"Wake up you lot!" The sound of yelling and banging on the wall was masked by the mixed groans of the males in the room. "We need messenger and bed mates." The yelling continued before heavy footsteps rapidly left, the sounds of beds starting to creak as some started to get up while others tried to get back to sleep. They were all slaves of war, taken to a foreign land to be sold to whatever lord or lady wanted them at the time. They had all been there long enough to learn most of the foreign tongue.
William was one such male, slowly getting up and starting to make his way down the hall with the rest of the messenger. Short brown hair and dull brown eyes with an athletic build that only forced manual labour could give. He was a little shorter than the rest but they all mostly had the same body type, thin and long legs, capable of running for either speed or endurance, whatever their destination was they were the best option. The 'bed mates' on the other hand were muscular and handsome, and unlike them were much more eager to be bought considering what their job was.
Sva'dere was past the northern hills, a country that was under constant snow half the year and chilly dryness the other half. Despite being slaves they were at least given ample clothing, although the bed mates would be forced to strip to be put on display and they would have to endure. William shuffled out with a dozen other messengers and a few bed mates, the larger males pushing past them and entering the main room they took their positions. A simple wall lined with windows to give ample lighting and a raised floor to display was meant for them, while the rest of the room was open spaced for a buyer to stand and inspect.
Everyone's eyes locked onto the buyer, a woman of high stature and maybe even a noble lady, although William was unsure exactly how politics or rankings worked here. The lady that was buying them was exotic and attractive, despite them technically being the exotic ones. Soft caramel skin and ample curves were easy to see under the expensive robe she wore, coloured with red and silver in intricate patterns. Silvery white hair was pushed back to show bright crimson eyes staring back at the males, features common to the people of Sva'dere. The only other people in the room was the seller, and two guards by the lady with the same red and silver colours and one even held her coat.
"What are these?" She suddenly spoke, looking patiently at the small man as she waved one hand stiffly towards the handsome males and instantly every single one of them tensed.
"It's the bed mates! You said that you were looking for messengers and a bed mate so I brought them out." He replied quickly and with a small bow, surprisingly calm under the scrutiny.
"Send them away," She spoke before she turned her full attention to the messengers, "I will choose my bed mate from these sphrei." William wasn't familiar with the last word but his heart started to race as she was picking a bad mate from the messengers, although he wasn't sure if he was excited or scared. He couldn't look up, knowing that he was meant to obediently look down at his feet until allowed to look up, Sva'dere was very strict with their social standards and any step out of line would be met with harsh punishments. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, William swearing he could even hear the sound of the light hitting him as he kept his eyes downcast and the lady stepped forward slowly, surprisingly not asking to remove their clothes and the short man didn't say anything either.
A long minute dragged by, followed by another one before she finally spoke again. "Which ones have the most stamina?"
"The two golden males are great for long distances, Reece, Mike, come down." He replied, referring to the blonde twins although gold was the closest word they had for blonde in their language. It was hard to see what gestures were being thrown about or who she was looking at with his eyes downwards, although he could see the person standing next to him shifting from one foot to another nervously. He did his best to keep himself calm, although his mind was racing.
"And..." She hummed softly, her voice getting louder as she stepped closer. "I'll have the short one. That is all."
William blinked a few times and looked up after a few seconds with everyone else, unsure if he was the 'short one' or not and the female was grabbing her coat and leaving while the other guard was taking care of the payment.
"William get down here, and the rest of you go to sleep!" The man shouted as he took a small handful of silver coins from the guard. "Get your clothes and head outside, the Lady will be taking you back tonight."
That brought a small sigh from the twins, it was early winter and at this time of night it would be freezing. The 'clothes' was just an extra coat to wear outside so they wouldn't freeze to death, although only barely. A large, patchy blanket made from discarded fabric with a hole for the head was in a box near the back and they all went over to grab one, as well as some crudely made shoes.
"I guess we'll have to share then, ay brother?" Mike started to speak, making Reece smirk up at him as he pulled the blanket over his head. By the way she had asked for them it was rather hard to know who she intended to be a bed mate, although William didn't think it would be all three. It would be either the twins or him, and none of them would know until the time came.
"There's no need to share, she'll know who's the better brother rather quickly." Reece shot back, and soon the competitive banter between brothers ensued. William blocked the arguing out, everyone had learned to do that after spending any amount of time with the twins. The argument stopped rather quickly once they made it outside, either the cold shutting them up or the dozen other guards that were stationed there. They all wore red and silver, obviously this woman was from a powerful clan and he wondered just how long the walk was.
Between the quiet night and the whispering of the twins, picking up the conversation between the lady and one of the guards was easy. She was walking in the middle of the group and surrounded by guards. Two guards behind them made sure they didn't run and two guards were up ahead for some reason or another, William was no tactician and didn't understand the formation fully.
"I think it would be better to stop at the town house and wait for morning, Mirial, we'll be cutting off fingers and toes by the time we get to the estate." William had to hold back a sigh of relief at that, knowing that he wasn't meant to be eaves dropping. He also learned the lady's name which was nice and he mouthed it a few times to get used to it.
"Very well, send a guard ahead to prepare them of my arrival. We'll stay until noon and leave when it's hottest, hopefully we have some better clothes for them than these rags." William heard Mirial reply, before the conversation went quiet.
The town house wasn't that far but William could feel that his ears were numb by the time they got there. The town house was large compared to the ones they had at home, a tall wall and a rather large building with the second and third story filled with windows to look down onto the street. The Sva'dere was a mix between Japanese and Tribal decorations, shingles on the roof of the town house and smaller shingles on the wall. Small bone chimes painted with silver and crimson decorated the wall, up high enough that they wouldn't be stolen and they sung with hollow noises in the wind. The town house was already occupied by two guards that bowed low to the lady as they let them all in, soon getting inside and William felt dizzy as he walked into the surprisingly warm home.
"Take the two golden ones to the slave quarters so they can sleep, the brown haired one can go up and bathe. Bring me something light to eat!" Mirial commanded as she handed her coat off to one of the guards while two other guards simply started to escort the twins away. William hesitated a bit before one of the maids broke away from Mirial and gestured for William to follow, which William hesitantly obeyed as the maid led him upstairs.
The two flights of stairs were silent until they reached the top, the entire upper floor being one large room simply separated by thin sheets of silk that hung from the roof. They were all drawn opened now so William could see everything; a large bed, a desk, a tub. Already he was being led towards the bath and a large pot was nearby, filled with steaming hot water that had already been prepared.
"Mirial won't tolerate disobedience, so I hope you know how to follow orders unlike the last one." The maid suddenly spoke as she started to pour hot and cold water into the tub, William only noticing her features now. She was average looking, somewhat dark skin that would be rather light for a Sva'dere and short white hair. She was only about his height and with the simple thin slave robe that cut off at her thighs, it was easy to see the lithe nature of her body. He didn't stare for long, being more concerned about her statement.
"What happened to the last one?" William asked, slowly starting to remove his clothes so he could bathe. The hot bath would be a welcome, he hadn't had a bath in days and all the ones he'd had were Luke warm at best.
"The last one was full of himself and forgot his place, so the mistress had him tied up outside in the middle of winter." William's throat tightened at that, knowing that it was a death sentence and he soon dumped his clothes on the floor, feeling somewhat cold in the nude. "You are a slave, a toy and nothing more, remember that and maybe you'll live the winter." She said as she finished filling the bath, giving him one long intimidating stare before she moved away, going over to the bed and starting to clean it.