An Auburn Aphrodite

I would just like to say that this is my first submission to this, or any other site, so comments would be very well received. Please let me know if there are any mistakes or improvements that you think I should make. Thankyou for taking the time to read..............

The market place was crowded with people, all shouting and calling their prices to the Dealer, trying to haggle the best bargain for their purchase. In the centre of a large crowd of people, a stand had been erected, on which stood the prisoners. Their names were not important, nor were their origins, all that mattered now, was the price they might fetch for the Dealer. He was a fat, balding, middle- aged man and his face was rough from many years at sea. His hands were calloused and his voice was low but firm. He growled orders to his men as a bidder stepped forward to claim his prize. The men ran to untie the prisoner from the wooden stake that had been driven into the ground. Money exchanged hands and the prisoner was handed over. It was the last time the dealer would ever see him, but what did that matter to him?

The prisoners sat huddled together, their eyes darting back and forth into the crowd of bidders, fearful. They wore no clothes to make it easier for bidders to distinguish their sex, and all looked bedraggled from their voyage. Some of the women held babies in their arms, hunching over them protectively, whilst other men clutched their women to them, snarling at the bidders that approached. A mother screamed as a baby was torn from her arms, and she was bundled into a cart and driven away, losing sight of her child in the large crowd that circled the dealers stand. A young girl sat alone from the group of prisoners, her lighter skin seperating her from them, and her auburn hair a blinding contrast to the muddy browns of the other prisoners. Her green eyes were defiant and she struggled against her bonds and the shackles on her feet. She was slender, with rounded hips and full breasts that could only just be seen from behind her firmly crossed arms. Her legs were crossed determindly, covering her sex from the leering eyes of the crowd. The dealer would save her till last.

The dealer knew little of her past, having bought her from some sailors from the west for mere pennies, he had congratulated himself on his find. She would fetch a high price at the slave sales, he was sure. She had lightly tanned skin and a pouty little mouth, green eyes that pierced his own and her long auburn hair was sleek and glossy, despite months on a boat. She was also a virgin, a rare enough find nowadays, so many of the women he sold were often with child and ruined in price. But her. She was something else.

Deep in the crowds, there stood a man. He was obviously handsome and wealthy, and he knew it. His suit was tailored and he was clean shaven. And now he had a purpose. He wanted the girl. He'd seen her as she was brought struggling to the stand and his eyes had quickly scanned her body with pleasure. She was different from the other slaves, not just in looks, but in spirit. She held her head high and stared at her captors, and when the dealer stepped to close, she spat at him, her eyes glaring with defiance and hatred. She was wild, and she would be his.

The bidding started quite high, and gradually built as more and more men began to fight between themselves over price. Slowly they were forced to drop out as the price grew to much, until only a few men were left bidding. The dealer smiled to himself as it reached ten thousand, rubbing his hands together and continuing to bark prices. Suddenly a man stood out from the circle of the crowd and raised his hand lazily into the air, immediately drawing attention to himself.

"One hundred thousand."

The words were spoken with so little emotion that the dealer checked himself for their accuracy. Every eye swivveled to stare at this man, and even the girl looked up to see the man who had bid so much. An eerie silence fell across the crowd as the man turned and walked to the outer rim of the circle, two heavily built men from within the crowd followed him.

"Sold!" The Dealer barked loudly.

His men ran forward to untie the girl. She struggled, scratching and bighting at anything that came within her reach, contorting her body in an attempt to be free. The two men from the crowd sauntered calmly towards the stand and made their way up the wooden steps, one man reaching into his pocket as he climbed. They reached the scuffling men and the girl and pushing their way past them leaned over and pressed something to her skin. She went limp and she could feel her body beginning to numb, then everything went black and she remembered no more.

To be continued ......