The Slave Market

AN: This is my newest story and for now it is a one shot unless i can think of anything else i want to add to it. I was able to find a beta/editor for this story to help me so thanks goes out to HadesTorment. If you see something wrong in the story with my writing don't just say its wrong point out exactly what it is so i can change it, i want to get better and i cant do that if i don't know what to change. OK that's all so i am done taking up your time and we can get on with the story.



As I stepped off the ship, my first thought was to drop to the ground and kiss the gray stone dock. I have never been a sea person. My family has lived in the southern mountains for as long as any can remember; to be away from its high peaks and deep forests seems like a curse to those in my clan.

However, when the king summons you to his court and gives you a mission you have little choice but to accept whatever it is.

This is how I found myself standing on the docks of what would look too many like paradise. Crystal blue water lapped up against sun baked golden sand as palm trees swayed in the breeze and gave shade to the people walking through the streets. Carlatta, chief port of the Rancik Empire and the place I had been sent to infiltrate.

This is maybe the time I should be giving some background. My name is Daniel Grayson, prince of the grassy ridge mountains, ranger of the emerald forests, and knight to the king of Lavosia.

I had been enjoying my time in the imperial library reading some of the tomes they had from the time of the first emperor when the king had summoned me to the palace.

When the messenger had approached me with a letter saying that the king needed to see me for a special assignment I had assumed that he would be sending me to some boring diplomatic party or to go oversee the excavation of the new temple they had uncovered in the western deserts. Instead my king had saw fit to put me on a boat and ship me halfway across the world to the land of Carlatta.

"Your majesty you summoned me?" I asked bowing before the king before standing at attention.

Being summoned before the king while not an everyday occurrence was usual enough that I was not too nervous at the meeting. Looking around I noticed the lack of the queen, this is odd in itself because the two are usually inseparable, most royal families are filled with tales of cheating or of loveless arranged marriages.

But you only had to see how the king and queen acted to know that the two were still in love after all the years since their coronation. I always enjoyed my time around the Queen, she reminded me a lot of my mother and her relationship with the King was something I wish my mother could have had.

The king noticed me looking at the empty seat and just smiled and waved his hand. "Don't worry Isabella is just out helping Jack with his archery lesson. So instead you just have this old man to keep you company." Laughed the king before motioning for me to follow him into one of the side rooms that were kept filled with maps and atlases of the world, grabbing a large dusty one off the shelf he laid it down on the table between it and opened it to a picture of a small island.

"What do you know of the land of Carlatta and Rogan Grimsdark?" asked the king looking up from the page.

I recognized the name of the island immediately as a lot of the incoming Intel had been concerning it, but it took a second for me to recognize the name of the man.

"Carlatta is a large island in the eastern sea; it has a tropical climate and is a major harbor that ships tons of spices and materials across the oceans. I don't know much about Rogan Grimsdark other than he is seventh in line for the throne of the Rancik Empire."

"That's good my boy, lately our ships have been being attacked by pirates and some of our colonies have been raided by the same pirates, we have tracked their ships back to Carlatta." He said.

"Do you think that prince Grimsdark and the Rancik Empire have any part in this?" I asked looking at the map of the island. It was a large bit of rock that was taken up by farms and mountains but there was a natural harbor on the north shore that was covered by a city dominated by a large citadel in its center.

"We think the prince is behind it yes. With being seventh in line, he will probably not be taking the throne anytime soon. But Carlatta is rich and he could create his own empire there." Said the king flipping through the atlas until he came to a page that showed the island chain Carlatta belonged to in reference to the Rancik Empire and the continent Lavosia rested on.

"As you know the history behind our two empires has never been an easy one, no matter how many times we end up fighting them they always are able to slink back to their home over the ocean."

I remembered the lessons from my history classes, the teachers spent weeks on the history of the Rancik Empire and its many wars with not only our country but also the entire Republic of Malrone that we belonged to.

The land the Rancik Empire inhabits is one of beauty and great mineral and animal wealth, yet it is bloodied and darkened by the group of thieves, murderers, and slavers who run it. Over the centuries since their discovery, there have been many wars of invasion by them and numerous people have been killed or worse captured as slaves to be taken back to their country.

Thinking over my history lessons, I started to put the pieces together of what was going on. "You want an excuse to invade Carlatta." I blurted out before smiling sheepishly and apologizing for my outburst.

"Not just me, the High King himself wants it. Carlatta will make a great stepping stone to invade the mainland. Also none of the other kingdoms were happy with the orange grain treaty that ended the last war and taking out an island of pirates and slavers will be just the thing to unite them again and give us a reason to fight." Said the king his eyes going dark with pain as he mentioned the orange grain treaty, forty years ago, the treaty had ended a ten year war with the Rancik empire. Even though we had more men and better weaponry than them we could not break through the island chain and keep our men supplied at that distance.

So we had no choice but to sue for peace, the treaty left a bad taste in the mouth of all the kings and queens in the court. Not only were we to pay more taxes for Rancik goods but we were allowing a nation that condoned enslaving people to flourish and grow.

So it seemed that finding a way to pin the pirate attacks back to them would be a good way to re-start the war as it would mean that they were not the first to break it.

