Chapter 9

Cat

The trip to Lundness was fairly uneventful. Aside from feeding, and the removal of waste, the crew had next to no contact with the slaves. There was only one incident the first night of the voyage. A large brutish looking sailor somehow acquired the key to the cell the slaves stayed in. he tried to have his way with one of the women chained in the cell, fortunately for her and quite possibly for Cat and the rest, he was stopped. Mr. Elmersson came up from behind the brute and bashed him on the side of his head with an iron banded club with a dull thwack and a slight cracking noise while he was distracted with pinning the poor woman down and forcing rough unwashed kisses on the crying slave. He crashed to the floor beside the slave, knocked out, bleeding, and possibly with his skull cracked. With relative ease, given that Elmersson wasn’t very bulky with muscle, he dragged the brute out of the cell, landed a hard kick in the brute’s ribs and we heard a loud cracking sound like the breaking of a branch.

Once Elmersson assured himself that the woman was unharmed, he locked the cage door again. After leaving and coming back with the captain and several sailors, the sailors dragged the brute’s limp body up the ladder to the upper deck and we heard a loud splash a short while over.

“I’m sorry about that Mr. Elmersson; you paid extra for the security of your goods. With Clive thrown overboard, knocked out like he was, I am sure that will send a strong message to the rest of my crew that these are not to be touched.” The captain said with a slight bow.

“Good, if they didn’t get the message this time, the next lesson will be sharper. Make no doubt about that my good captain. This cargo is far too valuable to be spoiled by the likes of your men.” Elmersson replied, a hard and dangerous tone in his voice.

Apparently the rest of the crew got the message the first time around. They didn’t even dare to glance at the slaves, just did their jobs and left quickly.

The remaining four days went by smoothly, only had to deal with a couple minor squalls, and a bit of rough seas. Most of the sea sickness the slaves suffered passed after a couple days in the open sea, and became relatively pleasant given the bondage we all suffered.

Late I the afternoon of the fifth day of the voyage, Cat heard one of the crew call “PORT HO” and knew the voyage was at its end, and the real trials were to begin. A candle mark or so after the call there was a fairly soft thump as the ship reached the dock. It wasn’t as loud as Cat expected, the wood of the ship striking the wood of the dock. The ship lurched with its stop, and Elmersson came down to the hold with his men and looked the slaves over.

“Welcome to your new home” he said. “Stand quietly next to your hammock. The same rules apply leaving as arriving. It’s not too late for everyone to be punished for one stupid desperate dash for freedom.” Cat and the others quietly stood next to their hammocks as instructed. He eyed them for a moment then opened the door and strode in with one of his men. They strung all the slaves to each other’s collars again and escorted them out into the late afternoon sun, the first they had seen in nearly a week. The slaves all stumbled for a few feet, blinking away tears from the bright light and trying to get their eyes to adjust.

The smell of the dockside permeated the air. The scent of pitch mixed with the salty air and the stench of rotting fish filled Cat’s nose as her eyes adjusted to the relatively bright light of the late afternoon. She could hear the snapping of canvas, the humming of tight ropes vibrating in the air, the creaking of wood and the gentile lapping of water against wood and stone mix with shouting men, bawling animals being brought on or off of the many ships docked. Gradually Cats eyes adjusted and her eyes confirmed what her other senses detected already. The dockyard was filled by men of various dress and features, though tall broad men with blond hair and shaggy beards seemed to dominate the crowd.

The slaves were escorted off of the ship and down the dock towards the city. With one exception they all walked with their heads bowed, resigned to their fate. Cat kept her head up and watched the world around here. Despite her situation she couldn’t help but wonder at her new surroundings. The air felt soft and cool as a gentle breeze caressed her face, the strangely cut and heavier clothing was new to her. Different accents than what she grew up with filled her ears with its odd lilting sounds. The buildings they walked past weren’t built primarily of stone either; it seemed to be all planks and logs with green grass covering the steeply angled rooftops, some going all the way to the ground. Most buildings were long and had a single story, though some did have two. It left the impression of walking between sharp green hills surrounded by hairy giants.

Each time the slaves were brought before one of the buildings with lanterns with red tinted glass Mr. Elmersson would go in while his men stood guard over the slaves. He would always return with a richly dressed man or woman, the owner of the brothels Cat could only assume. Several of the slaves would be selected and a heavy pouch, probably full of gold and silver, would be passed into Elmersson’s hands and the remaining slaves would be brought along to the next. By the time they reached the third place, there were only two slaves left, Cat and the girl who was only a few years older, the youngest two slaves out of the bunch.

