Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – My own terms

Famished and tired, he sorrowfully stared down at the cup of fruit and drink. His voice was parched, barely able to speak. Large, black flies now swarmed the food, yet still, he wanted it. Exhausted, he reached out and over to the fruit. It was too far away.

 

“You look hungry my little mutt,” the familiar, mocking voice of the horde leader said as she stared down from the safety of the side. Looking down at the spikes below him, he wondered what he could do to get himself dropped onto them. Staring up at her, he examined her purple eyes.

 

“I’d call you shit, but that’s an insult to facies itself,” he responded. Snarling, she kicked the bowl of food and drink into the pit below him.

 

“Do you wish to be fed or not?” She said, taking a bowl of fruit from one of her servants and holding it out over the ditch. Lifting his eyes to her, he sneered and lowered his head. For a moment he was quiet until his stomach growled. Lifting his head, all anger dissipated from his eyes. Staring at her, he put out a weak hand.

 

“Sorry… Please may I have the food?” He asked quietly. Smiling, she crouched in front of him.

 

“Say that a bit louder, and maybe I can reconsider,” she said, her sadistic smile irritating him as he struggled to not yell at her to make her lose her temper and have him killed.

 

“I have no information. I have no power. I hold nothing of value to you, so why not just kill me already? If the reason is to keep me as a pet like you said, with this lack of qualities would I not make a poor pet?” He said, his eyes fixed on hers. Tears? Why was he crying? The horde leader stared at him as she watched a tear trickle from his eye. Sighing, she offered the bowl out to him.

 

“Take it. I don’t want you to die, not yet at least. If you were to die now, I would get little value from you,” she explained. Staring at her hand, he then looked at the berries.

 

“Thank you,” he said taking the berries from her. Smiling, she watched as he ate the berries like a small animal. Placing a hand on his head, she pulled his hair so that he looked at her.

 

“I would like to talk with you,” she said, examining his murky hair and golden eyes… staring at his eyes, she saw a mixture of colours. The eyes were gold, but from an angle, she could see them as a deeper yellow. There were even slight, minuscule lines of blue here and there.

 

“Fascinating…” she muttered quietly.

 

Letting go of his hair, she allowed him to continue eating. After he was finished eating, she had a servant hand her a bowl of milk. Offering it out to him, he didn’t judge the substance as he quickly snatched the bowl and drank. Smiling, she ruffled his hair like a dog.

 

“I’ll call you, my dove. My little, weak, Reka, Dove,” she said as she ran her fingers through his mass of hair.

 

“You need a bath,” she said, staring at the matted greasy parts of his hair.

 

“Thanks,” he said sarcastically as he finished drinking.

 

“Well, you do. And you smell,” she continued to tease.

 

“Considering you are already nude, I don’t think it is necessary to take you from the cage,” she said as she waved for a woman to come over.

 

In her hands, she held a large, wooden bucket of water. Taking the bucket from her, the horde leader emptied the contents onto Lendicinae. Gasping, shock flowed over his body as the cold temporarily numbed him. Laughing, she watched as he shook from the cool wind against his frozen skin.

 

“Better work quickly, the water will dry, and we will have to throw more onto you!” The women laughed as Lendicinae began to scrub himself of dirt and dried blood. Sighing, the horde leader watched as he somehow managed to quickly scrub himself of all dirt.

 

“So, did you like your bath?” She asked, a little annoyed at how quickly he had worked.

 

“That was a shower, not a bath,” he answered, glaring at her as he used his legs to hide his privates that had shrunken from the cold. Ignoring his comment and glare of anger, she waved for a few of her warriors to leave. Now alone with only her head off guard, she saw in front of him.

 

“Talk to me,” she said, placing her arms behind herself and leaning back onto them.

 

“About what?” He questioned, moving his legs as he noticed her trying to look at his genitalia.

 

“Anything. There are barely any captives who are worthy to sacrifice or breed with, so I find myself stuck with you. So be a good little caged bird and talk,” she said, sighing and rolling her eyes in annoyance. God forbid he would ever find out what would happen to him if she got bored.

 

“For a starter, birds mimic, not have conversations…Well there are some cases, but those are usually birds mimicking conversation,” he began as he continued to use his eyes to examine her.

 

She was about the same high as him, and from appearance alone looked no stronger. Yet she demanded such respect of a warrior horde. This only planted more fear of her within him. If he was to escape, he wanted to know who he may have to fight or outrun. But from everything experienced so far, her weaker, famine look was deceiving.

