CITY OF THE GODS: FORGOTTEN (16 page)

“You want me to wear this around my neck so you can lead me around?” Surely he couldn’t mean that.

This time his voice was forceful and his large black eyes narrowed a bit. “Put it on if you want out of the cage, or stay there until I drag you out to auction you.”
 
He impatiently shook his end of the chain at her.

Desperate to be out of the cage, Aavi clumsily tried to slip the open collar over her head “Like this? I’m not sure how it goes on,” she said.

Namtar opened his beak and clicked it loudly in annoyance. “Beautiful and stupid. I shouldn’t be too surprised. If anyone else tried to put a collar on like that, I would beat them for purposely playing the fool. But in your case, I believe you really are clueless.” The slave trader wondered if the spell kept her clean at the cost of her intelligence.

Aavi appealed to him as earnestly as she could. “I’m sorry, I really don’t know how. I didn’t know how to put those clothes on either. Someone else put them on me,” she said, pointing at the fabric pieces on the cage floor. She realized that someone else had also taken them off her.

Namtar got the key from the cabinet and unlocked the cell door. “Make no sudden movements or I’ll snap your neck. I’ll put the collar on you.”

Aavi swallowed nervously and tried to stay very still. Namtar entered the cage, grabbed the collar from her hands and roughly clamped it around her neck. He freed some of her thick curls that had become caught in the clamp and dropped the hair back down around her shoulders. Aavi winced as he yanked on her hair but managed not to move. Namtar rotated the collar so the chain was at hollow of her neck and tugged it, leading her out of the cage.

“Now, Princess, you will be by my side today. Do as I say, when I say it. Do not speak unless I give you permission. If you disobey or cause trouble, you will be punished. I don’t think you really have any idea what punishment is, but I suspect that before this day is over, you are going to find out.”

Aavi tried to pay attention to the birdman’s orders, but the tightness of the collar she now had to wear made it difficult for her to think of anything else as he continued to instruct her.

“I want some of today’s buyers to see you so that word will get around and we’ll get a good price for you later.” Namtar pulled on the chain a little. “Do you understand me?”

Aavi stood very still.
 
“Y-yes.”

The feathers of his bird face ruffled a little. “From now on you will call me ‘High Sulgi’.
 
When I tell you something you will say, ‘Yes High Sulgi.’ Let me hear you say it.”

“Yes, H-high Sulgi,” she replied nervously.

He smiled. “Very good, let’s go.” Namtar led Aavi out of the room and down the stairs.

Once downstairs, Aavi confirmed that she wasn’t anywhere near Buddha’s Retreat. From what she could see through the windows, it looked like she was back in the City of the Gods. A little hope sprang up within her; at least she knew a few people in the City. Maybe one of them would see her and help her somehow.

Namtar had stopped at the foot of the stairs to discuss something with one of his underlings. While he did, Aavi had a moment to take in the scene. The downstairs area was much busier and more cluttered than the rooms upstairs. The whole place was filled with strange and unfamiliar smells. Some of them reminded Aavi of things she had experienced yesterday. She could smell food cooking, and another odor was like that of the horse stable she had been in. Aavi’s nose wrinkled at many other sweet, earthy and repugnant things she could not identify. The mix was unpleasant to her.

There were many people, all talking to each other and looking at what must be other slaves that the High Sulgi was going to sell. She was surprised that so many could all be talking and laughing at the same time yet still understand what was being said. It was all a babble to her ears. Some of the people here had animal heads and were dressed in elaborate clothing of many different styles. She thought they must be gods.

At one end of the big room was a raised stage where the slaves were shown and sold.
 
The middle was more open, where beings of all kinds stood talking together. At the other end of the room were tables where people were seated, drinking and eating. Some of them were blowing smoke out of their mouths.
 

Aavi wasn’t completely sure, but the slaves seemed to be the ones who weren’t wearing fancy clothes and who looked sad or scared. Most of them were chained up at the wrists or feet, or wore a collar like hers. She could see a group of slaves standing on the stage while more well-dressed people looked them over. Being completely naked made her feel vulnerable for reasons she didn’t quite understand, but there was nothing she could do about it.
 

The one thing she knew that made her definitely feel embarrassed about her nudity was her lack of a navel, a fact that the healer Kafele had whispered to her. Right after that, he had gotten her some clothing that hid the fact. Kafele had also told her that it was nobody else’s business if she had one or not. She had no idea what a belly navel was for, but she was now noticing that everyone whose belly was exposed had one. Aavi instinctively moved her hands to cover the spot where hers should be.
  

Namtar pulled a little on her collar as he started to move into the crowd. As they walked along, a lot of the men stared at her. Every so often, someone walking by would cup her breast or give her behind a little pinch. She gasped aloud as it would occur, but the men seemed all the more amused by her reaction.
 
Aavi watched the expressions of those who were touching her; they had big grins on their faces, as if prodding her was some kind of joke that only they found funny. She had no idea what that was all about, but she decided she didn’t like strange men or gods putting their hands on her in such a familiar way. If she had the chance, she would tell the High Sulgi about this. Maybe he would tell them to stop. She looked at his broad shoulders and his wings. Aavi decided she liked his wings, but was less certain about the rest of him.

He led her to a table where two gods sat. One of them was heavy-set, dressed in a red and purple robe similar in style to Nianzu’s clothing at Buddha’s Retreat. The other god was dark-skinned and inhuman. He had eight eyes and four insect-like arms in addition to his regular limbs. This one wore only a fur skirt and sandals. Both gods were eating and drinking, which reminded Aavi that her mouth was dry. She wanted to drink something, but the strange smells of this large room had depressed the slight hunger she possessed.

