Sold To The Dragon Kingdom

EIGHT

Not even for a second did my heart stopped thudding loudly while I was being carried away. I couldn’t stop wondering why I had to be separated from the other captives. Why it had to be me alone, and where the man was taking me. We were moving fast through an alley which had an awful combination of different smells choking my nerves. The area looked deserted and strange even with the right amount of sunlight.

I tried to hold my breathe for as long as I could, but the pressure of the man’s shoulder against my stomach worsened the situation. It felt like my blood was at the verge of gushing out through my nostrils because my head was hanging low. I could even bite his bottom if I wanted.

On normal circumstances, I would’ve chosen to bite his bottom, fight him and make my escape. But this wasn’t any normal circumstance. I didn’t even had enough energy to walk on my own feet talk more of fighting such a strong man. Starvation alone was slowly killing me.

We passed the end of the alley and before I could observe where we had arrived at, I found myself being moved into another tent.

Slowly, he set me down on my feet as my eyes immediately fell on the people inside the tent. Four women were standing in front of a man who was seated on a chair, leg crossed over the other.

The masked man who had brought me did not said a word. Neither did the man sitting on the chair. Instead, the man seated on the chair only brought out a bag of something which I had assumed to be gold coins and gave them to the masked man who immediately collected before turning away and leaving the tent.

The four women stared at me. One with a shocked expression, the next one with a bored expression, another with a toothy smile, and the last with a straight face. Their dresses were all the same; long and plain white. Two had their locks tied in a bun.

Before I could finish scrutinizing them with my eyes, the man stood up to his height, and I realized he was almost the same height as I. Maybe a little bit taller, but his looks said he was much older. He could be in his early thirties. He wore a grey tunic along with black loose pants with edges tucked into a black ankle boots.

“Stacy, get her some food and one of your dress. I’m sure the dragons did not feed her.” The man said. His voice was warm, in contrast to that of all the strange men I had met on the journey. A slim, black haired woman who had the bored expression on her face stole another glance at me and I heard her replied him in another language before she left the tent.

I felt like falling onto his feet and thanking him for the food beforehand. But that would make me look like a goose head so I dispelled the thoughts off my mind and straightened my back instead.

“You can return to your tent. I’ll speak to Gary about what we discussed.” He addressed the remaining three women who also left after they were done whispering and probably gossiping about my appearance.

There was an aura of peace and calmness in the way this man spoke to the women I presumed to be his servants. Nothing about him seemed threatening or intimidating. Even his face had a kind of soft glow as if the moon itself was smiling down at me.

“I’m your new Master,” he said, taking more steps closer to where I stood like an iceberg. “You must have gone through a lot of trouble before getting here. However, now that you’re here, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about. You’re in good hands of Lord Zorro.”

Even though he didn’t gave off the vibes of a bad man, I wasn’t going to believe him so easily. Why would anyone buy a slave and treat them well? Unless with an ulterior motive. Not even my own mother treated me well without an ulterior motive as her biological daughter.

“I have no intention of staying here with you. As soon as I’m done working and paying off the amount you must have spent on buying me, I’ll slip away without notice.”

“You can do whatever your heart feels comfortable with. But for now, how about you tell me your name, age and where you come from?”

I kept silent for a while before I decided to introduce myself. I thought about doing so at least for the sake of the food. “I’m Eliz... I mean, Elysie. I’m nineteen years old and a pure breed human from the Kingdom of Urek.”

He laughed a little at that. “I’m also a pure breed human like you, Elysie. I hope you’ll be kind to me as your Master,” he said, the crease of his laughter still visible on his cheeks. That did sounded like sarcasm to my ears even though he didn’t looked like he intended to be sarcastic about it. But again, maybe that was his own way of bullying.

“Do you know where you are, here?” He asked, and I repeatedly shook my head from side to side in response. “This is the village of the white quills. We are a few miles away from the Kingdom of North Albon where we’ll be heading to.”

I remembered hearing something about the village of the white quills somewhere before even though I couldn’t remember exactly what it was.

“Why are we going to the Kingdom of the dragons?” I asked, curious all of a sudden. I thought he said he was a pure breed human?

“My Lord. Her food is here.” Our discussion was interrupted by the woman Stacy who had now returned with a silver plate of food along with a jug of what I had presumed to be drinking water. Also, I noticed that there was a white material tucked underneath her armpit which she all set down one by one on a woven mat by the left side of the tent.

The man, Lord Zorro said something to Stacy in another language. No doubt the same language which she had used to replied to him earlier. She nodded her head and left us again.

“More than half of the population of the people in North Albon are humans. You have a lot to learn, Elysie. You should change out of that wet dress before you eat.”

**********

On their way back to North Albon, Helios and his men stopped by at the river where Geoffrey was slain by the dragon. There was nothing to see at the scene. Only some remnants of dark dust scattered around a tree.

While the horses drank from the river, Helios squatted down by the tree and observed the spot where the dark dust were scattered. Sir Randell sat on a stone and kept his eyes on the horses, while Sir Dojhan had since taken off his cloak and was busy bathing in the river.

“Lancelot, how possible is it for a dragon to shift with magic? Helios asked Lancelot who was standing over him.

“I do not think it’s possible.” Lancelot replied. “I am yet to hear about a dragon in North Albon who has shifted with the help of sorcery.”

“Doesn’t have to be in North Albon. Geoffrey’s bandits said the man casted a spell that turned him into a dragon. Perhaps you might not be as deeply knowledgeable about the dragons as I had assumed you would.”

“Why do you bother about that dragon? Does it has something to do with your inability to shift as a dragon, my friend? If you so badly wished to shift to an extent of thinking about sorcery, you will be betraying your own principle.”

Helios clenched his jaws as he craned his neck and glanced over at Lancelot. “How do you father two children, when you are as immature as Dojhan?”

Lancelot scrunched his face at such rude insult. Though he kept silent because Helios was still his superior when it came to the matter of hierarchy.

“I heard you Sire.” Dojhan cuts in loudly from where he was splashing himself with the cold water, while Helios stood up and shook the dust off his cloak.

“We leave now,” he said, glaring at Lancelot before he finally strolled away to his horse. “Bring me the saddle, Randell.”