The Priestess And Her Boy Ch 11

11 - The Slave Market

In the minutes after Nikah's punishment on the frame of repentance, when it became clear that his emotional recovery was going to take some significant time, Ashala suggested that Ruta return to the Temple Gardens where she would be sorely missed should she remain absent much longer.

"But what about you Ashala?" asked Ruta. "Do you not have important duties at the Infirmary?"

"The Infirmary is empty Ruta," said Ashala. "No kitchen boys have been scalded, no library boys have fallen from ladders, and neither have your garden boys been stepping on rakes! I shall stay with Nikah until he is properly with us again. And Ruta, I shall talk to him about our need for assistance this coming rest day."

Ruta leaned down to kiss the resting Nikah.

"Nikah, it was wonderful what we did together, the three of us. I hope you know that Priestess Ashala and I love you very much. Was it very painful Nikah?"

"Yes, but I was glad." replied the boy.

Ruta departed, leaving the two of them alone. Ashala knew that abandoning her boy was out of the question while he was recovering from such an intense, emotional and stimulating experience. She stayed with him dutifully; holding him, stroking his hair and talking softly about how pleased he had made her.

"Mistress, you know it was not I that spoke of our activities last rest day. It was Tak." said Nikah.

Ashala laughed.

"Yes Nikah, I knew that all along. Perhaps the need for you to be punished was not as great as my need to punish you."

Nikah took a few seconds to ponder her comment.

"I understand Mistress," he said. "I was scared when you commanded me onto the frame. You were so cold. I felt fear of you but I was also excited. Deep down I know I am safe with you. And I will always obey you, Mistress, whether you whip me or not."

"You are a good boy Nikah. Fearful of the Goddess, as you should be, and submissive towards priestesses, the personifications of Her divine being. And that is why I select you to help Ruta and I on the rest day tomorrow. And no, we shall not be visiting any taverns on this occasion."

"You wish me to carry your parcels Mistress?" asked Nikah.

"No. We are going to purchase a boy. We will need you to help us handle him, should it be necessary."

"A replacement for Tak? Mistress, do you think I shall see Tak again one day?"

"I do not know Nikah. Try not to think about it. Whatever will happen will happen. Here, let me take a look at your rump. Oh my, you are quite marked. Who do you go to tonight?"

"Priestess Shallie, of the Library. She will probably not notice Mistress, she removes her eyeglasses when enjoying boys in her bedchamber."

"Nikah, there are big red welts across your cheeks!" said Ashala. "I think she will notice. I shall come with you to her door to explain. But now we will go to the High Priestess. You have some grovelling to do, but you are good at that, are you not."

****

The next morning, Ashala and Ruta came early to the bedchamber of Shallie to fetch Nikah, as had been agreed the previous night. The boy was already fed and dressed in his tunic, ready to leave for the day.

"I tried to use him in ways that would not make his condition worse," said Shallie. "And I bathed him well this morning and applied lotion."

"We are so sorry Shallie," replied Ashala. "Ruta and I got quite carried away with him yesterday. I hope we did not spoil your evening."

"Not at all. I always enjoy Nikah." she said, tousling his hair.

Ruta, Ashala and Nikah rushed out of the Temple and into the City streets, heading in the direction of the West Quarter. Ashala bade them hurry, as it was best to be at the Slave Market early, so as not to miss the best 'livestock', as she put it. The Market was staged once each moon inside a large circular hall, more commonly used for public events, such as the annual celebration of the Republic, and theatrical or musical performances. At the entrance to the hall, a lady of the City sat by a table, controlling the crowd, for it was an extremely busy morning. Distracted, and barely looking up, she said to Ashala, "No males, unless they are merchandise or vendors. We are trying to prevent it becoming too crowded inside." And addressing Nikah directly she said, "Go wait for your Mistresses over there with the other slaves!"

Ashala turned sharply to face the seated woman.

"I beg your pardon! How dare you speak to priestesses of the Temple in such an offhand manner, without standing and without doing us the courtesy of looking us in the eye. And do not presume to give our boy a direct command! He is not a simple slave; he is of the Temple and, I suspect, closer to the Goddess than you will ever be. You shall apologise!"

Ashala had raised her voice to the administrator and many around them were now looking over with great curiosity.

"Mistress, do not trouble yourself," said Nikah, embarrassed. "I shall go and wait with the others."

Ashala ignored him.

The lady citizen, paling, stood and addressed her, "I am so sorry Priestess. I did not look carefully and failed to see that you are a Lady of the Goddess. I most humbly apologise."

Ashala stared at the woman icily.

"Not to me! To my boy! His name is Nikah."

The woman stared at Ashala incredulously. There were gasps among the crowd of onlookers; disapproving murmurs. But Ashala stood in the doorway, hands on hips, her gaze fixed on the woman as the group behind them, seeking access to the hall, grew further in size. Finally, the lady, her cheeks reddening, turned to Nikah and said, with a faltering voice, "I am sorry Nikah. I should not have presumed to speak to you like that. You are not my property and I had no right. Please forgive me."

The lady looked as though she were about to die of shame, but Ashala said simply, "Thank you sister. It was not so difficult was it?". And then, turning to her boy, she said, "Nikah, go wait with the other boys and husbands over there. We may be some time."

