The Tattooed Woman Pt. 05

Hildegard looked both horrified, and strangely fascinated, "When you say adopted?"

"I mean exactly that girl. She would be family, treasured and honoured, even loved by her new kin, though that may take longer, for we are not especially warm folk by nature."

"Ha! Like anyone would adopt an ex-whore like me."

"We are not human, Hildegard, our values are very different. Among my kind prostitution is as honest a trade as any other and we see no shame in it. Indeed, the most expensive are well-trained in music, arts, conversation, and dance, as well as seduction and love-play, and they are very well paid."

"I doubt your sisters at this temple of yours would teach me to whore myself out."

Ashunara smiled, "Remember my kind measure our lifespan in centuries child. Boredom can be a dreadful thing for us. There will be sisters who have been prostitutes, and vice versa. Even if not, there will certainly be some who revel in music, art and dance. Can I tell you a secret Hildegard?"

"What?"

"My kind actually like humans. Well, some humans perchance, the interesting and pretty ones at least. Some of you possess such enthusiasm, such a delight in life, despite you having so little of it, that more than a few of us are in awe. If Lashelle was to teach you to play the lute you'd probably laugh and run about showing off to your friends. Hell, within an hour you would like as not have formed a quartet with other humans and be writing songs and playing in some tavern, while in contrast one of my sisters would probably say, "Thank you", pay with a few coins and that would be that."

"So?"

"It means they would enjoy teaching you."

"But I'll still be a slave."

The Captain sighed, "Hildegard, if you work hard you will be free after a couple of years or so and then you can do as you please. You can think on it as a sentence, or as an opportunity, but serve you will. The sisters at the temple will not abuse you, you'll be well-fed, and well-treated, and once you gain their trust you'll have a modicum of freedom, to go about and see what you will, to learn what you will. As long as a slave is respectful, they will not be treated with disdain by my kin. True, you will never be treated as an equal either of course, for we are truly arrogant to a fault. You are property, yes, but useful, valuable property, not something to be broken and discarded.

"Remember, we consider ourselves better than everyone else, which means we must do everything better than everyone else, our crafts, our medicine, science, magics and yes, even our slavery must be better. There's an old parable among my kind where a human slave tricks her mistress by continually saying things like, "Well in human lands a slave could own a horse" and such like. So of course, the mistress would buy her two of the finest stallions for she could not do less than the humans, and so it went, until the now penniless mistress sold herself into slavery to pay for the upkeep of her very own slave. It's a good story, one of my favourites as a child.

"If you wish to return to human lands after you gain your freedom you may do so with the sister's blessing, but many freed slaves choose to stay."

"Why?"

"For a longer, better life of course. Would it matter to you if you spent ten years being a well-treated slave while you worked, and learned some useful craft if in return you had a further hundred years or so of healthy freedom in exchange?"

Hildegard looked confused, "I don't understand, why not just offer this freely, you would not need slaves, folk would flock to your borders."

Ashunara gave the woman a smile that any shark would envy, "We are Dark Elves; we do not give things freely. And I would doubt we'd enjoy having humans flocking to our borders."

The nun laughed, "Holy fuck, you're as crazy as we are."

The Captain leaned close and grinned, "Best keep that secret to yourself, little human."

...

When Cassie awoke the tattooed woman's arms were still around her, and she couldn't help but sigh happily. It had been a bitterly cold night and even with the woollen blankets provided by the Dark Elves she had lain there shivering until the big woman had simply wrapped her arms around her and pulled her close. Her steel manacles had clinked as the tall woman reached around her, and Cassie had swallowed nervously, her body stiff with fear and worrying about the intentions of the bigger woman, but she had simply been pulled into what felt like a warm embrace, and the little slave eventually felt herself relaxing. Other than a blanket the taller woman only had an old cloak to wrap herself in, but her body was so warm, and she seemed entirely untroubled by the frigid temperature.

Within moments Cassie had stopped shivering as the cold left her, replaced by shared warmth. Other than holding her the woman made no attempts to touch her or do any of the things that had plagued the young slave's fears since being taken but she could feel the corded iron-hard muscles of those tattooed arms, and she felt strangely secure. She had never really known her mother though she sometimes had dreams of being held in warm arms, and a voice maybe humming a tune, but she was never sure if it was a true memory or just the wishful thinking of a lonely child.

She lay still for the longest time before timidly whispering, "Thank you."

The woman sighed and her voice came back from the darkness, "You're safe Cassie, sleep now."

Cassie's eyelids felt incredibly heavy and within moments slumber had taken her, and for the first night in many, there were no dreams.

In the morning the young slave woke to the smell of porridge cooking, she stirred and the long powerful arms that were wrapped around her lifted to allow her to wriggle free. After a nervous visit to the latrines, she collected breakfast and returned to where the tattooed woman was now sitting cross-legged. Unlike before the strange woman was not simply staring blankly about, but for once appeared to be taking at least a little interest in the camp as she watched slaves and guards moving about with those strange green unblinking eyes.

