(a/t) = animal type
You were one of the newest slaves of the castle. Or... King Arthur's castle. Of course, you were nervous, because you yet had to be selected. Yes, King Arthur had brought you from the markets, but he also brought many other slaves, and he only needed a certain amount. The ones he didn't keep, they were sent off to families, some nice, some horrid.
Did you want to serve a family? No, you had dreamt of working in the castle since you were sold by your parents. Why? Because, that's where the dashing Knights of the Round Table lived, behind those castle walls. You knew almost every one of them, and you hoped to work for them.
Especially Sir Lancelot.
Sure, almost everyone loved him, who didn't? He was King Arthur's most trusted knight, the best of the best, looked upon for protection by everyone.
And, of course, he was the best looking.
Something you kept to yourself.
Anyway, shaking your head, you took in the surroundings. You stood in a large opening, surrounded by three large walls and tall castle, leering over you and the other slaves. You weren't sure how many other slaves were in the opening, all you knew was that it would take a miracle to be chosen as the king's slave.
One of the large doors from the castle opened and everyone turned to see who would walk out. You almost squealed. Sir Lancelot himself stalked from the door, before walking towards you. His armoured helmet was covering most of his face, and he walked with a sense of purpose, looking more than knightly.
You had to cover your mouth as a small squeal left your lips. It was him! The one knight you loved more than the others, he stood right in front of you! However he didn't seem to notice your shaking form as he clasped his hands behind his back, a firm line for a mouth set into place.
You hadn't realised everyone had been speaking until a sudden quiet set in the area. Every slave feeling pressured and intimidated by the best knight. Everyone stood straight, as if Lancelot had given the order to do so, and you followed, wishing he would give you a sign that he noticed.
"King Arthur has ordered me to choose 10 of the best slaves presented to me today." His voice was perfect, rolling from his tongue as he spoke, "I am sure you are all well aware that if you do not get chosen, you will be passed on to other families."
A few nods, but nothing was said.
"I will be choosing those 10 best slaves." He continued, "It would be your wisest decision to not jump, move, or make any sounds as I study you. If you do, you will be removed straight away."
Everyone was frozen, like statues. It was rather nerving, to see so many people wanting to get into the castle, only knowing that their chances is as good as yours. The dark hedgehog then began to walk from one side of the slaves to the other. You were in the third row, watching him walk past the first time.
A few times he shook his head, and a few other times he stopped to stare at the slave. Your heart was pounding even faster as he walked past the second time, watching as most slaves kept their head lowered.
Finally he reached your row, and you started to shake. -Dammit! Stop moving!- You thought to yourself as he stopped in front of you. You couldn't help but stare into his armoured helmet, tensing slightly as you saw a red shine behind the metal.
That red shine seemed to roll over you, before a small huff, and he continued his walk. Your (a/t) ears lowered and you moved your gaze to the floor. You were doomed...
It seemed like forever, but Sir Lancelot walked to the front of the group, speaking in a loud voice, "Now that I have chosen the 10 to work for King Arthur, I will have Sir Gawain and Sir Galahad remove the unneeded slaves."
Another two knights walked into the area, one a red echidna, who's spikes went half way down his back and rather large fists holding two swords. The other was a white-ish hedgehog, who's hair stood strangely, holding a large arrow head-looking blade.
Both, of course, wore armour and had a rather bored look across their muzzles. Sir Lancelot mumbled to them, nodding in a few directions. The two knights nodded in return and started to separate the chosen ones from the... Unchosen ones.
You looked around, noticing how the chosen slaves seemed to slump happily, at ease knowing they pasted the knight's eyes with a positive outcome. However, the slaves that didn't pass his eyes, they weren't so happy...
Once the first two rows were cleared, you crossed your fingers, wishing that you would join the small group of already three. The two knights worked their way to you, before Sir Gawain grabbed your arm.
You let him drag you around, before he started walking to the much larger group of slaves. Your (e/c) eyes widened slightly and you dug your feet into the ground. The red knight growled and pulled you a little rougher, making you trip into the group of unlucky Mobians. Landing with a yelp, you turned your gaze to the red echidna, who chuckled slightly, before walking back to the slave's whose fates had yet to be decided.
Hugging your legs, you closed your eyes. -How could this happen?- You had been dreaming of living and serving in this castle your whole life, and you weren't seen as good enough. What made it worse was that you weren't seen as good enough in the eyes of your hero.
Your chest felt tight as more and more slaves surrounded you, yet you didn't look up. You didn't want to. You were ashamed. Voices from the other side of the area, however, made your head rise.
"There are only 9 slaves here." Sir Lancelot said.
"These were the only people you pointed out to us." Sir Galahad stated, "Unless you missed someone."
"I did not miss anyone. You two missed one slave." The dark hedgehog crossed his arms, before walking towards the large group you had been placed in. You couldn't help but feel some sort of hope shine through you, and everyone else.
He started to look through the slaves, searching for someone lucky enough to be chosen to live in the castle. Lancelot didn't look down, however as he walked towards you, and your hope disintegrated for the second time today. The hedgehog walked past you, before grabbing onto a male cat, pulling him forward.
