Author's Note: Eventually, in one of these chapters (I forgot which one) I'm going to give a very basic description of dwarves in this universe. It's not very different from a typical dwarf in a typical fantasy. However, I wondered, what if the reader hasn't read any fantasy stories that have a sort of dwarf in them? So, if that chunk of description seems tedious, then I sincerely apologize.
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They were all given similar plain chemises, gray gowns with no adornment and a slightly coarse texture, ordinary stockings and garters, and plain leather shoes. A meal was also given to each of them. It was more pleasant than what Jansetta's previous captors had given her. She ate one boiled egg, half a cup of cold yet soft beans, and some roasted turnips. Then the women were led back to the carriage outside, exchanging one set of manacles for another.
As Jansetta watched the moving scenery behind the grate of a window, running her fingers through her still damp hair, she said aloud, "I hope our new masters would feed us as those centaurs did."
"If we are to be carnal slaves," one of the other women said, "then they would likely feed us."
Not much conversation was made between the three women. Jansetta thought the air smelled tyrannical; she wasn't certain as to why she thought of that word, but it was there, standing in her brain, pointing itself out to her. She loathed this carriage.
As the women's hair naturally dried in the air, they rode on through the city again, and then onto a wide dirt road that cut through a forest. One of the women gave this speculation. "These lands must be the property of the centaur who would purchase one of us." Then she coughed a little. When her delicate breath was stable again, she asked, "Is it better or worse to be owned by one with such wealth?"
Jansetta couldn't decide.
The trees were soon sparse, and then there was a wall of stone surrounding a castle's tall keep on a cliff. A fair distance away, mountains had rivers and waterfalls seemingly draped over them like thin jewelry. The carriage halted near the thick gate of the wall.
Jansetta heard Aldous' excited voice as he told a castle guard their purpose. Then there was the guard's voice. "Yes, we've been expecting you. Thank you for coming."
The gate was quite loud as it was opened. Jansetta was reminded of a wheel used to slowly roll a heavy load about. They passed through the wall, and then down a path that led to the keep itself. Flags were hung in most places. They were gold colored, and they bore a crest of black geometric outlines, a square-like diamond with a circle inside, and a star of eight points inside the circle.
At the keep's entrance, the carriage stopped again, and the door on Jansetta's side was opened. A smiling Aldous unlocked the women, but he didn't put them in chains again, as was done before they had been washed and fed near the city. Instead, with the help of one of his personal guards that looked after the carriage, Aldous put two connected loops of a soft cord between each of their wrists and ankles. Between each woman's wrists, there were perhaps three inches of length to tug on. Five inches or so was put between the ankles.
Aldous scooped Jansetta up into his arms, one arm under her thighs and one at her back. Two of his personal guards carried the other two women. They were taken inside the building and to what Jansetta assumed was a foyer. The place seemed odd to her, though.
There was another dirt floor. Wouldn't a castle have a wooden or stone floor? Where a carpet or rug would have been laid out, sections of polished bricks were set in an evenly broken pathway. The bricks led up to a section of wooden walls, elegantly painted and carved, that was on the far side of the large room and seemed to be on a floor that was held a good distance up from the bare dirt.
There were crates and painted clogs underneath the raised floor. Stone walls were on the left and right of the main room, with archways that no doubt led to vague places that Jansetta didn't want to dwell on. There were probably equestrian staircases inside the keep, but she wasn't in a position to seek them out.
Jansetta and the women had their leather covered feet placed on the bricks, each woman set on a single square, their bosoms and faces pointed at the stone wall that had been at their right, but was no longer, because it was now at their fronts. Jansetta imagined that the brick squares were wide enough for two people to stand side by side on. She realized that, once again, she was in a row of three, and she was the woman on the far right, with the other two on her left. The centaurs very, very carefully moved their hooves between the squares, not daring to touch the brick at all, as they moved behind their charges, ready to pick them up if they tried to run away.
Two centaurs wearing modest clothing and well groomed hairstyles entered the room. Bundles of gleaming wooden slabs were tied to the barrels of their horse-like parts. Jansetta turned her head to watch the centaurs, who were probably servants, lay the wood between each square of brick that led to the three captive women. The one of the servant centaurs unfolded a wooden thing that turned out to be a collapsible, short staircase. He placed it near the raised floor, on one of the brick squares.
Then, one of the wooden walls that were now on the women's left slid aside very quietly, eerily, as if a ghost was involved. A woman was revealed, an older woman with black hair streaked with lines of gray; that hair seemed to be parted in the center and tied back. A thick band of gold was around her forehead. There was a dark blue dress over her form with a surcoat of bright red bordered by glittering embroidery. The openings on the sides of the surcoat, where the blue, bell shaped sleeves of the gown were revealed, were so wide and low that the sides of the blue gown, all the way to the hips, were revealed.