 

“Don’t get like that, or I’ll skin you alive and turn you into a skirt,” she said, grabbing the hilt of her knife and unsheathing it just enough for him to see the blade.

 

“I get the point,” he said, raising his hands and sitting back. He gave a nervous smile, but was confident she was not going to kill him… where would the fun be in that after all?

 

“If you don’t start talking about something else you will get more than just the point,”

 

Nodding Lendicinae complied.

 

“What’s your name?” He asked, the thought of whatever she was going to do with that knife still present but dissipating as he reassured himself she was not to attack him first.

 

“HOW DARE YOU!” The guard yelled at him as she aimed her spear. Raising a hand, the horde leader calmed her warrior. Well, for now at least, she didn’t exactly strike him as a calm person.

 

“Would you like to play a game Dove? It’s called hunter and prey. I will set up a little course for you to run through the trees. If you get there, I will tell you, my name. If I catch you, I’ll have you as my slave for an entire day, and you must be loyal and do whatever I command,” she smirked as she spoke.

 

“This sounds like it is more fun for you than me,” he said.

 

“Of course! You are a captive! What do you expect, I am going to just use you for fun!” the horde leader said happily.

 

“If you want me to do that, then you are going to have to feed me more. As well as let me out of the cage to stretch,” he proposed. Raising an eyebrow, the horde leader spoke.

 

“Why would I do any of that?”

 

“Well, what fun would you get from hunting someone who can barely walk? And what use would you get from a slave with no strength, like you said, it will take me some time to get fully better. But if you feed me enough and let me stretch now, I can have more strength for the hunt,” his counteroffer was tempting.

 

Understanding his point, even if she did so reluctantly, she nodded to him.

 

“I will let you out of your cage. You get one hour,”

 

“Two hours,” Lendicinae interrupted

 

“An hour and a half,”

 

“Deal,”

 

Calling over some warriors, they quickly lowered the cage from over the spike pit and onto the relative safety of the hard, dirt ground. Opening the cage door, they released him. Wobbling, he got to his feet. Grins plastered the women’s faces. Blushing, he covered his genitals as he noticed where they were staring.

 

“Bigger than expected,” the Queen said, taking a few strides forward to his side. Reaching forward, she tried to grab at his genitalia, just for him to pull away and lock eyes with her. As if challenging a bull, he didn’t dare break eye contact as he backed away.

 

Grinning, the queen moved forward. Again, he backed away from her. All his attention was fixed on this perverted monster, but that all gave way as he felt his footfall. A had wrapped around his neck, strangling him but holding him above his near-doomed fate. Looking from the corner of his eyes, he saw the spikes below. He had almost backed into the pit.

 

“Adorable, the little dove wants to fly!” The queen said, a sadistic grin spreading over her lips as she saw the panic on his face.

 

“You know I could let you go, drop you onto the spikes, kill you,” she said, pulling him closer and placing her lips to his left ear.

 

“I don’t have to though. But still, it will come at a price. Let me examine you, and I shall save you, again,” Staring into the eyes of his tormentor, like a cornered animal, Lendicinae made a split decision.

 

Throwing his head forward, he head-butted the queen. Shocked by his sudden change in attitude, she instinctively let go of his neck. As she tried to recoil and grab him again, he spat in her face. Looking from the corner of his eye, he saw the spikes approaching as he fell. This was alright. Now he got to finally test a theory that had been budding in his mind since the battlefield. Is there a higher power?

 

Falling, screams bellowed from his lungs as a spike cut through his side. Raising his head, he saw the spike piercing through him. It hadn’t killed him, but it had defiantly taken a chunk of flesh from his side.  He tried to raise his arms, but multiple spikes protruded through either one. Tears filled his eyes as he made one last bid to finish his suffering. Opening his mouth wide, he realised he had to bite off his tongue.

 

Usually, this didn’t kill someone instantly, but it did give incredible amounts of blood loss. Placing his tongue onto his lowered teeth, he realised himself to bite. Something soft filled his mouth. Widening his eyes, he quickly realised it was the first of the queen. Staring down at him, he saw a trickle of blood on her forehead from where he had hit her.

 

“You wouldn’t think I would let you die that easily? You still haven’t decided your fate,” she said, her sadistic grin gone as she blankly stared at him. Guards leapt into the bit as several more gather more women to help. Together, they surrounded him.

