CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (18 page)

Aavi remembered her slave lessons from yesterday as she replied, “Yes High Sulgi, thank you. Es-huh was most kind, and brought me a basket of fruits to try. I liked the apples best.” She hoped this was the correct sort of thing to say.

“Good. I don’t want you looking starved or fainting from hunger. Today you will go up for auction.
 
Be prepared to be touched as the customers decide if you are worth the high price I plan to obtain for you. I was going to keep you for a few days of training, but I think it best to sell you sooner, rather than later.”
 
Namtar had given much thought to where she might have come from. Was she a wayward fairy, some kind of siren, or perhaps merely a mortal woman with a few unusual spells cast upon her?
 
Maybe Princess had been created from scratch by another god and she had broken free. There was something about her voice that reminded him of something from long ago, but he couldn’t quite place it. All this made him uneasy, and he had decided to be rid of her immediately.
 
Namtar would let her next owner worry about what she was. He would make sure to sell her “as is”, with no refund.
 

Aavi broke his train of thought with a question. “Is there anything else I need to know about the auction, High Sulgi?” She almost forgot to say his title.

He looked at her again with that raptor glare of his as he rested the bottom of his beak on the top of his fist, considering this. “You only need to know one thing, Princess: be obedient, to me and to the buyers. You do whatever I ask you to do, without objection. And then you do whatever your new owner tells you after you have been paid for.”

“Yes, High Sulgi,” Aavi answered somewhat flatly. She wondered what kinds of things a new owner might order her to do. Would she be cleaning or cooking like she’d seen other servants do? She worried they would not be very happy with her skills, as she had none to offer. However, in her time here in the City, she had noticed that men really seemed to like looking at her. Some had even pinched and touched her as well.
 
Perhaps that is what her duties would consist of. Although it seemed a very strange idea that she would stand around just to be pinched all day by strangers.

Namtar started on a new train of thought as he walked over to her. “I’ve decided that you should wear a new outfit for the auction. It will make you look more valuable and perhaps give the buyers more cause to bid higher for you, so that they can have the privilege of seeing you naked, once they have paid for you.”

Aavi missed everything he said after he mentioned she would have a new outfit. The gift of clothing seemed to raise her spirits.

“Thank you, High Sulgi! I do miss my old clothes.” Besides the necklace, those fabrics had been the only other things she had owned. She was learning to take small joys from her harsh circumstances, as Es-huh had suggested.

“Yes, yes.
 
We’ll get you something appropriate. I’ll send someone in to get you ready, Princess,” he said somewhat distractedly as he left the room, more resolved than ever to sell her quickly before her past might catch up and ruin a good sale.

Downstairs, Namtar sought out Es-huh, his most trusted slave.
 
Walking down the tiled hallway off the main sales area, he found her in a storage room, putting pottery jars filled with wines up on a wooden shelf. Es-huh turned and bowed down before him as he entered the room.

“High Sulgi,” she said respectfully, not without a little fear.

“Get up, Es-huh. I have come from Princess’ cage and I see you have done well with her. I want you to bring her some more food, and then dress her in something suitable for today’s sale.”

“Yes, High Sulgi. How do wish her dressed, my lord?” Es-huh already had a strong suspicion of what his answer would be.

Namtar looked at her as a teacher might look at a none-too-bright student who asked an obvious question, paying no attention to the cultural gestures she made with her hands. “I am sure she will be sold as a concubine to some god, so dress her as such. Be sure her missing navel is covered. I don’t want that to distract from her value.”
 
He didn’t like how the two gods yesterday had reacted to that fact and decided that concealing the fact would bring a higher price.
 

Es-huh nodded her head in agreement as Namtar continued. “Do not tell her details of what will be expected of her. She will find out soon enough and I do not want her upset before she is sold. Do you understand me?”

She averted her eyes from his intense gaze as she answered him. “Yes, my lord, I promise. High Sulgi, to dress her, but she will need to leave her cage. May I take a guard with me?”

“Yes. I’ll leave the rest of the details to you. Bring her to me when you are done. I’ll be on the ground floor finalizing other sales.” Namtar turned on his heel and left the storage room.

*
       
*
       
*

Es-huh and Aavi

Digital Alteration of
The Final Decision
(Edouard Richter, c. 1870s).

*
       
*
       
*

Aavi felt a bit happier as she waited in the cage. The promise of new clothes gave her something to look forward to. When a muscular, bare-chested guard carrying a spear and wearing an animal-skin kilt entered the room she moved quickly to the bars to watch. Directly behind him came Es-huh carrying a basket which held refreshments and fabrics.

“Greetings, Princess,” Es-huh cheerfully said. The guard closed the large wooden door behind her and silently stood before it, his spear at his side.

“Es-huh, I didn’t know I’d see you again. I’m so glad.” Aavi was truly happy to see a familiar, friendly face.
  

