At the gate, Patience was pleased to find that Zoƫ had carried out her orders perfectly and was there before her. She was not pleased, however, when she saw the boy she'd selected. "Zoƫ." Patience snapped in that way of hers that let her victim know they'd better watch out while also seeming pleasant to those around. "I'm sure there was change." She held out the hand at the snide comment. Surely the boy couldn't have gone for much. He didn't look even the least bit strong. The young woman placed the pouch of leftover money in her hand. Decidedly heavy. As she'd expected.
She let her blue eyes roam over the boy. He was tall, but didn't seem strong. She'd sent Zoƫ to get her a hunter not a serving boy. She sighed drastically. That was the trouble with sending slaves out to do anything. No matter how obedient, they always looked out for their own. Rather annoying. "Does he have a name Miss Brooks?" She asked raising one slim eyebrow.
"Oh, yes. Frederick Walters." The girl answered her meekly and Patience nodded. "Well Fredrick, Ayra." She nodded to each of her new slaves in turn. "Come along, it's filthy here. I'll introduce myself back at the house." And with that she turned and left with the three of them in tow. Once at the house, Patience smiled. Her home was always a sight to lay eyes on. "This is my home." She said, gesturing to the grand building and vast front yard before them. "Welcome to the Jones Plantation." She stopped at the door and turned to them with an openly welcoming grin. "I'm Patience Jones, your new master, but you are to call me Miss Jones only. There is to be no stealing, talking to other slaves, speaking out of line, disobedience, embarrassing me in front of guests, or back sass." Her smile dropped into a cruel glare. "Any breaking of these rules is severely punished."
And with that, she turned on her heel and lead them through the winding maze of her house to the back door. "The servants quarters are seperate from the house." She explained and opened the door. Outside, the double doors opened up into a vast yard decorated with an elaborate garden. The whole yard slanted on a hill down away from the house so it was easy to see the slave huts lined in a neat row at the bottom of the yard. She lead them straight down to them.
The huts were dismal little living spaces made of a total of six pieces of wood. Four for the walls and two for the roof. They were no better than dog sheds when it came to protection from the elements and didn't even have a floor, but they did their job well enough. There were eight of them all sitting in a neat line. On the very end was one slightly larger one made of marble. That was used only for the Blood Oath ceremony.
Patience led them down to the last hut and inside. There were six small cots laying on the dirt ground and a single window with no glass, but a mesh screen instead. On one of the cots sat Ayden, staring out the window. The sight of him made her lip curl slightly. She would be glad to be rid of him. She turned to the others. "Zoƫ and Ayden stay here already, but recently I've lost a few servants so you'll be taking their places. This will be your room. She pointed to the two empty cots, each with two changes of clothing on them. The girls cot had two freshly washed lace dresses on it and the boys two sets of white khakis and white sweaters. "You can wash up in the servants bathrooms behind the huts, after that Ayden here will give you a tour of the house." She turned to Zoƫ. "Zoƫ, you have a few moments to yourself. Answer any questions these two have and then go into the market and pick up some groceries with the change from Fredrick." She tossed the girl the pouch and gave them all a "warm" smile. "All of you be ready for tonight."
After her not-so-subtle hint, Patience turned and left, making her way up through the gardens.
"Where am I?" The boy asked as she lead him away and Zoƫ felt a sharp pang of guilt. She knew what is was like to wake up one day and not know where you are, what was going on. "Why am I being bid on like an animal?" Deciding to break the rules for him one more time, she stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.
"Alright. First of all you should know that me talking to you is completely against the rules and I could get beat for it, but I know how you're feeling so I'm risking it anyway." She breathed deeply and looked around for Miss Jones. No where in sight. Then again, she had a funny way of being able to sneak up on a person. "You're in Tarsha and you're a slave. I don't know where you came from or how you got here, but you're no longer a name, you're property okay? Follow the rules and things should be okay for you but Miss-" Blonde hair bobbed in the crowd, headed towards them and she was cut off as Miss Jones made her appearence.
Zoƫ quickly closed her mouth and gave Fredrick and apologetic glance before turning her eyes on the girl Miss Jones had bought to be Bound. She was stunning. Not in the jaw-dropping way of her master, but in a more subtle, natural way, though it had the same affect. She was weak and frail looking and Zoƫ guessed that getting a girl so perfect to be Bound probably took a large chunk out of Miss Jones's pocket, but she'd evidently thought it was worth it. The woman had a peculiar way of choosing the weak and the pretty to be Bound, as if she were trying to rid the world of anyone prettier than her.
If that were so, then she was going to have a hard time with her friend, Miss Edwards. Sometimes Zoƫ wondered if their friendship was real or a keep-your-friends-close-and-enemies-closer kind of deal. "Zoƫ." Her name made her jump. How was it that Miss Jones could sound harsh and gentle at the same time? She peeled her eyes from the girl and placed them back on her mistress, to meet the woman's steely glare. The look sent a shiver up her spine that only stopped when she pulled her blue eyes away to inspect Zoƫ's purchase. Obviously she was displeased and it brought a small smile to Zoƫ's lips to see the woman angry. She'd only done what she'd told her to do so there was no way Patience would beat her yet she'd probably just lost her the ceremony and wasted her money.
