"Father, I'll do what is necessary for our family, even if it means I never see you all again."
"You are a brave son, Daniel. Today, you have become a man and will remain one, no matter what those monsters do to you."
Daniel met the intense gaze of his kid brother, Keith, and the tear-stained countenance of his mother. His father's face beamed with pride even as his eyes swelled with tears. Nervously, they all gazed at the door of the farmhouse, waiting for the inevitable knock which was sure to come.
The invaders had swarmed out of the east, astride powerful horses armed with weapons that Daniel's people had never encountered before and which had decimated his nation's army. Now, it was either peace on the invader's terms or total annihilation for all who remained in opposition.
Daniel's mother embraced him and cried on his shoulder for a time before being separated by his father. She continued to vent tears in her husband's strong arms. Daniel stood alone, nervously anticipating his uncertain fate. Like unanticipated thunder, a strong incessant pounding emanated from the door.
Daniel's father strode to the threshold and swung the door open. An emissary from his own people stood next to one of the tall invaders. Other invaders could be spied not far away on their impressive mounts. The man, who used to be the mayor of the invaded town, spoke in cowed whisper,
"Vincent. I assume you have heard the order of our new masters?"
"Yes, John, I have." replied Daniel's father in an equally subdued tone. "We shall obey. Be it noted that my brave son Daniel surrendered of his own volition. This family has complied with the edict."
"It shall be noted, Vincent."
"Let's get a move on!" barked the invader. "There are several more farms along this road. Surrender your tribute, NOW farmer!"
Without a word, Daniel pushed past his father into the misting twilight.
"To protect my family, I will go into captivity."
"Don't try to be noble, dog. We know it is fear that compels you." spat the tall invader. The figure gestured, whip clasped in hand, at a caravan of wheeled cages. "There is room for you in the trailing wagon. Get in or I'll flay you alive."
Daniel heard the pained scream of his mother, cut off by the closing of the door to the only home he had ever known, as he strode towards the wagon already brimming with young men. He vowed to himself that he would not look back. Instead he would focus on whatever hope he could find in his situation. The enemy was known to be ruthless and merciless however. Everything known about how they treated slaves instilled only fear. A soldier at the wagon frisked Daniel, confiscated his knife and forced him into the wooden cage with a straw floor. Daniel realized that his expression must mirror the glum countenance he encountered on his unfortunate companions. The wagon began to roll. A patrol of mounted enemy quickly surrounded the cage, eliminating the possibility of escape. The conquering enemy hurled down invective upon the occupants of the cage, openly brandishing their weapons in a threatening manner. Daniel heard the jeers and laughter of these intimidating women from the east and was chilled to the bone with fear.
The ride was long and boring, headed deep into enemy territory. At regular intervals, Daniel and his new companions were fed and watered. Daniel considered the men about him. Some of them still wore the remnants of uniforms, others were like himself, noncombatants destined for new lives as slaves in the eastern matriarchy. Some of the men had retained dice, others held playing cards. Unused to craps and unfamiliar with the card games of the soldiers, Daniel nonetheless paid rapt attention to the diversions to keep his mind off of other horrors. He had quickly learned to not stare at his captors, lest he draw their ire and violence.
What he DID observe were uniformly tall, beautiful, and powerfully built women in burnished armor. Their long hair was fixed in braided ponytails. Daniel imagined that they would be quite pretty but their countenances never wore anything other than intense, severe battle faces. Contempt for every male in the train of wagons was as obvious as the sun at noon. Aside from knots of activity around the cards and dice, the wagon was a eerily quiet. Daniel read the pained and chagrined expressions of the men who had once been soldiers. Daniel's nation had never know defeat. Now, like some waking nightmare, a people used to freedom had become a vassal state. Enslaving the vast majority of every able-bodied young men and soldiers was the conqueror's first act of subjugation.
After a trek lasting four days, the train of slave wagons arrived in a glistening city of stark white buildings and red brick streets. Even unsophisticated Daniel understood that this must be Hera, the capital city of the eastern matriarchy. Daniel had never seen larger or more impressive buildings. Once, he had accompanied his father on an errand to his own nation's capital city. At the time, Daniel had been awed by his capital's buildings and shrines, but now they seemed like a collection of outhouses in comparison to the current tableau. The wagons came to a stop before the largest building of all.
A significant cadre of cavalry formed a phalanx about the men as they exited the wagons. Trying to escape meant death. Every bit of bravery seemed to have been drained from Daniel and his fellow captives. The men allowed themselves to be herded into the huge building. Daniel assumed the building was some sort of rendering facility. He considered the possibility that these ruthless women would convert him into sausages but then realized that they would not have taken them all this far only to kill them. That act of mercy could have been performed days ago in the wilderness of the frontier.
