Dominent - Eon

Lumine looked petrified. I had sounded quite threatening, but it was necessary. She needs to know her place here.

Perhaps I've treated her too well. Lumine isn't a servant, but she isn't of high status. If I hadn't found her when I did, Lumine could be in a much worse situation. That would be terrible. She is much too valuable to be handled by idiots like the people at the auction.

Not all of them are idiots. I know some of the people very well. They live just a little ways away from the manor. A lot of the people are probably still made I ran off with a piece of merchandise I did not "win".

Lumine and I reached the from of the manor. Dried blood and the hammer head sat on the steps. The hammer's handle rotted just a few moments after I pulled it from the hammer head. Still not sure how that worked.

"Bring the hammer head to your room. Like I said earlier, you can wash it when you want as long as the chore is done before tomorrow. Walk around, see the sights, enjoy yourself," I instructed Lumine.

She began to unfold the rubber gloves when a wagon drove to the front of the manor. Johnnethen and Nicholas. They were an hour early.

I walked to the gate and opened it. John and Nick jumped down from the wagon and walked towards me. Behind me, Lumine looked almost frightened. I motioned for her to come to me.

Lumine stood beside me with a nervous look as John and Nick came closer.

"We've come for the money. You left a note saying you would pay us later at a certain time," John said.

"You're an hour early," I pointed out.

"I don't care. Give me the thirty thousand gold coins," John said impatiently.

"I will get you the money." One of my servants was picking flowers from a flower bed. I called for her to come. Once she did, we discussed the money that was counted earlier. The servant rushed in the manor and came back out with more servants and six bags of coins.

"That doesn't look like thirty thousand. It looks like a lot less," Nick looked angry.

"What are you trying to pull?" John questioned.

There were only six thousand coins. It was a lot less, and I had reasons for that.

"This is six thousand gold coins," I declared.

"What? Where is the rest?" Nick took a step forward.

"You priced her at ten thousand. I only offered thirty thousand so I could buy her. Both of you know none of those men could lift the hammer. Someone would have had to buy her at some point." Now the buffoons looked embarrassed.

"You made your point," John said. "Give us ten thousand."

"I can not pay full price," I said

"Why not?" John was really getting frustrated.

"This item is damaged." I looked at Lumine. "Pull up your dress and show them your left leg." Lumine obeyed.

A cut was revealed. After examining it, John said, "We didn't do that! And you can't take off four thousand gold coins because of a scratch."

"This is my final offer." A smug smile covered my face. Lumine looked shocked.

"Fine. We'll take it," John gritted his teeth. He and Nick took the bags of coins and loaded them into their wagon.

John made his way over to Lumine.

"I have to say, you cleaned her up very well." John looked closely at Lumine.

"You dressed her up and trained her to be obedient in very little time." The creepy look on John's face disgusted me.

"Maybe we should have kept this one for ourselves."

John tipped Lumine's head with his finger. Immediately after, I slapped his face in utter disgust.

"Keep your hand of my property or I will take the money back." John chuckled to himself. He and Nick hopped onto their wagon and drove away.

Lumine's eyes were sharp and full of hate. She must not have liked her time with those two.

"Don't worry," I said. "You won't be seeing them again. Now that I have paid for you, they need nothing more."

"They didn't give me the cut," Lumine said.

"I don't care. Damaged property is always discounted," I replied.

Lumine looked a tiny bit offended.

"They were right about you being obedient," I said, causing Lumine to frown just the slightest bit.

"That is a compliment from your owner. Appreciate it," I told her. "If you continue the good behavior, I can promise your time here will be pleasant and enjoyable."

Lumine smiled now, but she still looked sad.

Lumine was valuable. For her ability, her past, her charm, and her spirit. I couldn't afford to lose her.