 

“Do you want to live? I mean really. Think about it. You have talent, or at least I believe so. Tell me, what else can you do besides placing healing magic into a piece of cloth?” The Queen asked, taking her hand from his mouth.

 

“You called me a Reka right?” He said, placing all around off guard as they looked at his mangled arms and legs.

 

“Yes, a weak city dweller?” The Queen responded.

 

“My mother was a sex worker. When she had me, she tried to ditch me in a shallow puddle of mud. She tried to drown me. A man found me; he taught me basic healing magic. But when I was four, he died. I was mugged, battered, beaten, and I have lost count of how many times I almost died due to those beatings. But why are there no scars? I healed them, all of them. I taught myself the art of healing. With every scratch, bruise and cut, I became better and better. You ask me what I can do,” he smirked, staring into her eyes with reckless abandon for his fate.

 

“I can do far more than you could ever do. Now tell me, bastard of a savage queen, am I that weak of a city dweller?” He stared at her, tears in his eyes, but his face solemn and content with his imposing death. His eyes narrowed as he noticed the smirk spread across her lips. Finally, she was going to kill him.

 

“Good Job dove, my little Reka. You have more fights in you than I thought. I wonder how long it can be until I break it,” she said, placing a soft hand on his cheek as she took out her knife.

 

“This is my favourite knife, so I think this would be a good sign of our future interactions,” grabbing the blade of her knife, and blood started to trickle from her hand. Placing her hand over his mouth, while still gripping the dagger, she allowed some of the blood to fall past his lips and into his mouth. Smiling, she broke the blade of the knife. Taking the hilt, she shoved it between his jaws to stop them from closing.

 

“Bring all the camp priestesses and anyone who can even use the slightest healing magic. I want him healed without a scratch and brought to my tent,” The Queen said, standing and shooting him one final glance before walking away. 

 

 

 

 

 

Water gently splashed over his smooth skin. The room was dark, but what little touch light illuminated the room shone off the water used to cleanse his skin. A woman dipped her hands into the bowl of water on the other side of the man. Lifting her hands, she began to clean his arm. Cuts, scars the size of tea plates, and all other kinds of crevasses and signs of injury scarred him.

 

Three weeks. It had taken three weeks of none stop work for the women of the camp to remove him safely from the spikes and heal his injuries. It would take another three to just heal the scars, then even longer for his muscles and tendons to heal. But the second part was unknown to the Barbarians. They knew healing magic helped him, but they were not aware of which parts of him it helped.

 

Their nerves, veins, and the rest of his nervous system were practically healed, but they were useless if he didn’t have the strength to move his body. The Pocanta, or translated, the grey blood was one of the few magic items their horde had. Magic was only practised by priestesses and a few of their followers, so an item that just placed a drop of blood onto it and then allowed it to go into a cut on your arm and become new blood for you was partially what kept their horde going.

 

But just to keep this one human alive, they had already used half. These were the thought of a disgruntled, tanned, woman of the southern realms as she rubbed his legs in the water. Her two friends did his arms, and they took their time here. She knew they would never admit it, but they did this as an excuse to molest the man who their queen had placed so much time and dedicated so many resources to saving.

 

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Yes, he was just a Reka, but if the queen was willing to dedicate ten warriors to guard him and then another ten to keep him fed, bathed, and up to standards in appearance, not including the women chosen to look after him at night, they knew he must have some great value to them that they just didn’t see.

 

“Why do you think the Queen keeps him alive?” The woman washing his left leg said.

 

“He saved her, she wants to repay him. But the Reka can’t get that through his thick skull,” The woman washing his hair said, tapping his head and making a few knocking noises with her tongue. The women gave out a few laughs, but they didn’t stop their work.

 

“I think she wants to skin him. Making him a top and eat his flesh to absorb his bravery,” the woman washing his left arm theorised to the others, again getting a few laughs.

 

“That sounds like her,” the woman rubbing his legs said, moving then to clean his feet.

 

“It’s weird seeing one like this,” the woman on the right arm said.

 

“Seeing it like what?” The woman rubbing his head said, moving her hands into the water before moving to clean his shoulders.

 

“A human. Alive like this,” the woman on the right said, looking at the detail of his fingers. Small cuts that the healers ran out of supplies to heal.

 

“HA! I thought you were talking about us not eating him, or sacrificing him to the Goddesses,” the woman cleaning his left leg said.

