Lady Elowen stood before the rusted iron bars. Her silk dress rustled softly in the stagnant air of the dungeon.

She stared at the little girl in the white dress. Her eyes gleamed with a hunger that made Marcus feel sick.

It was not a sexual hunger. It was the look of a child spotting a butterfly they intended to pull apart.

"This one," Elowen said softly. Her voice echoed in the damp stone corridor. "She is... pristine."

Merchant Voss rubbed his hands together. His rings clicked against each other.

"A truly exquisite choice, My Lady," Voss said. His voice dripped with oil. "She arrived just last night. Not a single bruise on her. Rare stock."

Elowen nodded slowly. She did not look away from the girl.

"How much?" she asked.

Voss paused. He pretended to calculate deeply. He tapped his chin with a chubby finger.

"Well, she is young," Voss began. "And clearly of high breeding. She will last a long time. For a specimen of this quality... one hundred gold coins."

Elowen frowned. Her painted lips thinned into a line of displeasure.

"One hundred?" she asked sharply. "That is the price of a trained combat slave."

Voss saw the frown. He adjusted his strategy instantly.

"Ah, but Lady Elowen represents our most prestigious clientele," Voss said quickly.

He bowed low.

"For you, I could never charge market rates. Let us say... eighty gold. As a gesture of goodwill."

Elowen's frown vanished. A satisfied smile spread across her face.

"Eighty," she repeated. "That is acceptable. You are generous, Voss."

"Anything for you, My Lady," Voss replied. He kept his head bowed.

Inside his mind, however, Voss was laughing.

'Foolish noble bitch,' he thought. 'She thinks she won a bargain. For that girl, I would have taken forty.'

He suppressed a sneer. These nobles were all the same.

Flatter their ego, and they opened their purses wide.

Nobles and their twisted tastes

He internally sighed, 'Well who am I to complain as long as it's profitable for me'

Inside the cell, Marcus pressed his back against the cold stone wall.

He tried to make himself invisible. He tried to merge with the shadows.

He watched the transaction with a heavy heart.

Eighty gold coins. That was the value of a human life here.

He looked at the little girl.

She had not moved. She sat in the filthy straw like a porcelain doll placed in the trash.

Then, she moved.

Slowly, deliberately, she turned her head.

Her black, void-like eyes shifted away from Elowen and locked directly onto Marcus.

Marcus froze.

His heart slammed against his ribs.

'Don't,' Marcus pleaded in his head. 'Don't look at me. Look at the wall. Look at the floor. Anywhere but me.'

The girl did not blink. She stared at him with that unnerving, empty intensity.

It was as if she was pointing a giant arrow at him.

Elowen noticed the movement. Her gaze followed the girl's line of sight.

She turned her head. Her eyes landed on Marcus.

She blinked, surprised. She stepped closer to the bars.

"Oh?" Elowen murmured. "What have we here?"

She squinted in the dim torchlight. She looked Marcus up and down.

Marcus felt like a bug pinned to a board. He tried to look down. He tried to look submissive.

But it was too late. She had seen him.

"He is distinct," Elowen noted. "Not a laborer. Look at those hands."

Voss stepped up beside her. He held the torch higher.

"Fresh catch from the north," Voss explained. "Educated, by the looks of him. Probably a fallen noble or a merchant's son."

Elowen hummed. It was a thoughtful, dangerous sound.

"He has a good face," she said. "Symmetrical. Clean."

She looked back at the little girl. Then back to Marcus.

"The child seems attached to him," Elowen observed. "She looked to him for comfort."

'No, she didn't,' Marcus screamed internally. 'She was just staring! She stares at everything!'

Elowen smiled. It was a twist of red lips that promised pain.

"I like that," she whispered. "Attachments can be... exploited."

She turned to Voss. "How much for the man as well?"

Voss's eyes lit up. A bundle deal.

"For you, My Lady?" Voss said. "Thirty gold. He is untrained, but healthy."

"Done," Elowen said. "I will take them both."

Marcus closed his eyes. Defeat washed over him.

He was sold. Just like that.

Because a creepy child couldn't stare at a blank wall for five minutes.

'You have got to be kidding me,' Marcus thought bitterly. 'I am going to hell because of a staring contest.'

He opened his eyes and glared at the girl.

She was still looking at him. Her expression hadn't changed.

It wasn't smug. It wasn't apologetic. It was nothing.

Marcus felt a flare of anger. If she hadn't looked, he might have stayed in the cell.

He might have had time to plan an escape.

But then he caught himself.

He looked at her small hands. He looked at the dirt on her white dress.

She was a child. She was likely traumatized. She didn't know what she was doing.

'It isn't her fault,' Marcus told himself.

He exhaled a shaky breath. 'She didn't do it on purpose. She is just a scared kid.'

He looked at her black eyes again. They seemed bottomless.