Namtar spoke to the gods. “Greetings, Cai Shen.
 
Welcome back to the Flesh Market. And Anansi, it is always good to see you again.”

Anansi waved a furry spider arm at Namtar as a greeting and continued to drink his ale. The god in the colorful silk robe responded as he looked past Namtar and right at Aavi. “Good tidings to you, Namtar. So what have you brought us today?”

Namtar pulled Aavi forward to the table. “Something very special. I just acquired her. She may be the finest virgin we will ever sell. I call her our Princess.” Namtar put his hands on Aavi’s shoulders and forced her to turn around so the buyers could see her from all sides.

Cai Shen looked at Aavi with great interest. “Princess?” he chuckled. “Well, she is exquisite, and a virgin you say? When does she go up for sale, Namtar? Perhaps I will bid.”

Anansi spoke up. “Yes, she is very unusual, but what does she sound like?”

Namtar pulled the chain on her collar very slightly. “Princess, you may speak, but mind what you say,” he whispered to her through his beak.

Aavi knew that asking for her freedom would be fruitless and probably get her in trouble. But this might be her only chance to say anything, so she decided to say something that might actually help her. “Please, High Sulgi, may I have something to drink, and did you know that people have been grabbing and pinching me? Could you ask them to stop?”

The two gods sitting at the table suddenly burst out laughing. Anansi was pounding the table with his multiple limbs as he roared with mirth. Cai Shen’s eyes were watering as he said, “Oh, I see now why you call this one Princess!
 
She is most amusing! Get her a drink then, Namtar!”

“And don’t forget to tell everyone to stop pinching her!” Anansi managed to say between guffaws.

“Here, girl, have some of my ale!” Cai Shen slid his mug toward her, grinning.

Namtar tried to look amused, but he was fuming with anger. The other gods were laughing as if he was some street clown. Dark thoughts of punishing Aavi for her foolishness rose in his mind.

Aavi didn’t understand why they were laughing at all, but she picked up the mug with both hands. She looked furtively from Namtar to Cai Shen, making sure she was allowed to drink. No one moved to stop her, so she raised the mug to her lips. The taste was very bitter, but it quenched her thirst. She drank quite a bit until Namtar took the mug away. Aavi immediately returned her hands to their place over her stomach.

Cai Shen managed to suppress his laughter and addressed Namtar in a more serious tone. “So what else can you tell us about her?”

“She will go for sale tomorrow, after she’s had a little more training and other buyers have been notified. Princess has two special attributes, although they are minor but very interesting mysteries really.” Namtar paused for effect and to make sure he had Anansi’s full attention. The spidery god stopped grooming himself and folded a set of arms across his chest to indicate he was still listening. “For one thing, she has some kind of spell cast on her that repels dirt,” Namtar continued. “And the other mystery is that she has no navel.” As Namtar finished speaking, he moved Aavi’s hands out of the way to reveal the blank space where her navel should have been. Both gods leaned forward to get a better look.

Anansi did not seem to like this fact.
 
“I don’t know. That seems like a bad sign to me. Does that mean that she was never born?”

Cai Shen was intrigued. “Your princess is a most interesting puzzle. No navel? I suppose a spell could make a navel disappear, but why would someone bother with such a trivial matter?
 
The dirt repelling spell I can at least understand. Most interesting indeed.”

Aavi was embarrassed, yet riveted by their discussion. Their words made her think. Had someone done something to her to hide her navel? Cai Shen’s other theory made little sense. How could someone not be born? And what was this about a dirt-repelling spell?
 
No one had mentioned that before. She hoped they might say more, but Namtar cut off the discussion.

“If you want to discover all her mysteries for yourself, Cai Shen, come tomorrow for the auction. I hope to see you then,” Namtar said as he prepared to circulate Princess past a few more potential buyers.

“Perhaps you will. I am intrigued,” Cai Shen chuckled as Namtar and Aavi moved off into the crowd.

Aavi turned around quickly when Namtar pulled her away from the table and immediately noticed a strange spinning sensation in her head.
 
She felt dizzy and a little too relaxed as Namtar stopped at several more tables. As she was examined by the gods, she paid little attention to any of them. She felt like she was in a happy fog that separated her from the rest of the world.
 
Aavi swayed a little as she followed Namtar, but no one seemed to mind.

As they passed a god with a red beard and a metal helmet with horns, he reached down and gave her behind a little slap. Aavi started, pointed at the god, and said in a loud voice “Hey… you …you stop that!”
 

The red-bearded god leered at her. “I think this one shows some spirit!”

A thin god wearing a dark cloak standing nearby remarked, “I think she had too much ‘spirit’ to drink!”
 
And the group all started laughing.
 

Namtar, his anger rekindled, gathered Aavi’s chain up short in his fist and growled into her face. “It’s time for you to learn your next lesson, Princess. You still do not understand your status as a slave.
 
We need to change that, right now.” He shoved her toward a nearby exit.

His words sent a shiver of fear through Aavi which sobered her up quickly. She did her best to keep up without stumbling as he led her through the crowd of buyers and slaves, then outside across the cobblestone courtyard into a foul smelling stable. Its pens were filled with slaves, lots of them. There were dozens of slaves in each pen. They barely had room to sit down. They were a miserable lot, haggard, dirty and many of them injured.