Cat shivered when the Owner was brought out. It was a fairly rotund man in his late middle age, his long blond hair receding from his brow leaving a shiny patch of skin. He eyed the two girls, naked greed filling his eyes as he looked them up and down. After our cursory examination, he looked at Mr. Elmersson and asked “They are virginal right; you personally guarantee that they have not been taken yet?”

“Yes Bjorn, each one has been certified by a physician prior to being sold, here are their papers signed by the physicians. Can’t get a better guarantee than that.” Mr. Elmersson replied, handing Bjorn a couple pages rolled into a tube and tied with a ribbon.

Bjorn looked over the papers briefly and smiled at Elmersson “Yes this will do nicely; I have just the clients for these two. They have been inquiring about the next shipment of fresh young girls. This will satisfy them greatly.” As Bjorn said this he handed over a larger bag than Elmersson had received yet.

Elmersson tucked away the bag and said to Bjorn “I must warn you though; this smallest one is quite fierce for such a small girl.” He raised his still bandaged hand “this little kitty has sharp teeth”

With an evil grin Bjorn replied “all the better, Leif likes the ones with spirit. He enjoys breaking them to the bit.”

With a slight bow Elmersson had his men hand over the lead chain to one of Bjorn’s men and walked away with a satisfied smile on his face.

If I ever see that man again, I’m going to rip off his sac and shove it down his throat Cat thought to herself as she was brought inside along with the other girl. The main room had the feel of a tavern. The air smelled smoky from pipes being smoked, the scent of spilled mead and ale permeated the atmosphere. Scantily clad women danced on an elevated stage to the music played by a small group of minstrels, several other women sat on the laps of hairy men, laughing as they were being fondled while the men drank. Cat shuddered as she was walked through the stench and chaotic mess of the tavern area. She was escorted down a long hall full of doors, grunts and moans coming from behind many of them.

At the end of the hall, the guard took the other girl into one of the doors, and Bjorn took Cat’s Chain and brought her into the other room. The room was fairly bare, a single bed, and a lamp mounted to the wall was all that decorated the room. The floor was hard packed dirt, and there wasn’t a single window in the room. The only thing on the wall aside from the lamp was a large hooked latch. Bjorn took the end of Cats chain and slipped the last link onto the hook, closed the latch and snapped on a lock, ensuring there would be no easy way to detach it.

“This is your new home girl, heh girl, you’ll be a woman soon” Bjorn said with an evil chuckle. “Do as you’re told and you will live well here. Behave well enough and I might even take you off the chain.”

There was a soft knock on the door, and Bjorn opened it. An older woman, hair stringy and looking a bit haggard held out a white shift to him “the shift as you ordered sir” the woman said.

“Good, now get back to work, I want those rooms cleaned as soon as each customer is finished.” He told the woman, and then turned back to Cat. “You will wear this, my best customer likes fresh girls in white, and you will satisfy him and you may even enjoy it.”

“I WONT BE YOUR WHORE!” Cat screamed at him. She tugged hard on the chain, but there was no give.

“Elmersson said you had spirit, glad to see he was right. You will do as you are told, I own you now. I could beat you, starve you, abyss, I could even kill you and no one would give a damn.” Bjorn told Cat, there was a hard edge to his tone. “I spent good gold on you, you will earn every copper penny of it back for me and more beside, and else I’ll take every coin out of your hide. I know men who would pay me for the privilege of taking it out of your hide. That is the only choice you have left for you, to pleasure my customers on your back, or pleasure my other customers in other ways.”

Cat said nothing, just glared at him. Bjorn tossed the shift onto the mattress and said “Put that on, or I will put it on you. Leif will likely wish to see you tonight once I send a runner to inform him. You will be ready to receive him when he gets here.” That last was said in a tone that brooked no nonsense.

Cat nodded slowly anything to get him out of here she thought once he leaves I’ll find a way out of this pit.

Seeing that Cat was going to cooperate, Bjorn left the room and proceeded to send off a messenger to let the Jarl’s heir know about the new gem of a girl.

Once Bjorn left the room, Cat searched frantically for anything that could be used to help her escape. She had enough slack on the chain to reach every part of the room except the door; it was a rather small room. She looked under the bed, saw it was just a wooden frame and knotted rope holding up the mattress which was simply canvas stuffed with straw. The straw smelled fresh at least.

