First Bloom - Imprisoned Fire

She woke to the smell of dust and sweat. Her head hurt and she felt the sticky sensation of dried blood on the back of her head all the way down to her neck. Tentatively she prodded the back of her head with two fingers and a sharp pain informed her the wound might have been barely less than lethal. Her eyes scanned the surroundings and she noticed she was lying in a dimly lit room with floors lined with hay. As she tried to stand up the rattling of chains caught her attention and she looked at her ankles noticing the shackles binding her to a chain that stuck out of the wall.As she tried to get up, she noticed other figures huddled against the darkness. Men,children and women also chained to the walls. Once fully upright she felt her head spin and her legs grow weak, a second later she found herself plummeting to the ground. The impact never came. She noticed herself cradled in the arms of a woman shackled next to her.

The woman smiled sadly and turned her head with tenderness letting her know she was examining her wound. After a short examination the woman informed her of the state of the wound and the need to bandaged it. Lacking any proper bandage she ripped a length of her skirt and tied it around her head with more care than one would expect from a stranger. Once done with the bandaging the woman introduced herself as Sabetha and asked for her name.

It was until this moment that she noticed how little she had uttered her own name since she began the trip and even the sound of it was alien to her in her voice as she replied, Andrea. Sabetha smiled and made a curtsy with her head before asking how she had come to be locked in this small room. Andrea explained how she had been attacked in the dark streets after pursuing her robber. Sabetha produced a mischievous smile at hearing of the wound Andrea had managed on the thug and congratulated her, letting her know that she had seen the man around limping, probably would never recover from that deep gash. Andrea smiled and quickly warmed up to Sabetha’s rebellious manner.

Sabetha told Andrea how she had been kidnapped from her house on the southern isles and made to work on a ship all the way to arminier, once she arrived she had been sold to the group in which custody they resided. Sabetha showed a couple of bruises that had come from attacking the same brute Andrea had almost gutted, so there was a reason to cheer in hopes the wound would fester and rot taking the ugly bastard to an early grave. At the mention of the woman Sabetha grew serious and asked if they had exchanged blows, once reassured that Andrea had only landed a kick, Sabetha told her she was the ringleader and a fearsome fist. Where the brute had power the woman had a knack for precision and pain.

Time passed as they both talked about whatever chances of escape there were and how they could go about enabling themselves for freedom once more. Their whispers soon drew the attention of an out-of-sight Jailor that slammed a rod against the bars of the door and shushed them into silence. Sabetha and Andrea ignored the brute and continued on their talks in lower tones. A while passed before the sound of the bar of the door being removed echoed in the room and as the women readied to strike on their captors the door opened. There was no chance to attack as the ring leader came in dressed in leathers accompanied by three men in leather armor holding crossbows, behind them stood a well dressed man that had the expression of one that is awfully bothered and would rather be anywhere else but here.

The man pointed at Andrea and the ring leader shouted at her to stand up. Defiant to a fault Andrea looked at her bored and remained on the ground. In a blur the woman crossed the room and landed a punch on Sabethas Plexus making her double over. Before Andrea could react the woman had seized her arm and twisted upwards forcing the girl to stand. Sabetha still on the ground was quickly pinned by another couple of burly men that came into the room after the ring leader had subdued them both.She spun Andrea around showing her to the man as if she were nothing more than a priced mutt. As she did she whispered into Andrea’s ear about how she knew they would try to escape and how that would be stupid and most surely end in the death of one of them just to make the other obey. As the threat died the man nodded and pointed at Sabetha. Without any tell Andrea felt a blow to her side that made her gasp and drop to her knees. This time The ring leader picked up Sabetha and the burly men held Andrea Down as her friend was paraded.

The man finally nodded and signaled something to the ring leader who landed another blow at Sabethas Jaw knocking her completely out. Andrea could only watch helplessly as they took her new friend away only to be left alone once more.

The days passed with much the same scenario repeating itself. Sometimes the numbers of chained people thinned and sometimes they grew with new arrivals. Andrea had seen come patrons interested in her but after discussion of the price came they were soon disheartened.

One of those indistinguishable days she saw a man she had seen before enter the room. This time there was no bartering the ringleader came straight for her twisted her arms around and caught them in manacles. In a swift motion she chained the manacles to the shackles at her feet.As she dragged her towards the door she told Andrea how glad she was of finally getting rid of her. Andrea tried to headbutt her but she was quick enough to move away. As Andrea scowled at her a rag was stuffed into her mouth and a cloth sack was thrown over her head leaving her in complete darkness.

She dragged her steps but even when she refused to advance she could feel a pair of powerful hand lift her and carry her onwards to whatever destination she was being taken.Soon enough she felt the wind of the outdoors. The rag killed all opportunity to scream and she settled with refusing to take any steps and letting the men at her sides carry her around. She felt herself being lifted and thrown into a wooden floor. The sound of a door slamming shut and a pair of hands lifting her into a sitting position on a cushioned seating where all the advice she got to know she was now being transported on a carriage.

She endured the rattling sensation for quite a while before the carriage came to a stop. The door opened, letting a drag of fresh wind hit her and before she could do anything she was being dragged out of the carriage. This time whenever she refused to take a step she was dragged and the coarse ground scratched her skin forcing her to walk and stopping that little act of rebellion. Finally they stopped and she could feel a wooden floor under her feet. The sack was taken from her head and the light blinded her making her squint.