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[b][u][center]A Prince in Chains[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]Chapter 1: To the Block[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]For Mowgli-Tales[/center][/u][/b]

[b][u][center]By Draconicon[/center][/u][/b]

Of the many humiliations that could be heaped on a prisoner, few could rival the choice to force one of Ako’s stature to walk. Born to horsemanship, the human prince had been in the saddle more hours than not, even learning to sleep in it if there was need. To be left without horse, saddle, or even boots was a blow to his pride that could be no less than intentional, and one that left him without an ounce of respect for his captors.

Not that they seemed to care whether he respected them or not as they walked across the desert. The officer in charge, a naga of purple and black scales, was carried on a palanquin by the slaves that accompanied the soldiers, and the soldiers themselves, lizard-like creatures that had fat tails and thick snouts, marched on either side with weapons drawn and held fast. Ever since his first escape attempt, they had been on watch for a second, and he knew that they weren’t going to give him a chance if they could help it.

Ako took a deep breath of the hot desert air, keeping his head up against the sun that tried to beat it down. Already, his back and shoulders were half-burned with the heat of the day, and he knew that it was going to get worse before the sun went down that night. Stripped of his armor and clothes, there was no protection against the heat for a human.

“Heh…he’s going to fetch the master a high price,” one of the lizards said.

“Only if he gets to the capital in one piece. If he tries to run off again, I’m cutting his feet off.”

“Do that, and the master will cut off your head.”

“Mmmph…a finger, then. Just to teach him a lesson.”

“And that will be your hand. Humans are valuable, after all.”

Ako didn’t respond to the baiting. He knew that they were merely trying to get a reaction out of him, wanting him to rant and rave and protest about being sold as a slave. The more that he complained, the more likely that the master would have them get rid of him, a nuisance to be destroyed.

In truth, it would have been an idea to fight them, if there had been fewer than four. He was a skilled enough warrior to take two, maybe three if they were rookies, but it was a fool who took on more than that. A fight to the death was not what he was looking for.

He took another deep breath, the hot, dry air scalding his lungs. It was the fourth hour without water, and he knew that he would need some soon. Whether he would get it was another question, but he knew that his throat was drying out, and he would collapse sooner or later without the life-giving liquid. He was not one of the lizards that could store it in his body; he relief on the water that he carried with his horse, and…

The memory of the battle came to him again, of his horse being brought out from under him by a trap in the sands. It had been a blunder that was entirely his fault, his eagerness driving him too deep into the fight to be able to retreat when the horns were called. The pits and traps had been too many, and he had eventually fallen for one. His horse had fallen, throwing him clear, and…

Ako forced the thought down. While his mount was dead, he was still alive. He could give grace and respect to it when there was time. When he escaped.

If he escaped.

Another step, then another in the endless walk through the dunes, his feet sinking through the half-destroyed road that they followed. When it was not burning rock, it was sucking sand, the latter trying to drag him beneath the burning grains to drown him. He had to force himself to keep walking, to keep taking step after step after step over the ruined road, and he knew that it would get worse before it got better.

But if they saw him complain, he would be shamed forever. So they would not hear nor see any complaint from him.

The honor and pride of a prince was not so quickly broken.

#

Hours passed, and the sun rose and fell in the skies. It had risen ahead of them, and now, it followed behind them like an unwelcome member of their caravan. He gritted his teeth as he felt it burning against his back, searing his flesh and reminding him of how far he had fallen. From royal armor and fine garb to nothing but a shenti, a bare skirt barely more modest than a loincloth. It covered enough to save his pride, but no more. His legs, back, shoulders, arms, everything was aching from the heat.

And still they walked, taking the road up another of the dunes, the shifting sands constantly trying to throw him from his feet, trying to knock him to the ground so that he could sink in the grains and be lost forever.

Thankfully, the lizard guards had long-since ceased their mockery, either through the need for their own breath to walk or because it didn’t work. Ako didn’t know, nor did he care. His attention was limited and focused on survival, on putting one bare foot in front of the other as he walked up the hill.