After an exhaustive search of the room, which didn’t exactly take very long. The room was truly bare, the walls were solid, and the lamp was firmly attached and was one solid piece, with a burning wick protruding from a mostly enclosed bowl of rendered fat. No glass to be broken and used as a weapon, nothing useful to get away.

Hopelessness filled Cat; tears began to leak from her eyes. There was no way to fight back and no way to escape. For the first time, after being captured, sold and the long ship voyage, Cat’s determination to escape, escaped her. She slumped onto the bed and wept quietly, the one thing she swore she would never become since her parents were sold into slavery by that bastard Bashhar. Cat knew what happened to prostitutes eventually; open weeping sores, yellowed skin and other sickness and usually an early grave. It’s a painful and degrading existence that no one wants but many are forced to it. For some it’s better than starving, but Cat learned skills to keep her fed and a rood overhead. She swore to herself, and in front of Irnoc that she would never end up on her back to survive. Irnoc, what happened to Irnoc? Did he even survive? Cat’s heart felt another pang at the thought of Irnoc, he was her best friend and she dragged him into robing Bashhar’s home. It’s all my fault.

Sometime later, while Cat continued to silently weep and sink further into despair, there was a soft knock on the door. The door slowly opened, and in the doorway stood the same older woman from earlier. “Oh my poor dear child” she said and slowly walked into the room and sat down next to Cat. For the first time Cat noticed the iron collar around the woman’s throat. She wrapped her arms around Cat and pulled her in close, softly stroking Cat’s hair as cat turned her face to the woman’s bosom and cried harder.

“I know you are afraid, it’s not the life any of us choose, but there are worse places to end up. It’s not too bad here, once you get used to it.” She pulled a cloth from her pocket and wiped Cat’s face. “Come now let’s get you cleaned up and changed. Once the first time is over, you become numb to it. No need to suffer any more than you must.” She gently helped Cat out of her ragged sackcloth dress and helped cat step into the shift and did up the few buttons below the collar. Cat did as she was directed, feeling numb and lifeless. “There you go child, just lay down for a bit and get some rest, it’s been a hard day for you I know.”

Cat didn’t say anything; she just curled up on the bed, not even bothering to pull the blanket over herself. The woman looked at Cat for a while, sighed deeply and left the room slowly, pausing at the door to look back on the little girl, barely remembering when she was first brought in as a young and innocent slave girl, a score or so years previously. With another deep sigh and a tear trickling from the corner of one eye. She opened the door and stepped out, closing the door gently behind her.

Cat didn’t know how long she lay there curled in a ball, gradually the tears slowed and eventually stopped. She felt drained of all feeling, cold and numb. Gradually thoughts began filtering through the fog of despair that filled her mind. What am I going to do? How can I get out of this? They can’t keep me chained in here forever. Now that she could start to think clearly she began pondering her situation. Taking a deep breath she thought I can survive this, it may not be what I want and would rather do anything else, but I can survive it. Sooner or later they will relax their guard and won’t keep me chained. I can watch and learn about this area. I can use all the information I can gain to get away from here. I CAN SURVIVE!

Feeling determination begin to fill her once again, Cat sat up and squared her shoulders. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to tidy it up a bit. If I’m going to do this I will do it right, they must think I am submitting and will give no trouble. If I don’t resist, they won’t need to keep me bound so closely. Cat thought, bolstering her determination as much as possible. After straitening her hair as much as she could Cat brought her hands before her and noticed the tremor in them and closed them into fists. I have to do this, and with a deep breath settled in to wait.

Cat didn’t have long to wait, perhaps a quarter of a candle mark later Bjorn opened the door and looked in “Good you are ready” he said when he saw Cat sitting on the bed, wearing the white shift. Bjorn opened the door the rest of the way and bowed in a tall man with fine golden hair flowing down to his shoulders in waves. He had a sharp wedge of a nose and icy blue eyes filled with lust as he took in the sight of Cat.

In a deep baritone voice he spoke to Bjorn “yes she is a fine creature, I shall enjoy her greatly.” His voice had an odd lilting melody to it, starting higher and dropping lower in tone as he finished speaking. He then handed Bjorn two gold marks with a dark smile spreading across his face.

Bjorn made the coins disappear deftly and with another short bow left the room and closed the door behind him.

“Stand up girl, I want to see you fully” He said to Cat.

Taking a deep breath, Cat did as she was told, stood up and stepped away from the bed. She stood before him, keeping her eyes down cast.

