Ch.8 Six Thousand Denarii

Chapter 8

As preparations were made to call the collector, Birdie was shown to a small room off the side of the office where she would be held. The collector would arrive at dawn and the General wanted to make sure the rare being he had gotten his hands on wouldn't escape.

Lady Ebony and Parry walked Birdie to the room despite her pleading for them to let her go. Lady Ebony tightly grabbed Birdie's arm and dragged her down the hall, biting down on her jaw to keep her words to herself. Once they were inside the small room that was only occupied by a narrow bed and a chair, the woman turned to the general and sighed.

"I'll watch her," she said. "You go and see that all the arrangements are made for the collector."

Parry's eyes darted to Birdie and then back to Lady Ebony. He looked unsure, his eyes suspicious but silent.

"Parry," Lady Ebony arched her brow. "After all these years? You still don't trust me?"

"No, no," the man shook his head. "I worry."

"About what?" Lady Ebony demanded to know.

"For your safety," Parry's eyes moved to Birdie once more.

"She's wearing brass," Lady Ebony looked down at Birdie's hands. "There's not much she can do."

"I should call the guar-"

"Parry," Lady Ebony's voice softened.

She took a step forward and laid her hand against the general's chubby face. Birdie watched as the woman pushed her chest closer to the man and batted her eyelashes.

"What if one of the guards send word to Xaiba that we have this wonderful mysterious being and instead of sending her directly to them, we sold her off?" Lady Ebony questioned. "Lord Darrian will not be so pleased, my love."

The sweetness in the woman's voice made Birdie cringe. She bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from making any sound as Lady Ebony pushed herself up to her toes and kissed the general.

"You're right," the large man sighed. "We have to keep this hush hush."

"Exactly," Lady Ebony took a step back. "Now, go on. I'll watch her."

"Alright," Parry said, a bit reluctantly.

As the general turned and walked out of the room, Lady Ebony adjusted her shawl and busied herself with her jewelry. She waited until the door closed and the man's footsteps outside grew silent to turn to Birdie and grip her arms.

"What is your name?" Lady's Ebony's voice was urgent, but barely a whisper. "Where is your family?"

Birdie stared at the woman in shock. Her heart began to pound in her chest once more.

"Listen to me very carefully," the woman's eyes darted to the door and then back to Birdie. "Do as they say. Tell me your name and where your family is, I'll send words to them. Until they come, just do as Parry says."

"You...." Birdie's eyes watered and her throat tightened. "He's going to sell me?"

"It's better than sending you to Xaiba," Lady Ebony's eyes hardened. "I did you a favor. You have no idea what they would do to someone like you at Xaiba."

"What is this place?" Birdie asked.

"Paradise for some, hell for others," Lady Ebony muttered. "Now, give me your name."

"Birdie."

"What?"

"My name is Birdie."

"Like....like the things that used to fly around in the air?"

"What?" Birdie asked in confusion. "Used to?"

"What did they call it?" Lady Ebony tapped her forehead with a long slender finger. "Bird?"

Birdie slowly nodded her head.

"That's a beautiful name," for a second, the woman's eyes softened. "Where is your family, Birdie?"

"They....." Birdie felt a wave of confusion and sorrow fall over her. "Listen, this might sound very very very crazy. But I'm not from this world-"

"That's for sure."

"So you believe me?"

"Not 100% yet, but go on."

"I come from a palace called Earth," Birdie continued. "My father is a jinn. He's the Sultan."

The woman's eyes widened and then clouded over with skepticism, "How did a Sultan's daughter get here?"

"I...." Birdie shut her eyes and swallowed back the whimper that tried to rise in her. "I fell through a mirror."

"Girl," Lady Ebony pulled back. "What have you been eating. Did anyone give you one of those mushroom things?"

"No, no," Birdie's voice shook and her eyes watered. "Please believe me. You know lying goes against our nature."

"You want me to believe that you are the daughter of a Sultan from....another world. And you fell into our world through a mirror?"

