Chapter 2

It had been two weeks since her final "submission" and Ilona felt happier than any time since before she had been given to her first husband. She no longer felt like just another fisherman's wife, she felt like a real wife: The kind of feeling every little girl dreamed being married would feel like but were mostly disappointed to find out it didn't usually happen that way. Even though she still wore the collar of a slave, she felt like the woman of a man who loved, cherished and provided for her. It was a heady feeling and she enjoyed every minute of it as she drifted through the marketplace picking up what was needed for the next few days. Antal had been gone for the last two nights but would be back that evening and she was absent-mindedly day-dreaming about what would happen later after they went to bed.

Her wanderings brought her to the end of the market that abutted the town's auction blocks, the very same blocks she would have been displayed on if Antal hadn't bought her privately through the court magistrate. Eregli's slave market was relatively small since there was very little demand in the small city. Most locally-procured slaves were either sold privately as Ilona had been or sent to the provincial capital of Corum or even possibly on to the imperial capital of Eskisehir where demand was higher as were the prices. On most days there were only three or four slaves chained to the blocks on display. Normally there were one or two unlucky seamen who had run afoul of the law while ashore, usually from drunkenness or inability to pay their bill at the local whorehouse. They would usually be picked up as extra hands by a ship in port and offered a chance to work for their freedom. Often, it was the same ship they had previously been attached to.

Other times one might find a burly farmer unable to pay his taxes although these were usually shipped inland for hard labor. Just as often it might be younger children sold by their families for the extra cash or the chance to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Most of these found positions of servitude in one of the richer houses of the local merchants or those in imperial service. Less often there would be women or older girls, but these normally went as private sales to the whorehouses or as concubines to the well-off in Corum or other larger cities.

Absently Ilona noted there were only two slaves on display today: a dark-haired woman about her own age and a younger woman ― girl really ― in about her mid-teens. Both were chained to the same block and naked except for their chains as all slaves were while on display. She turned to reenter the market when she heard her name being called.

"Ilona!" Ilona stopped and turned back. The call had come from the woman on the block.

"Barbala?" Ilona was shocked; it was Barbala! Barbala's husband, Ferenc, had been a partner with her late husband, Janos, on a number of occasions and they had become good acquaintances, even friends. Of course Ilona hadn't seen Barbala since her own enslavement but that was to be expected. Ferenc had been one of Janos' creditors and one of the primaries in the suit that ultimately led to her becoming a slave. It was unlikely that, even if she had wanted to, Barbala would have been allowed to associate with her after she had been bought. Ilona held no bitterness towards her former friend; the world is what it is.

"Barbala, is that you? What in the world are you doing there? Is that Catalyn?" Catalyn was Barbala's sixteen-year-old daughter, a pretty young thing but spoiled and abrasive in temperament. It appeared slavery hadn't changed that since in addition to her chains Catalyn also wore a gag tied tightly across her mouth.

"I'm afraid so," Barbala sighed. "Ferenc lost quite a bit of money when Janos died ― not that the business was going very well even when he was alive. You knew they were losing money on every deal they made, didn't you? Well, after Janos died he started borrowing trying to make it work, as if pouring money into bad business was going to turn it around. Oh well ... Ferenc wasn't the brightest man around." They had often joked between themselves that neither one of their husbands could win a battle of wits with a tree stump.

"Yes, but what happened, Bala?" Ilona asked.

"Like I said, he was pouring good money after bad and it finally caught up with him," she shrugged. "He began borrowing money to pay off the loans he'd lost ... Well, like I said it finally caught up with him."

"So why isn't he out here instead of you?" she asked. In most cases the party responsible for the debt was the one auctioned off if it came to that. In Ilona's case the responsibility had come to her after her husband's death since she was the sole inheritor of his estate. Usually the spouse and descendents of the debtor would be excluded from that form of punishment unless they could be shown to be equally involved in the decisions leading up to the debt. In Barbala's case any number of witnesses could have been brought to swear Ferenc allowed no meddling in his business by a "mere" woman; she should have been excused, destitute maybe but still excused and therefore free.

"The cowardly bastard killed himself last week," Barbala hissed. "The eunuch wasn't man enough to take his punishment for his own stupidity. The asshole even took the woman's way out and poisoned himself! So with him dead and me the heir ... Well, you certainly understand. Here we are."

Ilona nodded in complete understanding; then she had another thought. "But what about Catalyn, Bala? Certainly she wouldn't have been considered responsible for what happened?"

"Ah, yes. Catalyn, my darling daughter," Barbala looked at the morose Catalyn with sadness. "My darling, precious, idiot daughter. Well, you know how she can be sometimes: quite a handful. She decides to have one of her screaming fits during the proceedings and so annoyed the magistrate he fined her for contempt of court. Of course she has no money so ... Again, here we are."

"I am so sorry, Bala," Ilona said with genuine sympathy. "But you seem to be taking it well."

"It is what it is," Bala shrugged. "To whom am I going to cry? You? I could hardly do that considering it happened to you also. I'm told if they can't sell us here soon we'll probably be sent up to Corum and sold to a whorehouse. At least I might actually get laid out of this. That piss-ant Ferenc hasn't been able to get it up for years."

"Oh, Bala," Ilona held her hand over her mouth to hide the smile that came unexpectedly.

"Hey, what are you doing there?" came a shout from beyond the blocks. The city's slavemaster strode up to them and looked down at Ilona. "What do you think you're doing? You can't be talking to the merchandise and chasing off all my customers." He noticed her slave collar and grunted disgustedly. "Shit, you're just a slave. You can't buy anything, anyway. Get on out of here before I tell your master and have you soundly beaten."

"I'm sorry, sir," Ilona answered contritely as she lowered her eyes. "My master mentioned something about looking for household servants and I stopped to see if these two might be what he's looking for. I'll be going now."

"Wait!" the slave-master said quickly then rubbed his chin. "Your master's looking for household slaves, eh? Well, I'll tell you what: There's not much chance of selling these two around here anytime in the near future. In fact I was going to go ahead and send them both up to Corum in the next caravan. If he wants a good deal, I can see what we can do. Prices even up in Corum aren't that great nowadays and if he buys now I can save the freight and I'd be willing to figure that into the price. When do you think he would be available?"

"He should be home this evening, sir," Ilona answered respectfully. "If he is interested, I'm sure he could be down tomorrow morning."

"Good. If he's interested, have him see me then," the slavemaster said dismissively and started to turn away.

"May I stay and talk to these two, sir," Ilona said quickly. "Just to make sure they would be appropriate for his household?"

"What? Oh, sure. Talk to them all you want. Except that one," he said pointing to Catalyn. "The little bitch bit me this morning and for all I care she can stay gagged until she's sold or drops dead, whichever comes first. The only reason I didn't beat her to within a thread of her life was I didn't want to put any marks on her. But I was beginning to rethink that before you came along.

"I'm not selling any used-boats here, so I'm not going to lie to anyone: That one is a real bitch and she's going to need some vigorous training." Catalyn glared at him. "He's going to wear out a number of whips on that one if he buys her. But hell, maybe he likes that. Takes all kinds. Have him come by if he's interested. By the way, you can tell him I'm selling them together, not apart. I'll give him a two-for-one deal but I'm not putting up with that little cunt any longer than I have to." With that he turned and walked away.

"Your master might be interested in us?" Barbala asked Ilona after he was out of earshot. "Who is your master, by the way? I never did hear exactly what happened to you. I'd assumed you'd been sold up to Corum."

"Antal the Smuggler ... My son," Ilona answered reddening slightly. She was sure Barbala would understand, correctly, that he had been bedding her.