The blackened skin that had marred her flesh was all but healed now, and Cassie could see almost no sign of the flogging she had recently endured. The broken ribs had turned to light bruising and the deep tears in her back had transformed from near-mortal wounds to little more than long angry scratches. Her hair was still short but growing, and Cassie could see it was the colour of burnished copper.

Handing the strange woman a wooden spoon she found herself furtively watching as she examined the simple utensil carefully, turning it over in her long fingers before silently eating the hot food she had been given.

Cassie's manacles clinked as she moved, and she froze as she was instantly transfixed by those green eyes. The young girl nervously swallowed a mouthful of porridge and muttered, "Morning."

The woman looked towards the sun rising over the distant hills and then back to the younger slave, "Correct."

Cassie watched as the woman ate her breakfast without further comment. She hungrily finished her own and moved closer to collect the empty bowls and spoons but gave a little yelp of surprise when the woman's hand snapped out to capture her wrist. Her grip was very firm, though not tight enough to hurt, but her strength was such that Cassie was inexorably dawn closer to the woman, who sniffed once and winced.

"I-I'm sorry, wha...?"

The tattooed woman seemed to almost uncoil from her position as she rose smoothly to her feet drawing the startled young slave with her.

A Dark Elven guard was standing off towards the edge of the camp casually eating her own breakfast even as she watched the slaves and Cassie almost whimpered with fear as the woman walked unhesitatingly towards her, pulling the young woman along behind effortlessly, as though she were little more than a toddler.

Elsadore was a veteran of more than three centuries. She was big for a Dark Elf, with a solid, compact frame and dark eyes that spoke of lifetimes of hard experience. She had already dismissed Veroona from her guard post, sending the still-hurting woman back to her bedroll with a curt nod before carrying across breakfast to her. The younger Dark Elf had flushed with embarrassment at being treated like an invalid, but Elsadore simply grinned at her, "Eat your breakfast girl. You're not the first to get hurt, I doubt you'll be the last. There's no shame in it."

Now she stood eating her own bowl of porridge, watching curiously as the tall human with the weird skin markings approached, drawing a clearly terrified young slave behind her.

"An ndéanaimid máirseáil inniu Dökkálfar?"

Cassie stared goggle-eyed and Elsadore felt an eyebrow quirk in surprise.

"You speak our language well Human, that's no common thing."

The human simply stared at her.

Elsadore drew a breath and shook her head, "No, we've no plans to march today, you can rest. With luck, the Captain will have returned by morning and we will take up the march tomorrow."

The tattooed woman nodded and pointed to a nearby stream, "We stink. I would wash the reek from us in yonder brook."

The Dark Elf glanced at the nearby burn before looking back at the slaves, "Are you asking me or telling me?"

The strange woman tilted her head slightly, "Yes."

Elsadore couldn't help but chuckle at the reply, "I should whip you again for your impertinence slave, but damned if I don't admire your stubbornness," she looked about the camp and pointed, "I'll have a fire set by those bushes so you can hang your clothes to dry should you have a mind to wash them. And I'll post an Orc to watch over you, purely for your safety of course. Cassie, come here girl."

The frightened young slave moved closer to the Dark Elf and watched with surprise as she produced a key to unlock her manacles. Looking up at the slaver's face she was surprised when she smiled, "Hard to undress to bathe wearing manacles girl," she winked, "trust me, I've tried. I've got some soap in my pack, it might help. Don't stay in that water for long, it's too bloody cold and I don't want you getting sick on me. I'm trusting you, little slave, don't go and disappoint me now."

The tattooed woman made to move off to the stream but stopped to look back when Elsadore cleared her throat meaningfully, "No thanks, not even an acknowledgement?"

The woman gave the Dark Elf a long, unblinking stare, before bobbing her head in a minuscule nod.

Elsadore grinned as she watched the two slaves move off towards the stream, "Humans are so hilariously fascinating, and this one might just prove to be the most curious yet. Obviously dangerous, but strangely easy to manipulate. Very interesting."

Cassie complained, "That water looks freezing!"

The tall woman might have grinned, she wasn't sure, but she unwrapped her cloak and hung it over a branch before turning back the little slave and looking pointedly at her skirt and tunica. Blushing, Cassie sat on the damp grass and began to pull off her shoes and hose, still grumbling, "I had a bath this week already, and I still say that water looks col.. eep!"

Cassie had pulled up her long skirt and was struggling to pull her hose off over her feet when the Orc ambled over to stand nearby. It casually leaned its axe against a tree stump and watched the two women with seemingly indifferent curiosity.

"Er... That thing's not going to watch us bathe, is it? What if it gets... ideas?"

The tattooed woman waded into the water naked and apparently oblivious to the cold, "Orcs have no interest in human women. They consider us too small and puny, we'd make bad mates and produce weak sons and daughters."

Cassie nibbled her fingernails, "But I heard stories..."

