Prologue

Liel had woken up but continued to lay in her bunk bed. There were no clocks in the barracks, but waking up at dawn had become a habit over the six months she had been here. Soon she heard the cluttering of keys and the barracks’ door was unlocked.

“Get up you swine! Anyone not out in two minutes gonna catch a beating!”

Liel jumped off her bunk bed, shoving awake those of her neighbors who were still sleeping. She quickly put on her boots, put on an old, tattered tunic and fastened it with a piece of rope. Then she walked outside and lined up with the rest of the two dozen elven women who lived with her.

“Alright swine! I am in a bad mood, and there is lots of work for you to do, so let’s get this over with quickly,” a mean looking guard said.

He began reading names off of the paper he held in his hands. The elves responded when their names were called.

Liel tried to relax, this was one of the few moments of relative peace she would get during the day. After taking the attendance they would follow the guards to a nearby farm, where they would be given their jobs for the day. Being assigned to work in the field was considered bad, getting a job inside, like feeding livestock or milking cows was considered good. You weren’t working under the hot sun and could take quick breaks without the guards noticing.

She thought about her situation, it was both good and bad. As a pretty female elf slave, the likelihood of being sold to some rich noble and becoming his plaything was very high. So, being assigned to this place, where even the guards haven’t tried to violate her, was a good thing. But being on this farm meant she had completely failed as a spy for the Elven Kingdom. None of the elves knew where this place was, and even if they did, it wasn’t the kind of information the king cared about.

“Form up into columns!” Yelled the head guard after he finished taking attendance. “And you better not try anything funny, like that brat last week! Had to spend all night chasing her through the woods,” he added and spat a mouthful of saliva.

The one he referred to was a young elf, she wasn’t lucky like Liel, as many of the guards took a liking to her. After being constantly violated she has had enough and tried to escape when they were being led back to the barracks at dusk. All the slaves hoped she would escape, but fate was quite cruel to them. The guards caught her and dragged her back by morning. Given they had to escort the slaves to work, they had to toss her into a nearby building. After the slaves returned from their work in the evening, the guards had their revenge. No one knew what exactly happened, but her screams could be heard throughout the night, and no one had seen her since.

Liel trembled, this was her life now. There was no way to escape this place since they didn’t even know where it was located and which direction to escape to. Hoping for an elven liberation was also futile. The elven armies couldn’t possibly advance into Slane Theocracy’s territory, and the king didn’t care for them enough to send a covert op to free them.

No, she was stuck here. Worse yet, she volunteered for this. Her mind wandered to those events, while the elves walked in two columns toward their workplace. She was a part of a small group, their mission: to go to the front lines, to get captured and to spy on Theocracy from within, relaying any valuable information by [message.] As if a slave would be privy to any such information. She chucked. It was a stupid plan from the start.

The reason she volunteered was in hopes of finding a trace of her sister, who was captured a decade earlier. Not knowing what happened to their daughter was killing her parents. Her father fought bravely on the front lines, but he was just a regular soldier, it was impossible for him to advance the battleground by himself. Her mother tried to put on a stoic face, but she had visibly declined over this ten years.

She couldn’t stand it anymore, and when a chance to go deep into the Slane Theocracy came up, she jumped on it.

As her thoughts wandered, in order to distract her from the tragedy of her current circumstances, the columns halted. They were still some distance away from their destination. Looking ahead, she saw the head guard talking to some new guardsman. Given the respectful posture the head guard assumed, the later must’ve outranked him. Her brain automatically picked up these details, even if she didn’t pay attention, due to her spy training.

The two guards walked over, and the head guard pointed at her.
“Are you the one called Liel?” Asked the new guardsman, “come with me.” He told her after she nodded.

She followed him silently. She was curious but knew better than to ask where they were going. Still, her mind raced: Could he be taking me to pleasure some high ranking official? A few women from their barracks had been selected for such a thing in the past.

She was certain of her suspicion when they quickly came to an average looking carriage. The two of them got in and rode the carriage in silence. The windows were covered by curtains though, so she couldn’t see where they were. After a while, they arrived at their destination. She exited and saw a small building, the guard led her inside – it was a bathhouse.

“Take a bath, and here are your new clothes, put them on after you are done,” he instructed while pulling some good looking clothes out of a bag he brought.
Liel was now convinced that her earlier guess was correct. Was she finally going to be violated? An inevitable step for most female slaves, but one she hoped to avoid.
“What are you waiting for? Better get started!” The guard yelled, waking her up from her thoughts.

She looked at him questioningly, but the guard just grinned in response. It was obvious he didn’t plan to leave and was going to enjoy the show. If this had happened before, she would likely protest and get embarrassed, but six months in captivity had dulled her response to such things.

After taking off her clothes she proceeded to take a bath. She paid no attention to the man, instead, she enjoyed the feeling of water cleansing her body and the fragrant smell of soap. After she was done she walked towards her new clothes, looking at the guard she wore a mocking, even challenging expression.

She reached to pick up her clothing, but the guard grabbed her and pushed her over a nearby table.
It looks like lust got the best of him, she thought as she heard the guard’s labored panting. This bathhouse is probably in the middle of the city, if I fight I will certainly die, but… thoughts raced through her head as she steeled her resolve. The man behind her was quickly undoing his trousers.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice came from behind them. It was a soft, quiet voice, but it was filled with so much killing intent that Liel froze. Is this how a rabbit feels in front of a snake? She wondered. The guard must’ve felt the same way, he stopped immediately, his lust vanished as if it never was.

“Oh, Berta-sama, may I ask what are you doing here?”
“Cleaning up after fools like you. You can leave, I’ll take over from here.”

When Liel turned around she saw her savior – a short woman dressed in ordinary clothes, she had no weapons and her entire look seemed to be aimed at looking totally ordinary. The killing intent she projected earlier was gone too. She’s an assassin, Liel realized, and a powerful one.

“Put your clothes on and let’s go.” The woman called Berta told her.

After she did, they left the bathhouse and got into the carriage. They rode it for a while before coming to a halt. After exiting Liel cast a quick glance around. They were in the middle of a street, the building they stopped in front of looked a bit like an inn.

Berta led her into the building. Inside, the luxury of the surroundings stunned Liel, she had never seen such expensive looking décor. Her suspicion of being offered as a playtoy to some rich noble once again floated in her mind.

Berta faced her and spoke: “You are to remain here. Sometime later today a guest will arrive. Your job is to do anything you are asked of. I trust there is no need to explain what will happen if you disappoint this guest? Or worse, try to escape?” She added, and Liel could feel the killing intent raise in her voice.

 

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