looking at her with more interest than was comfortable, but there was no option but to continue now. If she ran without buying after being here so long, they would certainly consider her as something to be caught.
‘Bring the outlander for me to inspect,’ Theodine said.
‘Outlanders are expensive,’ the nearest trader said.
As a young girl Theodine had been taught never to show fear in times of danger; that men and animals alike fed on fear as if it gave them permission to act out all the darkest parts of their minds. She raised her head and looked at the man. He was as dirty as any creature she’d ever seen; the stink of him overwhelmed all the perfumes they doused their slaves in. Theodine was shamed at how immediately intoxicating she found this lowest of the low.
‘There is no question of price until I inspect the outlander; a skinny boy painted blue is worth nothing but the revoking of your license.’
The trader glared at her, but the man took a silver chain and walked to the cage. Two men with pikes stood either side of him as he turned a key in the lock but none of the slaves moved. The trader reached in and attached the chain to a collar around the outlander’s neck and yanked it out of the cage.
Theodine inspected the slave. At closer range the blue skin was even more striking, but it was the sculptured body that was exciting the princess. The outlander was female, with high, pert breasts, long, dark nipples and a slit between her legs, but she had muscles that looked as firm and strong as any man’s. The contrast between the outlander’s beauty and the beast of a man who held on to her made Theodine’s mind fill with wanton images.
The trader pulled the outlander up and down in front of Theodine and turned the slave around, showing off the woman’s hard buttocks.
‘This is one of the strongest ones you’ll see. Once these outlanders are broken none work harder.’
Theodine looked into the outlander’s dark eyes and saw nothing broken about the woman; the outlander stared back as if she was the one selecting Theodine as a slave. The princess’s heart was beating fast.
She pulled her bag of coins from her waist and flung it at the trader. ‘I’ll take her with me now.’
The trader caught the coin purse with surprising dexterity but he did not pass the leash of the slave to Theodine.
‘This will do as part of the price,’ he said, weighing the coins in his hand. ‘For the other part you can suck me off.’
Theodine swallowed hard. Were her desires so obvious that even this uncouth, ugly man could see them?
‘I’ve given you enough gold to pay for every slave you own.’
‘Every other slave I own, maybe. It doesn’t come near the price of this one. But I’ve got a generous heart and underneath that cloak I can see you’ve got a pretty mouth, so wrap your lips around my cock and the outlander is yours.’
The men around them were smirking. Theodine stopped herself looking at them; if she did, she knew she wouldn’t have enough bravery in her to prevent her running off without her prize. She dropped to her knees, aware of the mud beneath her staining her dress, and undid the string around the trader’s trousers. His cock was ready for her, but it was still smaller than when her husband was in a relaxed state. She took it into her mouth in one movement, breathing in his stink. There was a moistness between her legs as she listened to the trader laugh with his friends. Everyone else seemed far removed from her even as the humiliation was making her hands want to explore under her skirts.
Then the trader yelled out. ‘The bitch bit me.’
His hands were around her throat and then they weren’t. The outlander was pulling her down the street with such speed that Theodine felt like she was flying. She had no idea what was happening; her feet were moving, her chest was hurting, and she was vaguely aware of the outlander using the chain as a weapon to hit their pursuers with. They