Back at the island, I was taking my time to enjoy the sight of the large stone keep dominating the center of the city while I waited for my stuff to be unloaded and my contact to arrive. The king had sent me here under the guise of a mostly familiar role.

I was to play the petty spoiled aristocrat who had been banished to the islands as a diplomat after a scandal in my own kingdom. My job was to make connections in the town, both the good and bad parts of it, and find what I could linking Prince Grimsdark to the pirates and slave trade.

The sound of horse hooves on stone broke me out of my contemplations. Looking down the dock I saw a large workhorse pulling an equally large carriage behind it, whoever my contact was they apparently liked to travel in style.

Thanks to the horses strong legs the carriage was there in no time, its large wheels rolling to a stop right in front of me. The carriage was made from large dark wood with gold and ivory trim; it stunk of decadence and self-absorption. Before the door opened I already had the feeling that I would not like the person who was about to step out of the door.

When the door opened, I knew I had been right about my guess. Stepping out of the carriage was a man about a head taller than me. He was dressed in the puffiest purple shirt along with the tightest leather pants I had ever seen.

His hair looked like it would have taken hours to get fixed like that and as he reached out his hand for me to shake I noticed that he had multiple rings on every one of his pudgy sausage like fingers.

"Ah, you must be the newest exile to this little patch of paradise." Spoke the man. I tried not to wince back as his breath not only assaulted my nose but beat it up with an eight-day-old rotten fish.

"Yeah my name is Daniel Grayson, I was sent here to be one of the new ambassadors from the kingdom." I said trying to pour detest into my voice over being sent to the island.

"Oh, don't worry, my lad, it's not as bad as it seems here. In fact if you play your cards right you can be better off here than you ever were in the Republic." Said the man wrapping his arm around my shoulder, once again I tried not to flinch and prayed to the goddess that I would not catch anything from being around this person.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked

"There are a lot of opportunities to have fun in this city, my boy, and with the republic judges a half a world away we don't have to deal with their outdated laws or silly morals." Spewed the man, turning to look at him I caught a glimpse of the inside of the carriage. Lying in the seat was the form of a girl who couldn't have been older than my sister; she was trying to pull her tattered dress back on while wiping away her tears.

Instantly I knew exactly what this man was talking about and bile rose in my throat as fire swept through my veins. It was all I could do not to take out my sword and bury it in the stomach of this fat pig. But I knew I had to keep my cover and that once the island was taken the girl could be freed and the judiciaries could deal with this man.

"Well I think I will go into the city and look for some of this fun before going to the embassy." I said extracting myself from the man's grasp. "I am sure I will be able to find my way to it. Whom should I ask for once I get there?"

"Oh, right. I am Duke Stuart Petris. You can just have one of my aides bring you to my office." He said, "Though I can give you a ride through town in the carriage if you want. It's much better than having to walk the streets with all of the commoners."

I thanked him but declined saying that I felt like enjoying my time walking on solid ground after being stuck on a ship for so long, which was true. I had never completely gotten my sea legs and had spent most of the trip in my cabin trying not to throw up.

I watched the carriage pull away and stood there for a minute calming my emotions before stating towards the end of the dock. I opened myself to the world around me, enjoying the sound of the crashing waves and the feel of the hot island sun beating down on me and let it wash away the anger; I would be no use as a spy for the king if I lost it on the first day and murdered the embassy chief.

As I walked through the city it looked like any that could have been found on the islands of Calla or by the coast of Sulis; two of the largest sea faring nations in the republic.

There were shops set up selling fresh fruit and fish, other stalls held leather goods or clothes and tools. There were children running around laughing and people going about their business, it could have been any city in the republic if you didn't look a second time.

Looking again, you could see that all the adults had a look of fear in their eyes and though the children were running around, they never ventured too far from their parents.

You could also see the large number of Rancik troops on the corners of the streets and if you looked closely, you would notice that some of the people wore metal or leather collars around their necks placing them as slaves and servants.

The Rancik economy and caste system is based entirely around slavery and warfare. I couldn't help but pray that I would quickly be able to tie the prince to the recent pirate attacks so the fleets could come and free the people under their rule. I spent a few more hours walking around the city taking in all of the sights and sounds and trying to appear more like a tourist and less as if I was casing the place.

However, one building had interested me as I passed it. It was a large stone complex with trees and flowers all around it and people, mostly higher class from the looks of it, kept entering and exiting in large numbers.

Figuring it might be a good idea to find out what was going on in there since it would be a good place to get information I reminded myself to ask Mr. Petris when I got to the embassy.

Eventually, though, my stomach started to feel hungry and complain that it needed something more than the little snacks I had been getting from the stalls. So, I decided instead that I would go back to the embassy and have a working dinner.

The embassy itself was a small building off to the side of the large tower that dominated the center of town, its brown tiled roof and sandy colored walls a stark contrast to the hard militaristic stone buildings that flanked it. Stepping inside I was quickly able to find the front desk and get directions to Mr. Petris' office.

