Escaping Fate - Ja'far X Reader

Chapter 2

The air became tense and restless as the cart came to a sudden, sharp stop. Pulling up behind a small building at the end of the street; the popular pub known as the 'Latin Dragon'. It was a place where the wealthy and not so wealthy drank and gambled; also a place where they bought and sold slaves in auctions three times a week. Sickening.

Many small whispers could be heard around the large cart—mostly the cries of small children and the worried concerns of my fellow slaves. I stayed silent and kept my head down, thinking to myself. That is until I felt a small poke next to me on my left shoulder. I turned to see a young girl - probably only 5 or 6 years old - trembling, her wide, teary eyes darkening with fear, "W-what's going on? Do you know what is to happen to us, miss? I-I want to go home; my mommy and daddy are waiting for me there." A cold wave of shock washed over me as a shiver shot down my back, I breathed heavily for a moment before I hesitantly told her.

"W-we are participating in the auction tonight. That is why we are here." I said softly, my eyes wavered up and down between the young girl beside me and the guard making his way to our cart, "We are to be sold to—" I stopped my sentence short when the guard drew his sword and began screaming loudly.

"Listen up you filth! Tonight you are to be sold as slaves. Pay close attention, I'm not saying this twice! Try to escape and you will be killed! No exceptions, got that?!" He paused, waiting for a reply from the large group in front of him. I nodded my head along with the rest of the group; as was the custom to stay silent. But the young girl, having registering what was going on, burst into tears. Her face turned red and streams of water ran down her face; crying out loudly. I quickly put my hand over her mouth, quieting her, silently hoping the guard would pay it no mind.

His head whipped around to the corner of the cart, where the little girl and I sat, frozen in fear, "Who was that?" He stomped over to the cart, bellowing. I quickly dropped my head as the little girl's eyes widened, my hand slowly fell from her mouth, "I repeat, who was that?"

His eyes ran over me to the little girl, his eyes glinting with amusement, "Alright little girl, you're going first tonight." He chuckled, glancing at me before his face set back into an angry scowl.

The guard turned to the closest man next to him - a slave merchant - and ordered, "Bring them in as groups of five. Make sure they are well bound—don't want any dead slaves, now do we?"

"N-no sir!" The man choked out, nodding his head violently, "I will have them ready as soon as possible sir!" With that said; the guard sheathed his sword and began making his way inside the inn—leaving the traders in a flustered state of panic. I was almost tempted to laugh at their current state, but I knew better. Moments later, I was roughly pulled up by a guard and tied to the person in front of me. 'In a group of five' as that loathsome man had said. When the person in front of me was pulled forward, I stumbled and began walking with the rest of the group.

Cold air hit my warm body as we entered the building, sweat began to form on my forehead and I felt the need to wipe it off with my arm, but my hands were tied to each other. It was a loud place, drunken people screaming and laughing. It would have been a happy place to visit, if I was free. I silently scoffed at my thoughts, when was I going to be free—it just wasn't my fate. 

 As we were lead to the back room, I felt a few cold stares burning into my back. I looked up for a moment, my eyes wandering to a dark corner. There stood two people, a young man with long purple hair and bright, honey golden eyes and a boy with short, white hair and dark, emerald green eyes. My eyes made contact briefly with the young man, his honey eyes widened as I was shoved forward by a soldier.

"Move along scum!" He hissed in my ear quietly. My head shot back down, but my eyes stayed locked with the young man's as I shuffled into the backroom. Who were those people? I felt the ropes around my neck come loose and my hands were freed. I zoned out, waiting for the people in front of me to move out of my way. I knew how these things went, but that didn't mean I wasn't scared. I was terrified . . .