Birdie slowly nodded her head, "Yes. And I can't seem to open any portals or contact my parents."

"Portals?" Lady Ebony arched her dark brow. "What's that?"

"A portal..." Birdie swallowed. "A gateway spell."

"We don't have that here," Lady Ebony shook her head.

Taking in a deep breath to keep her mind together, Birdie nodded. Her insides shivered as if she had been dunked in icy water over and over and over again.

"So you fell through a mirror?" Lady Ebony asked.

"Yes," Birdie nodded. "Please, is there any way you can help me?"

"I don't know..."

"Please," Birdie begged. "Help me get home and I promise I will come back with my father and our armies and free you all from the feys."

"What?" Lady Ebony burst into laughter.

"Believe me," Birdie gripped the woman's warm hands. "Where I'm from, there are no feys....well, there are a few, but they are children. Jinns are free, we have a whole civilization in the Veil."

"What...what are you talking about?" Ebony shook her head. "This all sounds like a grand fairy tale."

"It's reality," Birdie said. "It's my reality. And I need to go back."

With a dramatic sigh, Lady Ebony pulled her hands back and scratched her head, "Listen, the best I can do for you right now is contact anyone you might know here. Maybe with some luck, they will be able to buy you back from the collector."

"I don't know anyone here!"

"Then what do you want me to do?" Lady Ebony snapped. "I don't know you! You want me to look for some mythical Earth and find your Sultan father? I wouldn't even know where to start. Do you even know where to start?"

Birdie felt a dreadful weight fall over her heart, "No."

"See!" Lady Ebony rubbed her forehead. "Look. I'm not saying I don't believe you. Maybe the world is ending and we have princesses falling from the sky like Birds. But if what you are saying is true then just hold tight."

Birdie didn't know what to say. She stared at the woman with her cold tears running down her pale face.

"Your father is the sultan, right?" Lady Ebony asked.

Birdie nodded her head.

"Then he will notice you are gone and he will do something about it from Earth," Lady Ebony shrugged. "You just have to hang in here until he comes looking for you."

"Here?" Birdie looked around. "With them?"

"Yes, with them," Lady Ebony said sharply. "You do whatever they say. You are not a princess here. Don't go around telling everyone your father is a Sultan and he's going to come looking for you. They will cut you into pieces and have your meat waiting for your father. Do you understand?"

Feeling a shiver run down her spine, Birdie nodded her head.

"If they tell you to jump, you bow and ask how high," Lady Ebony explained. "Don't get in their way, don't look at them, don't engage them, don't speak to them unless you are spoken to. Clear?"

Birdie nodded once more.

"Oh my bird," Lady Ebony sighed and placed her hand against Birdie's face. "I really pray you go back to where you came from. You clearly do not belong here at all."

"Why....." Birdie's voice was starting to die down from all the pressure in her throat. "Why are you helping me?"

A gentle kind smile slowly spread across the woman's face, "Because seeing you in the courtyard reminded me of myself."

Birdie leaned into the woman's warm touch, seeking out the only comfort she had felt in a while.

"I was fifteen when my parents sold me to the general," Lady Ebony said. "My mother was sick and they couldn't afford medicine. So they sold me for one hundred denarii. My father figured if my mother lived, they could always have more children."

Birdie's eyes swelled up with more tears for the woman.

"I didn't have anyone look out for me or be kind to me," Lady Ebony continued. "And when I saw you and the fear in your eyes, I thought maybe in some way or form by helping you, I would be helping myself."

"The General..." Birdie's eyes darted to the door. "Is he....good to you?"

A very unlady-like snort escaped Lady Ebony's mouth. She rolled her eyes as she stepped away and took a seat on the edge of the narrow bed.

"He's a bastard," she said.

"You're not wearing brass cuffs," Birdie observed the woman's wrists.

Lady Ebony rolled her eyes once more and pulled up her dress. Birdie's eyes widened as she saw the brass cuffs around the women's ankles. They were designed with gems and little bells to make them look as if they were the latest anklet designs.

