EXTRACT FOR
The Taming Of A Slave
(Natasha Taylor)

Snippets of conversation slid through my haze. At first it was just general tone of voice. One man sounded very angry. He kept repeating words like 'damage' and 'money' and 'business'. It was all very confusing. The other voice was also male, but it was apologetic, and almost a little afraid. The only word that truly filtered in from him was 'sorry'.



My eyes blinked open slowly. The exchange was different from any other that had occurred around me over the past week, which caught my interest. The orc was there, wringing his hands, which probably meant he was the one apologizing. Good. I attempted to summon up a modicum of satisfaction that he was worried, but I didn't seem to have enough energy. Whatever.



I could only see the back of the other man, as he was facing away from me. Black hair. Dark leather armor. An intriguing air of danger.



My eyes slipped closed again. It really wasn't very interesting, which meant that I was going to go back to sleep. Sadly, that plan was brought to a halt, as I was quite rudely removed from my cage. To be honest, the culprit was incredibly gentle, but that didn't change the fact that I was trying to sleep, damn it. "Little human, are you alright?"



Little human. That sounded familiar. As did the voice, if I cared to think about it. There was a shift, and I could feel myself cradled against a man's chest. I presumed it was the dark haired man, but didn't bother to check.



"I asked you to humble her a little. Show her a little taste of what things could have been like for her." His voice rumbled deep in his chest, vibrating against my body in a comforting way. A little sigh slipped out, and I snuggled closer to him instinctively, though he didn't appear to notice. "Instead, you allowed her to be damaged, and succeeded in actually breaking her."



There were more apologies, and I chuckled inwardly. Serves the damn ogre right. Who was broken?



And then we were moving. The man had long legs, so we covered ground quickly, but his stride was even and fluid, and he seemed to be taking special care not to jostle me too much. We walked for what seemed like forever, the sounds of the marketplace slowly fading away. When I opened my eyes next, we were entering a cozy looking house. The man called out a greeting while I glanced around. The house was... odd to say the least. A lot of decorations and two chairs, but that was it as far as furniture. Most of the space was taken up with flowers and herbs, growing out of pots that sat on the floor, in windowsills, hung from the ceiling.



A woman appeared out of thin air in front of us. There was a warm smile on her transparent face, and as I looked her over, I realized that every part of her was transparent. She shimmered where the light hit her, acting as a prism and sending rainbows across the floor. Other than that, she almost looked normal. Her skin was pale, her eyes were green and laughing, her hair was a light brown and floated around her head like it was caught in a breeze.



"Drell, always a pleasure to see you," the woman said, arms held out in a welcoming gesture. Her voice was warm and soothing, putting me instantly at ease in her presence. I could even feel a smile tugging at my lips.



"And a pleasure to see you too, Sienna," the man holding me responded. There was obvious affection in his voice. "Unfortunately, this isn't a social visit. I have a patient for you."



The woman's eyes moved to me, widening when she saw what I assumed was the ugly bruise around my eye. "Oh dear! What happened?"



"Slave pens for a week. That damn orc let her get damaged. He was supposed to just scare her a little and instead this happened." The man's grip on my tightened slightly, squeezing some of the air out of my lungs. His arms loosened immediately, and he glanced down at me in concern. I stared up at him blankly, part of my mind connecting the dots and realizing that this was indeed the man who had captured me. A tiny spark of fire curled in my chest, making me shift uncomfortably, but it wasn't enough to push me out of my silence.



"You know how I feel about this slavery business, Drell. I still can't believe you dabble in that sort of thing." I could feel the man shrug nonchalantly. "Set her in that chair over there," Sienna said with a sigh. We were moving again, and I was being placed in one of the two chairs. Despite the gentleness I was being shown, and how insanely comfortable the chair was, I still winced at the pain in my ass. "Bruises all over you legs and behind, a black eye, a split lip, sun burned, dehydrated, and malnourished. I believe those bruises run deep too. You've had a rough week. Can you tell me your name?" Her voice was soft and soothing, inspiring the desire to tell her anything she wanted, but instead I stared at her, even as her hand reached towards my face. When she touched me, there was a soft tingling sensation, not at all unpleasant.



"She hasn't spoken a word since I picked her up," Drell informed her. "The orc said she hasn't uttered a word in days. When I first captured her, she was very..." He paused, seeming to be searching for an appropriate word. "Vocal. I'm afraid he may have broken her spirit."



Sienna's eyes peered into mind, her hand storking through my face, which was incredibly unsettling. Everywhere she touched felt warm, and the longer her hand stroked, the less my face hurt. "No," she finally said, glancing away from me. "There's still a fire in her. Her spirit isn't broken, only subdued, as if there is a blanket over it, smothering the flames. She only needs the proper stimuli to make the fire blaze again. There. Her face is healed." Green eyes, dancing with mischief, were turned back on me. "I can see why Drell is enchanted with you. You are remarkably beautiful."



Drell protested that he was only protecting merchandise, that he was not enchanted with a human, that the idea was preposterous. Sienna winked at me, grinning. "Alright, now to heal everything else." At this, she put both hands on my face, hovering just at the surface of my skin, and her eyes slipped shut.