Slave Trade - Homecoming
Slave Trade
Homecoming
copyright 2013 comidacomida
Sidney waited beside his master as the stag stopped to survey the scene on the road. The corpses of the Grinders were left where they had fallen, but the pomeranian that had been their driver was nowhere to be seen; the fox's best guess was that his body had fallen from its place on the carriage sometime between getting shot by an arrow and Choel taking over of the reins.
"Well..." Lord Hector noted, pausing to let the rest of the slaves catch up, "I have seen worse..." he motioned toward what remained of the carriage. Sidney glanced to the transport, which had sustained extensive damage to its roof and sides even before they had abandoned it for higher ground, but it was readily apparent that whatever Grinders remained had looted it after Lord Hector led his slaves away. "Granted," the stag added with a sigh, "most everything worse was in a junk yard."
"I'm sorry about your carriage, Master." the fox offered quietly
"It is fine, Sidney." the stag reached over and patted him on the head, "At least we are all still alive." and Lord Hector let out a sigh, "Poor Boers." he noted, commenting on the missing driver as he shook his head, "Grinders are not known for killing free men."
"Ah beg furgiveness fur speakin outta turn, Lord 'ector," Dorias added, "But they be somethin' other'n regular Grinders."
"Forgiven." Lord Hector confirmed with a nod, not even bothering to look toward the yak, "and a valid point." he added, and started forward. Sidney followed his master as the stag strolled onto the road with a resigned sigh, "The horses are gone." he rested a palm on the carriage's front wheel, "Compliments of Lady Fody, no doubt."
"Hua si--" Maern spoke up from behind the fox and the stag, then paused before starting over, "Wut es ron?"
Sidney glanced to the stallion, "Huh?" he inquired, not making sense of the question through the strong accent.
The horse looked to Dorias, "Hua si kossor?"
"Wrong." Dorias stated to Maern, "What. Is. Wrong."
"Wut es rong?" he looked to the yak, who nodded. Maern turned to Sidney, "Wut es rong?"
Lord Hector spoke up, forestalling the attempt at communication by talking directly to Maern in Vensian. They exchanged a few lines each, then Maern pointed to the front of the carriage and made a decisive statement. The stag nodded, then looked to Dorias, "How is your arm, Dorias? Can you use it?"
"Alright, Lord 'Ector..." the yak bowed his head, "Not perfect right now, but it'll 'eal in time." "can you use it?"
"Aye, sir." Dorias confirmed.
"Iya, Maern." the hart confirmed, "en ih," he pointed to the yak, "en ih." he then motioned to Olnyr, who was busy looting one of the slain Grinders, "Leave it." he directed, and the bison dropped the scavenged piece of plate armor. Lord Hector then turned to the fox, "Sidney... help Choel into the carriage... everyone else, follow Maern."
Sidney didn't wait to see what their master had planned for everyone else; he went to Choel, who was leaning against a nearby tree. The fox took hold of the slave by his good shoulder and led him to the carriage, right until he heard a groan come from within, "Master?!?!" he yelped, backing away from the transport as a bloody-headed boar fell free of the open door and slumped onto the ground, groaning again.
Lord Hector was there in a moment, his thin-bladed sword out and at the ready, "You... boar..." he hailed the pig, "can you stand?"
The porcine Grinder rolled onto his shoulder and, with no small amount of contempt, spit at the ground beside the stag's boot. Lord Hector didn't have a chance to even comment before Olnyr was beside the hog, delivering a swift hoof kick into his ample gut. The pig let out a squealing grunt and doubled over. "Enough, Olnyr." the stag announced before the bison could deliver a follow-up strike.
"Thinkin... yeer some kinda.... hero... or somethin'..." the boar grunted, and spat again on the ground, groaning as he managed to get a knee beneath himself. Planting a hand on the road, he hoisted hiself up to a kneeling position, but it was obviously not one of respect, "Yeer a fool, ya dumb buck."
"Lord 'ector's not a deer, pig." Dorias noted, holding his cudgel in his good arm, keeping right next to their Master, "Ye call 'im Lord 'Ector.
