Adora turned and made her way to the auction block. The crowd in front of her was thick and the auction was just about to start. Adora maneuvered through the crowd until she was in the middle and closer to the stage. “It’s about time you got here,” an all too familiar voice said. Adora sighed and turned around. Lord Nicholas stood there, frowning at her as usual. “Good afternoon, father,” Adora said. He only dipped his head in greeting then returned his attention to the stage. Since he is here, he will likely take over. Sure enough, when the auctioneer started, her father began bidding. Adora stood next to him, suddenly bored. She began looking around at the other bidders in the crowd. There were several that she recognized, having been temporarily sold to them in the past. Others in the crowd she only knew from them visiting her father about various business. Then she saw a face that made her smile. Michael was a few feet behind her, and when he saw her, he smiled a little and winked. The bidding seemed to last forever, but Adora noticed her father didn’t bid too often. He must be looking for something specific this time.
{Adora, you might want to pay more attention to the stage.} Lord Nicholas said and chuckled in her mind. Adora rolled her eyes at looked at who was on stage. She gasped and stared.
“We have something extra special for all of you this afternoon,” the auctioneer said. Standing near him was a jaguar in a cage. It was crouched and hissing, with it’s ears flat against it’s head. The auctioneer laughed, “She is a spirited one.” He looked out over the crowd. “I know what you are thinking. When did we begin selling animals?” He laughed again, “Not to worry, my friends, there is a reason this cat is up here and she is for sale.” The auctioneer nodded to a man standing a little behind him who pulled out a ruby and pointed to the jaguar. Within moments, the jaguar seemed to shrink a little, her fur disappeared and her muzzle shorted until a young woman was on her hands and knees, fully clothed, in the cage. The crowd gasped. He forced her to shift, Adora realized. “That’s right, gentlemen,” the auctioneer said. “She is a shifter. She was the only one the Harvesters could capture and I know I’ve never seen or heard of anything like her around here before.” The woman stood and glared at the crowd.
Lord Nicholas immediately began bidding and Adora looked at him, whispering, “No.” Her father stared hard at her and she swallowed, looking away, but she couldn’t let it go. {Please father. Don’t do this. You can’t.}
{I will do anything I please, Adora. You forget your place and will be punished when we get home. But I will have her. After all, you are the only other one for miles around.} He laughed out loud and continued the bidding. The bidding continued, but competitors quickly dropped out as the amounts went to unheard of levels. Finally, there were only two still in the running. Adora looked around for whomever could compete with Lord Nicholas. Her heart lifted when she saw it was Michael. Oh please let him win, she prayed to no one. Eventually, the time came and Michael shook his head, dropping out of the auction. “Congratulations, Lord Nicholas! Well done!” The auctioneer said and bowed to him.
*******
After the auction, Nicholas stood by the Shifter’s cage and just watched her. The spell cast on her earlier had worn off so she was a jaguar again. The cat had her ears back and her haunches were up and she was having a staring contest with Lord Nicholas. Adora stood several feet behind her father and watched the shifter. Her heart ached to free her, but she knew there was no way she could. Michael came up next to her and whispered, “I’m sorry Adora. I tried to win her.” She simply nodded. She had to admit, though, she was curious about this shifter. I have never met another shifter like me.
“Adora,” her father suddenly spoke up. “Come here.”
She swallowed and went to stand next to him. He motioned to the shifter, “Go near her cage. I want to see what happens.” She stared at him, unbelieving. He swung his hand at her head, but she ducked just in time, and quickly made her way to the cage. With each footstep, the jaguar crouched lower and hissed softly. A breeze blew from behind her and suddenly the jaguar stopped hissing and her ears began twitching, as if she was confused. Adora stopped just out of paw reach should the jaguar choose to attack and they just looked at each other. {Move forward, girl,} Father mentally commanded her. Adora’s heart was pounding and she certainly didn’t want to, but fear of extra punishment spurred her on. She took a small step inside the jaguar’s threat area, but the woman didn’t react. Another breeze stirred Adora’s hair and the jaguar sat up and both her ears were forward. She took another step and Adora was now close enough for the jaguar to bite her. The jaguar seemed to relax a little.
Then the jaguar looked past Adora and instantly, she crouched and snarled. Adora turned around and her father had begun to slowly step forward. He stopped and smiled. “Just as I thought. Adora, come here.” Once again, Adora stood by his side. “She recognizes you by your smell and therefore was not threatened.” He chuckled, “But when I approached…” He let his thought hang in the air, and there was something wrong with what he said, but before Adora could figure out what it was, his guards approached. They were driving a flat-bed wagon. They hopped off the wagon and bowed to Lord Nicholas.
“Excellent,” Lord Nicholas said, “I see my messenger didn’t waste any time. Use those poles to put this cage on the wagon. And be very careful with its contents. She bites.” The guards carefully put the poles through the holders attached to the cage without getting too close to the jaguar, lifted her up and set her in the back of the wagon. In moments they were gone and Adora was once again alone with her father. Her stomach knotted as she looked at him. A slow smile spread across his face as he reached into a pouch and pulled out his diamond. Adora’s heart beat faster and she took a step backwards before she could stop herself. He lashed out and grabbed her arm in a vice grip. “I believe, my dear, you have some punishment coming to you,” he whispered and his eyes sparkled. “What kind of pain should it be this time? Throbbing? Searing?” He paused, “Or maybe something else altogether?” He probed her mind, then laughed out loud. “Oh! That is perfect! What a great idea, Adora. Let’s go home.” He pocketed his gem, turned and walked away.
Extremely puzzled, Adora followed him to his awaiting carriage, climbed inside and they were quickly on their way. What the hell did he find in my mind? What is he going to do? She remembered him telling her once, ‘The anticipation of an act is worse than the act itself.’ And he was right. At least so far. She felt fidgety the short trip home and it didn’t help that every time he looked at her, he chuckled. As soon as they got home, he dismissed her. She went to her room, but couldn’t rest. She just kept pacing the floor. Finally, Adora decided to go to the training room.
Her heart lifted as she entered it, her only favorite room in this hell of a manor. She didn’t know how he created it but anything she could imagine became reality. She closed her eyes and imagined an obstacle course with enough activity to keep her mind off my father and perhaps even the poor Shifter. She ran through the course several times, trying again from the beginning each time she fell, until she could finally reach the end in one pass. Adora was bruised and exhausted, but she felt good. But her stomach quickly knotted again once she left the room. She took a bath and went to bed.
*******
No comments:
Post a Comment