 

A moan sounded. Subtle, but noticeable. The women looked at each other, at first wanting to make fun of one of their friends for making the strange noise, but no woman there was willing to admit to making the noise.

 

“Who…” the woman rubbing his shoulder began to say before being cut off by another moan. On her lap, she felt the head of the man move.

 

“Hay, you see,” the woman rubbing his left leg was cut off by all four other women hushing her.

 

“Quite, or we might wake him,” the woman rubbing his head grabbed a pillow and pulled it over to his side. Moving her lap, she placed the pillow under his head.

 

“I’ll inform the Queen, if he wakes, quickly leave the room and let the guards deal with him. He has some worth to the Queen, thus we can’t allow any damage to come to him, and if he wakes, he might start trying to attack you. You are all far stronger than him, and if you try to fight back you could hurt him,” the woman said quietly before leaving the hut.

 

“What’s happening?” A tall woman, slightly muscular with tanned skin and a large crown of red feathers in her hair said.

 

“Head of Guard, the male is waking, I wish to inform the Queen,” the woman who had been placed in charge of rubbing his shoulders, as well as being placed in charge of his care said. The other woman nodded.

 

“Fine, go, myself and my guards will watch him,” The lead guard said, entering the hut with four guards in tow.

 

The lead carer leapt through the camp, moving through the grounds until she reached the decorated hut of the Queen. Large bones of slain animals and body parts of humans and other beasts hung outside the hut. Moving to the door, she bowed to the guards before entering. Upon entering, she was hit by the strong scent of native flowers.

 

Looking to the door, the Queen snarled at her. Her deep, purple eyes locked with her, sending chills down her spine.

 

“What?” the Queen said bluntly.

 

“The male,” Upon the words leaving her lips, the Queen’s eyes brightened as she stared with intrigue at the woman.

 

“Yes? What about him?” The Queen said, placing down one of the shirts that these humans tended to wear for whatever reasons they had. She placed the shirt onto a similar pile of freshly cleaned shirts and… what was the name. The things the humans wore over their legs. Trousers, that was it. She placed the shirt onto a pile of already folded shirts and trousers. All of which were scavenged from the dead on the battlefield by the Queen herself.

 

“He has made noise,” the Queen’s eyes lit up as she spoke.

 

“I believe he will wake within the day,” the lead carer said, smiling slightly as she saw the sadistic grin, but joyous eyes of the Queen begin to spark with joy.

 

“Bring the maids! Prepare my chambers. Bring food and drink! I wish to make an impression on him, remind him of who is higher in status and importance, remind him he is a dove!” The queen said excitedly and the two guards by the door quickly set into action.

 

His eyes creaked open, scanning the ceiling above.

 

“What the fuck?” He said, staring at the roof of the unfamiliar building. A grinning face made of skulls stared down at him. Hundreds of skulls hung from the ceiling to create this monstrosity. Jumping, Lendicinae tried to stumble away, but he was stopped as he fell back into a pair of legs.

 

Glancing up, he looked into the eyes of a woman. Her fierce gaze locked with his before making him stumble back in the other direction. The lead Guard smiled and began to approach the four guards by her side. Together, the four guards fanned out from the sides of the lead guard like wings, preventing him from getting to the exit.

 

A few deep breaths later, Lendicinae calmed himself enough to begin to take account of his surroundings. Bowls made from skulls, blood-stained walls and sheets; knives no other sharp objects littered the room.

 

“For hell, this looks a lot like an ogre pub after a few too many fistfights,” he said, staring down the women. Each had fur bands around their legs and arms. Their necks had golden collars, and their hair was adorned with red feathers. Their skin was painted in migraine-enduring purple and red patterns.

 

“Quite a boy, the Queen wants to see you,” she said, using her tall war spear to gesture towards the exit of the hut. Looking over his body, Lendicinae noticed his nudity. Looking back to the women, he frowned.

 

“Sex offenders,” he muttered, and the women looked to the head guard, waiting for her to translate his words.

 

“Trust me, you may be attractive, but your body isn’t worth the effort,” she said, glancing down between his legs, she grinned as she saw the blush on his face.

 

“My, is someone getting flustered?” frowning further, Lendicinae locked eyes with her.

 

“You’re not worth the effort,” he said, covering his privates as he stared at her. Growling, the woman moved to his front. Placing the tip of her spear against his neck, she scowled down at him. 