"Thank you, Dorias." the stag gave him a gentle push to the side and took a step closer to the boar, "If you're intent on calling me by my race, I am an elk, thus 'bull' is a better term than 'buck', sir." he offered in an almost genteel tone, "Now... I would have you standing." and he motioned to the bison, "Lift him."
The boar offered up another blob of phlegm, this time hitting Lord Hector's boot; Olnyr answered in kind by bringing his hoof right up into the pig's chin. They collided with a resounding crack and Sidney winced at the sound. "Enough, Olnyr." the stag announced in his authoritative voice, "Join Maern in readying the carriage." he pointed sharply, accentuating his displeasure at the bison's brutality.
"Careful there, buck..." the boar sneered, "Get rid a all yer heavies an' nobody'll be left t'keep me from chewin' on ya..."
"No." Lord Hector stated, stopping Olnyr from delivering another kick to the Grinder, "Carriage, now." his tone was ice cold, and the bison complied without so much as a backward glance at the pig; Sidney had a feeling that Olnyr avoided looking at the Grinder as the only way he could avoid attacking the unruly thug.
The stag's attention remained on the boar, "Dorias... go help Maern and Olnyr with preparing the carriage."
"Aye, sir." the yak acknowledged, moving immediately to join them at the front of the transport, though Sidney didn't miss the faint frown on the older slave's muzzle; the fox couldn't help but feel that Dorias shared his own reservations of Lord Hector being left alone with a murderous cannibal. Sidney fidgeted as he was left there alone with the stag, and his master didn't miss the nervous gesture.
"Sidney... I would like you to stay here with me." Lord Hector noted calmly, then looked back to the boar, "Your name, sir?"
"Clan name's Ass." announced the boar, managing to finally work his way up to his feet, albeit, by keeping one hand on the carriage for balance, "First name's "Kissmah."
"Kissmah Ass?" Sidney raised his ears, then paused once he heard the name spoken aloud, and his ears reddened immediately. The boar chuckled deeply in response to that, obviously quite pleased with his own wit. Lord Hector was not.
"I have no qualms ending a man without knowing his name." the stag announced, casually rolling his wrist in a circle, making his blade rotate in the air in front of him, "I am far less likely to kill a man to whom I have been introduced." "An' what'cha gonna do with a lil needle like that, eh, bucky?" the boar taunted him, "Somethin' like that belongs in an old ladeh's basket fer nittin..."
"Ah... well an interesting story about weapons of this sort..." Lord Hector commented, holding the sword up in front of his face so that he looked at the Grinder with one eye gazing past either side of the blade, "It is sometimes referred to as a pig sticker... most apropos, do you not agree?"
"Jest stop waggin yer muzzle an' kill me already if yer gonna... otherwise yeh jest gonna bore me t'death." the boar snorted, and chuckled at his own wit.
"I was not planning on killing you, sir." Lord Hector announced, "Far from it... you see, I find the loss of life to be deplorable... second in severity only to enslavement."
"If yeh let me go I'll slit yer throat while yer campin..." the boar sneered.
"Then we certainly shall not have that, shall we?" Lord Hector acknowledged calmly, "Besides... I would never let you go."
"What're yeh goin off about now?" the porcine Grinder sneered.
The stag turned to Sidney and offered a faint nod of his head, followed by a wink before looking back to the boar, "I, in fact, plan to exercise my right as a Slave Lord to announce your freedom ended. By the power granted to me by my rank and station within the nation of Pross, I hereby--" but his speech came to an end as the boar rushed him in a squealing fury, lowering his head and charging at full speed.
The stag nimbly sidestepped and, with a quick, downward strike, drove the pommel of his blade into the back of the boar's head. In another two shaky steps the Grinder's loping stride ended with a face-plant into the packed dirt of the road. "--declare you a slave, and take you into my holdings forthwith to be kept or sold as I will." Sidney watched the pig warily, seeing him draw breath, but remain otherwise unmoving. "Sidney..." Lord Hector called for his attention.