[i]What is this capital of theirs?[/i] he wondered, a slight sneer on his face. [i]A collection of huts and hovels, perhaps? A little place in the dust for them to retreat to, after battle? Without horse, how could they build more?[/i]

Without horse, they had won the battle, but Ako refused to believe that was due to anything but the numbers assembled against them. Horse was the foundation of any society, the beginning of the building blocks that allowed a culture to rise from the barren fields around them and to roam to find their place. Without horse, without the strength of the species and the labor that they gave, none could rise to their proper place.

He doubted that this capital could rival any of the cities that his people had. While the horsemen had been nomads for so long, he still remembered the great city that his father ruled from. Ako remembered the river that flowed through the city, the life-blood that gave them the strength to rise above the sands and the steppes, that allowed them to bring their power to bear against so many. Their empire was grander than anything that these scaled creatures could ever understand.

The top of the dune loomed nearer and nearer, and Ako started to wonder if they were going to stop soon for the night. They had been traveling for three already, and he imagined that they were scarcely closer to their destination now than they had been when they started. Surely, nobody would have fought so close to the seat of their power. Nobody was that –

They crested the dune, and suddenly, he was rendered dumb by what he saw before him.

Rather than a collection of huts, what sprawled out at the bottom of the valley of the dunes was a city that rivaled his own in size, and perhaps even outdid it. There were wells aplenty, as well as two springs that were even then shooting water into the air. His mouth hung open in shock and awe, and his eyes could not register what he saw as being real.

[i]Impossible. They have no…how did they…[/i]

He was led along by the ropes around his wrists, the soldiers pulling him down the road. It was better here, the stone pushed to the surface of the sand, and he could feel that it was regularly swept rather than leaving it for the desert to claim. The white stone that the buildings were made of reflected the light back at him, making it look like a city of gold rather than a city of stone.

He kept looking around, desperate to find some proof that this city was a mirage, that he was seeing something that didn’t exist. There had to be something here, something that proved that there was no way that the reptiles had gotten this far ahead of his own people. There had to be something…

But no. Everything that he saw looked real. There was no fuzzy edges the way that a mirage would have, no pieces that shifted or changed. Everything was solid, everything was real. There was no illusion.

This was a real city, and the people that lived in it were as real as the people that lived in his own.

Ako gasped as he looked at the various buildings, seeing some that reached more than six levels tall, and at the center of the great city was a palace that loomed over everything. Leaning spires pushed out from its walls, half-ready to collapse at first glance, but he could see that the ropes that seemed to connect them to the palace were in reality chains, thick metal links that held them aloft. There would never be a danger of them collapsing, not in this place, not where the air was dry and the weather too hot for rain.

He could not believe that this place existed, but here it was, standing before him…no, bringing him in.

The lizards led him down the road and onto the streets of the city, and immediately the heat of the day was replaced with the heat of a hundred thousand bodies. Furred and scaled creatures alike moved about, each one calling out for someone to buy for them, to make way, to offer prices for different goods. The streets were jammed with sound and the thunder of conversation, leaving no room for thought or consideration.

He didn’t know what to say, what to think. The average person was dressed better than he had been on his horse, with thick robes that would keep off the heat and head-wraps that would hold off the sun. He could see that there were hundreds of coin pouches and thousands of cut-purses, dozens of guards and tens of merchants. There were so many people that it was impossible to keep track of them all.

And so, Ako stopped trying. Instead, he focused on the road ahead, making sure that he could see where they were going, and did his best to think merely of what might await him at the very end of it.

There was no answer from the lizards, the different soldiers pushing the crowd out of the way and clearing a path for themselves and the lord that they served. The great naga on the palanquin had followed behind them, never speaking a word as they had crossed the desert. That had not changed now, as they were pushing through the crowd and forcing their way deeper and deeper into the city.