Ruta and Ashala entered the Hall to be confronted by a chaotic scene. Around the outside circumference, in a large circle, sellers struggled for space, tightly packed against each other. The 'merchandise', as the lady citizen at the door had termed it, consisted of many hundreds of boys standing on short display boxes elevating them about a foot from the floor. The sellers stood beside the boxes, shouting and haggling with potential customers, perhaps two thousand of them, who circled the hall in a generally clockwise manner, eyeing the boys on display. They were all boys of course - the keeping of females as property being forbidden within the City. Ruta and Ashala saw bands of rough Cargian men selling eastern boys in groups of twenty or thirty at a time. In other places a single lady citizen, perhaps fallen on hard times, would stand patiently with her solitary boy, waiting to be approached. The priestesses could see some like this in tears. Everywhere there was noise; the shouting of the sellers, screams of faux outrage over prices asked, and demands to inspect the goods more closely. Just in front of Ruta, two women started fighting, clawing at each other and pulling hair until they were dragged apart by those around them.

"Look Ashala, there is a pretty one," said Ruta, clutching at her companions arm.

The boy was being offered by a City lady who stood talking to a small but eager crowd gathered in front of her. She appeared well-dressed and prosperous. Her boy was indeed attractive; dark and tall, perhaps from the south.

"Why do you sell him?" asked a woman suspiciously.

"I have taken a third husband; a Son of the North. I must make room." replied the seller.

"Will your new husband be as obedient as this boy?" asked a woman in the crowd, provocatively.

"The role of husband to a lady of the City is new to him," she said, to laughs from the group. "But he is learning quickly." And she touched the coiled whip that hung from her belt.

"Remove the boy's clothing!" came a shout from the back of the crowd.

The seller snapped her fingers without turning to face the boy and he disrobed immediately, exposing a muscular, well-proportioned body. There were murmurs of approval from the observers. The Priestesses noticed that he was shaved smooth all over, save for the hair on his head; evidently a preference of his owner.

A voice called out, demanding his arousal.

"Good luck with that," whispered Ashala to Ruta. "I doubt that even Nikah could satisfy his Mistress in this place!"

But the woman walked over to her boy and mounted the box behind him. She reached around him and gave him the lightest of touches, fingers dancing over his sex as she whispered into his ear. To the delight of the crowd, the boy responded.

"See," said Ruta, "It is her words that are most important, not her touch. The boy is very well trained."

"Five hundred! Not a penny less!" said the owner to the group of excited women.

There were gasps. It was a huge amount for a single boy. One by one the women turned away as the seller glared at them scornfully. She dismounted the box and bade her boy put his tunic back on.

Ashala stepped forward.

"We shall take him." she said.

"You are wise priestess," said the lady. "Those others did not appreciate his value. His name is Samon. He has seen eighteen summers and he is from the South. You will find him obedient and pleasing." Turning to the boy she continued, "Samon, I was often cruel to you. I wish I had not been. I....I hope you were able to find some pleasure in my service."

The woman waited for a few seconds, clearly hoping that he would speak. But he said nothing. Finally, she took payment from Ashala, kissed the boy, turned and left them.

"Guilt!", whispered Ashala to Ruta. "She thought that at the final moment she could cajole him into forgiveness, but she was too proud to ask for it directly. And the boy knew. He is a clever one. I'll warrant that his silence just now was the only sign of defiance he ever showed her. It will haunt her, as clearly she did have some love for him."

****

The two Priestesses continued to explore the Market with their newly acquired boy following behind them.

"Stay close!" shouted Ruta. "We do not wish to lose such an expensive purchase in the first hour!" And she took hold of his wrist tightly.

Leaning in close to Ashala, she whispered, "I do like the way he is so smooth. I think, as his day-Mistress, I shall keep him like that. And I shall be first to enjoy him in my bedchamber. It is always exciting when there is a new boy! I believe I will leave my chess board untouched for that evening."

"Calm yourself Ruta," replied Ashala. "There is more work to be done here."

At the far end of the Hall, they paused before a group of Cargian slavers displaying ten captives in chains; rough boys from a far away eastern land. One of the Cargians, an older man with missing teeth, saw them looking at the slaves and approached.

"Good morning Priestesses," he said. "These boys are not for you. They are wild and untrained, and they do not speak the language of the City. Besides, they are ugly; even uglier than me, some of them!"

His comrades laughed, shouting that no creature had yet been born that was uglier than he.

"We will decide what we are interested in," said Ashala, noticing a boy snarl at her. "Bring that one forward!"

One of the Cargians grabbed the boy's chains and yanked him forwards so that he fell to the floor at Ashala's feet. He tried to rise and lunge at the slaver, but the chains restricted his movements and he was easily pushed to the ground again.

"How much?" asked Ashala.

"Priestess, you are surely playing with us," said the first man. "He is not fit for a woman's company. He has not yet been broken. And he is dangerous!"

"How much?" repeated Ashala.

"Seventy," he replied. "And five for the chains, for he cannot be released from them. Not here, anyway."

"I will give you fifty," replied Ashala. "Including the chains."

"No Priestess. Later today the Lady Genva, Mistress of the Quarries, will be here. She will buy our slaves."

"You hope!", said Ashala. "There are many Cargians here, and some have more slaves to sell than you."

The man considered this for some time before replying, "Very well, take him for fifty! I see you have a boy here to help you."

"And another outside." she replied.

"Even so, one of my men will accompany you, at least until you get him through the door. And be careful, Priestess, he bites!"