"Yes, Master?" the fox inquired.
"I am going to need assistance transferring my newest slave into the carriage." the stag returned his sword to its sheath.
Sidney had never seen a free man become enslaved before; he found the simple 'ceremony' to be a lack of event... and very sobering. "Yes, Master."
* * * * * *
The ride back to Lord Hector's estate was a long one. Although Sidney would normally have been very happy to have shared a carriage ride alone with his Master, he was unable to completely relax because, in truth, they were not entirely alone; the lashed-up bundle of captured Grinder pig was laying conscious and uncomfortable on the floor of the transport.
At the stag's insistence, the boar had been tied up in a very uncomfortable manner, with his hands and feet lashed together behind his back. Lord Hector had expressed a form of refined humor the situation... mostly in that the method of confinement was known as being 'hog tied'. He defended his stance by commenting that it was purely for his new slave's benefit, as the ex-Grinder was obviously a fan of word play.
Outside the carriage, Maern, Olnyr, and Dorias had hold of the horse harnesses usually reserved for the four-legged feral breed; it was under their power that the transport moved at all. By Lord Hector's estimate, the party had been stopped nearly twelve miles away from his estate, which meant that they were forced to rely only on the strength and endurance of the three large slaves. Thankfully, however, it was enough.
The three slaves at the leads maintained a good pace: more than a jog, but not quite a run. The sun was just starting to rise as the carriage made the last turn in the road and Lord Hector's estate came into view. Sidney felt his heart quicken its beat when he realized that they were almost home. "Sidney..." Lord Hector spoke to him from across the bench; the stag was looking right at him.
"Yes, Master?" the fox inquired obediently.
"Let Choel know that we will stop here." his master noted simply, glancing down at the still immobile boar, "I would like him arriving by foot." The pig gave an indignant grunt, but it went ignored by the stag.
"Yes, Lord Hector." Sidney bowed his head, and then gave a quick double-tap to the wall that separated the cab of the carriage from the driver's seat. Choel, who had been positioned up on the bench, had not been required to drive, but he worked well as an intermediary when Lord Hector wanted his slaves signaled.
The stag motioned Sidney to step out of the carriage, which was easy enough considering the lack of doors. He held a paw out to assist his master with disembarking, but what he got instead was a long lead of rope placed in his paw as Lord Hector released the boar's feet and then motioned for him to exit. When the new slave did not, the stag had no trouble reinforcing his edict with a firm but insistent boot; the pig fell out of the open carriage and landed on his back on the ground.
"Choel." Lord Hector spoke.
The tiger was by his side in an instant, "Yes, Master?"
"Go find Finneas... tell him to fetch two Heavy slaves and two of my servants, and then come join us."
"Yes, Master." Choel nodded his head, and started off toward the manor. The tiger favored his shoulder, but managed a quick pace regardless.
The stag turned back to Sidney and accepted the rope, then glanced to Maern. Motioning toward boar with the bridge of his muzzle, Lord Hector addressed the stallion in Vensian, and gave a light yank on the rope.
"Yes, Lord Heck-tur." the horse acknowledged and hoisted the boar up onto his feet.
"Welcome to your new home." Lord Hector announced pleasantly to the boar, "I have never parted a man from his freedom before but, then again, I had always had a feeling that everyone deserved their freedom... until today."
"Fuck yeh too, bucky." the pig grunted.
The stag ignored the comment and glanced at Sidney instead, "I had counted myself fortunate to have never met a Grinder." and Lord Hector followed up the comment with a sigh as he inspected the rope he held, "Ah well... luck has to run out some time, I suppose." he glanced at the boar, "Would you not agree, Tanzibulliwum?" he gave the rope a quick triple-tug to get the hog's attention.
"Wha'thu'fuck is a Tanz-uh-bully-whatever?" the boar snorted, fur bristling as he demanded an answer.
"Slaves do not ask questions of their masters, Tanzibulliwum." the stag replied calmly, tying the rope off around several spokes on the carriage, "But, as this is your first day, I will let that go without having you snap-lashed." He walked right up to the boar and gazed down at him, eye-to-eye, "Tanzibulliwum is the name I have chosen for you because you have elected not to reveal your given name to me."
