Chapter 3: What have we here?
The auction itself had proven to be quite boring. The girl shifted her feet back and forth uncomfortably, and the chains around them rattled.
A line of people with their respective servants for sale stood in the main court, and even more people milled about around them. Staring and taking notes, asking questions of the sellers ranging from practical to obscene.
Occasionally a customer would get into an argument with one of the slave owners that would usually end in them shaking hands and exchanging money. The auction wasn't meant to start for another hour or so, but people could come up and inspect the merchandise before hand, to make offers on particularly fine specimens.
Such as young women dressed up in flower crowns and their finest robes, meant to appeal to lonely old men. Those were most popular.
One person who had come by had even started
measuring
her with a piece of rope, which made her
extremely
uncomfortable. You'd think she'd be used to such things, but you'd be wrong. She resisted the urge to bat his hand away and call him something that would definitely get her in trouble.
Even Master Marcus, lewd as he could be in some of his jokes and comments, wouldn't perform such a humiliating act. He might have been a drunk, but he was a happy and friendly drunk. Not some lecher.
The man had proven early to be all uncomfortable jokes and (thankfully) no uncomfortable actions. He seemed to enjoy making those around him uneasy just for the thrill of it. A trait that she, occasionally, felt she had inherited from her pseudo-father-guardian-slave owner. She honestly just thought of him as an old grandpa who needed taking care of and drank too much wine. She had actually enjoyed his bawdy sense of humor when she got old enough to drink and join in.
Plus, it's not like she had any
actual
grandpas to get drunk with.
Her long wavy hair was normally kept in a simple braid, but it had been washed and styled for the occasion. She even had a few tiny purple flowers and green sprigs poking out of the small twists around the crown of her head, arranged to look a little nicer by her traveling companions.
She noticed that many of the young women for sale had ominously received similar treatment. She decided not to dwell on the reason why.
What she found much more interesting (and much less distressing) was staring at everyone in the courtyard. Most people were alone, some with families, some weren't even
human
! She delighted in the opportunity to stare at these creatures in particular.
She was certain one was a dwarf, with his short stature and long, bushy red beard. He had stomped up to look at the women, standing very stern with his hands on his hips. Between the large beard and low helmet, his eyes were barely visible, and his expression unreadable. His bulbous red nose sat prominently at the center. He simply grunted after staring for a long while, unsatisfied. Then he stomped off again, not saying a word.
She wondered if she should take offense.
One of the customers she thought was a small dragon at first, until she realized he was walking on two legs and speaking to the humans nearby. She assumed he was a lizard man of some sort. The very heavily scaled and spikey sort, his long tail covered in the lethal looking things, and a dangerous frill surrounding his face. His faint, spotty orange coloring looked like it would blend in well with the environment down south.
His small, beady eyes conveyed very little. He nudged his rounded snout towards them and his tongue slithered out for a moment. Then he scuttled off to look elsewhere. Also seemingly unimpressed.
She supposed she would not have minded becoming a bride to a creature so interesting, but she grew red imagining what sort of marriage acts she would have to perform. If it was even possible without getting poked full of spikes.
Probably something to do with eggs.
She wasn't sure if lizard men even mated like humans did, none of the books she read mentioned such intimate details. She couldn't ask Marcus such a lewd question, not without him teasing her. He was always eager to talk at length about his various misadventures, even the not-entirely-age-appropriate ones. It was best not to encourage him.
She kind of missed his teasing now. She cursed the old man.
She also cursed the alcohol, although she wished she had some now.
From a distance, a small group was approaching.
Actually, as they drew closer the girl realized each of the members towered over the humans scampering to make way for them. All of the commotion was adding to the dust cloud forming behind them. They didn't seem to notice, or care.
There were six of them. All at least seven feet tall, with the tallest one in the middle. Their dark green skin, large horns, tails, hefty shoulders and even
tusks
were unmistakable.
Orcs.
She had never seen one in person of course, but she
had
heard stories about them. They traveled in large herds across the land. Attacking and raiding villages to steal their young women. Roaming the countryside in search of food, and frequently getting into territorial disputes with each other. Such clashes would often level whatever small town or village had the misfortune of being caught in the middle.
Marcus had told her a story about seeing the aftermath once. Mounds of giant green bodies taller than a grown man. Rivers filled with thick blood.
She knew something bad was going to happen if orcs were approaching, and felt herself growing increasingly uneasy. The other humans seemed frightened as well. But the Masters who were there to sell didn't seem too bothered, at least not bothered enough to abandon their wares and flee.
The slaves, of course, didn't get much of a choice in the matter.
