Kiss My Feet, Wench!

Yeneffer

"Mom... I promise I'll find her... I'll find Diana..."

I opened my eyes slowly, tired from a dream. The scent of burning tinder welcomed me back to life.

I could feel my back against dry leaves, I was sleeping on a mat made from plants. My head seemed heavy as I tried to look around, searching for my mother. She was standing by me just now, telling me to find my sister. Then I remembered it was just a dream.

My mother died seven years ago when she went in search of Vermin who disappeared after the Sunfyres attacked us. We had defeated them and had won the battle but Vermin was nowhere to be found. So mother decided to go look for him. She never came back. When we found her, she was dead, attacked by a Sunfyre. Vermin finally showed up but I wouldn't even take a look at him. I hated him at that moment. Then he disappeared too, and I never saw him again.

"Where... Where am I?" I stared around the room. There was the art picture of a huge monstrous red wolf on the wall, with red glowing eyes. A Sunfyre emblem!

Suddenly new memories came flooding. The attack on the bluewinter village. I remembered meeting Vermin again, he was now a Sunfyre. He attacked me and my sister. He captured me, sending his men after Diana. He sent me to a place for slaves. I was in the Slave Island! I could remember everything that happened till the moment I passed out.

"Oh shit..."

I tried to get up from the mat, making sure not to make a sound.

Then the door opened.

"You are awake!" Lily stood at the doorway, holding a pot of water. She was dressed in Sunfyre clothing and she had a huge smile on her face.

She rushed towards me, helping me sit.

"I was scared you were not going to wake up. You had such a terrible fever".

That was pretty unusual. Back at home, I rarely ever fell sick. "How long was I out?"

"Three days." Another girl walked through the door , I had never seen her before, she wasn't from the bluewinter village.

"This is Eliora, she is from the Havenmoon pack." Lily introduced her quickly. "She is our roommate."

Roommate? We were divided into rooms already while I was out. But this didn't seem like a room for three people, it was quite small and there were no beds. Only three grass mats like the one I was sitting on.

"You really pulled the lion's tail on your first day, can't say I'm not impressed." Eliora moved around arranging things. She had short black hair and looked significantly stronger than Lily. "But many have done the same before you, they didn't survive here much longer."

I knew she was talking about Lysandra. That mean bitxh who thought the world belonged to her.

"What were you thinking standing against her? That you would disrespect her and she would let you off?"

"Well, someone had to do something. I had to save Lily." I still believed I did the right thing and this havenmoon girl was not going to convince me otherwise. She looked just the same age as me. I sensed she must have been captured here since she was a little girl, that was why she had lost all hope.

"Let that someone not be you. Especially when you are dealing with Lysandra Marble. Mistress Sheara is a monster herself but trust me, her daughter is a hundred times more poisonous. Unfortunately for you, you have caught her wrath early on."

Silence came to the room as Lily and Eliora stared at each other. There was something they wanted to tell me.

"What is it?"

"Tell her." Eliora urged.

Lily held my hand. "The slave island guards have been coming to check on you often. Mistress Lysandra wants to see you as soon as you wake up."

My heart wrecked, not because that sly bitch was focusing her toxic attention on me but because Lily had started to call her mistress. A lot had surely changed in three days.

Before I could say another word, a group of men stood by the door.

"Oh! Speak of the devil." Eliora turned away, minding her own business.

"Stand up now and come with us!" They commanded.

"Please. She just woke up. She is still weak. Give us a little more time." Lily walked up to them begging but they shoved her off to the ground and came at me. Strong hands held me up and pushed me towards the doorway and outside. What I saw was a stretch of other small and weak buildings made of wood. The Sunfyres had the best of every technology humans had ever made yet they made us live like ancient people.

All around the place were girls of all shapes and sizes, from several different packs. The one thing they had in common was the Sunfyre slave clothing.

They all stared at me intently as I was pushed across by the guards and whispered among themselves.

"She is the one who talked back at Mistress Lysandra."

"She is the one who stood in her way."

It seemed I had become quite the celebrity.

"Keep moving!"

Soon we came to a new place, a hundred times more beautiful. There were less slaves here, and the slaves around seemed to be special. Their clothing was different, and they were obviously older than eighteen.

We went through a few doors and got to a huge mansion. In there we found Lysandra Marble sitting by the pool, attended by a number of those special slaves. Her violet cat sat on her lap.

"Mistress, here she is."

I was forced on my knees as Lysandra sipped slowly from the cup in her grasp before turning her head in our direction.

"Why did it take you so long to wake up? I would have thought you were as strong as you are bold."

I didn't know if I should respond that I felt extremely different since the moment I first stepped foot in this environment. Maybe that was the reason I became ill. The reason I had to find a way to escape this place and go search for my sister as soon as possible.

"You know, I like your guts." She continued. "Most other girls from other packs are shivering weaklings like the loser you were trying to protect. Which is why I'm giving you another chance to prove your loyalty."

I wondered how I would prove what did not exist.

"I want you to crawl on your knees and come here to touch my feet. It's probably the kindest thing I can demand considering the gravity of your crime."

I did not need to consider it. There was no way I would do anything like that. No matter the repercussions, no matter what they did to me, I was not going to stoop so low to kiss her toes.

"You're keeping me waiting." She picked her fingers patiently but when she saw my face, she knew she was simply knocking on a door that makes no sound.

"If you don't do it, your weakling friend will die. Tonight."

She was threatening little Lily now, putting me in a tight spot. A conflict arose within me.

"I would not enjoy burning her alive and serving the meat to the beautiful cat she treated so badly."

I felt my heart throb within my chest. It throbbed really hard. Was this fear for what Lysandra would do to Lily or was this something else?

"Crawl over here and kiss my feet, you wench!"

Suddenly the door flew open, capturing everyone's attention. The guards bowed immediately as someone walked closer, coming behind us.

Lysandra jumped to her feet at once. "Vermin?"

I turned around and he stood right there, staring at us.