'Right?' he added mentally. 'She didn't do it on purpose... right?'

A tiny chill went down his spine. But he pushed it away.

"Open the cell," Voss barked at the guards. "Get the girl and the man out. Leave the other two."

The guard stepped forward. He unlocked the heavy door.

"You two," he grunted. "Up. Now."

Marcus scrambled to his feet. His legs felt stiff.

He looked at Thomas. The man was unconscious in the corner. His breathing was ragged.

He looked at Elara. She was just staring at them leaving.

She looked... sad? Afraid? Or... pity? Maybe all of them

"I..." Marcus started. He didn't know what to say.

He was leaving them. He was abandoning them to rot in this hole.

"Move!" the guard shouted. He grabbed Marcus by the collar and yanked him into the corridor.

Another guard grabbed the little girl. She stood up obediently and didn't struggle.

They were marched down the damp hallway.

Elowen walked ahead, her heels clicking on the stone. She hummed a pleasant little tune.

Voss followed, counting the potential gold in his head.

They left the dungeon area and entered a wider room. It was an office of sorts.

There was a large wooden counter. A ledger lay open on it.

The air here smelled of ink and stale perfume, masking the stench from below.

"Bring them here," Voss ordered.

The guards pushed Marcus and the girl toward the counter.

Marcus stumbled but caught his balance. He stood next to the girl.

She reached out and took hold of his sleeve.

It was a small, light grip.

Marcus looked down. She wasn't looking at him now. She was looking at the floor.

He felt a pang of sympathy. He didn't pull away.

'We are in this together now,' he thought grimly. 'Whatever this is.'

Voss went behind the counter. He opened a heavy iron box.

Elowen pulled a pouch from her belt. She counted out the coins.

Clink. Clink. Clink.

The sound was rhythmic and final. The sound of their freedom ending.

"One hundred and ten gold," Voss confirmed. He swept the coins into the box. "A pleasure as always, Lady Elowen."

"The pleasure is mine," Elowen said softly. She looked at her new purchases.

Voss clapped his hands. "Right then. Let us finalize the transfer."

He motioned to a man standing in the corner.

The man wore a grey robe. He held a long metal rod. The tip glowed with a faint, magical blue light.

It was a branding rod. A slave seal applicator.

Marcus tensed. He had read about this.

The seal wasn't just a mark. It was magic. It bound the slave to the master's will.

If they disobeyed a direct order, they felt pain.

If they tried to run, the master could track them.

It was the ultimate chain.

The man in grey stepped forward. The rod hummed with power.

"Girl first," Voss said. "Neck or shoulder, My Lady?"

Elowen watched the glowing tip. Her eyes narrowed.

"Wait," she said.

The man in grey stopped. He looked confused.

"My Lady?" Voss asked. "Is something wrong?"

"Put that away," Elowen said. Her voice was cold.

Voss blinked. "But... the seal, My Lady. It ensures obedie-"

"I know what it does," Elowen snapped. "It makes them mindless."

She stepped closer to Marcus. She looked him in the eyes.

Marcus tried to hold her gaze, but fear made him tremble.

"The seal forces them to obey," Elowen said softly. "They obey because they have no choice. Because the magic compels them."

She reached out. She traced a finger down Marcus's jawline. Her fingernail was sharp.

"Where is the fun in that?" she whispered.

Voss looked baffled. "Fun, My Lady?"

Elowen turned back to the merchant. Her eyes were wide and bright.

"I do not want magic to break them, Voss. I want to do it myself."

She smiled. It was the most terrifying thing Marcus had ever seen.

"I want them to obey because they are terrified," she explained. "I want to see the light go out of their eyes because I extinguished it, not because a spell did."

She looked at the little girl.

"Especially the pretty ones," Elowen added. "They break so beautifully when you apply the right pressure."

She waved a hand dismissively at the branding rod.

"No seals," she ordered. "I will take them as they are. Raw."

Voss shrugged. "As you wish. But if they run, we offer no refunds."

"They won't run," Elowen said confidently. "By the time I am done with them, they won't even be able to walk without my permission."

Marcus felt the blood drain from his face.

He had feared slavery. He had feared labor camps.

But this was different.

This woman didn't want servants. She wanted toys.

She wanted to dismantle them, piece by piece, just to see how they worked.

A slave seal would have been a cage. This... this was a torture chamber.

"Come along, pets," Elowen said. She turned toward the exit.

"We have a carriage waiting. And I have so many games planned."

The guard shoved Marcus forward. "Move."

Marcus walked. His legs felt like lead.

He looked down at the girl. She was still holding his sleeve.

She didn't look scared. She looked... curious?

As they stepped out into the night air, Marcus looked up at the moon.

He felt a shiver that had nothing to do with the cold.

It was pure, distilled dread.

And it was just beginning.

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