"He doesn't like cuffs on my wrists," Lady Ebony said, turning her ankles to check out her cuffs. "Seeing them around my hands reminds him that he bought me and the sick fantasy he has in his head about a secret love affair with a beautiful young jinn girl is ruined."

Birdie swallowed back the vile sickness in her stomach.

"So he got me these," Lady Ebony lifted her legs.

"How...how old are you?" Birdie asked.

"Hmm," Lady Ebony tilted her head and pondered. "Let's see....I came to this house at fifteen.....it's been about nine years.....twenty four!"

Birdie's heart contracted. The poor girl did not deserve such a life. Her thoughts went back to the frightened fisherman she had met just a few hours ago. None of them deserved this life.

They were jinns. Powerful beings of smokeless flames. They were not slaves or beggars. They lived in places in the sky and had unmatched endless powers.

"Don't faint now," Lady Ebony straightened up and stared at Birdie. "Come sit down. The collector won't buy you if you're sick and dying."

Birdie could not move. She heard her blood rushing past her ears as her head swayed with uneasiness. She felt lightheaded and as heavy as led all at the same time.

"Come," Lady Ebony rose from the bed and guided Birdie over to where she sat. "Sit. Breath. When was the last time you ate something?"

Birdie's breathing labored. She wrapped her arms around herself and pulled her knees up to her chest. Lady Ebony quickly grabbed the blanket off the bed and draped it over Birdie's shoulder.

"I'll go get you something to eat."

"No!" Birdie grabbed the woman's hand. "Don't go. Please."

Recognizing the fear in her eyes, Lady Ebony nodded and sat down beside Birdie. She could understand why Birdie did not want to be left alone. She had felt the same way her first night at the house.

"The collector," Birdie asked through her chattering teeth. "Is he...is he like the general?"

"Yes and no," Lady Ebony said. "Elijah is a businessman. He won't touch you because that will decrease your value. But he won't keep you on a pedestal either. His tongue is sharp, he will cut you and break you with his words."

Birdie pulled the blanket closer.

"Just do whatever he says, okay?" Lady Ebony sighed. "I know it's very shitty advice but it's the best advice I can give you. Do whatever they say and you will stay alive. Don't try to fight whatever will happen to you. You won't win."

"What will the collector do with me?" Birdie dared to ask.

"Sell you off to the highest bidder," Lady Ebony said. "Or keep you for his own collections."

"Who will he sell me to?"

"High bloods, other generals, rich businessmen....whoever can afford you."

"I...." Birdie began to cry as terrifying images and ideas popped into her head. "I can't....they...."

Lady Ebony felt her own heart shrivel up. She wanted to cry her eyes out as memories of her stolen childhood came rushing back into her mind.

"Like I said," Lady Ebony took in a shaky breath. "Don't fight whatever will happen to you. They will kill you, Birdie. In the most painful way possible. The first few times you will want to die. But trust me, if you just close your eyes and imagine you are some place far far away, it won't be as bad."

"No," Birdie shook her head. "No, no. No, I can't do this. I want to go home."

As Birdie threw the blanket back and jumped up, Lady Ebony grabbed her hand before the girl could run out of the room.

"Don't be crazy!" The woman hissed.

"I want to go home!" Birdie yelled, tugging at her hand, crying hysterically. "Let me go! I want to go home! Baba! Hayden! I want to go home!"

"Listen to me," Lady Ebony pulled Birdie closer by her arms and held her tightly.

"Let go of me!" Birdie cried, her voice bouncing off the four walls in the room.

"Stop it," Lady Ebony shook her, hard. "You're making it worse for youse-"

"What is going on here?"

The door to the tiny room suddenly opened and the General walked in. Birdie used all her might to throw Lady Ebony off herself before making a run for the open door behind the large man. She was a bit surprised the general didn't try to stop her as she ran past him and out the door. But as she ran down the hall and appeared in the courtyard, she immediately realized why the man hadn't tried to stop her.

Every exit was guarded by at least two guards. Some patrolled the walls around the whole house as others patrolled the grounds. As Birdie ran out into the courtyard, they all stopped and stared at her.