Picking up the long, cumbersome sleeves of her gown so they wouldn't drag, the elegant woman carefully stepped down onto the stairs, and then to the pathway of bricks and wooden panels.
Jansetta caught a glimpse of the woman's toes peeking out from under the skirts. They were bare and pale. As she approached, the servant centaurs bowed their humanoid torsos. The centaurs keeping the captive women in place stepped back only long enough to give quick bows. Then they returned to the women, keeping close to them.
Jansetta noted that while the elegant woman wasn't a young and fresh creature, she had a dignified sort of beauty. Her cheeks were sharp. Her eyes, while framed by a few lines of age, were a strong green color, as intensely beautiful as a distant forest. She was also fairly tall for a human woman. A square away from the row of captive women, the elegant woman said, "I am the current mistress of this estate, the Dowager Marchioness, Etiennette Thibou. Which man here is the Purveyor?"
Aldous, the centaur who was behind Jansetta, spoke up. "I am, My Lady. I'm honored to present these women to you."
A short nod, and the marchioness said, "My son, with the Examiner, should arrive soon."
"I should hope so, My Lady. Otherwise, I won't have a sale." There was airy amusement in his voice, as if he thought everyone around should be laughing. Nobody laughed, though.
Some seconds went on, and then there was the clopping of hooves, descending from a higher level and becoming louder. Then, from one of the doorways in the stone wall that the women faced, two new centaurs emerged.
One of them was ... well ... rich looking, just as the marchioness was. His black horse-like section had a festoon draped from his humanoid waist to his horse-like croup, made of what appeared to be dark red silk. It was attached to his matching red tunic. Over his broad humanoid shoulders, there was a thick chain of gold with white pearls. His face bore a strong chin, a typical centaur nose, high cheekbones, and rather fierce green eyes. He had gently tanned skin that was perhaps a walnut color.
The fond, hopeful look that came from the marchioness told Jansetta that she recognized the green-eyed centaur as her son. He even had a more youthful version of her black hair, pulled over his shoulder in a single braid. The moment Jansetta understood that the centaur was the woman's son was the moment that she realized that human women could apparently give birth to centaur children.
Jansetta's newly figured out facts had her blinking and looking down at the bricks she stood on, her brain feeling painful and nearly hollow, as if something inside had exploded.
Then she looked back up. The centaur beside the rich looking one was a blond, and while he was dressed well, he didn't seem anywhere near as rich as the centaur beside him.
Etiennette Thibou made a slow gesture towards the green-eyed centaur, still holding the ends of her sleeves up, making great loops of blue fabric. "Simon, are these women pleasing to your eyes?"
Simon Thibou's hooves patted against the dirt floor as he walked closer to the row of women, those forest green eyes pointing towards each one's face for a few moments.
He smiled at all of them, even when he looked at Jansetta. "They're all very beautiful," he said. His voice was like a dollop of honey on a disc of sweet bread, thick and wonderful to the senses.
"That's a relief, then," the mother said. She made another gesture, swinging her sleeves about. "Examiner, go on with your duty."
The blond centaur gave a quick bow and said, "Yes, My Lady." His golden, horse-like coat shimmering, his pale tail rising a bit, he walked over to the woman on the far left. He said to the guard centaur behind her, "I'll start with this one." So, the guard lifted the woman up. Still careful not to touch the pathway, the guard followed the Examiner over to one of the stone archways and then completely out of the room, taking the woman with him.
The uncertain sort of moments that followed were disquieting. The dowager marchioness decided to ask a servant centaur for a cushion. The servant trotted over to the higher section of the room, where the wooden walls were. He slid a wall aside, and he reached over the invisible boundary between the dirt floor and the rooms to pick up a cushion. He didn't try to climb up into the area. His hooves firmly remained on the dirt floor. Then, the servant trotted close to the marchioness. He lowered himself, and the woman reached up, so she could take the cushion. She placed the cushion onto the brick square she stood on. Then she knelt onto the cushion, smoothing her skirts under her legs and putting her hands over her lap.
Meanwhile, Simon Thibou, who was evidently the marquess of the estate, passed his time by looking down at the other two women that were reluctantly standing before him, which obviously included a very nervous Jansetta. The dark centaur stood a bit away and between them, turning his head from left to right, apparently taking note of each woman's features. Jansetta's face reddened every time his dark green eyes bounced over to her. Sometimes, she lowered her head and tried to concentrate on her leather shoes.
Occasionally, there was a question from the marquess to Aldous, who was still behind Jansetta.