"That's a shit name." the pig announced, glaring pure hatred at the stag, who seemed completely unaffected by the boar's ire.
"Indeed... and I have no doubt that it will frustrate your Slave Master to no end every time he must call you by it." the stag paused, looking up at the sound of foot fall on the road from the direction of the estate, "Ah... and speaking of..."
Sidney turned to look in the same direction as Lord Hector; Choel was at the lead of the group of men followed by Finneas, moving quickly despite his faint limp. Behind the mouse were two free men the fox recognized as servants of Lord Hector's house. Sidney paused when he saw the two imposing figures behind them, and he managed to inch a little further behind his Master as Ulric and Wragol joined them at the carriage. The lion paid him no mind, looking at the pig instead, but Wragol's eyes burned like coals as he glared at Sidney.
"Ah... excellent. Very good, Choel." Lord Hector offered praise, "Help these three to the stables," he motioned to Maern, Olnyr, and Dorias, "I will not need any of you for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Master." the tiger bowed, "Thank you, Master." and he did as he was bade, leading the large slaves off toward the estate.
"Now..." the stag turned back toward his two servants, "Dyne... Bailo... please gather what you can from the carriage and bring it back to the estate... I will need you to send a missive to a local carpenter tomorrow, and let Gaius know I will need him for some patch work." the two servants acknowledged and moved off to do Lord Hector's bidding.
He turned to Ulric and Wragol next, "This boar is a new slave. I converted him earlier today." Both of the large slaves raised their eyebrows and ears in surprise, but neither said a word, "As he has been unwilling to provide me his name, I have chosen to name him myself." once both of the slaves nodded in response, Lord Hector continued, "Ulric... please make note that his name is Tanzibulliwum."
"Yes, Master." the lion acknowledged, doing an admirable job to avoid showing any reaction to the odd name; nothing more than a faint turning of one ear gave away that he was more than a little displeased at having to remember it.
"I do not want his name shortened." the stag added, "No nick names, no abbreviations, and, if you please, do try to say it correctly."
"Yes, Master." Ulric confirmed the command.
"Go ahead and try it." Lord Hector offered with a hint of a smirk on his muzzle. He waited patiently as the lion butchered the name several times. "Ah... well, you have all my trust in that you will pick it up soon enough... or perhaps my new slave will decide to reveal his true name first... either way I am certain things will work out."
"Of course, Master." the lion bowed, glaring at the pig, "You are very right, as you always are... things. will. work. out."
* * * * * *
Sidney heard before early afternoon that the boar's name was Wylken. He did not bother asking how Ulric found out what it was so quickly; truth be told, the fox really didn't want to know. Instead, Sidney spent his time focusing on the gladiator stables... which had changed significantly since he'd left.
The rotting, spoiled siding of the stables had been replaced. The entry door, which had been barely held up by the frame was completely new and affixed quite firmly by fresh metal hinges. Not only was wood replaced, but the entire building had been painted, and the raised landscape had been freshly tilled. That wasn't the end of it, however.
The practice ring that Maern and Dorias had set up was completely finished with evenly spaced stone blocks rather than clumped piles of haphazardly strewn rocks. The interior of the ring had been dug out, with a light layer of coarse sand filling it up to ground level. There were also wooden poles spaced evenly around the ring which, to Sidney, were reminiscent of the wooden fence at the arena that kept the audience from spilling into the pit.
Although Sidney was already surprised at the modifications made to the outside of the stables, once he entered he was even more overwhelmed; the interior of the stables had gone through just as much of a transformation. The wooden walls of the stalls had been entirely replaced, providing a much sturdier, less rotten separation between the slaves' quarters. Sidney came to a complete stop, however, when he saw what had become of his stall.
The end portion of the stable had gone through a radical metamorphosis; instead of side-by-side stalls, Sidney stood looking at a fresh new wooden wall with an honest-to-goodness door. Setting his shaking paw to the handle, the fox slowly pushed it open, amazed at the room beyond, which was made up of space that had been previously dedicated to two stalls and the walkway between them.