Walking onto the floor that contained his office all but confirmed my suspicions of the man. While being head of the embassy paid well, I doubted that most embassy heads had hundred-year-old vases and paintings on just about every surface available. I also noticed that he had many female employees working for him, all of them beautiful, and all wearing slave collars.

"Mr. Grayson I am glad to see that you were able to find you way here." said Stuart rising from the desk and walking around to shake my hand. "Did you enjoy your walk through my beautiful city?"

"Yes it was very nice. The weather is good and the people are friendly." I said smiling at the man; I took a second to look around the room. It was as extravagant as everything else was in his office with old wood and expensive leathers.

"Aye, they are lad. It's a wonderful city they have exiled us to." Said the man making me start to think I understood some of his character. He kept referring to his posting as an exile, which seemed to indicate that he has some resentment toward the republic. In addition, the way he seems to have amassed so much wealth here told me that he might not be the ally I was looking for.

"Yeah, the only thing I couldn't find was someplace to eat. I thought I would ask you and we could go talk about business over supper." I said.

"No, no, you just got here and we don't need to start you working right away. There will be more than enough time for that in the future. No, tonight I will take you to one of my favorite places on the island. I already have a little surprise waiting for you. Consider it a house warming present." Said the man wrapping his arms around my shoulder and leading me out the door. As I walked, I wondered what he could have in mind.

He quickly led me down through the building and to where the carriage was waiting in the alleyway. I followed the hefty man into the cart crinkling my nose as the hard smells of alcohol and sex impacted with my sinus cavity.

The fat man either didn't notice the smell or didn't care as he jumped right into talking about everything there was to do around the city and pointing out each of the buildings we passed.

I started to think this evening might not be a total waste of time as he told me more and more about the city and what living there was like. Though most of it had to do with clubs, shops, and restaurants, I felt I was getting a good look at the upper part of society on the island. And I could always go out at night and find out about the seedier part of the town on my own.

"Ah, and here is the best building in the entire city." Said Petris pointing out the window as we drove up to the large stone keep that I had seen all of those people going in and out of earlier. Thanks to Petris' rank as chief ambassador we were able to cut the line and go right in.

I had been expecting the inside to match the outside and look like a prison. But while there were cells they were each decked out in a different theme and large chandeliers and a red carpet ran down the center hall.

"What is this place?" I asked looking around. In each of the cells were men and women talking or eating and being waited on by slaves. Not all of the cells were open. Some had curtains blocking them; though I could guess what was going on thanks to the noise.

"This, my dear fellow, is the slave market." He said.

"Slave market? This looks like more like some kind of restaurant slash whorehouse to me." I said as we went deeper into the keep.

"Yes, yes, it's great isn't it. It's all very civilized; you can eat and drink while being waited on. And if you find any delicacies you especially enjoy, well then you can take them home for the right price." He said his eyes twinkling with mirth.

I tried to hide my grimace behind a fake smile and clasped my hands tightly behind my back. My mind was shouting to get out of there and come back with the entire legion to clear this place out. Instead, I just swallowed that feeling down and continued following Petris until we came to a large room about double the size of the other cells.

"Ah, you are here. Good, good. It has been a while, my friend. I trust the girls I sent you are doing well?" asked a tall, thin man with close cut dark hair and green eyes. The man was dressed in fine green and yellow silk and was giving Petris a run for the money on how many rings and necklaces he could wear.

"They are wonderful and each is worth the entire price. But tonight we are here for my new assistant. Daniel, meet Lord Scranthian. The owner of this fine establishment." He said, I quickly stepped forward and shook the man's hand.

"What a fine young lad. I am sure you will do fine in the embassy. And to make your life more enjoyable while you are here your boss has seen fit that I set aside one of my newest purchases. If you like her she is yours." He said, but before I could even draw in a breath, he continued. "But you don't have to say anything right now. Just sit and eat and I will send her in to serve on you, and if you like her you can take her home with you."

I just shook my head and went over to the table to pour myself a drink while the two men talked. I am not a large fan of alcohol but I needed something to calm my nerves and clear my head. I sat back and tried to order my thoughts. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't even notice when Lord Scranthian or my boss left.

Problem one: slavery was wrong and immoral but if didn't accept their present I would offend both my boss and Lord Scranthian and this was not a good way to start my mission. Problem two: I could buy the slave since they would be safe with me but a gilded cage is still a cage and I would not be allowed to release them for a set amount of years because of the laws here. Of course, I was not planning to stick around that long anyway so I could take the slave with me when I left.

My mind was about to start on problem three when I noticed someone set a plate in front of me. I about dropped my glass as I looked up at the beautiful goddess who stood in front of me. Her coppery gold skin was wrapped in a sheer white dress that did little to hide her large brown areola and smooth shaved pussy. Working my way up from her long toned legs and over her flat stomach and large breasts I got to what was her best feature.

Large brown eyes lay above her soft pink lips and small button nose, her face was surrounded by long golden brown hair that fell over her shoulders. A beautiful dark leather collar circled her slender neck and my mouth watered with the thought of having it under my lips.

Glancing back down at my plate so as not to stare I notice the nails on her long fingers were painted a light peach and imagined how they would feel in mine.