We walked from the room and found Gerald there, waiting with a thin pair of cuffs. He shackled my wrists together, the action causing my breasts to squeeze together, forcing my nipples to be even more on display.
I felt like a prized horse being paraded around and prepped for the market. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. I needed to get through this. So I could escape.
I felt the petals in my palm and did what the market woman - witch, had suggested.
He put silver chains onto my ankles and the weight made it hard to walk, but I managed, with his large hand wrapped around my bicep. The hall seemed to go on forever, but as we approached a single door at the end, we stopped.
The door was massive and a deep red color. I hadn't noticed it before. She pulled a key out of her bosom and slid it into the lock. She pushed the door open and allowed Gerald to pull me through.
I was overwhelmed and sickened from what was before me. Three rows of women, who looked just like me, albeit physical appearance. They had the same dress and kitten heels. The same hair styled like mine, behind my ears to show off my face. The same makeup. And the same chains.
I tried to keep my composure but seeing this, all of these innocent human girls, herded, lined up, and prepared like cattle. It was extremely difficult to keep from hurling oatmeal all over myself. I took deep breaths in through my nose and out my mouth. Tears stung my eyes in response to the tightening of my throat.
"Alright, Alright," A loud male voice chuckled, "I would like to welcome you all, my dear friends, to the 800th annual Auction!" A respectable wave of overlapping claps erupted throughout the room. "Thank you, Thank you. I would like to announce a few reminders before we begin. If you want to bid on a female, go ahead and announce your offer loudly — but prepare to be challenged!" He yelled, quite dramatically. He was so happy, it made me sick. And females? What are we, dogs? He might as well have said bitches. I concealed a smirk.
"We have open and closed rooms with luxurious beds lining this dining hall, as you may have noticed. Once we receive your payment, you may meet your female and a guard to the left of the stage here. Then, she's yours. Please be respectful and enjoy the night. Well what do you say, shall we get started?" The crowd erupted tenfold this time, some yelling and cheering very loudly. I heard someone scream, "Bring 'em out!" and with that, I lost the battle against my vomit. And so did 4 other girls.
—
At this point, I had watched two lines of girls to be auctioned off one at a time. Some were crying, others were stoic. Some mouthed off and immediately regretted it. My row was next.
Due to Simon's lateness, I was the last of all of the females to be auctioned off. I watched the line dwindle before my eyes. I watched as girls were purchased. Some fought their way off the stage. I did not know how I should react.
The shorter the line got, the more often I dry heaved on my empty stomach. The cat calling was sickening. The screams. The cries. The moans. It was all so overwhelming. Some girls tried to run, they did not make it more than a few feet.
One of the most unbelievable aspects of this whole thing was the amount of coins they were throwing around. Some were as low as 250,000. The highest I heard was 800,000.
The arguments and the fights were ruthless.
If these people were friends, it seemed as though generation long friendships were ending. The girl in front of me, she was a few inches taller than me, she had long curly red hair and she was quite skinny.
She was shaking and crying as she walked onto the stage. The arguing started almost immediately. It went on for about 3 minutes until she was, "Sold, female 149, to Lord Daryl Kingston, for a whopping 950,000 coin!"
She started sobbing as she was escorted off the stage and into the arms of a man who looked to be about 65 in human years, although his red eyes told me he was much older. He immediately turned her.
Her screams echoed along the ornate walls of the dining hall, as her body started to slowly die.
The crowd cheered. Cheered. At her death. I was gonna be sick all over again, I was next.