2

The men stood at my pedestal talking and occasionally looking up at me. The questions plagued my mind. Had Dark hair bought me? What would they want me to do? Were they going to eat me or beat me? I felt nauseated and wanted to throw up. Then that would be stuck to me too, so I held it in and tried to breath normally.

I barely noticed the motion as my platform moved backward into a small room. The room was dimly lit and the walls looked like large screens. My arms were trembling from being held out so long and I was slumped against my invisible bonds. For the moment my adrenaline was exhausted and so was I.

The five men walked casually into the room while the lady with the tentacle followed them.

The wall in front of me lit up and it was me, for all practical purposes with no hair. I screamed into the air mask and struggled in my bonds. For some reason it seemed like shaving me bare would be the worst thing they could possibly do. Obviously I knew that was just the beginning.

The dark haired man turned around and watched me struggling. His face was rough with stubble and his short black hair framed his face. He raised a dark eyebrow and said something. Long hair jumped up on my platform behind me. I felt him grab my long brown hair and wrap it around his fist. He twisted my head to and fro talking to his friends.

He jumped down and leaned casually on my platform smirking up at me. The tentacle lady hit a switch and the me on the wall was now just like I was, hair and all. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth. Suddenly, I realized it had come out. The air mask on my face was gone.

The men spoke to the lady in a language I couldn't understand. Dark hair continued to watch me intermittently. I wasn't really upset when the me on the wall had her leg, groin, stomach, and underarm hair removed.

A lanky quiet man pointed to his breast plate and addressed the group. The metal covering his chest had an intricate design on it. In fact, they all wore the same design on their chest. The lady stuck her tentacle into his ear.

I was distracted from the rest of the conversation as the long haired man played with my toes. Across the platform from him a man with brown hair and a short beard stroked the other foot as they talked. They were touching me without permission and it infuriated me. The logical little voice in the back of my mind reasoned I should get used to it.

Two creatures came in to the room from the side door. They looked like they were made of jelly. Again, the urge to throw up came over me and I fought it back down. T

The platform I was on lowered to the ground and I was now surrounded by my captors at their level. The men were enormous, the shortest was probably six foot something. At 5'7 they dwarfed me substantially.

The jelly creatures were on the platform now and I started to struggle. Of course I already knew it was worthless, but I couldn't stop. When the jelly creatures started to engulf my legs, my panicked screaming filled the room. Quite suddenly the air mask over my mouth was replaced and the tentacle lady was sticking her thing in my ear.

"Silence, slave," I heard in my mind. "You are now the property of the proud Warriors that stand around us. They wish your hair removed in certain places and it is being done. They have paid to have an understanding of their language placed in your mind. I will do this now."

My world got foggy as tentacle woman dumped an alien language into my brain. I was vaguely aware that the table moved up as I moved down until I was laying flat at the level of the lady's tentacle. It felt like I had had too much to drink. Slowly the words being spoken around me started to make sense. There wasn't time to marvel at it, though.

The tentacle woman pulled out what looked like a silver pen light and pressed it to my arm. I winced as a slight burn started where she held the silver pen against me.

"What was that?" the lanky guy asked quietly.

"It is for the slave's health," the dark haired man answered him. "Basin told us of this, brother, you must pay more attention."

"We will give it a drink every day that is similar to that concoction," the bearded man said and the others agreed.

It was so weird understanding a language I knew was foreign to me. I was stunned.

"Human slave, I am speaking to you in the language of Pateria. Do you understand me?" the woman asked looking right at me.

I nodded slowly and she slapped my breast, "You will answer me when I speak to you, slave!"

Before I had a chance to do what I was told, I saw Dark hair grabbing her hand.

"This one is ours now, saleswoman. Respect it as such," he said rubbing a hand over the mark hers had made. My nipple responded to his touch despite my sense of dread.

"They are protective, slave, you are lucky. Now do you understand me?" she asked again.

I answered her in a slurred voice with words I barely recognized and the men came to stand around me. I realized I was laying down across the platform and the jelly creatures were still at work. The slimy burning was running up my legs.

Dark hair gazed down at me. He trailed his fingers along my arm as he addressed the saleswoman. "We wish to know how it works. When the cleaners are done, I want you to show us all the parts," he said turning his gaze back on my face.

I still felt drunk and the room started to slowly blacken around the corners. I wondered how many parts she would show him. Would she open up my belly to show him those parts, too? On that lovely note, I blacked out.

'Bad dream,' I thought to myself as I woke up. 'Hope I didn't miss my alarm.' I opened my eyes and then shut them tight again. Inside my head I repeated to myself, 'bad dream, bad dream, bad dream.'

"I already saw you Ciara, you opened your eyes. You aren't asleep anymore. I wish to look at you with them open," the long haired man said.

He had been leaning over me watching me sleep. I had seen his piercing blue eyes the minute I opened mine.

"I could open them for you, Ciara. Should I do that?" he asked.

I threw my eyes open and tried to move away from him, but only ended up backing into dark hair who had been laying on the other side of me. I scooted away from both of them and fell off the surface we had been laying on. Crawling across the floor I stopped when I hit the wall and stood up.

Glancing out an opening in the wall I noted the sun that was peeking over the purple blue horizon. Several large moons could also be seen stretched out in the sky. I'd never seen a sky that color or with that many satellites.

I turned in stunned silence and gazed sightlessly ahead. This wasn't earth, unless my planet suddenly sprouted new moons. I was somewhere different, somewhere very far away. My eyes started to work again and I took in the details of where I was.

It appeared to be a bedroom. In the center of the room sat a huge circular bed covered in an assortment of deep blue covers. A large pole ran up the middle of the bed and attached the ceiling. Four powerfully built men were lounging on it. From the look of their hair, they had just woken up.

The lanky man was laying on the other side of the mattress. He stretched languidly and watched me.

"I told you we should have tied it up," the lanky man said to the group in general.

I whimpered and hugged my arms around myself. My butt naked self, I realized. Looking down quickly I saw ornate metal cuffs wrapped around my wrists and ankles, but was otherwise I was completely unclothed. I shifted my arms to cover my private parts.

"To the first contest then," the broad, bearded man said rising from the bed and coming toward me.

The bearded man was taller than me by at least a foot. His chest was bare except for the copious amounts of thick bronze hair. A fine piece of white linen was wrapped around his waist. From the number of scars that cut across his torso he had obviously been in a lot of fights. He terrified me.

"Master Evan wishes to inspect you on the bed with your eyes open, Ciara. Go back and lay down," he commanded.

The man was a giant. I was too scared to move and shook my head 'no' watching him.

"What do you mean when you move your head like that? Speak to me, Ciara," he said coming closer.

"No," came out of my mouth.

"No what, Ciara," he said folding his arms across his chest. He watched me tremble for a moment and then continued. "You are not educated, so I will help you. When you answer myself or my brothers, the word Master should follow whatever you say."

"You are not my Master," I hissed at him mutinously.

The bearded man stepped closer to me and I bolted away from him. I didn't make it far. In my haste to escape, I didn't notice the long haired man as he stepped in front of me. Fighting wildly, I fought the hands that restrained me. After a quick struggle, I ended up subdued on the floor.

The long haired man held me face down with my hands behind my back. He had my right arm twisted in a grip so strong I feared the bone would break. Screaming apologies I lay still, praying he would release me.