"It's yours." grunted a powerful voice behind him; Sidney was so overwhelmed at the new room that he hadn't even noticed Tharis approach.
"...mine?" the fox slowly turned around, facing the enormous bull's sternum, "Who--"
"Me." the slave noted plainly.
"Does Lord Hector--"
"Yes." the bull stated, "He knows."
"Oh...." Sidney glanced back to the room then took a step back so he could look up at the bull, who stared down from his lofty height at the fox. The slave master managed to keep his tail from curling at the intimidating size difference, "Did you...." the fox paused for a moment, half expecting Tharis to finish his sentence for him, but when the bull didn't, he finished his thought, "...do all this?"
"Yes." the older slave confirmed.
"Uh..." Sidney paused, "...why?"
"You said to." the bull noted flatly.
"I thought I said..." the fox paused as he attempted to remember what he said, "Okay... I DID say to finish the circle..." he thought for a moment, "and the cooking pit, I know I said... but I didn't say to rebuild the stable."
"You said 'clean it out'." Tharis crossed his arms in certainty, gazing down at Sidney with an expression that left little room for argument.
"This is more than--" Sidney began, but the bull interrupted.
"The trash is gone." the bull noted, not changing his pose even an inch.
"Most of the old stable is gone!" the fox pointed out.
"It was trash." Tharis shrugged casually.
Sidney realized it was a losing argument, "Thank you for your work, Tharis." the fox relented, "It's WAY more than I expected."
The bull snorted, "Expect more." and, with that, he showed himself back to his own stall.
Sidney watched Tharis go, half wondering if he should have reproached the bull for the liberties he took, but he couldn't bring himself to object; the stable was a surprise, but not at all an unpleasant one. In the end, the fox acknowledged that Tharis' work while they were gone was far too spectacular to try and second guess, and he simply chalked it up to good fortune, which was much needed after their whirlwind return home.
The remainder of the morning was spent settling everyone back into the stables. Dorias and Choel had already explained Olnyr's presence among the gladiators and, surprisingly, the bull didn't so much as bat an eye when he found out that the bison was the one responsible for Uraou's death. When it came to finding a place for Olnyr, however, Sidney could tell that there was still some lasting bad feeling on behalf of the tiger; Olnyr had been given a different stall and the bear's was left vacant.
Despite the lack of harmony in the stables, things did eventually quiet down. The slaves returning were all exhausted and injured, so there was little energy left for infighting. Some time in the afternoon Lord Hector bade a healer check in on them but, by that time, Dorias had already given everyone a once-over while Maern saw to the yak's arm. The old hedgehog woman extracted the broken arrow from Choel's shoulder, then made some minor modifications to the others' care and announced that Lord Hector wanted her to check in on them the following day. Without further ado, the healer showed herself out.
Sidney lost track of the next span of time as sleep finally found him. It had been over thirty hours and, though he had been trained to go two days without rest if necessary, the oblivion of dreamless unconsciousness was a welcome relief to the ever-evolving chaos in his life.
The afternoon passed in the blink of an eye, however, and he was awakened by the crackling and popping of the cooking fire... but what he noticed even more prominently was the mouth-watering aroma of food almost ready; his stomach gurgled powerfully, reminding him that he had not eaten in almost a day.
Dorias, Choel, and Maern were already seated by the fire pit as Sidney approached; each gave him a customary greeting and made room for him. The fox didn't miss that Tharis was still working, busy tying off what appeared to be a woven rope net, spread out across two rafters. Olnyr was still in his stall; even seated the bison's head was visible above the dividers, but the newest gladiator was paying them no mind.
"I hope Lord Hector knows what he's doing keeping him here with us." Choel commented, Olnyr obviously on his mind as much as the fox's.
