Auction

"You've been cut?" I follow Mattias, asking him question after question. The house is not terribly large, but it is beautiful. Shining tile covers the floors, and the walls likewise seem to be made of rock of some kind. It could be cold and sterile, but carvings make it elegant, and the furniture is old and very fine.

We used to scavenge bits and pieces from the broken world for the shack, but none of them were nearly as nice as these gleaming wooden chairs and tables that we pass by.

Elias joins us, and I begin to question them both.

"What did they cut? Did they cut your hair off?"

A look passes between them, a smirking, long-suffering gaze.

"Something else."

"Oh, my god, what?"

They ignore the question as they lead me into a bathing chamber. In the past, I have showered when it rained, or wallowed in what remained of dried-up creeks. I have never seen such a fine tub as this. It is the width of the entire room, and it is filled with pristine, clear water.

I rush forward, dip my face into the tub and start slurping at the water.

"Alright. Enough of that," Mattias rumbles, his large palm swatting my rear gently. "Don't drink the bathwater. Take your underwear off and get in it."

"I'm dirty! I'll make it filthy!"

"That's the point. We'll wash you off and replace it with clean."

"But that's such a waste!"

The amount of water in this bath could keep a small settlement hydrated for a week. I can't believe they want me to put my body in it. I'll foul it instantly.

"Get into the bath."

"No!"

Mattias picks me up as if I weigh nothing and puts me into the water. Instantly, brown muck starts to curl off me and into the fresh, clean water.

"No!" I try to get out. It takes both Elias and Mattias to keep me in there, thrashing and wriggling around until we are all covered in the now dirty bathwater.

"Trissa, if you don't settle down and take this bath nicely, I'm going to have to discipline you," Mattias says, brushing water from his face.

"I don't want to!"

"Get the strap, Elias."

"No!" I shout the word. The strap sounds bad. I am taking a real dislike to this Mattias. He is forceful and stern and everything he tells me to do runs completely contrary to my natural instincts.

Elias does as he's told. The strap is a foot-long length of leather with little grooves cut into it at one end. Mattias thanks him and lays it down near the bath where I can see it.

"This will hurt if I have to use it on your bottom. So settle down and take your bath nicely."

I have no idea how to take a bath nicely. I know how to splash in a creek, or run around in the rain, but neither of those things needed to be done nicely.

I look at him, curious.

"Why are you so different from the other men?"

Elias shakes his head a little, and I wonder if the question is as wrong as drinking bathwater.

"You know nothing of the world, do you, girl?"

"I know a lot! I know how to catch lizards and gut their poison sacs out. I know how to start a fire that can burn all night long. I know how to get a parrot to give me my bra back. I know..."

"I mean of the civilized world, you wild little thing," Mattias sighs.

"The civilized world, where men take women like they aren't even people? That world?"

"You are more fortunate than most," he says. "You are worth a great deal. You will be sold to the highest bidder, the richest man. You may join one of the great harems, bear the offspring of the new kings..."

"Ew, gross, no thanks."

He looks at me and shakes his head. "You are in dire need of thorough education."

"I am in dire need of escape."

"Shackles it shall be," he declares, pulling a plug at the end of the bath. I watch dirty water swirl down the drain, forever lost. Such a waste.

He fills the bath again, with me in it. I watch the pure, clear liquid flowing around my legs, fascinated. How do they do this? I can't resist scooping some of it up into my mouth. It's warm, but it's so damn good. I haven't tasted water this clear except for a few rare times.

"Stop. Drinking. The. Water." Mattias interrupts my joy.

I splash it in his face. Droplets run down over his nose and his chin and his cheeks. The effect is comical, and I can't help but snort in amusement.

"Someone is getting spanked after her bath," he says calmly.