The only welcome change for the human prince was the shade that came from the buildings on either side of the street. The heat of the day was finally off him, and while the heat of so many bodies was not the most comfortable, it was far from the oppressive enemy that he’d been dealing with for so many hours.

They walked down the roads, his head finally allowed to dip so that he didn’t have to see so many people. He could fee their gaze on him, however, feel the eyes that followed him as he was escorted along.

And why not? As far as he could tell, he was the only human in the city.

Certainly, there were no other humans as guards or slaves that walked behind the other scaly people that lived here. He did not see any in the robed buyers or sellers that wandered from stall to stall to make their business. He didn’t see any of his people around, not even on the rooftops or in cages.

And there were plenty in cages.

Ako took a deep breath again, the sandy, dry smell of the desert replaced by the thick, heavy smell of hot bodies and thick fur. The soft musk that came from the rasping scales of the reptiles filled the air, too, but for all that this was their city, it was in the minority compared to everything else. He knew what it meant, too.

[i]Slaves.[/i]

He stiffened his spine, his hands clenching into fists as they walked down the streets, feeling the soft beating that was hitting him with every step. Bare feet were not suitable for walking on rock, and he was feeling his fatigue now, feeling the ‘beating’ that he would receive every day as he walked along the streets of this city. It would be a constant reminder of what he was.

[i]A slave. They are going to sell me on the block…[/i]

Even back home, he had heard that the reptiles had a culture that encouraged slavery, but he had never imagined the extent of it. His eyes flicked from the scaly creatures around him to the ones that had fur, instead, and he saw the marks of servitude upon them. Most bore collars, but even the ones that did not were marked in some way, whether from a set of chains upon their ankles to special patterns shaved into their fur to show that they were different from the ‘free’ lizards that owned them.

He didn’t know how anyone could ever believe that this was right, but he knew better than to fight against it. The time for fighting would have been on the road, when he was away from the crowds of the city. He had squandered that, hoping that it would be better for him to wait. Now, he had been proven wrong.

The crowds parted as they reached the end of the road, a public square finally on display. Here, the crowds were moving more, rather than gathered and stuck in a giant, dense block of people. He could see that there was a large stage in the middle of the square, and there were two wells on either side. Water was being pulled up constantly, given to the people that were standing on either side, and he watched as the slaves that stood there were fed, washed, and then oiled up.

He was pushed along by the lizards behind him, and he grunted as he was shoved into the well wall. The stone almost cut into his guts, and he had to push himself back from it with a soft grunt afterwards.

One of the lizards, a fatter, darker-scaled one with chubby cheeks and slight feathers that were drooping over his head, turned to the soldiers.

“What’s this – a human? Who’s selling a human?”

“That would be me,” the naga said, chuckling as he was carried forward. “There issss little pride in keeping a prissssoner, but he may be sssold for great gain.”

“Heh, guess so. But you sure you want to give him up that fast?”

“Asss long assss I get my cut of the profitsss, then you may sssell him however you like.”

“Well, then…”

The lizard grabbed Ako by the wrists, pulling him forward. The human prince bit off the next grunt of surprise; they had already gotten two from him, and two was all that he would allow them to have. He was held by them, nearly suspended on his tiptoes due to the height difference between him and the lizard, and he forced himself to keep glaring rather than looking down.

Not that it mattered in the long run. The lizard had him completely secured, and there was no way for him to fight back, now. He just kept his eyes straight ahead, not looking away as the slavemaster poked and prodded at him.

“Good muscle, but burned. You didn’t take care of him on the way here, did you?”

“It wasss many dayssss to get back here from the battle. There wasss no way to pressserve him.”

“Damn shame. Gonna have to fix this before we put him on the stage.”

“It isss no concern of mine what you do. Merely ensssure that he sssellsss for a good price.”

“Oh, I’ll do that, sir. Don’t you worry about that. I’ll make sure he brings in plenty for both of us.”

“I do have ears, lizard.”

The slavemaster looked him in the eye for that one, and he knew that if he had not been as potentially valuable as he was, the lizard would have punched him for that, or at the very least slapped him. As it was, he smiled, knowing that his value as a potential purchase protected him from the worst of retaliation.