"Tales to frighten peasants and the like. It has always been so. You should bathe, for you smell abominably."

Cassie muttered as she turned her back on the Orc to timidly lower her skirt, "That's just rude."

The young woman nervously stripped off and the Orc snorted in amusement at her high-pitched squeal when she finally dipped her foot in the stream, "It's bloody freezing!"

The tattooed woman moved closer and took the soap from her hands, "Stop whimpering."

The Orc watched for a few moments more before shucking off its hide jerkin and sitting to pull off its boots.

Cassie looked on in horror as the thing began untying its britches, "Oh dear Gods what's it doing?"

"Probably going to bathe I would think."

"B-but it can't do that!"

The tattooed woman looked at her curiously, "Why not?"

"But I've got no clothes on!" she wailed.

The taller woman grinned, "It doesn't care, and neither do I, come here girl so I can wash your hair."

Cassie couldn't help but watch in embarrassed fascination as the thing undressed and slid into the water. It had a powerful build, heavily muscled but still lean like a wolf and its hair fell down its back in a long warrior's braid. With its gleaming yellow eyes and vulpine smile, the creature had a wild, feral look about it.

"It's watching us."

"It's a sentry, of course, it's watching. Why so skittish girl? It's not interested in your body."

Cassie blushed as she muttered, "Nobody ever is."

The taller woman was busy soaping the young slave's hair but she still heard, "How so?"

"I've always been scrawny I guess. None of the farmer's lads would ever invite me to the local faire. They preferred buxom milkmaids with ruddy cheeks and big... well, you know, to a shapeless little waif like me."

"That's your Fae blood. Your curves will come in time, and your face is comely enough."

Cassie lifted her head from the water, and with her long wet hair draped about her shoulders she looked like a half-drowned ragamuffin. She stared at the strange woman incredulously, "My Fae what?"

"Blood. I can smell it."

"What are you talking about? I'm not Fae."

The woman leaned close and sniffed, "Your father was at least half-elven, probably some travelling skald, or bard, seduced a young maid and here you are. Even in my day, it was not an uncommon tale."

"There is no way you could smell that."

"Ask one of the Dökkálfar if you wish. They could probably tell at a glance."

"Dökkálfar?"

"Dark Elves. Come, let's wash your clothes and get back to the fire, you look cold."

"You don't."

"True."

Cassie shivered as she scrubbed her skirt and watched as the Orc stalked from the water, seemingly as oblivious to the chill as her companion, "What're those scars, the strange ones on it its chest? They don't look like wounds."

"Those are ritual markings young one. They tell of his victories, battles, and kills. See how they spiral from his left breast? The nearest to his heart will be the first, the deed that marked him as an adult male, eligible to mate. An Orc warrior bears the history of their deeds indelibly marked upon its flesh for all to see."

She turned to the creature, "Dè an sgeul a th' aig a' chomharra urramach treun Uruk?"

The creature touched the mark at the centre of the spiral and nodded as it spoke a few words.

The tall woman grunted an acknowledgement and turned to Cassie, "A lion. He killed a lion in his tenth Summer and was declared worthy to bear arms and sire children."

Cassie stared at the thing, "A lion! When he was but ten?"

The woman nodded, "Orcs are tough, always have been."

The young slave blushed, "We were always told they were mindless brutes, slaves of the Dark Powers, who rape women and eat children. Wait! You speak Orcish?"

"They are none of those things Cassie, hard fighters bred to a savage life that few civilised folk could survive. They don't rape, and definitely don't eat children," she grinned wickedly, "probably not enough meat on those tiny bones I expect. They don't even keep slaves as they think keeping a servant to do their work would make them soft."

"D-does it understand us?"

"They have excellent hearing and speak Common well enough. Like as not he's heard every word."

Cassie turned to the creature, it had pulled on its breeches and boots, but hadn't bothered with the jerkin, standing holding its axe as the chill wind dried his chest.

The tattooed woman leaned close to her and whispered, "He's just showing off now. He's tough, but he feels the cold like any other."

The little slave bit her lip and moved closer, fumbling with the small package she recovered from her meagre belongings. She broke a square of chocolate and held out half to the creature, "Erm, I'm sorry Sir Orc. I shouldn't have said you were a raping monster, t'is a foolish tale we are told to frighten us as children. I-I didn't know any better. Here..."

The creature moved closer, it towered above her and she swallowed nervously as she tried desperately to stop her outstretched hand from shaking. The thing peered intently at her for a long moment before taking the offered chocolate and popping it into its mouth with a grin. Looking over her shoulder at the older woman it grunted a few words and held its hand up with thumb and forefinger only about an inch apart.

The tattooed woman laughed, "He thanks you for the chocolate and says you are a brave girl, but he still wouldn't rape you, because you're too small."

Muttering a curse the tiny slave indignantly stomped off towards the camp, holding her wet clothes in front of her like a shield. The Orc shrugged as the tattooed woman picked up her cloak with a grin, and casually followed.