The Harmony Trilogy - Book 1: Wavering Lines

Chapter 3: The Auction

Another couple days passed before we finally reached Sembenia. Kellan continued to remind me of the rules at every opportunity possible. He didn't teach me 'obedience' because some masters liked to break in their own slaves, but he did make me call him 'Master' whenever I talked to him, which was remarkably annoying.

When I first saw Sembenia from the boat, my first thought was, 'Oh yay. Disgusting vampire-bat-cave-man-place!'. As we got closer, I could start to see the outlines of huge houses, and clean, beautiful streets. Well. So much for disgusting vampire-bat-cave-man-place. The closer we got, the more of Sembenia I could see.

It was absolutely beautiful. The streets were clean, with light, soft dirt roads. The houses off to the side had long drives, with beautiful sprawling gardens. Most of them were white, with elegantly curled iron fences and balconies. A couple had several outbuildings, where I assumed they must keep their slaves. One or two had gorgeous, sparkling fountains, with the water making rainbows in the sunlight.

"Welcome to Sembenia." Kellan said, smiling.

"You're actually smiling?" I gasped.

"Manners.' he reminded me. I growled, annoyed.

"You totally ruined my epic sarcasm." I pointed out.

"Master." he prompted. I growled again.

"Oi! Shetân!" a voice shouted. 'His last name was Shetân? Huh. What an unusual name.' I thought to myself. Kellan turned towards the dock we were approaching. A totally gorgeous woman stood there waving. She had bright scarlet hair, and vivid, storm cloud gray eyes, slightly almond shaped. Her nose was perfectly straight, her lips lush and pink. She had curves in all the right places; she was obviously a vampire.

"Hey Sage!" Kellan called.

"Who's Sage?" I asked.

"A friend of mine." Kellan responded. With a small jolt the boat touched the dock. Within seconds, it was safely tied to the docks. Kellan grabbed me around the waist and dumped me on the docks before I could blink.

"Hey! Don't do that!" I snapped.

"Melody, behave yourself." Kellan sighed. I glared at him.

"Ooh, feisty!" Sage said, winking at me.

"You idiot. She's going to the auctions." Kellan said, shoving Sage.

"Oh. Right. Well, I gotta go deal with some slaves of my own now, so, see you around?" she offered.

"After I deal with Melody, here." Kellan said, shooting me a pointed look. I glared back. Kellan grabbed me by the top of my arm, and dragged me away from Sage.

"Melody, you really need to behave. I've been extremely lenient with you, and put up with your crap, but your future Master or Mistress probably won't. You really need to be more careful." he warned, his face serious. Then tone with which he said it made me actually think about his words.

"Yes Master." I said. I couldn't even put proper sarcasm into it. 'These people are vampires, and they could kill me in a heartbeat. I should at least follow these stupid rules until I can escape.' I thought to myself. Kellan sighed.

"Come on. We have to get to the auction block before it begins tomorrow morning." he said. "Follow behind me, stay close, don't make eye contact with anyone, and do not talk." he ordered firmly.

"Yes Master." I said again. Was this my new life? Doomed to be a broken record until the day I died? Yay. How fun. Not. I followed Kellan as he led me further into the heart of Sembenia.

It really was a gorgeous city. There were delicate arches, pretty white stone, polished marble, and exotic flowers climbing the walls that I'd never even seen before. The sun was shining, giving everything a happy glow.