Chapter 10 Sold

The courage that filled the air as Maureen and Elaine stepped down from the carriage was a lie-a mask to cover the storm inside Elaine's chest. Every step toward the rusted gates of that unknown estate felt heavier than the last, as Maureen's final words echoed like a curse behind her eyes.

"Your uncle Marcus was in full support of this. He wants you gone."

Elaine had never fully trusted Maureen, but Marcus? He was the last thread of hope she clung to in that cold, loveless house. Hearing that he, too, had abandoned her didn't just hurt-it broke something. Something deep. Something final.

She hadn't spoken since.

The place before her wasn't an estate. It was a graveyard for the living.

The stench hit first-rot and rusted iron. Then came the sounds. Screams that didn't sound human. Moans of pain. Chains dragging across stone. The very air was soaked in fear.

Elaine tried to slow her steps, her heart pounding wildly, but Maureen shoved her forward without a word. Her shoes caught on a crack in the uneven path, and she stumbled, scraping her foot. Maureen didn't stop.

Earlier, she had hissed for Elaine to get out of the carriage. Now, she dragged her by the wrist, dragging her through the chaos like luggage she couldn't wait to get rid of. Ahead, a cluster of slave merchants waited. One stepped forward, eyes scanning Elaine like she was a prize cut of meat.

"What's her price?" he asked.

Elaine blinked in confusion. Price?

Then it clicked.

This wasn't some twisted punishment. It was a sale.

Her mouth opened-words scrambling to form. But before a sound could escape, a cloth was stuffed into her mouth, gagging her. Two guards seized her arms and hauled her like she weighed nothing. The world spun around her.

They threw her into a cage-small, dark, cold. A crude sign above it read NEW ARRIVALS.

She landed hard, her knees slamming the floor, wrists rattling with the weight of the chains. Her vision blurred, but her mind was clearer than ever.

She wasn't going home.

Maureen had truly sold her off.

From behind the bars, Elaine watched Maureen turn to leave. No final word. No glance back. Nothing.

But just before she vanished through the gates, she paused, looked over her shoulder, and spat with venom, "Consider this the last mercy you'll ever get from me. I hope you rot."

The words lingered like acid.

Elaine sat frozen, breath shallow.

She had always known she was alone.

But now, she felt it-truly, unbearably alone.

---

Later that day, the doors of the auction floor creaked open again.

Lady Seraphine stepped in, dressed in flowing black and scarlet, her presence like a blade slicing through the stench of the place. Her heels clicked sharply across the stone as she surveyed the slaves lined up before her, face twisted in disdain.

Behind her walked Aldric-her tall, ever-serious consult-and Sir Oliver, her aging but sharp-eyed butler.

"This is what you present to me?" Seraphine asked, voice dripping with contempt. "They've all been touched. Broken. I asked for fresh."

One of the handlers stepped forward, head bowed low. "My lady, please... the quality isn't what it used to be. But-we do have one. A new arrival. Virgin. Untouched."

Seraphine's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Where is she?"

"She hasn't been processed yet. No discipline. No grooming. But she's clean."

Seraphine waved him off. "I don't care if she bites. Bring her. And make sure no one lays a finger on her."

She turned to Aldric. "Prepare the rest. I'll select more if they don't smell like rats."

Back in her cage, Elaine sat curled in the corner, her bruises throbbing, her stomach twisted in knots. She kept going over the same thought again and again-What now? Was she meant to serve? Be punished? Be used?

She'd grown up in silk gowns, dining beside nobles. Now she was shackled, sold like livestock. It didn't feel real.

And yet the pain was real. The blood from her scraped foot was real. The clinking of her chains echoed like cruel confirmation: This is your life now.

Across the compound, a door slammed open.

Keira stumbled out-older, once favored, now discarded. Her lip was bleeding, and her eyes blazed with fury. The commander's voice roared behind her: "Don't come back! I've got someone better now!"

Keira didn't need to ask who.

She knew this newcomer who had stolen her spot must have been Younger. Prettier. Fresh.

That night, something shifted in her. The hurt curdled into hatred. Not just hatred for the men who used them-but for the girls who replaced them. Especially the new ones. Especially the ones with wide, frightened eyes like Elaine's.

By morning,She had made sure that hatred had spread like a spark in dry grass as she told each and everyone of her friends.Her friends on the other hand did not take it calmly having faced difficulties like this before and decided to pick on every newcomer they met.

Elaine,dazed and limping, became their first target.

"She must be the one," one girl sneered, shoving her hard. "The one who stole Keira's spot."

"You think you're better than us?"

"You'll wish you died before stepping foot here."

They closed in, laughing bitterly, slapping at her arms and shoulders. Elaine tried to back away, but the cage gave no space.

Then came the sound that silenced them all.

Boots. Heavy. Purposeful.

A guard appeared, his glare cutting through the tension. "Back off!"

He pointed at Elaine.

"You. You've been bought."

The girls froze.

Elaine blinked. Bought? Again?

"You now belong to someone," the guard continued. "And you will serve. Obediently. Without question."

Elaine's blood ran cold.

Belong? To someone?

The guard stepped forward, unlatched her cage, and yanked her by the chains. She stumbled to her feet, her legs trembling as the others looked on-some in silence, others with envy or hate.

Her mind reeled. She wanted to scream. To run. To wake up.

But the chains clinked too loudly.

The cold floor bit too sharply into her bruised feet.

And no matter how hard she blinked-

She wasn't waking up.