“Try and sell me. I will make sure that you can’t get a quarter of the price you want. A prince does not go easily.”

“Arrogant human…”

“Arrogance that has been earned, a hundred times over.”

“Hmmph.”

The slavemaster took a new rope, pulling it through the bindings around Ako’s wrists, and pushed him back to the well. The other end of the new rope was thrown over the wooden frame near it, holding him on his tiptoes and keeping him from pulling away.

“Let’s wash you down. No point in selling you without you being at your best…”

The first bucket of water was so cold that he nearly fainted from it, his breath knocked from his lungs more efficiently than any horse’s kick might have managed. He wheezed for air, his eyes wide as the water ran down his chest and back, soaking his shenti to his crotch and holding it there.

[i]So…so cold…[/i]

He shivered as the next bucket was raised, though the deluge was less intense the second time around. The cloths that were used to scrub him, however, were a punishment all their own. They scrubbed and ground against the sensitive, burned flesh on his back, and he bit off more than one hiss when they got particularly rough.

Nevertheless, Ako knew that this was the best chance that he had to set up an escape. The soldiers had escorted him here, and once he was on the stage, he was going to get a buyer. Probably a rich one, from the sound of everything that they were discussing. That meant that they would be rich enough to have a place to put him, and rich enough that they would have other slaves to distract them, keep them from paying attention to him all the time.

And if someone wasn’t paying attention to him all the time, then there was a chance that he might be able to make a run for it.

It was not a good chance, and if the wrong buyer came for him, then he would be in worse trouble than he already was, but it was the only chance that he realistically had. If he tried now…

[i]Wait and endure. You are a prince, and a prince of pride. Endure. Endure.[/i]

And so he was washed, and then he was covered in oils. The oils were soft and gentle, to his surprise, but they also made his skin shine, made him look as if he had just risen from the bath. The lizard spared no space on his body, going from his cheeks and his shoulders and neck, all the way down his chest, and even going so far as to lift his shenti to expose his shaft.

The prince glared at the slavemaster for that, but there was nothing that he could do with his hands tied above his head. The lizard shook his own, looking up.

“You humans. Is this your way of imitating the furred ones?” the lizard asked, stroking his fingers through the prince’s pubic hairs.

“It’s nothing but what we grow.”

“It’s unsightly. We’ll remove this.”

And so he was shaved down there, his hairs pulled away with the sharp end of a knife. Every swipe came worryingly close to his equipment down there, but Ako showed no fear, even when he felt the edge of the blade nearing his sack like the blade of his father’s guard to the new eunuch.

At the end of it, he was soft and smooth down there, shimmering and shiny around his shaft. Even that had been taken and rubbed, made hard for the oils to be applied and then allowed to soften again.

The slavemaster made him stand on one foot, then the other, applying the soft oils to his soles. It took some of the burns from the day away, but not much. Not enough to make him feel better about what he had gone through.

He shook his head as he was finally coated. While his skin felt better, his body felt worse. He knew what was about to happen, and no matter how philosophical he tried to be about it, there was no denying the hint of fear in his heart. With the mistake to wait until he arrived to try and escape already weighing on him, Ako wondered if he was making the same mistake again.

No. He had no chance of escaping with so many guards around him. Letting himself be bought, allowing himself to be taken to a different estate, was the only way that he could get out of this now.

So, he would wait. Wait until it was his turn on the stage, and hope for the best.

#

The hours passed slowly, and though the slavemaster had at least a dozen different slaves to sell before they reached him, Ako became the prime attraction. More and more creatures came to the square as rumors of a human for sale started to spread through the city, and he spotted no less than three of the naga lords that ran the country making their way on palanquins to him. Not one looked less wealthy than the richest lord of his country, and bit by bit, Ako started to understand.

After all, a prince did not waste his time, and while no one was educating him, he could educate himself.