Inside the building, Daniel heard running water. On a catwalk above them an intimidating looking woman bellowed into a megaphone, "Listen up you dogs! STRIP! To your skins and be quick about it!"
Not another woman had seen Daniel naked since he was a young boy, not even his mother. He dallied for a moment and then felt the sting of a whip across his back. Intimidated and terrified, Daniel quickly shed his clothes and left them in a pile on the floor. Armed women wearing bored expressions herded the men into the next room where continual showers and soap dispensed from hoppers in the ceiling soon had every man smelling fresh and clean, despite their several day's beard growth.
After their showers, the men were filed one by one through an exit. There, a woman applied a depilatory to the faces of all the men. The next woman wiped their faces with a towel and the third handed each man a tiny bit of fabric which barely concealed even the the least impressive example of manhood. Once clad, for lack of a better term, the men were directed to a long wall of holding cells. Most men were doubled up but Daniel ended up alone in his cage. Daniel thought about his family. As much as it stung, better he suffer the uncertainties of slavery in the matriarchy rather than his little brother or parents. He felt certain that his mother's grief over being parted from her oldest son was equal to his own. Had the government not declared him vital for farm work, Daniel would have been a soldier facing the invading matriarchy forces. He had come to adulthood just as hostilities had broken out. After intense discussion, Daniel had just about convinced his father to replace his name on the essential list with that of his younger brother when the war had come to its abrupt end. Those soldiers who had not surrendered immediately were dispatched with gusto by matriarch commandos. Daniel's people understood that a bad peace was better than a symbolic victory resulting in genocide.
The victors made rebellion an impossibility by simply abducting every able-bodied male of military age. Daniel's people would be cowed for at least a generation. While considering all this, feeling low, a pair of very pretty women with clipboards and other objects Daniel could not identify, centered themselves outside the bars of his cell. Whereas other men had hurled abuse at these women and threatened violence if they were released, Daniel greeted them with a quiet, "Hello." that was tinged with equal parts confusion and inquiry.
Daniel soon found himself in deep conversation with the women, answering their questions honestly and to the fullest of his abilities. They seemed to like his answers. The shorter, beautiful redhead seemed to be in charge, but the taller brunette seemed a near equal. Whatever menace there was in the matriarchy's armed forces was not present in these two women, who wore uniforms of some kind but were clearly not martially inclined. After a long period of conversation, the taller and darker of the women smiled at him and said, "Daniel, I think you have all the makings of a first class jingle man." The meaning of the words "jingle man" puzzled Daniel greatly, but he understood that, in some way the phrase portended good news, or at least a better fate than he had imagined.
After midnight, when nearly every other male prisoner was asleep, several guards came to claim Daniel. Warned in hush tones to be as quiet as possible, Daniel soon found himself outside the massive building, in another straw-filled wagon, with a collection of other captives. Even by the torchlight, Daniel could tell that that vast majority of them were young men like himself. All wore the same puzzled expression he did as the cart rolled silently off into the night.
Near dawn, they arrived at a smaller building. In short order, each was in a private cell. However, the amenities in this facility were much more to the liking of the enslaved men. Real beds with sheets and blankets, a small table and chair with an aromatic, savory, and still warm meat pie sitting on the table, ready to eat. The men were told to eat and then get some sleep. An older, still attractive, woman, who seemed to be in charge, told the prisoners in a strong voice. "A bit, and I emphasize ONLY a bit will be explained tomorrow. What I CAN tell you men is that you very much want to be jingle men. You have all, whether you realize it or not, entered an internship. If you pass, ALL of us, both you dogs and those in charge above you, will be very happy. However, if you fail, your lives become the most expendable of any slaves in the entire matriarchy and we will find some foul dehumanizing, mindless, and highly dangerous toil to occupy you for a few short months. You won't live longer than that. Keep that in mind, dogs! Good night."
The impact of the matron's words was immediate. There was virtually no conversation the rest of the night, The men devoured their pies then slid between the sheets of the beds and drifted off to confused slumber. Daniel was not at all sure he wanted to be a "jingle man," whatever that was, but he knew that he preferred being alive to being worked to death in some mine or some other hellhole. He was very sure that he would pay the utmost attention when the morning came.
None of the men had gotten much sleep before being roused from their beds and assembled in the main room for breakfast. The food was very good, the only real meal the men had had in days. While being transported to the capital city of the matriarchy, they had been fed just enough to keep hunger pangs at bay. Weakened men were easier to control and usually lacked the energy to plot and carry out escape attempts. Conversation was nearly nonexistent as the slaves savored their meals.
