Chapter 6

Present Day - Sev 6, The Year of Sambol 129, Boar’s Nest auction House

Taig showed us the tail end from the front end of a horse and how to saddle it. Afterward, he told us to go back to our hut until the meal at the Great Hall. We jumped back into cleaning. After we had hauled off the rotten hay, We started searching the hut. Kelt found a hidey-hole in a wall next to the fire place. He pulled out a small bag. When we opened it Kelt about shit. There were three silver coins, four copper ones, and a double hand full of Barrens.

He sat on the dirt floor and stared at the pile. After a few moments, He looked at me and said, “You don’t know how much this is worth do you?”

I shook my head.

He pointed to the ground and said, “Sit down.”

Once I was seated, he moved the three silver coins to one side and said, “Each of these coins is worth one hundred days work.”

He said that and I about shit. He smirked when he saw my expression then moved the four copper coins aside. “Each of these is worth ten days of work.”

“You’re saying those seven coins are worth more than a years pay?” I squeaked out.

He nodded his head with a big shit eating grin and said “We’re in harvest.” He counted up the Barrens and said “There are thirty-two here.”

I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow at the weird slang. I remembered the slang from earlier and asked, “What did that man mean by “Harvest boy and Blood Cherries.”

Kelt threw back his head and gave a deep belly laugh then said. “You’re truly not from here are you?” Kelt’s laugh was as big as he was. The open honesty in it made you feel like you woke up on a sunny morning.

I cracked a grin and said, “I told you. So what does it mean?”

He took a breath and said, “Harvest means there’s plenty of food, cattle, money, all the good things in life. So a Harvest Boy is a young person who has harvest and didn’t do any work to get it.”

“Oh, I see. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth or still sucking mamma’s tit.”

Kelt nodded and mouthed, “That’s right. And Blood Cherries are a cherry that makes you act strange. Some people eat them all the time. You can die from eating too many at once.”

I rubbed my chin as I thought about it. Then I understood, “Where I’m from we call it “Getting your freak on.”” It was Kelt’s turn to look puzzled. I continued, “So that man meant: a spoiled brat who was getting his freak on by flogging the slave.”

“Yes, I think. Now, let’s put this away before someone sees it. He started putting the coins in the bag and said, “This is like the cup?”

I nodded and held out my hand, “Yes. It’s the custom where I am from to shake hands when people become partners.”

He puzzled over my hand a moment then put his into mine. “You are strange,” he said. “But I like you. So partners it is.”

It made me happy that we were friends. He had no sooner put the money back when someone stuck their head in and told us to come to the Great Hall to eat. Kelt and I smiled. We almost ran to the Great Hall.

We went up the ramp and through the double doors to get in. To the left was a stage with what looked like a throne with a smaller throne on either side of it. On the floor, were two long benches facing each other making an aisle towards the throne. Facing me from the other side of the room was an “Oh my god!” large fire place. It was long and deep enough to put a bed inside and still have room. On the far end, to my right was another stage with a row of tables across it.

Oxa sat in a throne behind and dead center of the tables. To his right, sat a pretty enough woman dressed in high dollar clothes. A few people including Haig, sat on either side of them.

In front of the stage and leading back towards us were several rows of tables and benches. What made my day was the topless young women moving among the tables with trays of drinks and platters of food. There wasn’t one of them that could have been eighteen. Several of them had a fur band on their right biceps.

“Mouth and Friend of Mouth, over here.”

I looked and saw what must have been Taig calling us to a far table. “I’m going to kill him.” I muttered to Kelt.

He nodded and added, “I don’t know which is the worse name. Mouth or Friend of Mouth.”

As we moved toward the table, I heard laughter then a slap and a wail. I looked, and one of the raiders was screaming at a crying serving girl as he threw a large chunk of dark bread at her head. “What do you think I am, bitch, serving me slave’s bread.” He raised his hand as if to backhand her and screamed, “Get out of here!”

The girl ran crying towards a large table by the fireplace where food was being prepared. She went to a large, and older, no nonsense type of woman who had her tits covered. That was a shame. She may have been old enough to be my grandma, but she had a full rack. They spoke for a moment then the older woman punched the girl and kicked her while she was down. She pulled the girl to her feet by the arm and shoved her towards the double doors.

“What’s wrong with Rye bread?” I asked.

Kelt’s eyes about bugged out and he said, “Only slaves eat bread that dark. It’s a crime for them to have any other kind. Eating it is calling yourself a slave. Most people won’t clean their ass with it.”

“Damn.”

We finished our way toward Taig’s table and sat. At the end, there was a stack of plates with wooden utensils beside them. Along the center was various pots and tray’s of food. There was cornbread, stew, ham, fish, and chicken. All for the taking.

A serving girl brought some mugs of beer. She made sure to rub her tits across my back. Then smiled when she sat my beer on the table beside me.

I discovered two things. Don’t none of these damn people ever go to a dentist and I prefer women who shave. I’ll have to train a woman to do it as it seems here they have never heard of a razor.

Taig nodded toward the girl as she left. He said, “Any serving girl wearing that fur band on their arm, like Mina there, is a free woman. Never touch one unless they ask you. Most of them belong to families here in Boar’s Nest. They work here to have a little fun and make some Barrens before they settle down and get a husband. Forcing one of them can and will get you killed either by Oxa or their families.”

Kelt and I nodded. In front of me was some of the best food I’ve seen since waking up here, So I dug in.

Taig continued, “The best thing you can do is stay away from them. Because if one of them gets mad, all she has to do is say you forced her. A couple of Olna’s ago, we had girls in here that would do that. Oxa figured out what was happening and stopped it. He created a law that any Free Woman who lies against a man like that is whipped. Then if her family still wants her, they have to pay a virgin’s price for her or she’s sold.”

I took a drink of my beer then said, “That seems rough for telling a lie.”