Sold

I was in and out of consciousness for god only knows how long. When I would wake a bit, it would feel like the world was spinning. I was pretty sure it wasn't just because I was tied over a horse. One of the men would force water on me when I woke enough, then I would pass out again before I could muster my anger enough to do anything. Not that it would matter, Father had taught me enough to know what these men were.

Finally my body got to the point where it wasn't going to let me sleep anymore. I could understand what the men were saying but I was in so much pain I just laid against the horse. The men seemed to find something about it amusing. It wasn't long after that I heard a woman's voice. I must have been out for a long time. We were in a town.

The woman laughed and spoke again. The man nodded but he clearly wasn't happy. One of the others got down and cut the ties that were holding me on the horse. He shoved me sideways before I could move. My legs gave out because of their maluse over what had to have been quite a few days. I found myself face down in the dirt. The woman laughed again as two bigger men picked me up and dragged me away.

I didn't bother to try and walk. For now I wanted them to believe I was little better then a donation to our Lord. Father had taught me what to expect if his people ever found us. He wasn't worried about it happening, or even bothered by the thought that someday it would. He had lived his life in the moment for there had been nothing else. He could plan but he would not let himself live in fear. Death watches all things, it isn't in a hurry and it cannot be stopped or even delayed. Live while you can, fight while you are able, and if you are lucky, you won't lose it all until the end.

I must have passed out again. I woke up next time in a dark featureless room. I ran my hand over my face and head. My face had always stayed mostly smooth and shaving was something Father had insisted on. The hair on my head though, that I had kept just long enough to tie back while I had been working. Now that was gone as well. Something else was different but I couldn't quite place what it was. I stood, the room didn't have enough light for me to see by. I squinted into the dark then walked towards where I knew the door was.

I stopped brushing my fingers against the rough wood. That was it, I couldn't see, there was a little light coming in above the door but it was muted and there was no way I should be able to see. Yet, I knew the dimension and placement of everything in the room like I had spent my whole life here. It wasn't very impressive, there wasn't anything but a ledge to lay on that wasn't on the ground. There was also a hole in one corner. What bothered me more was that I could tell there were at least 4 more cells on each side of me and 8 more across a wide hall. Three men would be able to walk down that hall and still have room to not touch the walls. There also seemed to be cells behind my room.

I tried to dismiss my surety as my imagination running away with father's stories, but I was never that good at visualization before. I took a breath and started stretching. Everything still hurt but I knew I wouldn't be given the luxury of recovery. I found a plate of hard bread on the ledge. It had been a long time since I had anything to eat. I forced myself to go slowly as my body realized how hungry it was. It would do me no good to get sick, right now.

Hours passed as I tried to workout the pain in my sides and back. Somehow I was sure that a woman was coming down the hallway. I moved back from the door sitting with my back against the wall that the woman would be able to see as soon as she opened the door. I leaned my head back against the cold stone as I heard her footsteps as she approached the door.

She paused listening before opening the door. I could feel her surprise as the dim light in the hall entered the room. She hesitated before stepping into the room and picking up the empty plate. I could have killed her and entered the hall, but I was sure there wasn't anywhere to go from there, so I sat staring up at the ceiling. She set down the bowl of water she had brought with her. Taking the plate with her she closed the door again.

I knew right now it wasn't barred or locked. They wanted me to try and escape. I sighed and stood back up after the woman was far enough back down the hall. I was now more sure whatever I suddenly knew, it wasn't lying to me.

The water didn't smell good, it didn't smell dangerous just not good. So I didn't touch it for now. After I had worked through the movements my father had beat into my head and gone over the instructions for what should be coming, then I took a break and sipped on the water.

I knew it would be fine, they didn't want to kill me yet. That would be murder after all and could end up costing the house dearly. Clearly a house that would take such a small and wild man was pretty low in the hierarchy of the town.

I sighed and got comfortable on the cold floor. Might as well try and sleep.

I wasn't sure if I had succeeded when I felt the three men walking down the hall. Well, that was faster then I had hoped anyway. The house probably didn't want to waste too many resources on a wilding that was sure to be a loser anyway.

I stood quickly facing the door, eyes down. One man opened the door wide. The other two spotted him quickly. As a wild man they couldn't be sure how I react after all. They had to have heard how I killed five people being taken from my home but they probably believe that the hunters had just been foolish. They had to take more risks to take people alive anyway.

I am not a threat, just another strange wild man. The trainer seemed to nod at my thought and something about him seemed to shift ever so slightly. "Come."

That was all he said before turning and walking out the door. I kept my head down and followed the man. The other two seemed disappointed that they wouldn't get to drag me. My bare feet didn't make much noise as I followed the trainer. The two men behind me were louder but I knew it was the man in front of me that was the most deadly. He led me upstairs. We passed three floors before coming to a large Iron gate. The gate had started opening as soon as my group was in sight.

We stepped out into the bright midday sun. I walked straight out past the stone line and towards the center of the arena. The trainer and both other men stopped at the stone line. I saw the trainer raise an eyebrow at me but that was the only sign he gave that my behavior was strange. I found the line in the middle and stopped about an arms reach away from it on my side.

I tried to control my breathing, I knew I looked weak enough without looking nervous as well. At least it still seemed like they had underestimated me, hopefully I could still keep it that way for a while.

A boy stepped out of the gate on the other side. He might be 13 or 14. He had a big frame but he hadn't started filling it out yet. I stomped down hard on that thought. He wasn't a child, he wasn't a boy, he was little more then the monkeys that had hung around the house when I was growing up. I had reasons to like the monkeys better, but father had trained me that when the match was called nothing in the ring was alive unless it left it that way.

The other walked up to his side of the line. He left more space but I could read his curiosity at my behavior. I still didn't seem like a danger. I was naked, he at least had a shirt and shorts on. I was also smaller then him, in frame if not height, but I had expected that.