Omake: In Gold Wrought part I
Ericwinter
Definitely not a Skaven Infiltrator
- Location
- America
In Gold Wrought
part 1
part 1
Visara didn't cry out as the cruely barbed whip lashed across her back time and time again, no matter how much she may want to. To do so would be giving the Master the satisfaction of hearing it, and that she would never do. Most other slaves might be tempted, just to end the pain that had consumed their world, ot at the least curse the wretched choices which had found them tied to a post in the middle of the Master's compound, beaten to an inch of their life, but not Visara. She had known what she was doing when she threw herself between little Misha and the Miqhael, the Master's son. She knew interrupting the teenage boy from taking his wrath out the much younger slave was to invite it upon herself, and yet Visara did so anyways, because it was the right thing to do. So she took the lashes in silent stoicism, teeth clenched so tight it felt like they might shatter, but without a sound escaping between them.
Eventually, the boy's father grew tired of observing his son learning 'proper household management' and cajoled him inside for supper, leaving Visara to finally slump down on the post in exhaustion. She had lost track of how many lashes she had suffered, somewhere between fifty and sixty, she thought through the ahlf-dreaming haze of pain and determination she had sunk into. It was a miracle she remained alive at all, and thanks only to her life in the master's fields, before the Master's daughter Jehanna took a liking to her and claimed her as maid and bed warmer both. Now… now she wasn't sure she'd last through the night. But that was okay, as long as Misha didn't suffer the same fate. By whatever gods might be listening, no child deserved something like this.
"Oh my, they really did a number on you, didn't they?" Visara blinked at the sudden, soft voice intruding up on her thoughts, struggling to see through the blur of pain. Slowly, a slightly indistinct form came into view, of a tall man wearing plain cloth robes, looking down on her sadly. Her, let me help you." The man said again, laying a hand on Visara's shoulder--or at least the torn and bloody strip of meat that had once been her shoulder before Miqhael's terribly aimed lashes ruined it. And then, there was light.
Visara jerked upright, blinking again but in shock this time, as in a single instant all of the pain in her body disappeared. One moment, she was in agony, and the next, everything was clear, like waking up after a good night's rest. She stared once again at the man taking him in with a wide-eyed expression. He did not have the look one might expect of a mage--with all the silks, jewels, and magical artifacts a member of the Mysterium would wear draped over themselves--but instead appeared as a total foreigner to the world of Volantis. He was tall, and straight-backed despite the creases of age lining his kindly face, and wore only a simple brown robe while bearing a plain walking staff. The only thing that marked him as strange, something Visara had missed in her pained haze, were the seven bright golden hummingbirds buzzing around him, yet even they seemed almost to give off an air of innocence.
"Wh-who are you?" Visara managed to stutter out after a few seconds of panic. This was very, very bad. If Miqhael learned she had been healed, he might grow even angrier and give her a dozen more lashes next time. And Visara could think of no good reason for a mage to even bother unless he wanted something from her, which could be even more dangerous. Jehenna had friends in the Mysterium, who told her all sorts of stories that were then passed on to Visara as idle chatter when she shared the girl's bed, none of which boded well.
"My name does not matter, child." the kindly man replied, tapping the staff to the ground in front of him and folding his hands above it as he smiled. "But your name does. Or will, at least. Visara, correct?" Visara felt a sudden surge of fear swell up in her at the realization that this man knew her name, but pushed it down, calling on the same measure of resolve which had let her keep her mouth shut before. Now was not the time to panic. If she did something this man didn't like, he could kill her instantly. Instead, she nodded stiffly.
"Excellent" The man said as soon as she gave her confirmation, before lifting a hand to touch the rope which had bound her to the post. An instant later, they snapped, and Visara was shocked senseless as she fell to the ground with a thud. "First things first, you are free now, so don't be worrying about that."
"Wh-what? But how?" Visara stuttered, even as she was trying to comprehend just what was going on. What was this strange man babbling about? Was she going mad? The old man, however, was entirely unphased by her disbelief and merely shrugged with a sharp frown.
"I paid for your release, along with every other slave on this estate. Laws are laws, regardless of how distasteful, and that boy is taking his sweet time fixing the wretched state of affairs. Now, up you come. I have a gift for you." by this point, Visara was entirely numb, and so listened without question even as her own mind thrashed in turmoil. She was free? Was this even real. And yet now that she listened, the young, silver-haired girl could hear the faint cries of astonishment and joy starting to echo out around the estate. How long had she been out of it, tied to that post. Eventually, however, she was forced to look back at the kindly old man who had helped her stand.
"What more could you possibly give me, Kaelos? You have already gifted me the world." But the kindly man simply smiled, and with a flourish, with drew something from the depths of his robes.
"This." Visara gasped. The object sitting in the kindly man's hand was easily recognizable, and all the more unbelievable for it. After all, one did not simply offer a recently freed slave bright golden dragon eggs as if they were party favors.
"Is… is that what I think it is?" Visara whispered, staring at the treasure. She hardly even noticed the people now flooding through the previously empty courtyard, running hither and thither wtih abandon. Thankfully, they didn't seem to notice her, the man, or his priceless gift etiher, and so they remained undisturbed.
"Not quite." He replied with a small grin, hefting the egg at her once more. "You'll find that what lies in this shell is of a far grander nature than the beasts you know as dragons." Unbidden, Visara's hands reached out to touch it, trembling, but stopped suddenly, hardly an inch short.
"Why me?" The girl asked suddenly, looking back to the man who had just changed her entire life. She couldn't believe that there wasn't some alternative motive here. Life wasn't a fairy tale, and these things didn't just happen. But he simply answered with a warm smile, eyes twinkling with kindness.
"For the very same reason you were on this post when I found you, Visara. Because it is the right thing to do." And then the egg was in her hands, pushed there gently, and turning with a swirl of brown cloth, the man disappeared into the growing crowd of freed slaves and estate guardsmen trying to keep order, leaving Visara to stand there staring blankly, holding one of the greatest treasures in the world.
OOC: Sorry, this is just a little worm that got into my head and wouldn't get out. For those of you wondering what just happened, Bahamut finally got off his ass and did something, namely giving a Volantine slave with a lawful good alignment a Golden Dragon Egg to start bringing back the metallics, since I can't see it happening any other way really. @DragonParadox I don't expect this to be canon, but I'm curious if there's anything I could do to make something similar work? It just seems to me like there's been a woeful lack of progress on that front, despite it being confirmed that he's still around in some way, shape, or form. Also, ignore any similarities between the slave's name and a certain king-soon-to-be-emperor. I swear it didn't think of it until after I started typing.