"Join the others." He commanded, and the cat nodded, running over to the, now 10 lucky slaves.
The dark knight started to walk back, before tripping over your depressed form. You yelped loudly as his armoured shoes cut through the back of your shirt and your skin. He hit the ground with a small groan, before sitting up and glaring at you. Or... You could feel the glare through his armour.
Tears started to fill your eyes with a mix of embarrassment, shame. Not to forget the fiery pain that spread over your back. Most of the slaves had backed off, watching as Sir Lancelot stood, stalking towards you with a look of disgust across his muzzle.
"And why were you in my way?" He asked, glaring down at you.
Ignoring the pain in your back, you crawled away from the now frightening knight.
"Answer me slave." He spat, "Why were you in my way?"
Your voice shook slightly as you spoke, "S-Sir Gawain put me here... I tripped after h-he let me go and... I f-fell..."
"And you did not move?" The hedgehog frowned.
"I-I did not see a reason to..." Tears fell from your cheeks, the pain in your back now unbearable as blood dripped to the floor.
Sir Lancelot's nose twitched and he huffed, grabbing your arm, "Stand."
You cried out as he pulled you up, before turning you around. Your (a/t) ears twitched to a growl, before you felt him touch the long gash along your back. You couldn't help but hiss as he pulled his hand back.
"Who caused this?" He asked, turning you around. You raised your head, eyes widening slightly. He had taken his helmet off, holding it under his arm. His eyes were a bright ruby red, even more beautiful then you could imagine. The hedgehog huffed, "Well?"
"Oh uh..." You lowered your head, "Y-You did... Sir.."
"And when did I cause that?"
You stared at his shoes, which glimmered in the light, and you could see some blood on the corner of one of his feet. His gaze followed yours and stopped, also staring at his feet. You glanced at him, seeing his beautiful jet-black fur without the armour was rather amazing. You didn't realise how... How brilliant he was. To be exact, no words could describe your thoughts.
He cleared his throat and you blinked. He had caught you staring, and your cheeks turned red. The hedgehog, still holding onto your arm, then began to walk. You stumbled after him, whimpering in pain as he pulled you towards the smaller group of slaves.
"Tell King Arthur he will have an extra." Sir Lancelot said to the other knights. Gawain and Galahad both nodded, before the silver hedgehog lead the new slaves into the castle, and Gawain walked towards the unwanted slaves.
Your confused gaze then turned back to the black knight, who lead you behind the castle, into a large room. It contained many beds, the cement floor covered in straw, and the windows draped with goat skin. The knight took you to one side of the room, which was covered in a dirty silk.
He pulled the silk aside, revealing a bath which had been placed into the stone floor. It wasn't much, but it was beautiful to you, you had never seen such a strange bath.
"Sit." Lancelot took your gaze from the pool of steaming water towards a wooden chair. He stood there with a damp cloth.
You nodded and sat down, back to him. He didn't hesitate to roughly press the rag against your back. You hissed in pain, hands clenching around your ripped skirt. The pressure on your back lightened slightly and you heard a mumbled sorry.
The next few minutes were in silence, besides your hissing or whining of pain. Sir Lancelot then grabbed a much tinner cloth, and started to lift your shirt. You blushed and growled, pulling the shirt down.
"You know, I am trying to help." The hedgehog huffed, "And it would be wise to not move, otherwise it will hurt."
You sighed and let go of your shirt, which the knight then lifted, before wrapping the cloth around you. Once he was done, he stood.
"King Arthur might not be too happy with me." He huffed, looking around, "We'll need an extra bed for you."
"You mean, this is where the slaves live?" Your eyes widened, "But... It's so clean!"
"And? Did you think we would allow our slaves to sleep on the dirty floor?" Lancelot raised a brow, "How badly do they treat you in town?"
You looked down, not wishing to speak of what happened at the markets. He sighed and started walking.
"I'm sure I can convince the king to spare another bed. That or he will place you in the knight's den."
"The knight's den?" You tilted your head, "Why would he let me sleep there?"
"Well, I will most likely take ownership of you, since he wanted 10 slaves, and I spared 1 more..." He shrugged, a small smirk appearing on his muzzle, "Only fitting that you stay with me."
Your cheeks darkened and you nodded slowly, taking this exciting information in.
"And... Why did you spare me?"
"We're meant to protect our people, not harm them. I suppose guilt for causing you to bleed. That, and when I saw you, I knew exactly what you would become..." His eyes ran over your form, "So I decided to change your fate."
"And what do you mean by that?" You asked, leaning forward with a wince.
He cleared his throat, "We... We should go see the king, now follow me..."
At first you gave him a confused look, but eventually you nodded with a smile, following him. Something told you this would be... This would be even better then you imagined...
Sorry the ending isn't that good. And sorry Lancelot didn't seem to take a full interest in you but... Well... That's his character. However he did show he cared for you and felt bad when he hurt you right? Heh... I'm sorry v-v
Haven Out!!!