Amelae headed down the stairs, and as she crossed the common room toward the front door, she heard the young human coming down behind her.
A few minutes later she was standing in a queue with many other people, with the young man standing behind her. Most of the folk in the line were dwarves, grousing and cursing their rotten luck to have to be sold into slavery. There were two other humans, one male and one female, holding hands. Slaves who were wed could arrange to be sold together, and it looked like this pair was going to do just that. She watched them for a long moment, they were not young humans, but neither were they old. As she gazed upon them they looked at one another, and she saw a powerful locking of spirits in that look. They loved so strongly, her elven eyes could almost see it, she could definitely see the other effects it had upon them. The display of affection caused her heart to warm and almost made her weep. Those two people alone of the slaves to be sold were happy.
The auction began at the third bell, sharp. By the time the echoes of the tolling died down, the first slave was already being bid upon. A young, strong dwarf lad, who fetched six hundreds for six years service. The auction was not like she had heard humans tell of in Abia or on the Crystern Isles. Those were raucous things that degraded the people sold and the buyers alike. This was strictly business. The buyers were investing in a worker, and little else mattered.
The auction proceeded apace, twenty dwarves and the human couple were gone, and it was her turn. She mounted the steps and the auctioneer ran through her attributes and skills quickly. Many dwarves perked up their ears at the sound of 'journeyman smith.' She had committed to two years servitude.
Several dwarves turned away at the short service period, they were interested in longer-term investment. However, she was amazed at the speed that the bids increased. Within ten bids she would make enough to pay off her debts. The number kept climbing though, and reached eight hundreds. At nine hundreds, all but two of the bidders were eliminated. These two, however, seemed quite determined.
Finally, at eleven hundreds, she was sold. The losing bidder threw up his hands in annoyance and the winner beamed at him. She had gotten double what she needed. She walked down the platform stairs and to her new master. He looked her over with a casual eye. "You look a bit frail." He said. "But I wager your fingers are quite nimble and can do fine detail work."
"I can, master." Amelae said. "I can also wield hammer and bellows, if need be."
He nodded. "Good." He said. "I must concentrate, we speak later." He held up a hand.
She looked where he was looking. It was the young human from the inn. The dwarf was bidding on him. After some mutual glowering between him and the dwarf he had beaten out before, the lad was his. "Good, good." The dwarf said. "Now I have muscle to help with your dexterity."
Gurdaz went over to the kiosk for the auctioneer and paid out several large golden coins for the two slaves. He returned to the two waiting tall folk.
The human walked up to them. "What do I do now, master?" He asked.
"We will all go to my hearth forge and we will talk a bit." The dwarf said. "I would meet my new holdings, while I have them." The dwarf led them down several passages then into a narrow way. After almost a mile of walking the claustrophobic tunnel, they emerged into a sizeable room. It was a smithy, as most others looked. One sullen dwarf sat upon a low stool, apparently awaiting their return. "Hargrum, get up, you lazy slack, I still have your hide for three more years, get working." He said. The sullen dwarf stood slowly and went to work cleaning out the old dust from the fire pit.
"What are your names?" The dwarf asked the two new purchases.
"I am Amelae, master." She said.
The human said. "My name is Mattew, master." He looked at Amelae. "That's a lovely name." He said to her.
She glanced at him, and a very slight tinge of pink entered her cheeks. "Thank you", she whispered, with the barest trace of smile.
"I am Gurdaz, but you will call me master for the next two years each." The dwarf said. You will find me a fair master, despite what Hargrum says."
He immediately put them to work around the smithy, having Mattew tote coal from the storage room, downstairs into a barrel near the forge. Amelae was tasked with purifying some steel rods.
After four hours of work, Gurdaz took them to their rooms, they were across the hall from each other, being the two rooms closest to the smithy, and having high ceilings.
Hargrum groused about their presence and that they had shorter periods of servitude than he did.
As Amelae settled into her room, there was a knock upon her door. Gurdaz opened it and peered in. "I also wished to tell you, you will be serving in my private chambers, Amelae." He said. "Come to me after supper."
She blinked after him as he shut the door. She had not known that slavery would include that sort of intimate servitude. She blinked a few more times, then sniffed back a tear and shrugged. She had committed to it, so she would do what was her duty. That it was her duty was not in doubt, as no normal dwarf would violate the rules around slavery.
The three slaves ate in the kitchen and Mattew said. "It's not so bad as I thought it would be." He picked up his mug of beer. "You?" He was looking at Amelae.
"I suppose not, Mattew." She said, though her eyes had a faraway look. "It is not quite what I expected, though."
The human nodded and drank his beer down. "Well, I have to consider myself lucky, at least I have someone beautiful to look at." He said as he set down the mug.
Amelae blushed again, more brightly than before. "Are all humans so complimentary?" She asked, tilting her head a little, and stroking her rich golden hair.
"When faced with someone so lovely, yes." Mattew said. His eyes were alight as he said it. The look, more than the words, caused her to blush still deeper red. Elves always had a way to cool down human ardor, and she used it, but gently.
"Mattew, do you know how old I am?" She asked.
He shrugged. "Twenty or so?" He guessed.
Amelae gave him a level and even look. "I am sixty four years old." She said. She did not bother telling him that her age was, in human terms, almost what he guessed.
His eyes grew wide with surprise. "Wow." Mattew said. "My father is only fifty." Then he looked down at the table. "I get it. I'm only twenty, myself." His face showed a rather endearing moroseness at those words. He realized their differences now and it hit him hard. If, in time, she felt more close to him, she would explain further, but for now, she had managed to curb his enthusiasm for flirting with her.
For one thing, she had matters of immediate import to think on. In a short while, her new master would bed her. Understandably, this took pride of place in her thoughts as they finished their meals and gave their dishes to the scullery servants. She had already decided that this was an inevitable thing, now to cope with it in her mind.
She went to her room for a moment to gather her thoughts. She said a quick prayer to the spirits, and opened her mind. Standing in the middle of the room she tilted her head back and began to breathe quite slowly and deeply. Her thoughts cleared and her mind expanded for a moment. In that moment the spirits gave her guidance and helped her decide her will. She had promised to be a good slave, and she would be. Her mind ran through the things that would make this task less odious. Her master was a good dwarf, she knew that much already, from his treatment of them so far. He seemed to be intelligent, as well, something she always found attractive in men. She had not heard much regarding dwarven men's privates, but she had heard a few times, in taverns around the Kingdom, that they were as well endowed as human men. This balked her a little, but also gave her a small amount of thrill. Was that enough? She wondered. Lifting her skirt, she felt between her smooth thighs. The moisture there was above normal, but not very much so. They also reputedly had great endurance and could love a woman for many hours non-stop. This idea gave her even more of a thrill, and far less pause than the size issue. Yes, she decided, feeling herself grow quite wet, that will help nicely.
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