Leif walked around Cat, she could feel his eyes scouring her body. As he stepped over the chain, which was long enough in this small space to lie on the floor, Cat was tempted to jerk forward, and catching him in the crotch with it. But that would do her no good and only get her beaten or worse. Cat shuddered as he ran his fingers through her hair, leaned forward and inhaled deeply through his nose. He let out a satisfied sigh that made Cats skin felt like it was going to crawl off her bones and hide under the bed.

Standing before Cat once again, using only the tips of his fingers, he lifted Cats Chin up and stares into her eyes, searching for she knew not what. He smiled at her and hooked his fingers into the collar of her shift. With a sharp motion he jerked his hands out to the side, popping the buttons on the front and splitting it down the seam. The shift fluttered to the floor to end in a puddle of cloth at her feet. She stood there bare to the skin except for the iron collar around her neck and the chain attached to the wall. Cat shivered and cringed in a bit, her legs tighter together and her shoulders hunched forward a bit.

“None of that” his tone turned harsh and Cat felt the world tilt on her. Everything turned sideways and she was lying across the bed. Her cheek stung fiercely and tears sprang unbidden to her eyes.

The bed shifted some as he sat down beside her. His calloused hands felt rough as they slid from her shoulders down to her bottom, she shuddered in revulsion at the touch. With a sharp sting he smacked her bottom then pushed her over onto her back, his eyes wondered over her as his hands caressed and fondled her small form. More tears leaked out as cat tried to keep still and not resist. I can do this, I can bear it. Cat thought as she swallowed against the growing nausea in the pit of her stomach.

With a laugh Leif struck her across the face again and stood up. He pulled of his shirt and dropped his trousers. She saw him standing and erect, and fought down a scream and a sob from what he was about to do to her.

Cat felt her body begin to shake, and a strange heat began to suffuse her body. Cats head filled with pressure, it felt like it was going to explode.

As Leif leaned forward, put his hands on her knees and began to push them apart, the pressure within Cat grew past the breaking point. Cat let out a terrible shrieking scream all that pent up force within her came bursting out and slammed into Leif, knocking him back and slamming him into the wall.

Cat’s eyes were wide with shock; Following the initial wave of force was the largest cat she had ever seen, almost as big as Leif. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Cat took in every detail of the flying feline. It’s a massive beast, lean muscle rippled as it flew through the air, its claws stretched out before it, pointing directly at him. Fire slowly flickered all over its body and left a trail in the air.

Time sped back up as the huge feline slammed into Leif right after he hit the wall. When it hit him, an explosive force ripped through the building. The wall blew out sending burning fragments of wood in all directions. Fire raced along the now exposed hallway, screams filled the air as people were consumed by the flames. The building groaned as it burned, the wall beside Cat collapsed, and allowing the hook her chain was attached to fall to the ground. Cat gathered up the loose chain and ran outside, not caring that she wasn’t dressed, she just wanted to get out of there.

A large crowd gathered around the brothel, men and women streamed out of the main entrance coughing from the smoke, many with burns. By this point the entire roof was engulfed in flames, this entire area was lit up from the light it gave off.

Cat stumbled towards the crowd, her legs feeling like jelly and exhaustion numbing her mind. As Cat approached the crowd, they turned toward her and screamed, Cat looked back and saw the giant feline prowling out of the fires and curled around Cat once, rubbing its flaming body against her but leaving no burns. After circling her once, the panther like creature seemed to shrink, each flame coming off of it reducing its size as it gradually faded away.

Bjorn was standing at the forefront of the crowd, shouting about his livelihood and how he was ruined. When he saw the burning panther rub against his newest slave he seemed to come to the collision that this was all her fault. Once the creature disappeared he came storming up. He grabbed Cat at the base of the chain still attached to her collar. He shook Cat violently, shouting incoherently. Cats head snapped back and forth, as she was shaken. Her head spinning and pounding now, pain erupted from her neck and back. Then Bjorn struck her over and over; first with the flat of his hand, and then with a closed fist.

Cat began to feel disconnected from her body as she was being beaten. Her vision started to grow dark around the edges and it seemed like she was looking through a long tunnel. As she was slipping into unconsciousness, she distantly noticed a man in greyish robes catch Bjorn’s fist in his hand and stop him from striking Cat again.

Cat fell to the ground as Bjorn’s grip on her chain went slack. She curled up into a ball; the earth here felt nice, comfortingly cool against her throbbing face. She tried to burrow further into it like it was the plushest down stuffed pillow in the world and let herself drift into oblivion.