Chapter 8: Curiosity killed the Fey...
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"I dreamed a dream in time gone by." Hailey quietly sang under her breath as she scrubbed the floor. "When hope was high and life worth living."
She pulled at the leather slave collar around her neck. No matter how she moved her head, it always seemed to dig into her chin or collarbone. She considered trying to get it off again but didn't want to be caught trying.
Again.
"I dreamed that love would never die." She continued singing quietly. "I dreamed that God would be forgiving."
Bracing herself, she plunged the rag into the ice-cold water to rinse it out. She winced, then started on the next section of the floor. "Then I was young and unafraid, and dreams were made and used and wasted. There was no ransom to be paid, no song unsung, no wine untasted."
Hailey felt a few tears collect at the corners of her eyes. This wasn't how her life was supposed to turn out. She was supposed to be at college, starting her career, or maybe marrying and settling down. Anywhere but this God-forsaken hellhole of a world.
"But the tigers come at night." Her voice cracked as she sang the next lines. "With their voices soft as thunder, as they tear your hope apart, as they turn your dreams to shame."
Before long, water wasn't the only liquid on the floor.
An hour and many sad songs later, she finished scrubbing the floor. She stood up, grabbed the bucket, and headed back into the kitchen. It was large and very functional, if a bit warm because of the ovens. The other slaves were busy making food for the feast after their master's victory in The Arena. He always won the judicial duels, so they assumed this time would be no different. At least he was in a better mood after winning a fight.
"Hailey, he's losing." Vienne shouted from across the kitchen.
"What?" Hailey's jaw dropped. He NEVER lost. Well, not against the helpless prisoners his father always threw into The Arena for him to fight. She didn't think he'd stand a chance against a real fighter. Maybe he had met one?
"Yeah, one of The Arena slaves told me." Vienne continued. "He's fighting some young dragon and it's basically toying with him."
Everyone in the kitchen turned to her with an expectant look. It only took a moment for her to figure out what they wanted.
"Oh no, not again." Hailey said.
"Please?" Vienne asked.
"Not a snowball's chance in hell." Hailey shook her head.
"But you're the only one who can sneak into The Arena." Vienne countered. "Besides, won't it be great to see that bastard get his comeuppance? You could actually watch it happen."
Hailey had imagined their master getting killed in The Arena more times than she could count. God forgive her, but she wanted to see him die so badly. After what he'd done to her and the rest of the slaves, to actually see him die in person... It wasn't as good as burying a dagger in his heart personally, but it was close.
"I'll sneak you a sweet roll from the feast if you go." The head chef offered.
"I'll sneak a spare blanket for your bed at night." One of the laundry ladies offered.
"But if they catch me again..." Hailey said.
"It won't matter if he's dead." Vienne countered.
Hailey teetered on the edge for several seconds before deciding. "I'll do it."
The whole kitchen cheered and clapped. Hailey stripped off her work dress to reveal a pair of very worn yoga pants and a loose-fitting T-shirt underneath; remnants from her previous life.
"Hurry, or you'll miss it." Vienne said.
Hailey turned and sprinted out of the kitchen and into the yard. She made it to the vine trellis without the guard seeing her -- not that he ever paid attention -- and scaled the twelve-foot, vine-covered wall in mere seconds. She dropped down and rolled through her landing to come up sprinting.
Thirty seconds later, she was at the slave's entrance to The Arena. She rapped on the door twice, paused a moment, then rapped three more times.
"Hailey, you're insane." The grizzled old gatekeeper shook his head as he opened the door.
"He's losing." Hailey said. "That bastard is losing right now."
The grizzled old gatekeeper stepped aside and smiled, revealing a mouth only half full of teeth. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek in thanks, then sprinted through The Arena undercroft almost on autopilot. When she reached the store room, she used a few stacked barrels to get up into the rafters. Moments later, she was high and out of sight jumping through the wooden supports.
It took her another ten seconds to reach one of the water drains lining the edge of The Arena. Five seconds later she had crawled into one so she was looking through the iron grate into The Arena. A small, steel-gray dragon had pinned the champion to the ground. It was casually twirling a spear in one hand.
"This is it!" She thought.
The dragon raised his spear above his head.
"Do it, please do it." She hissed.
The dragon seemed to falter, or at least hesitate. He shook his head and seemed to be fighting with himself about something.
The crowd was silent as the grave.
"Please finish him. Kill that bastard."
The dragon's spear came down with incredible force. From her hiding place, Hailey could hear the sound soft 'thud' of it striking something solid. A wide smile crept onto her face.
She was free.
She was finally free of that monster. He couldn't hurt her or anyone else again. A wonderful lightness of spirit swept over her. She felt like a great weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She would probably be sold to a new master, but they couldn't possibly be worse.
The dragon pulled his spear up and all of Hailey's hopes were dashed in an instant. There was no blood on the spike at the spear's tip. The dragon must have thrust his spear into the sand.
Her owner slapped the ground three times.
He had yielded the fight.
He was alive.
A sinking weight of despair came over Hailey. The slaves still told stories about the last time he had lost a fight. He had beaten half the slaves and raped many of the female ones. For weeks afterward, every little infraction was punished so severely that a few slaves had died. With his father being the magistrate, there was nothing anyone could do.
Panic was soon replaced with a survival instinct. If she was found outside his estate when he was that mad...
