Rhen was put on a ship and taken to the Eastern Isles where the slave trade was flourishing. In the eastern city of Ghalarah, Rhen is sold as a slave. Her belongings were stripped from her. All but the slave bracelet...
~~~~~
"Wake up! You lazy scum!" Miss Rona roared at her in her little room.
It had been three months since Rhen was enslaved.
"You better get up and do your chores or they will be no meals for you!" Miss Rona yelled and stepped out of the room.
Rhen's new "house" was in a big mansion. But her master let her slept in a small filthy, dusty storeroom (which had been cleaned to make a bedroom).
Rhen got herself ready, wore her slave cloth (which was ragged, full of stitches cloth) and prepared to work. She looked at her daily what-to-do list which had been prepared by Miss Rona since the first day of her staying.
"Need to get Master Lar's clothes from the town tailor and need to deal with the spiders in the attic, again." Rhen sighed and started to work.
~~~~~
"This is the last of your life, spiders!" Said Rhen as she finished with the spider-in-the-attic- problem.
"I've killed the spiders, Mistress." Reported Rhen with disgust when she saw her in the living room.
"Stop dragging your feet, slave! Go do the rest of your chores!" Miss Rona scolded her like a lazy god, roaming around the house. So Rhen headed for the tailor shop.
"Hello Rhen, what can I do for you?" Terlin the tailor welcomed her with a wide smile on her face.
"I've come to pick up Lars' travel clothes for Mistress Rona. Are they ready?"
"Oh yes! Here they are dear." Terlin gave the clothes to Rhen.
~~~~~
"Here are Lars' traveling clothes, Mistress." Rhen handed over the clothes as she was in the mansion. Miss Rona snatched the clothes from her as if she will get the clothes dirty.
"Stop standing there you scum! Go do your chores!" Miss Rona scolded Rhen again.
"But I've finished all of the chores, Mistress. May I go out and play?" she had not playing with other children in the city for three months (Wow, poor girl).
"Of course not!" Rhen's mood dropped as she heard the answer.
Miss Rona looked around the house and said: "Ugh! Where is the son of mine? Go find Lars, you lazy girl, and tell him to come home for supper."
"Yes Mistress." Without a complain, Rhen headed out of the mansion.
~~~~~
"What a cozy night." Rhen talked to herself as she walked around while searching for Lars. The night sweeps across Ghalarah, owls hooting in the trees. It's a full moon tonight, the moonlight shone on the city, enlightened the darkness in the night. And there Rhen noticed Lars playing with his friends in a corner of the city.
"Lars, Miss Rona said you're to come home and eat supper." Then told him, ignoring his friends.
"Was that a command? I'll go when I feel like going. No slave is going to tell me what to do." Said Lars proudly. He was mean to Rhen since the day she came to their family as a slave.
Ylitta, one of Lars friend, looked at Rhen and said: "After three months, and the girl is still too dumb to understand her place. Look how she talks to you!"
"Hey, what's that thing on her wrist?" Lars' other friend, Hector, asked.
"Her bracelet, I guess" Lars replied.
Ylitta looked at the bracelet on Rhen's wrist for a while and grunted: "Ha! My mom would never let one of our slave girls wear something so nice."
Lars scolded Hector for messing around with him: "Shut up, Hector! The only reason she still wears the stupid thing is because we can't get it off of her."
"Oh c'mon, let us pry if off of her!" Ylitta suggested excitedly and it made Rhen shuddered.
"No, wait, I have a better idea." Lars grinned and he faced at Rhen. "Slave girl, come here." And Rhen followed.
"What is he going to do with me?" Rhen thought, butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
"Why? What do you want?" Rhen asked.
"I want to show my friends a little magic trick I've learned."
"Magic? Even I know that you're forbidden from using magic till the emissaries from Shadwood Academy take you away."
"Ha! Who is going to tell them? You? I'll have you flogged for a day straight!" Lars teased.
He and his friends were laughing badly at Rhen, who was trying to slip away from these "weirdies", but Ylitta grabbed her arm tightly. She had nowhere to go now.
"Hey! Let me go, you ugly---"
Suddenly, a flash of light jumped from Lars to Rhen.
SMACK!
The slave bracelet snapped off Rhen's wrist.
"You...You could have killed me!" Rhen scolded Lars fueled by the anger stored in her body since the day they went.
"But I didn't. Anyway, you're but a lazy slave girl. Who could care?" he snorted.
"Argh! My name is RHEN!" she yelled.
But they ignored her, laughing again at her silly behavior.
Ylitta stopped and said: "Guys, you know what? This slave girl reminds me of a foolish puppy I used to own whose name was Peta. She seems to want a name, Lars. Maybe you should give her one?"
Lars agreed with her suggestion and considered. "Hmm, Peta. If it's good enough for a dog, it's good enough for her. Slave girl, I hereby name you Peta!"
"Whatever..." Rhen grumbled under her breath.
"Hey Peta. Help me get a newspaper"
"Hey Peta Peta. Go and fetch the stick." Lars and his drones laughed out loud.
And Rhen left them alone, walking back to the mansion while grumbling all the way.
~~~~~
"You lazy scum! Where is my son Lars? It's almost supper and he's still not home yet!" Miss Rona questioned impatiently.
"Lars is on his way now, Mistress." Rhen lied.
"Hmph! Did I hear you just talk back? NO supper for you! Go to bed!"
"But I'm starving..." Rhen started to complain.
"I said, go to sleep!"
"But---"
"NOW!" Miss Rona roared and the whole house shook.
Afterwards, Rhen went to sleep without a complain anymore.
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