Before Birdie could decide what to do next, she felt a hand on her shoulder whirl her around. She came face to face with the general and watched his eyes darken with anger as he raised his hand and struck her across the face. Lady Ebony, who was standing in the shadows of the columns, flinched and shut her eyes as the General raised his hand once more and delivered another strike across Birdie's face.

"Ebony!" the general's thundering voice called to the jinn. "Take her back inside!"

________________________

For the rest of the night, Birdie did not utter a word.

Lady Ebony soaked a washcloth and wiped the blood off the corner of the girl's mouth, not knowing what to say to make anything better. She arranged for a plate of cheese, bread and dried fruits but Birdie would not eat. Slowly, as the hours of the night drew closer and closer to dawn, Lady Ebony and Birdie fell into a mournful silence.

"Please," the jinn whispered when the General announced the collector's arrival. "Please, just do as you are told. When your father comes, he will want to take home his living daughter."

Birdie bit back the sob that tried to rise in her throat. She followed Lady Ebony into the courtyard where a tall man with long white hair and white suit stood with his hands over a brass cane.

"This is here?" The man asked, looking at Birdie.

"Yes," The general said as Lady Ebony placed Birdie in the middle of the two men.

"She looks like a fey," the collector observed.

The general took a step forward and held up Birdie's hair. He motioned for the collector to take a sniff.

Birdie held her breath as the man stepped forward and lowered his nose. He inhaled her scent like a starved man before smiling and straightening back up.

"Extraordinary," he said, amazed by the being standing in front of him. "I don't think I've ever had anything like her."

"How much can you give me?" The general asked.

"Five thousand denarii," the collector walked around Birdie, his eyes taking in all of her.

"Ten thousand," the general said.

The collector did not reply right away. He came to a stop in front of birdie and placed his hand right below her chin. Birdie whimpered in fear as he tilted her head back and scanned her features.

"Five thousand denarii," the man said once more, eyeing the red finger marks on Birdie's cheek. "She's bruised."

"It will fade in a day or two," the general said.

"That means I will have to feed and for a day or two," The collector sighed. "That will cost me some denarii general."

"Nine thousand."

"Six thousand," The collector dropped his hand and adjusted his sleeves. He took out a handkerchief and whipped his fingers. "My last offer."

The general looked at Lady Ebony and then at Birdie. His round face twisted with annoyance for a few moments before he finally agreed.

"Alright," the fat man said. "Six thousand denarii."

"I love a good deal," the collector smiled as he pulled a small velvet sack from his coat pocket. "Thank you, general. For such an extraordinary piece."

"Just remember our other deal," the man said, taking the pouch.

"Yes," the collector's eyes moved over Birdie. "I did not get her from you. Do not worry. My lips are sealed."

With a nod, the general looked at Lady Ebony.

"Take her to the carriage," he said.

With a small bow of her head, Lady Ebony took a step forward and took Birdie's hand.

"Let's go," She said.

Birdie shook her head. Her bottom lip trembled as she gripped Lady Ebony's hand tightly. Her eyes watered and she pleaded with those innocent silver eyes.

"Please," Birdie whispered as Lady Ebony began to walk her towards the carriage waiting outside.

The first light of dawn had broken through the sky. The world was coated in a hazy silver light, the air was silent and cold. The black horse tied to the carriage huffed, blowing out a breath that hung in the air. His hooves click-clacked against the stone path as Lady Ebony bit down on her bottom lip and gently pushed Birdie into the carriage. She felt her heart break as she remembered the way she had pleaded with her father at the very same door steps.

"Please," Birdie sobbed. "I don't want to go."

"Just do as they say," Lady Ebony's voice cracked. She took in a deep breath to steady her heart as she leaned forward and placed her forehead against Birdie's in a jinn farewell. "I pray that your father finds you...soon."

My heart hurts for our baby bird :/

I love the theories some of you have <3 some are very close :P let me know what you think will happen next in the comments :)