[i]They run their world,[/i] he thought as he watched the way that the different lizards and furred ones bowed to the nagas. No, not just bowed, but prostrated themselves, throwing their faces and bodies to the ground, not daring to look up until after the naga had passed, or unless they were directly addressed. They worshiped the nagas the way that his people worshiped their gods.

More than that, the serpent people seemed to hold some strange power, reaching out and commanding their servants with nothing more than a gaze and a small hiss. It was…strange, to say the least, and a trifle unnerving.

But not to Ako. He was a prince, and he would face whatever danger lifted its head with the same pride that he had taken to the battlefield. He would not back down.

Finally, well after sunset, he was taken from his restraints. The slavemaster’s servants dragged him to the steps for the platform, making him walk up it with his hands bound in front of him. The oil on his flesh was still there, still shiny, still slick. He, perhaps, could have slipped his bonds and run, but everyone was watching him now. Too many would try and take him if he did, claiming him and leaving him in a worse situation than ever.

[i]Wait. Just wait.[/i]

He was brought to the front of the platform, and he could see the crowd. There were many in rich clothes looking up at him, and the number of nagas had grown from three to six. Each one seemed to be measuring him, their all-too-knowing eyes looking his body up and down. Rich merchants of scales and fur looked at him, too, some whispering to each other like allies on a battlefield, and he knew that they were debating whether to join forces to try and buy him.

It was going to be a war, alright. A war of coin.

The slavemaster stood at his side, and Ako clenched his teeth as the lizard slapped him on the back.

“As you have heard, we have a rare human slave today. Now, these species are worthless for labor or fighting, as you all know. They have no natural armor, and most are not as strong as our own people,” the slavemaster said. “But they are so exotic, are they not? So soft and smooth, smoother than any but our great overlords, yet with the warmth of a furred one to their touch.

“Now, this one is obviously well-bred human, as you can tell from his musculature. He may actually compete with some of your other slaves, at least on his good days, but that’s not what any of you [i]actually[/i] want with this one.”

Ako had to fight to keep from raging at that. The constant put-downs were making him want to rip the slavemaster’s throat out, regardless of the risks. He was a warrior, a prince that had been captured in battle, who had been forced from his horse before he could be brought down himself. That was sign enough of his own strength.

The slavemaster made him turn around, and Ako did his best to keep from speaking. His hands were clenched so tightly that they shook, and he could barely keep his head on his shoulders as he felt the lizard’s hand running down his back.

“The smoothness of the humans is quite alluring, is it not? So soft, so shiny. It is like looking upon a tempting angel…”

Flip.

“And this…would look more than ‘inviting’ if it was sat upon your lap, would it not?”

His rump had been completely exposed to the buyers, he realized, and his cheeks went as red as they possibly could. His arms twitched, the urge to strike the slavemaster right then and there almost overpowering. It only got worse as he felt the scaled fingers running over his cheeks, pulling them apart.

“As you can see, this human is particularly tight back there. He is unused, a man of great potential, if you can afford him. Imagine how it would feel to have that pressing back against you. Or, if you’re of a different persuasion.”

[i]No.[/i]

He was turned around, his shenti flipped up again, this time exposing his shaft. The oiled-up member was grabbed right at the base, and Ako’s burning cheeks somehow flared hotter as he felt that hand jerking him, stroking him, pulling at him in a way that he had never wanted. His shaft started to rise, getting stiffer, harder, more eager, and while he suppressed his panting, he couldn’t stop himself from getting hard.

“Not nearly the breeding tool that some of the beast races can have, but so smooth, so lively. Look at how easily he shows himself, even though he is so shy. Imagine the show that you might get, having this one dance for you before you order him to give in.

“This human, of course, will be quite valuable, but I imagine that some of you are willing to pay a dear coin for something so rare. So, let’s start the bidding at –”

“Ten thoussssand.”

The rough hiss of a naga cut through the muttering of the crowd, and everyone, Ako included, turned to face the speaker.

