Flesh and Gold (Ileana and Viveca)

[Dusk]

The auctioneer grinned fit to split his face, and turned back to see if the bald man would be making the next bid - and knew immediately from the way the man was glaring at Ileana that he was beat. "Ninety, sir? Come on, now, for a virgin piece of ass that ain't a bad deal! She's the right age too, sure to go into heat soon and show you exactly what she's worth..." But though the man's eyes glowed with hunger and lust, he simply didn't have the gold in his pocket to bid any higher. And he, like everyone else there, knew better than to cry gold he didn't have. It was a swift way to getting your purse taken, your throat slit, and whatever you'd tried to buy stuck back on the Block. "Going once! Twice!" There was a dramatic pause, and then Papa Murph lifted a meaty fist into the air. "Sold! To the pretty lady with the deep pockets and a taste for first times," he said, snatching Viveca by the hair again and hauling her around, uncaring of how much it might hurt since it wasn't actually doing any damage. When he got her turned around, he slung her across the Block and into the waiting arms of one of the attendants, who grabbed her upper arm and pulled her off to the side of the crowd as the announcer began touting the merits of the next Kelvic up for sale. By the time Ileana made her way over to the side, she'd find the attendant waiting with Viveca firmly held in one hand and the girl's bag in the other. "You wan' us t' brand 'er?" he mumbled, nodding towards the little set-up that in any other circumstance would have looked like a portable farrier's station.

[Ileana Erika Ionescu]

Ileana couldn't resist giving the balding man a triumphant smirk as the auctioneer's final cry came out. But it didn't last long, and she quickly made her way to the side, where her new slave was waiting.

Putting first things first, she paid the eighty mizas that she had pledged. It left her purse lighter than she might have wished, but it didn't by any means leave her completely broke.

"Yes," she said to the handler's question. "I don't have a personal brand, but if you can do two capital 'I's, I'd be much obliged." She slapped the Kelvic on the rump, indicating where she wished the mark to be. If they were going to go back to Syliras, it wouldn't do to have the mark anywhere too visible -- though it wasn't that difficult to explain a brand mark on any given Kelvic, given how often they ended up in places like this.

Ileana took the Kelvic's bag, and it was only then that she addressed her new purchase. "What is your name, slave?" It was asked in a tone no different than if she had asked the name of someone's dog, or directions to the nearest vegetable market.

[Viveca]

Viveca hissed as the woman slapped her rump. She bared her teeth and growled softly. "I am viveca." She didn't bother asking the woman's name, she didn't want to know it. Viveca rubbed her head where her hair had been pulled and looked around slowly she shivered. She eyed the woman and sighed softly wondering why the woman had been determined to buy her. She looked at the bald guy and a strong urge to stick her tongue out at him. The corner of her mouth twitched as she fought a smile, thinking about the face the man would probably make.

Her attention was back on the people holding her she bared her teeth and hissed sounding amazingly like the leopard she could become. She snapped her teeth at one of them daring them to try to brand her.

[Dusk]

The attendant chuckled as the girl fought, and just yanked her hands behind her back again and pulled out a length of rope to tie them there. Once more, if she were to change to her leopard form it would surely dislocate both her shoulders in the process. "Don't matter what form they wear," he said with a wolfish grin to Ileana. "You kin always tell the predators when ya put 'em on the anvil. Rabbit'll cry and keen, but a cat'll try and bite yer hand off." Even as he got Viveca back under control, the grizzled old farrier who handled all the brands nodded to Ileana's request and dug through a pile of branding irons. He pulled out two of them and shoved them into the coals of the little fire he had set up for just that purpose, then went about pumping the small bellows. "She's a strong one," the old man cackled, his accent heavy and definitely not from around Sylira, nodding for the attendant to get her into position. The attendant unceremoniously shoved Viveca over to an anvil the size of a table and bent her over it, arms still tied behind her back and the meaty hand wrapped around the back of her neck and pinning her down. "Don't wriggle, little one, or it'll ruin the letters and we'll have to do it again on the other side, yes? You," he said, pointing a finger at Ileana before drawing the pair of irons from the fire and fitting them together in preparation. "You know how to care for the mark while it heals, yes?"

[Viveca]

Viveca growled loudly but stayed still. She clenched her teeth and tensed mentally preparing herself for the pain. She swore to herself she wouldn't make any noise. She looked at her new master and bared her teeth growling more softly. Her eyes shined with anger and outrage. If she had been in her leopard form her ears would have been flat against her head and her tail would be thrashing violently.

She looked at her new master with open malice and hate. Viveca Clenched her hands trying to regain feeling in them as she seethed silently except a low growl that could just barely be heard.

[Ileana Erika Ionescu]

Ileana nodded. She was no stranger to brands, though she'd managed to avoid getting one herself.

"It's standard procedure, Viveca," Ileana said in response to the obvious anger on the Kelvic's face. "I mean, I'm not sure exactly how long you've been here, but you have to have noticed that slaves get marked. Nothing personal."

This wasn't entirely true -- the suffering of others was always personal for Ileana. Nonetheless, slaves did get branded, and Ileana was nowhere near foolish enough to refrain from labeling her property, especially in a town as fast and loose as Sunberth.

[Viveca]

Viveca hissed baring her teeth as she cursed Ileana loudly, with some very foul words. "Liar, I've seen a few that weren't marked." She glared. "Why did you buy me anyway? Did you want a pet that would want to tear your throat out?" She asked laughing mirthlessly. Her eyes shined with anger. She clenched her fists and her jaw.

[Dusk]

The attendant chuckled and grinned in anticipation of watching this particularly amusing bit of flesh get her desserts. "Quite a mouth on that one," he snickered to Ileana. The farrier just snapped the two brands together and withdrew them from the fire, making two capital I's in the middle of a circle. "Oh, she'll be singing a different tune in a few weeks, surely," he muttered, grabbing a soft cloth and wiping off the Kelvic's rump where he planned to put the brand. "Get her Bonded to you, she'll be licking your feet and thanking the gods you bought her." "Or licking whatever else you like," the attendant said with a lewd grin. The farrier laughed again, and then firmly pressed the red-hot brand to Viveca's backside. There should have been more pain - that would probably be the first thought that passed through the girl's mind. Her flesh was being seared, it should have hurt. But the nerve endings were destroyed before they could signal pain, so it wasn't nearly so bad as it could have been. Oh, it hurt - the flesh around the brand was able to scream out in protest - and the smell of her skin burning was almost worse than the pain could have been. And, assuming she didn't wriggle around, when the farrier lifted it again there would be Ileana's initials permanently branded into the girl's arse.

[Ileana Erika Ionescu]

"Any you saw unmarked were owned by idiots," Ileana responded as she checked her own fingernails to make sure the polish wasn't chipped. "And if you're trying to make a good impression, I must say that you're doing a poor job of it. Would you have preferred that man to buy you? At the very least, you wouldn't have had to ask why he wanted you." The sarcasm was bone-dry; nothing that Viveca said was going to get a rise out of Ileana.

Not that she didn't feel a certain amount of satisfaction when the farrier finally pressed the brand into the ill-tempered Kelvic. She examined the finished product, then nodded in approval. "That will do nicely," she said to the man.

[Dusk]

Note: Hey guys! I'm back, and more than willing to continue this with fun shenanigans. Viveca, if you're still around, it's your turn!