“The High Sulgi was most pleased that you ate last night. I think he decided I am a good guide for you in the ways of being a slave. Today, I bring you more food, drink and some clothes to try on,” Es-huh said as she smiled at Aavi and used her hands to gesture to all the items she had mentioned.

Aavi was about as happy as she could be considering her circumstances. “Food, clothes and my new friend Es-huh,” she smiled shyly. “At least this day starts well.”

Es-huh smiled again, moving her hands in a swaying fashion and then pointing them at the wooden cabinet.
 
“I have one more pleasant thing for you. Oloth, please get the key and let Princess out so I may dress her.” The silent guard went over to the cabinet, opened it and got the key. Then he unlocked Aavi’s cage and left the door open. He went back to standing by the only door out of the room.

Aavi looked shocked. “‘I-I can come out?”

Es-huh giggled as she replied. “If you want me to dress you, you will need to come out.
 
There is not room for me to try these outfits on you in that cage.” She giggled again.

Aavi cautiously stepped out of the cage, almost like a young deer stepping out of the safety of a sheltering tree and unto newly fallen snow. Once she was out, she looked around the room again, standing fully upright and enjoying the lack of iron bars inches in front of her face. “How did you arrange this, Es-huh?” Aavi asked earnestly.

Es-huh shrugged as she replied. “Thank the High Sulgi. He decided that as long as a guard is in the room you could be let out while we readied you for the auction.” As she said all this, Es-huh made a hand sign that represented the High Sulgi, and then gestured to the guard.

“Well thanks to you both, Es-huh, but I think you had more to do with it than you let on.”

“Perhaps I made a small comment to High Sulgi,” she admitted before changing the subject. “You need to eat, drink some more, yes?”

They sat face to face on a square rug and shared a breakfast of more fresh fruits. Aavi picked at the stem of an apple, working up the nerve to ask a question. “Es-huh, I know I am going to be sold today, but what will be expected of me? What will I do as a slave?”

Es-huh glanced nervously over her shoulder at the guard before answering. “High Sulgi says you are very beautiful. He keeps you locked here away from other slaves. I think he will sell you to someone who will treasure your beauty. That is why he wants you to look especially pretty today.”
   

Aavi remained confused. “What kind of duties might I have, as a beauty slave, Es-huh?”

Es-huh took a big bite of a plum, making time to consider her answer. “Your duties will be told to you by your new master, but you would be like a Princess, a companion to a god or high priest,” she said at last.

“So I would be a god’s companion?” Aavi repeated, with still only the vaguest idea of what that really meant. It didn’t sound like it would be too unpleasant a task to perform. Aavi wondered if she would be kept in a small cage like she was now, given more freedom, like Es-huh had, or kept in a pen with other slaves, like the poor girl who had been whipped in her place.

“Yes, you would be companion and helper. You would make your master feel better, when he was troubled. But now, we must talk of your new outfit,” she said, hoping to avoid any more questions about the girl’s fate. “I brought several outfits for you to try. We will see which look best on you, yes?” Es-huh asked as she gestured toward the basket with the fabrics in it.

Looking over at the pile of fabrics, Aavi’s other questions were driven away by the exciting prospect of new clothes and even the chance at getting to pick which ones to wear. She took a bite from the apple she was holding and chewed it quickly as Es-huh began to rummage through the basket. “What do you need me to do?” she asked between swallows.

“Stand up and I’ll try some of these on you. Tell me how they feel and if you like them.”
 

Aavi left the half-eaten apple on the floor and stood up as Es-huh began to show her what she had brought.
 
There weren’t just fabrics, but small outfits of various types. At the bottom of the basket beneath the garments was an assortment of bracelets, rings and necklaces. Most were silver or gold and many of them were set with polished stones and gems. Aavi had seen many people and gods in the City wearing similar things. They were beautiful, but she didn’t want to stop wearing her bone whistle necklace, the only thing she owned. Her hand reached to her throat to hold it protectively.

“We try this one first,” Es-huh said as she picked up a bright red two-piece outfit.

Aavi crinkled the part of the garment Es-huh gave her to hold, enjoying the feel of soft material seeded with curlicues of beads against her palms. The other girl moved behind her, pulling on Aavi’s arms to guide them into a matching top that she held out. Aavi looked down as her arms were threaded through a small sleeveless vest. Her eyes traced the path of the shiny beads. They joined to form the petals of lovely flowers. Es-huh then helped her step into a very short beaded skirt.

“Am I ready now?” Aavi asked. She looked down her body. The little vest left her chest exposed at the front, although its edges comfortably hugged the sides of her breasts. Aside from her chest, most of her legs and all of her arms were still bare. She hoped there was more to this outfit.

Es-huh eyed her critically. The stark crimson drew too much attention away from the Princess’s natural beauty. Even if she added accessories in more muted tones, the effect was just too strong. “No. The red is bad,” she decided shaking her head and waving her hands as if she was brushing the costume from her own body. “Off, off.” Aavi shrugged out of the vest as Es-huh deftly yanked the skirt down past her knees. “We try something to match your hair.”