 

“You can walk there, or I can drag you,” Lendicinae stayed quiet, but his eyes showed defiance.  

 

“Fine then,” she said, and not wanting to damage the goods, she leant down and wrapped an arm around his waist. Lifting him, she tossed him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

 

Despite his best efforts, a few prods in the ass from the spear threatened to impale him like a pig later and he managed to find the effort to be quiet. Happy that he had his resilience still, she began to carry him out of the hut. The four guards followed the lead as she carried him through the camp. It was early in the morning, most people had yet to rise from their rest.

 

Scavenging the battlefield was far more work than anyone was used to. Usually, they had another army or two with them, so the job was far quicker than the time they had taken so far. It was expected to be another week before they had taken everything that they needed/could sell off to other tribes for money.

 

Lendicinae glanced over his shoulder, they were nearing a hut decorated with gruesome trophies. Bloody hell, it looked like a butcher’s hut. Or at least what he would imagine one to be like since he wasn’t even sure this tribe had designated butchers and didn’t just do the gory job themselves.

 

Women surrounded the hut, all in the same attire as the guards but with slightly longer grass skirts. Their spears were decorated with rings of long grass around the top, flowing down over the top of their spear. Their hair was adorned with red feathers, and their faces and bodies were painted in red and purple patterns.

 

There was little time to examine the women as his escort took him inside the hut. Drums from around the hut began to lift in rhythm and volume as the last of the four guards disappeared into the hut. The warmth of fire flooded over him, clenching his eyes, he looked up to see a circular bed. The cold of the ground thudded against his arm as he was dropped onto the floor.

 

Looking up, he saw a figure sitting on the bed. Flickers of flames danced across her brown skin. Staring at him, the queen smiled. Her smile widened as she saw the growing member between his legs grow as he noticed her full nudity.

 

“Good morning,” the Queen said, grinning down at the terrified Lendicinae.

 

“Morning,” He returned, covering his privates with his hands.

 

“Stand,” the queen ordered, her smile fading as she eyes him. Glancing over his shoulder, he looked up at the guards. The firelight added an extra feeling of dread, making him stand without prompt.

 

“Come forward,” she said, putting a hand out to her side. A woman moved from the darkness of the hut, a plate holding a jug and two cups in her hand. Again, he came forward in fear of the guards.

 

“What happened to me?” He said, keeping a calm face as he examined the woman holding the drinks. The Queen took the cup, which was already filled, and offered it out to Lendicinae. Awkwardly, he took the cup. Staring down at the purple liquid, he quickly realised it was the wine they had in the churches for the priest. They weren’t meant to have it, but they did anyway.

 

“You tried to kill yourself. I must admit, I didn’t think you had the balls,”

 

“Better to die than be a slave… Or better yet die on my terms,” Lendicinae said, keeping his eyes fixed on the drink as he held the cup with both hands. Grinning, the Queen moved closer to him.

 

“It has taken three weeks for our medical priestesses and all our medical supplies to save you. Now, we wish to have the favour returned,” Her grin grew wider as she grabbed the cup in his hands and moved it closer to his lips. Glaring into his eyes, she saw the mixture of confusion and fear.

 

“Drink, I hear you humans show more of your true personalities while you are drunk,” Lendicinae stared at the drink. Lowering the cup, he glared at the Queen.

 

“You know the entire point of me trying to kill myself was because I didn’t want to live? Saving me was your choice,”

 

“Then why did you look so afraid when I first woke you?”

 

“Well, I wanted to live, but then I saw you scalp someone and tell me you eat people. I think my bets are now better with the reaper,”

 

The Queen chuckled slightly, “Just drink,”

 

“I think I am fine,” Lendicinae said, his voice parched.

 

“I’ll castrate you,”

 

“Point proven,” Lendicinae said, staring down at the drink as she made him raise it to his lips.

 

“Drink,”

 

“What is it you want?”

 

“Drink and I’ll tell you,” The Queen tempted. Sighing, he readied himself mentally for the drink. Raising the drink to his lips, he began to carefully allow the substance past his lips.

 

Coughing and spluttering, he sat up.

 

“I like how the threat of castration was what got you to drink,” the queen muttered. Lendicinae coughed some more before turning his gaze up to her.

 

“If I am to die, I would prefer it on my terms,” he said, just as the queen handed him another bowl of the drink.

 

“Drink some more, and we can begin our talks,” the queen said with a smile as a large clay vase of the drink was brought to her side.

 

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