"Lord Hector decided to save him, and Olnyr is as much the Master's as we are." Sidney stated firmly, "What he did to Uraou was because Lord Levid ordered him to do it, and that's all." the fox added as much conviction to his voice as he could, purposefully pushing out thoughts of what the bison had done personally to him when they were alone the night after the fight; the memories still gave him pause.
"I know, Sir." Choel confirmed, lowering his head in acknowledgment, "I just hope he doesn't mistake sparring with fighting... I don't want him treating us the way he was dealing with those Grinders." and the tiger shuddered.
"Don' worry, Choel... 'e won't." Dorias noted, picking up the first bowl from its spot by the fire, and adding two heaping serving spoons full of stew to it before passing it to Choel. Choel, in turn handed it to Sidney.
"Thank you." the fox acknowledged, and focused solely on his own dinner, so hungry that he was able to ignore the addition of the meat to the pot as the rest of the slaves prepared their own meals. He stood up and made his way a little further from the cooking fire in case his stomach changed its mind and decided to give him trouble over the scent of cooking flesh. Sidney slowed as he went by Olnyr's stall; the bison was looking his way.
"You don't eat meat?" Olnyr's deep voice questioned him.
"No." Sidney answered simply, wondering if the bison was about to follow up the comment with a crude taunt. He didn't.
"Why not?" Olnyr stated.
"Lord Hector's gladiators need it more." Sidney answered simply.
"Lord Levid's Slave Masters always ate meat." the bison pointed out.
Something about the comment forced a frown out of Sidney; it rubbed him the wrong way. "I'm one of Lord Hector's Slave Masters, not Lord Levid's."
"I know." Olnyr looked away, "...sorry... Slave Master."
"Go get some food." Sidney announced simply, walking past the stall toward the door that led to his private room. He stopped at the door and glanced back toward the slaves; everyone was seated by the cooking fire-- it didn't look comfortable for everyone with Olnyr there, but they were all behaving. Taking a deep breath, the fox crossed the threshold into the room for him... his own private room... the first private room he had ever had. In the end, he was able to enjoy it for all of three minutes.
A knock at his door caused Sidney to fumble the near-empty bowl he was just about to set aside. "Y-yes?" he called. The door opened, and Tharis lowered his head so he could walk through the doorway. "Yes, Tharis?" the fox asked of the bull.
Tharis simply motioned over his shoulder with a turn of his head and, past the mountain of bull, Sidney saw Lord Hector standing off to the side of the fire pit. The fox wasted no time in standing up and followed Tharis to where the stag waited.
"I hope you have had enough time to rest, Sidney." Lord Hector greeted him, all business.
Truth be told, the fox was still exhausted, but he would never deny his master, "If you need me, Master, I am ready."
"Very good, Sidney. Thank you." and he held out a hand, palm down with something hidden within his fingers, "Here."
Sidney obediently held his paw out, palm up beneath his master's fist. Lord Hector opened his hand and let a thick iron key fall into the fox's grasp. Sidney recognized the key immediately and his heart beat began to pick up, "The work shed, Master?" he spoke, already out of breath at the thought.
"Yes." the stag acknowledged with a faint nod, "I would like you to take Tharis with you and tend to your appointed duties." Maern and Dorias continued their meals without remark, but Choel's tail fur stood on end while he tried to act as if he weren't paying attention.
"Yes, Master." the fox nodded obediently, pushing the thought of the tiger from his mind, "I will meet you there once everyone is settled in for the night."
"I am still weary from the travel, Sidney." Lord Hector announced, "I will leave it to you tonight..." he glanced sidelong at the fox, "Is that acceptable?"
Sidney faltered for a moment, coming close to contemplating the word 'no'. In what way could he express his reluctance without denying his master's command? Could he feign sickness? Would he get away expressing concern over his own competence? What could he do to avoid the task without looking any less in his master's eyes?
"Is that acceptable?" the stag repeated the inquiry.
The fox pondered suggesting that the trip left him inept of muscle... he toyed with the idea of asking for clarification... he even played at jokingly suggesting a different night but his mind stopped dead in its tracks when a heavy hand came to rest on his shoulder. "Yes, Master." Tharis answered for him.