I wake to find myself in a new surroundings. Surroundings which I don’t want to see for if this is not a dream then my family might be dead.

Are they really dead? She could be lying. That bitch might have set all of this up to just kidnap me but if it was money she was after then ransoming me might have gotten her more money then selling me.

If this is one big sham then father will be looking for me if not then at least mother would be. 

I cannot be thinking about the other scenario. I might just collapse thinking about it. I finally got a family and then no no no. I will not think about that matter. 

I can’t tell anyone that I am a Lionheart until I have more information. Let's get up. It is pretty chilly.

I haven’t got any clothes on. I look around to see but they are not on the floor. I find them soon. 

A small girl is wearing my t-shirt and another boy is wearing my pants. 

I don’t have the heart to ask for them as they seem to need it more than me as they would be naked without them. I don’t have any clothes but it shouldn’t matter especially after seeing their arms and legs covered with bruises.

They seem to be the similar age to me. They are sitting in the corner of the cell furthest from the door. 

The cell is a wooden cell with metal bars on the door. It looks like it can be moved as if it were a ship container in the other world.

The cell seems to be in a tent like the one I saw the other man in. There seems to be more cells  on the other side of this though I can't see far. The only light is from a torch outside the cell. 

I approached the girl and boy "Hi have you been here long?"

They don't answer. Maybe they aren't friendly. Then I see their eyes. Even in the dark I can see them. They are one of the scariest eyes I have seen. They are completely empty. 

As if they have given up on life. My body takes a step back on it's on. There is no innocence of a child or even curiosity at all. 

How? For them to have such eyes you would see on people who survive suicide but they are were all adults.

The ones in front of me are kids. What must have been through? What will happen to me?

As I ponder such thoughts the door of the cell opens behind me. 

I turn around to find a tall burly man in leather armor coming in and picking me up by the waist. I try to get out of his hold.

“Stop squirming brat or you will get it!” He shouts at me.

He takes me out of the cell, closes the door behind and starts walking out of the tent. 

I stopped trying to get out of his hold, I have to think smartly and wait for an opportunity to escape. 

I look around to find multiple rows of the same type of cage I was in.

Some have children in them, while other women and even different species.

I even saw half naked women who seem to be elves with their long ears in one of the cages.

Everyone is quiet; it's as if they've been put under a spell of silence.

The burly man moves outside the tent and starts moving towards the tent I was familiar with. It is the same one I came with Helda the night before. It is dark outside and it seems like I slept for a whole day.

Now that I think about it, I am really hungry. I am taken into the tent which is the same as it was last time.

The shady man is sitting in the same pile of cushions. He has in front of him multiple plates with all kinds of food on them from grilled chicken to various types of meats along with vegetables and fruits. I look upon them hungrily. There is also a teenage girl on the floor eating what seems to be a chicken leg I don’t pay too much attention to her.

“You hungry boy?” Shaddy man throws a chicken leg at me . 

I want to not accept the fallen chicken by my feet but alas my stomach growls and I sit down on the floor to eat the chicken leg.

“Take them to her, She should be pleased that he is young” While I am still busy eating the chicken leg I am picked up. I don’t let go of the chicken leg.

It’s the same burly man he takes me to the horse drawn carriage by the side of their tents. It seems to have a similar cage I was in on top of the carriage. 

I am thrown in and a small cloak is thrown at me along with a water canteen made out of leather. The girl from earlier walks into the cell too and the door is closed behind her. She must have been following us. I quickly cover myself with the cloak. The carriage starts moving, soon the tents are left behind and it continues to move in darkness. I try to fumble about to find anything in the cage. There is nothing here. I look at the lock on the cage door but it is not something I can pick. I wouldn’t know where to start.

“You better stop, there is no way out” The girl says.

I look at the girl. She must be 14, 15, Black hair and brown eyes. If you put makeup on her she would be considered a beauty in the other world. She has curves but not as big breasts as mother. 

“Don’t you want to escape?” I ask

“I can’t” she shows me her hand where a tattoo is. Perhaps there is a meaning in it.

“Right, you are too young to know but this is a slave mark put upon us when we have awoken to mana. This means that we can’t use magic and we can’t run away.” she takes her hand back into her cloak and looks down.

“I am sorry” the only words that come to my mind.

“Don’t be, you are in the same position.” the girl replies.

“Where are we going?” I ask

“A courtesan place in the capital. Because of our looks we have been sold there. I guess we are the lucky ones” she looks at the moonlit sky from the cell.

“Lucky?” I ask

“Yea, since we will not be sex slaves or labourers and trust me there is far worse things they can make us do. As courtesans we will be serving nobles and such. So they will even teach us stuff and they say that after certain years of service you can even get rid of slave status. There is also a chance that a noble might take you as a concubine or in your case as a lover to a noblewoman” she says.

“How do you know all this?” 

“My mother used to be a courtesan as a free woman then she married my father and left it behind. After she died he sold me.” There are tears falling down her face now.

I reach out and hug her “ I am sorry” with her crying. My emotions get the better of me too and I start crying in her arms.

I soon fall asleep in her embrace.