As they got closer she could see that the largest one was definitely female. They all had immense shoulders and wide chests, but she wore a shapely breastplate to make clear she was much bustier than her male companions. She walked with her head held a bit higher, and her gait just a bit more intentional and delicate than the males, despite being at least a head taller, if not more.
She also had jewelry on her ears, wrists, hair, and even a golden ring between her large nostrils. It gave her a distinctly feminine touch and drew attention to her thickly corded muscles and huge hands. Her long black hair was braided throughout with golden hoops and rings, leaving free some wispy strands to frame her face quite flatteringly. The thick tuft of hair on her long, slender tail had the same deep luster as her braid.
She was actually quite fetching. The girl had never seen a woman so muscular before.
The giant woman and three of the smaller orcs began inspecting the wares, starting down at the other end of the line. The remaining two stayed near the entrance. The first she approached seemed terrified, but the large orc tossed her braid aside, smiled, and extended her hand forward anyways. As if trying to charm a baker into lowering the cost of bread.
The human fled. Her Master chased after her, a raised sandal in hand, and the orcs moved on. They didn't
seem
interested in attacking anyone. On the contrary she engaged in conversations with the slaves directly, in their own tongue. The others carried no weapons and kept a respectful distance from the humans. Only the woman approached.
Most of the humans seemed frightened, but some of the braver ones nodded and responded. Most shook their heads and recoiled. One responded enthusiastically to what was obviously a question, and her Master struck her across the face. She stumbled and fell back.
The orcs all stiffened. The large female snatched the wrist of the Master, his hand still raised in the air. She shoved her face down into his, snorting once and flaring her large nostrils. She said nothing to the pale, shaking man as they stood there for a few tense moments.
A wave of unease washed over the humans in the courtyard.
Noticing, she withdrew and made a small gesture to the males behind her. The other orcs gave him some money and took the girl away. The frightened man took the coins without comment.
The newly purchased girl was a short, plump redhead in raggy clothes. She seemed disoriented, but eagerly bustled away with the orc that escorted her to the entrance to stand with the guards. If a bit clumsily.
They closed in on either side of her so she couldn't run off, the third standing behind her protectively.
"Poor thing," the slave to her right whispered, a bit too loudly, in her ear. "I bet they're going to eat her for dinner." The other slaves giggled. The bondsman standing over them glared in their direction, annoyed. They watched as the girl and the orcs spoke briefly, and the shorter of the two pulled off his cape and wrapped it around her. She didn't
seem
that frightened. She seemed like she was blushing red. She looked even tinier surrounded by the three brutes, fidgeting awkwardly.
"I don't think she would mind
that
much." The girl with the green eyes whispered back much quieter, and they giggled again. Finally they had someone else to gossip over. All it had taken was being sold at a market like wheels of cheese.
Eventually they wandered their way over to her group. At this point she was very curious about what they had to say. She didn't notice the humans around her had shrunk back, hoping not to be noticed. This incidentally put her right at the front of the group when the large female orc approached, her head held high and her chest puffed out a bit.
Shakily, the human stood her ground and continued to stare at the beast, mimicking her by lifting her chin a little higher. It made her feel braver.
It seemed to amuse the orc.
She supposed whatever happened was going to happen whether she cowered or not. She wondered how fast the orcs ran in case she had to flee.
Up close, the orcs made for a frightening display. They seemed to be nothing but huge mounds of muscles and dark bristles, with large teeth, long black claws, yellow eyes, and giant, curled horns. Their long tails twitched side to side as if swatting flies.
Seeing them standing next to each other, she did notice some differences in height, horn size, garb, and even how dark their green skin was and how they styled their hair. One of them even lacked a tail all together.
Honestly they were each fairly distinct when you got a good look at them. They were as varied as any humans. Their faces seemed to be frozen in some sort of grim display of deference. They didn't make direct eye contact with the humans, just stood menacingly around the orc woman, staring into the distance, chins lifted and arms at their sides.
It looked to be out of respect, but they did look uncomfortable when you watched more closely. Their large pointed ears flicked back and forth, annoyed by the noisy courtyard. Their hands twitched and fidgeted slightly. It was hard to tell if they were nervous, bored, or just having a hard time resisting the urge to stare at all the small, squishy human women surrounding them.
One of them was
definitely
having a hard time not staring. His eyes kept flitting back and forth to the girls, a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead.
The female orc towered the girl, casting her in shadow. She put a hand on her hip and tossed her braid aside before she crouched a bit, in order to look the human directly in the eyes without lowering her horns. She gazed down on her approvingly with a charming, toothy smile.
"Little human," She said, her slow raspy voice catching slightly on the
't'
.
Her voice was a low grumble, with some sort of thick accent, but the girl was surprised that she spoke the girls tongue quite fluently.
"
