Spring 67th, 491 AV
The Rajors were in financial trouble. It was obvious, if you watched carefully. Unnecessary slaves disappeared daily, and there were fewer freeborn around the plantation. Oh, and Tressyl was in a worse mood than usual. That was a sure sign of it… he was grumpy and irritable, and Lacerta had heard him arguing with people on more than one occasion. He was not a… happy man. She didn’t know how deep their money problems were, or if they’d been fixed at all… but of course, a slave wasn’t allowed into that sort of conversation. As if she was stupid. At least… it might have meant she would be sold again. And that would be welcome. Nine years in one place was getting to her, ignoring the nine years as a ‘slave’. She’d been particularly tense over the past two years, since that event with the dark… but she still avoided getting on any of the Dhani’s nerves. They were a touchy lot, though the same could be said for most Dynasties.
She was helping out in the kitchen today, and had to work particularity hard, considering the lack of workers. Marie was still there, and so was Nosalin, though both were much older than they had been before… and the latter had a lot of white in her hair. Marie looked even more stressed than usual, attacking bread dough like it was trying to eat her first. The Ethaefal herself was chopping up vegetables for lunch, adding them to some kind of soup or stew that Nosalin was preparing. She was used to this by now, and her knife moved slowly but carefully to cut up the leek. Slice it down the middle… and chop it into inch wide pieces. She’d already dealt with the end, putting it aside for compost later. Another one of the slaves would deal with it later, and eventually they’d use the compost as fertilizer for the crops. She had three leeks to cut up, and went through them at a slightly lower than average speed… if you wanted to be specific. For each one she lopped off the end, cut down the middle, then sectioned it off into even parts. Once the last step happened, with little effort all the layers of the vegetable simply fell apart, creating a small pile at the back of her chopping board. Once all three leeks were done… she scooped them up and added them to the large pot.
Someone stomped into the room as she did so, but the sailor decided to finish her work before turning. She found an important-looking man… but still a slave… standing behind her. He was probably in a ‘high’ position for a slave, so was completely full of himself… the brand was quite obvious on the side of his face. She raised both eyebrows at the slave, asking “Yes?” She wasn’t quite sure what he wanted… but had a vague idea. They finally needed the extra cash brought in by selling an Ethaefal, didn’t they? The man answered her silent question almost immediately, stating “You’re being sold. Come with me.” Without another word he began striding quickly down a corridor, with the sailor quick in pursuit. Finally… a chance to leave this annoying plantation. She’d miss Marie and Nosalin, but… more things were coming. In fact, a wry grin even made its way onto her face, the first she’d made in seasons.
In a small sitting room, she found Tressyl sitting on a plush sofa. He had a glass in hand, and was sipping from it quietly. When the pair entered the room, he glanced at them, before setting his drink aside. “Good. You two – you are joining today’s group of slaves to be sold. Leave anything you have been given here, and be at the docks in five chimes.” When they both paused for a moment, he snapped “Now!” The slave beside her was trembling, staring at the Rajor with horror in his eyes. “But… but… Master…” he pleaded, shaking his head in disbelief. “No… I’m not being sold… no…” Honestly, the sailor thought he was being pathetic, and apparently the Dhani agreed… that was a first. “Shut up. Go. Now.” The last was a vicious order that made even Lacerta blanch. Quickly, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room, even forgetting to bow… oh well, she hated doing that anyways. And Tressyl seemed to stressed to care, as she heard nothing but the quiet weeping of the man behind her.
“Oh shut up” she told him just as sharply as the Dynasty ‘brat’ had, glaring daggers. He was just being annoying. The slave practically choked on his tears, staring at her imploringly. “Won’t you miss our generous masters? I… I…” He trailed off, utterly bewildered. For a man with such dignity earlier, he’d certainly lost it. And the Eth had lost her patience… it was good to be at the top again, she had to admit. “No” she stated abruptly, before using her long legs to quickly stomp out of the main house and along the path to the ferry docks.
She spotted another pair of slaves waiting awkwardly at the water, both silent and emotionless. Actually, the group made five, including the two ferry slaves and a freeborn guard. The latter looked rather smug with himself, for who knew what reason. The composer quietly joined the group, clasping her hands behind her back and watching everyone from a point above their heads. She was in a very good mood… she was finally getting out of this place. She’d visited the main city once or twice over the years, but now… she was never coming back here. Never. And that was an amazing thought. No more Tressyl, no more Dhani. Maybe she’d be bought by some nicer family, though… they would possibly be worse. She didn’t want to think of that, though. It would be best to sit with more positive thoughts, and not go into the negative side of things… It would be easier. Things would get better. Not worse. Better… right? She wasn’t entirely sure of this, and felt a little off, but repeated the mantra in her head over and over again, attempting to persuade herself that it was true.