It was a new arrival, a late arrival, for that matter. A serpent of dark brown lower scales and a brown-green upper body reclined on the litter on which he was carried, a cobra hood expanding and retracting along the side of his head. He smiled, his forked tongue flicking out, and then retracting again.

“My bid ssstandsss, ssslavemassster. Will any challenge it?”

“Lord Solem,” the slavemaster said as he bowed. “Lord Solem, I dare say that none of the commons will match a bid like that. Will any of the other lords raise their prices?”

The various nagas looked at one another, and one by one declined. Ako, on the other hand, could hardly believe what had just happened.

Ten thousand gold pieces would be an astronomical price. It had cost his father’s kingdom so much gold to raise the army that they had just lost, and that had been enough to nearly bankrupt the eastern horse-lords of the land. The fact that this naga could throw that much money into the purchase of a slave meant that there was more money in this country than he had imagined.

[i]They could hire enough mercenaries to drown my father’s lands in blood,[/i] he thought, a shiver running down his spine. [i]If there are others that could…that have that money…[/i]

Then it was only the debauchery of this land, their own selfishness, that kept them from sending that money to the soldiers of fortune and conquering the world. Ako’s breath came nearly fast enough to call it panic, but he suppressed it. This was part of the plan, after all. He was to be bought by someone rich enough to ignore him, and hopefully wealthy enough to be a fool, a fool to ignore him and his attempts to escape.

“Then the bidding is done. Come forward and claim your prize, Lord Solem…ah, and the…money, as well?”

“Yesssss.”

The dark-scaled naga chuckled, gesturing at some of the servants that attended to him. The snake’s gesture was enough to bring forth sack after sack of gold, tossing them to the platform and the slavemaster himself. As the litter was brought forward, the naga gestured at the human.

“Join me.”

“…”

Ako stepped forward silently, his weight making the litter sag under his feet. The lizard and furred slaves holding it did not complain, merely adjusted their position until they were properly holding it again.

The naga patted his coils, his long body sufficient to hold many underlings, as far as Ako could tell. The human shook his head.

“I will stand.”

“No. You will recline with me.”

“You bought me from those that had no right to sell me. I do not submit to you.”

“Ah, a human with pride.” The naga smiled. “Then let usss break that.”

The naga’s eyes shimmered, and in that moment, he was caught.

#

[i]They stood in mist and shadows, and in the dimness, Ako felt himself wrapped in chains. Not in restraints, no, but in chains that ran from him to every corner of his mind, to every part of his life, to every thought and every memory and every thing that had made him into who he was.

He pulled at them, and the chains shifted around him, drawing different things forward. His training, his horse, his friends, his family, his country, his misfortunes, his fortunes. Everything was there, able to be summoned, able to be remembered.

And now, among them, was the creature that had bought him.

Ako glared at the naga that slithered in his thoughts. Behind the naga, a different chain rests, one of black against the white links that the prince is graced by. At the end of the black chain lay a different memory, a thought of slavery, a thought of submission.

It did not belong to him.

The prince swung out, bringing one of his chains forward, the memory of his freedom, of his grief, of his anger at being locked in chains. The memory swung forward at the end of the chain and knocked the naga’s own grip away, the black chain shattered and the new memory left to drift away.

The naga blinked, and the vision ended.[/i]

#

Once more, they were on the litter, and he was kneeling. Ako groaned, struggling to stand, but the naga’s hand on his shoulder kept him from doing that.

“Ssssit a moment…”

The naga sounded…tired. Not exhausted, but more tired than he had been, and surprised, to boot. The prince took some small satisfaction in that, shaking his head.

“I will stand.”

“Then sssstand in a moment, but sssit for now.”

“…Fine.”

He sat there, glaring up at the naga, and this Lord Solem stared back. In surprise, at first, but then with a smile, and finally with a laugh. The great serpent shook his head.

“Thissss issss a firssst. Few have broken my hypnosssisss before, and never sssso quickly. You will be…interessssting.”

[b][u][center]The End[/center][/u][/b]