Chapter 03: A Rude Elf

"But, why?" Amethyst asked seriously amidst her confusion.

The elves exchanged glances among them. Then, one of them revealed in a whisper, "Wearing this dress helps to please the eyes of men..."

Amethyst went mum. That was unexpected but heart-wrenching!

The azure-eyed elves looked at the surprised Amethyst and one of them added, "...this place is a pleasure house that the humans established and we're just slaves here."

"Yes, we have no power here but to follow their commands to continue living," the other one said and grievance embedded in her voice. "And you are one of us slaves meant to pleasure the humans."

"What?" Amethyst was dismayed by the shocking truth.

"Hey, are you done in there?!" a man's rough voice along with the loud bang on the door, took all three elves jumping in fright.

"W-we're almost done!" the female elf replied to the man who waited outside.

Amethyst eyed the two pitiful elves before her. No, she was pitiful too because soon her fate would be the same as theirs.

"Please, don't retaliate or my sister will lose her tongue," one of the elves begged Amethyst.

Amethyst looked at them in surprise. "You're siblings?"

"We are," one admitted. "Now, hurry up and wear this dress. I am begging you."

Amethyst finally took the dress and her heart continued to break.

As she put it on, she remembered Topaz who wasn't around, and she was glad that her sister was gone from this cruel world. But, if Topaz was still alive and was captured too, she had no idea what she'd do to keep her safe.

After dressing the wound neatly, Amethyst was separated from the siblings. She was dragged out to an open space where men reeked of booze, sitting down on comfy chairs and looking at her with wide eyes. Some of them drooled and some displayed their bags filled with gold on the table. The space was filled with even more greed that suffocated her.

The same man that received her from the back house walked in and stood beside the unhappy elf.

"Good evening, my honoured and valuable guests. To some of you who didn't know who I am because I see new faces here, I am Lord Leteas Greath, owner of this place," he said proudly. "I have acquired the rarest slave to pleasure each of you, as long as you got the money."

"I got three bags of gold!" One among the men at the back announced.

"Oh, you'll need more than that to get this one for tonight," Lord Leteas said and the hall burst into laughter.

Amethyst narrowed her eyes. She glared around. She stayed silent while she kept her calm although her heart wasn't at all. She withdrew a pace back but the guard pushed her back in place to where she should stand.

Lord Leteas continued, "This is the only golden-eyed elf we have here. You see, this elf is priceless beyond imaginable. I even heard our King treasures their kind because of their distinctive traits."

Then, Amethyst was pushed to stand under the moonlight, and she heard everyone gasping.

"Did you see that?" she heard Lord Leteas saying to the audience. "Her entire body is sparkling from the tip of her golden hair down to her toes. This is none like what you've seen so far."

Amethyst glanced down and realised that her body was glowing with tiny sparkles. Ah, she thought, it was one of the traits of Healer Elves, where their body would glow when the moonlight shone upon them. Also, she had no idea why humans were impressed by it when it was something normal to them.

In her confusion and weariness, Amethyst was dragged into a room with barred windows and was locked inside.

But, not long after that, the door was unlocked and a young man with slick hair who smelt unpleasant walked in. Then, the door was closed after the guards wished him to enjoy his first night with his first elf.

"Hey, you slave!" he called her rudely.

Amethyst looked at him piercingly like a leopard on guard.

"I demand you to please me!" she heard him say.

...

Meanwhile, after Lord Leteas got his payment for selling Amethyst to please Lord Dim, the son of a baron who previously moved to Hevean City, he went to his quarters to enjoy his delayed dinner. But, his joy to savour all the delicacies was put to a halt again when one of the guards barged in and cried his name.

"Lord Leteas!"

The greedy Lord Leteas lifted his face and snapped. "What is it this time?!"

The panting guard said, "The elf you bought from the auction today injured our valuable customer!"

"What?!"

Lord Leteas stood, threw the spoon in his chubby hand and rushed out. His face turned pale as he thought of many excuses to avoid getting his head flying. Just why would the elf dare to injure her first customer, he thought deeply and cursed madly within his mind.

As he got to the room where he sent his customer to enjoy his night, he saw blood on the floor. His heart screeched and he rushed in. Luckily his guards had already detained the golden-eyed elf at the corner of the room. So, he was saved from any possible physical attack from the mad elf.

Lord Leteas glanced down and saw the baron's son groaning in pain, pressing a hand on his bloody nape as he secured his bloody private. Then, he glanced to the corner and saw Amethyst with her bloody mouth, hands and some stained her dress.

Teeth are dangerous too, Lord Leteas thought and he was glad that none of the elves that he slept with did something like that to him.

"Send her to the dungeon," he said to his men. "And punish her with ten lashes and starve her until she is willing to give up her pride. Also, take Lord Dim to get his treatment from our best doctor, and make sure none of this gets out of this place. If there are, kill to silence them!"

"Yes, Lord Leteas!"

Amethyst was dragged out of the room through a secret passage, so none of the elves nor the humans knew of her fate or about Lord Dim's embarrassing accident.

In the dungeon, Amethyst was punished with ten lashes on her back and she fainted because of the excruciating pain. When she came around, she shivered on the cold floor. She had no idea how long time had passed but she was immensely hungry and she had the urge to vomit for the traces of blood from the vile human, that she injured, still lingered in her mouth.

The elf sat down biting her lips and suddenly, she heard knocking from the tiny window above her head.

"Hey, do you wish to live?" a voice asked and it was a man's.

"Who are you?" Amethyst asked without answering his question. Her wariness grew and she stayed alert.

"I'm no one...but do you wish to live?"

Amethyst thought the person was so annoying and she ignored him.

"Hey, do you wish to live?" the man asked in urgency.

"No one wants to die in a place like this," Amethyst responded sarcastically. Then, she heard the man laughing.

"You're so interesting," she heard him say. "Don't worry, in three days from now you'll hear good news and please do your utmost best to stay alive!"

Amethyst looked up but, she saw no one or felt any presence from there anymore. Then, she felt her heart tighten after she realised that she was alone again.

...

Three days later, Amethyst survived another day without the slightest taste of food or water. But, she was tortured by pain from the wounds on her body. Plus, she couldn't get any proper sleep.

When she thought her days were coming to an end, the door to the dungeon swung open. Lord Leteas, the man who sentenced her to her agony, stood tall in front of her as if he did nothing wrong.

"You still live and that's great," he said and scoffed. "Now, I can sell you without worrying about anything else."