Chapter 4

Haig conducted us through the village to a small hut. “Stay here until someone comes for you.” he said then left.

Kelt and I walked into the building finding it filthy even by these people’s standards. Kelt opened the window. Now, don’t let that fool you. There wasn’t any glass to open. In fact, I had seen almost no glass anything since I woke up here. There was a simple plug made out of lumber. That was what Kelt moved when he opened the window.

Letting light in only made it worse. I looked at Kelt and we shook our heads. Kriker had been a pig. There was nothing to do, but get started. We moved the pile of sticks that was supposed to be furniture outside. Have you ever tried cleaning a large mess without trash bags? You don’t think it would be, but it’s ten times harder.

The floor was about eight inches deep of compressed straw. Their idea of cleaning the floor was to throw down more straw. I almost wanted to move back into my tree. I discovered an old hoe laying behind the hut and grabbed it. We took turns using it to pull up the straw. The one not using it had the privilege of taking the straw out. We did find a few Barrens and a copper ox. We threw it in a cup and put it on the mantle for food and drinking money. Kriker had lost almost two weeks of pay by being sloppy. That gave me an idea.

“Kelt.”

He looked up. “What?”

“I had an idea. After we get all this shit out, we should look at the floor to see if Kriker buried any money.”

He looked thoughtful then said. “That might lead to something.”

A moment later, Haig stuck his head through the doorway. “Already busy I see.”

“Hello Haig, I thought you were sending somebody else.” I said.

He stepped into the hut and flashed me a cocky grin. He said, “I am somebody else. Haig is my brother. My name is Taig.” He rolled his eyes at my smirk and said before I could ask, “Yes, our mother did have a sense of humor. At least, she gave us male names.” He glanced around, “It’s good to see you cleaning this pit out. If you are at a stopping point, we can walk around Boar’s Nest to get you familiar with it.”

I looked at Kelt and he looked at me, “Let’s go.”

As we walked, Taig spoke. “This village is ours...”

“Hey, Taig, wait.”

We stopped and turned. “What do you need?” Taig asked as a smaller man ran up.

“Haig wants to know if you want to send the large male or wait until the next shipment.”

Taig said, “Avair, this is mouth and friend of mouth.”

Avair looked happy.

“My name is Mark and the mountain beside me is Kelt.”

He face fell. He looked at Taig who shrugged.

“Tell him to ship it because if it pisses me off again, I’ll kill it.”

Avair nodded and left.

When he was gone Taig said, “Don’t ever get drunk alone with Avair. He likes men. He does have a wonderful mouth, though.” Taig jerked as he realized what he had said. He became defensive. “He got me drunk. Oxa said I knew better than to drink with him.”

Well shit, I have to deal with a faggot and a wannabe faggot on top of everything else. I wanted to spit. I worked hard to keep my face clean. I didn’t need a fight on my first day. We started walking again.

“Oxa did tell him he has to use the slaves for ass fucking. After the last one, Oxa makes him use a muzzle on them because they scream loud. Which reminds me. You can use any slave except the women who have tags in their ear. They are virgin and we can make more than a Dignity off of her. You fuck her or kill her you pay full price for her. You can fuck the other ones. You only pay if you maim or kill them.” He grinned and said, “We make bets on which new males will be walking weirdly the next morning. I’ve won as much as two Oxes.”

He stopped in front of a building. “As I was saying, This village is ours and every member of it is under our protection. Don’t harass them.” He gestured at the building beside us, “This is the Golden Tusk. It’s our Inn. Merchants stay here during auction or if they come in too late to leave. You can get a meal or bath here.” Kelt nudged me with a grin so I shot him a raspberry.

Taig sighed then said, “There’s three rent women here. They cost two Barrens a fuck, We treat them nice. If you hurt one of them, you will be whipped on that post right there.” Taig giggled then said “One of them is Oxa’s sister. You won’t believe what he did.”

I laughed. “He didn’t.”