Then Miss Jones started to lead them back to the house and Zoƫ followed along patiently as she showed them their room and their clothes. "Zoƫ, you have a few moments to yourself. Answer any questions these two have and then go into the market and pick up some groceries with the change from Fredrick." She reached out and caught the pouch Miss Jones threw at her just in time. The deceptively warm smile on her mistresses face made her sick and Zoƫ had to look away. "All of you be ready for tonight."
Zoƫ jerked her head up and watched Patience's retreating form, green eyes wide. What?! All of them be ready? Oh God, what did that mean? She looked at the other three. She knew the two new slaves fates were sealed, but her and Ayden? What was going to happen to them? Zoƫ had tried to escape earlier in the year, but since then she'd been a perfect little angel, making her a shoo-in for either Bound or Hunter. Dammit, she knew she'd overdone it.
Plopping down on her cot next to Ayden, Zoƫ groaned and looked up at the new two. "Fredrick, and I think she called you Ayra?" She gestured to the girl. "I'm Zoƫ Brooks." Her southern accent twisted her words slightly and she gave them the best smile she could even though she knew what they were up against. "I suggest you start preparing yourselves for the worst."
Vera glared down into the eye's of the bidders before her, hands crossed tightly across her chest. One woman raised her hand every few seconds, face passive no matter how high the price went and Vera turned her eyes to study her face. She was beautiful as was the woman talking nonchalantly beside her, Ayra in tow. She watched as the blonde lead the weak looking girl away, but managed to catch the sad smile shot her way before she disappeared into the crowd. The bidding slowed as people turned away until finally only the caramel haired woman remained and a "SOLD" sign was slung over her neck, a man pushing her from the platform and down to her new master.
The woman reached over and handed the man a small pile of coins that could have paid for her to eat for a year. "You are to call me Miss Edwards, I will give further instructions once we arrive" She said calmly before slapping a gold cuff around her wrist. It was a bracelet actually, but it felt like a cuff, and it stood out sharply among her handmade tribe bracelets. Vera stood as tall as she possibly could and followed Miss Edwards away.
When they reached the woman's home, Vera had to keep from gasping. She'd been with some wealthy masters, but this woman's house was the largest she'd seen in a long time. The entire block was nothing but huge plantation homes. Back before her enslavement, she'd lived in a one room hut with five other siblings, her four grandparents, and parents. Granted, it was large for tribe standards, but this was ridiculous. No matter how hard she tried, Vera could never quite get over how many things and how much space these people needed. This woman's house could probably hold her entire tribe comfortably.
She followed in silence as Miss Edwards brought her down to the slave quarters. A tiny little room with one cot and two uniforms folded neatly on it. She almost laughed. This was more like it. She rubbed at the cuff on her wrist and sighed deeply. "Right. Take a bath in the servants bathroom, and exchange your current attire with these." Vera allowed the woman to push two uniforms in her hands. "I'll expect you ready in around fifteen minutes. I will send one of the other servants to instruct you further."
Vera rolled her eyes as the lady walked away. "send one of the others to instruct her further." She scoffed. These people never did anything on their own. Glancing around the small room with big blue eyes, she groaned and threw the dresses back onto the cot. No way would she wear a dress. Her current clothes may be dirty, but she would just wash them and they'd work just fine. A pair of jean shorts and a white blouse never hurt anyone. It was the nicest outfit she'd ever really worn. The blouse was made of a flowing sheer material with little flowers sewed down the front. It may be stained, but after a good was Miss Edwards could get over it. If she was going to be Bound anyway, who really cared?
Leaving the dresses behind, Vera set off in search of the servants bathrooms. They were relativity easy to find. She closed the door firmly and placed a small side table against it to keep anyone from coming in before running the water in the small bath. Good thing she was a small person. After making sure it was the right temperature, Vera started with her jewelry, slipping each one of her handmade tribe bracelets onto the end table until all that was left was the gold band that marked her as property of Miss Edwards. After her bracelets, Vera took out every single one of her earrings, then her clothes before sliding into the warm water.
Instantly, she felt better. She hadn't had a bath in two days. She let out a sigh and cleaned herself before climbing out and letting her clothes take their turn in the water. They dried as she replaced all her jewelry and once she was back in them, Vera drained the water and left, heading back to her room.
The only reason she'd worn so many bracelets was because anything that you couldn't wear was thrown away as soon as you were sent to the market so she'd worn every single one. She really didn't need all of them anymore so she slipped off all but her five favorites and placed the rest under the small cot. She left a thick leather one on and slid it down to the base of her wrist to cover the ugly gold band there.
Feeling complete, Vera kicked the dresses aside and sat on the cot to wait for Miss Edward's other slave for "instruction".