Katla's Enslavement Ch. 01

This story is from my own imagination, and based VERY loosely on the ancient Mayan empire. I know virtually nothing about it, so any dates or facts are probably wrong.

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Katla lay curled up in the cage, shaking from fear, cold, and hunger. She had been captured by foreign peoples, as she went to collect seaweed from the shore. They had just anchored their ship, and she had walked right into their midst, fool that she was. They were very different, with silky black hair, and bronze skin. She was not even entirely sure that they were human, although, after Beowulf had made his visits, these did not seem nearly as bad as she might have once found them. She had attempted to run, but they caught her and thrust her up quickly, jabbering excitedly to each other. Despite her fear, she did not miss the sight of their gleaming gold jewelry. She was then put in the hold of the ship, and waited there, sailing endlessly. She was given food occasionally, a strange juicy kernel, and untied once a day to exercise. All she ever saw was water, rippling forever on. Eventually they reached land; she was tied and blindfolded, marched here, and stuck in this cage. She had been here for a week now, and had only been given food twice during her stay.

All of a sudden the door was opened, and she cried out as light struck her eyes, so long in the dark. Another of these strange people hauled her out of the cage, and blindfolded her again. She stood there, waiting, when all of a sudden she heard the sound of clothe ripping. Her clothing began falling off her in pieces, until she was completely bare. This did not bother her as much as it should have. After months of ill-treatment, she was past caring about her life. Her body actually felt better, free of the filthy and rotting clothing. She was pulled toward a door, and she willingly walked outside. Once there, her handler pulled off the blindfold, and led her onto a raised platform. There were two posts there, with shackles distributed along their length. Her arms were spread and stretched as far as possible, and then her wrists snapped into two of the shackles. He legs were similarly placed, leaving her spread-eagled for anyone to see. She gazed over the crowd, blue eyes sparkling, her hair swirling around her hips. She could hear a collected gasp among the assembled buyers, and realized that she looked very different from them. They all had the bronze skin and dark hair of her captors, and mostly brown or black eyes. There were a few green gazes directed at her, but those were few and far between. Someone behind her started shouting, and members of the audience responded. With a flash of insight, she realized she was being auctioned off, as a cow or pig might have been, back home. This frightened her immensely, as she knew she would be completely at her buyer's mercy, and there was little hope of a happy life. She dropped her head and tuned the voices out, focusing on calming down and remaining passive...

Sometime later she was taken down from the posts, and she was left untied for the first time in months. A silky tunic was dropped over her head, coming down to brush the bottom of her buttocks. Someone took her hand and led her along a paved path. They came to a canal, where a boat was waiting. Her guide nudged her gently, and she stepped into the boat. As the slowly made their way down the canal, she could not help but look around at her surroundings in interest. Where she was now, was so completely different from her home land, she wondered if she was truly still alive. The canal she was on was very large, and small ones branched out in every direction. There were buildings, beautifully created and decorated, with exotic flora and water creations everywhere. Along the right side of the main canal was a wide road, with multitudes of small stands selling all manner of things. Eventually the boat turned down one of the side canals, and the surrounding area was jungle, cultivated and developed, with small buildings visible through the trees.

They finally came to a small dock, where the captain tied up the boat and helped her out. They then walked along a sandy path, until they came upon a great house, more beautiful then any she had ever seen. She was led down a path curving around the side of the house, and toward a gleaming white wall, covered in flowering vines. The captain opened a door in the wall, and motioned for her to go inside. She stepped in, and he immediately shut the door behind her, locking it from the outside. She was not very surprised, and was confronted with a gorgeous interior. Directly in front of her was a small river, trickling in through one side of the wall. It came in, snaked around a tree, and ended in a pond, over which a bridge spanned. Trees covered in breathtaking blossoms leaned over the pond, and a flamingo walked delicately around lily pads. The water trickled out the north end of the pond, and went in a small stream under the wall of a small house. Katla walked across the bridge in a daze, brushing aside a curtain to enter the house. She walked down the steps to the sunken interior, noticing that the stream fell into a small waterfall, before disappearing into the stone floor. It flowed out again, into a large, deep pool, and it appearing to be steaming! She marveled over this for a moment, then took in the rest of her surroundings. There were draperies everywhere, and a large object nestled in one corner of the room. She went over and felt it, shocked to feel how soft and yielding it was. She immediately sank down on it and fell into an exhausted sleep.