Newbie

"Waky Newbie!" Prince heard coming from below him. Turning over in his bed, he came face to face with a middle aged man, impatiently staring at him. Beside the middle age man was a boy with brown hair, and an African , with a small twig in his mouth.

"Uhgff" Prince said jumping out of his bed "Is it morning already?"

"LIsten here, newbie you were granted the fortunate opportunity to work in this stable! So before you get all cozy there's a couple of rules you need to follow!" The impatient man growled.

"What's this guy's problem?" Prince thought

"Prince… let's kill him!" Pedro yelled

"Not that again Pedro…"

"Rule number one! What I say goes! You don't eat, you don't sleep, hell, you don't even breathe unless I say so!"

"Rule number 2! I eat first! Our meals are delivered at night in a large pot! I get the first scoop and if I feel like it I get the last!"

"And finally! And this is the most important rule! No flirting with the foreman!" The man shouted

Booom!

The front door to the shack was knocked down, smashing into the back of the man's head. Crashed to the ground, knocked senseless from the impact.

"Morning boys!" A girl cheered jumping into the room. As she floated through the air, her cute pigtailed danced behind her, along with the ribbons they were tied to.

"Meri!" The brown haired boy said blushing. "What are you doing here so early?"

"Hey Marlin! I heard we had a newbie, so I came to see what we are working with!" She said walking up to Prince.

As she walked across the room, she saw the man who had shouted at Prince lying on the ground, with his eyes spinning in circles.

"Adam what are you doing fooling around down there?" She giggled.

"This girl…" Prince said blushing "Why the hell do I fall for girls with red hair?"

"Well judging by your size you're not very strong…:" She said sizing Prince up. "And look at those hands! I doubt they've never touched a tool in their lifetime! Why in the hell did Sir Ivan bring you here?" She said scratching her head.

Prince grinned. "These hands are for much more than touching tools" Prince said grinning "I can show you sometime if you'd li-

Prince trailed off as the woman launched an attack at him.

Lurching forward she cane at Prince, leading with her right hand.

"Too easy" Prince Thought, dodging to the right her punch drifted over his shoulder.

Pulling back her punch, the woman leapt into the air, swiping at Prince with a strong kick.

Once again, Prince avoided her attack, bending backwards.

"He's strong" Meri thought "But he's still just a man."

Meri fired a punch at Prince's chin. Prince caught her hand easily, subduing her.

"Is she even trying now? That punch was so slow!" He thought holding her fist in his hands

"Wow" Meri said blushing "I've… never fought a man that could overpower me like this"

She wrapped her arms around Prince leaning into him.

"Hehe women are too eaaaasssssaaaaaaaaaahh!!!!!'

POOOOWWW!

Using all of the strength she had, Meri blasted Prince in the groin with a kick so hard it lifted him off the ground. Prince jumped up, smashing his head on the ceiling before falling to the ground aching in pain.

"Hmph! How dare you spout such vulgar to a woman of the faith!" She proclaimed. "The next time you make a move like that I'll use a hot iron instead of my foot!" She yelled.

"That bitch" Prince thought holding his crotch.

"She got you good!" Pedro laughed "I like her"

"Be ready in 10 minutes you… Hey what's your name you dirty hooligan!" She yelled

"My name… is Prince" Prince said, suffering in pain...

"Prince?" She said bewildered "Hmph! Prince of Perviness!" She said storming out.

Prince got back on his feet regaining his composure.

Adam got to his feet and got into Prince's face.

"Hey newbie! You just broke one of the rules! Didn't I tell you no flirting with the foreman?" He yelled

"First of all the name is Prince, not newbie" Prince said dusting off his clothes. "And second of all, get your foul breathed toilet bowl of a mouth out of my face!" Prince said shoving him aside.

"You can't do this to me!" Adam yelled. "I have a lot of weight around here! I can get you thrown out of this place just like that!"

"Third of all, let's get this one thing straight," Prince said. "You and I will only be sharing this space for a week. It's up to you whether you want this week to be hell or not, I'll leave that to your discretion." Prince said leaving.

As he walked out a few feet ahead, Marlin caught up to him.

"Prince!" Marlin cautioned. "Be careful! Adam's a big deal around here! He's got a crew of 20 guys that'll do whatever he says! You don't want to make him your enemy!"

"20 guys?" Prince said just how many people work here?" Prince asked

"Have you never been to a plantation before?" Marlin asked. He walked out of the shack showing Prince the rest of the estate.

Prince walked out, looking down a huge hill of lush green grass. In all directions as far as he could see there were vegetable gardens, cornfields, and farmhouses. He turned around looking around at the other shacks on the hill. From what he could see there were at least 20 others.

"This looked a lot different in the dark" Prince said

"On Sir Ivan's estate alone there are 80 indentured servants, like you and myself, 20 slaves, 5 butlers, 10 maids, and countless others that live here!" Marlin said

"I had no idea... It took this many people to farm" Prince said.

"We do much more than harvest crops here!" Marlin said "But you'll see soon enough!" Marlins said "C'mon lets go before Meri gets upset!" He said running down the hill.

"Prince?" Marlin said looking back.

A tear filled Prince's eye, but he pushed it away. "I remember running down the hills like that with Richard and Zoe… was it in another life?" he thought

"Sorry," Prince said smoothly walking behind Marlin. "The sun is in my eyes, I'm going to have to take it slow."

"Suit yourself!" Marlin said rolling down the hill with glee.

"That Prince…." Adam said looking down from the shack. "I'll make him pay!"