Taig nodded. “He did. They had both been drinking. When she woke up with his cock still in her she screamed so loud that everybody knew.” Taig leaned over he was laughing so hard. “What makes it funny is she charged him double! We made him pay it, too.”

When the three of us had finished laughing, Taig said, “You’re new so don’t bring it up for a few weeks, Oxa can be pissy about it.” He pointed toward the big house and said, “One meal a day is provided in the Great Hall. If you want food at other times, you can either buy a meal here or make it your self.” He pointed to a building. Killan sells some vegetables and basic necessities. Every Full Brother or so, he is able to get some smoked meat.”

“Do any of the rent women have good tits?” I asked.

Taig shrugged and said, “They’re good enough, but none of them are fancy.” He pointed toward the south east. “If you love tits, there’s this Inn Keeper’s wife about six days walk.”

I smiled and said, “Alinda and I have met.”

“Those are the best tits I’ve seen on a bitch.” Taig said with his own smile.

“Are any of them tall and skinny?” Kelt asked.

“That would be Oxa’s sister Moveen. You can come by and meet her this evening.”

He headed us to the stable. Kelt and I would both have to learn how to ride to go on raids. He next took us on a short trail through a narrow patch of woods that ended at a dock.

He said, “I hope you can swim. Because as of tomorrow morning you will be working here and on the boats. We claim five miles in each direction. Boats either pay the toll or get boarded. We also send and receive slaves and other stock.”

Taig sat on one of the crates and said, “Let’s talk about money. The Boars get twenty-five Barrens of every Ox you make. That is what pays for your one meal a day, a place to sleep, weapons, and upkeep. You also don’t have to worry about auction charges or paying to take care of your slaves.”

I must have looked puzzled because he said, “After every raid, we take account of whatever you find. Then twenty-five Barrens of every Ox you make from it go in the pot. The rest is yours.”

“If you find a virgin, a box of coins or something else truly valuable then only twenty Barrens per Ox is taken for it. You get your normal share and the extra five Barrens per Ox that the thing brings since you found it.”

“You are saying that a twenty-five-percent tax is paid on what we capture and then we get the rest. If it is something valuable then we only pay a twenty percent tax.” I said.

Taig thought a moment then said, “That’s right. When we go to the slave pens, I’ll show you the ear tag of one of the virgins. Whoever captured her has their name on it. Once she’s auctioned. He’ll have a nice sum. A pretty virgin can bring forty Oxes, so he will get his cut plus an extra two hundred barrens.”

I whistled and said, “That’s sweet. Almost a month’s pay extra.”

Kelt nodded and said, “I’m glad I’m here.”

“What’s nice is every time you get one of your slaves pregnant you make more because a pregnant animal is worth more.”

“How does anyone know a slave is theirs if it isn’t a virgin?” I asked.

Taig shrugged and said, “Every raid has it’s own pot and only the men who were on that raid gets paid from it. Like I said if you find a virgin then we tag it as yours so you get the extra.” He stood up. “Let’s go over to the pens. I’ll show you how it works.”

Present Day - Sev 6, The Year of Sambol 129

Johrun almost skipped out of the Golden Tusk. Not only was his father preparing him for the family business, he had brought him on this trip. Father had unexpectedly given him forty Barrens for pocket money. Plus, he had ten more Barrens for not telling Mother about Father going upstairs with that woman. He was certain they were going to have sex. Since hair started growing around his cock all he could think about was girls.

He had almost had sex with one of the family’s slaves...

Olna 4, The Year of Sambol 128

It only took slapping Edit’s face four or five times for her to undress. Father had heard her crying and came into the barn. He told Edit to get her clothes and leave.

“Did I tell you that you could fuck one of my slaves?” Ahern asked.

Johrun shook his head and said, “No, Sir.”

“You would think that at fourteen Olna’s you would know not to touch another person’s property. Of all the bitches I own, you had to pick your mother’s best friend. I’ve owned that bitch since the week I married your mother. I bought her Edit as a wedding present!”