Glimmer of hope

Evans pov contd.

When I turned silent I heard a scream that raised all the hair of my body.

"It must be one of the slaves getting punished." replied the brooding man, with red hair. Saying it he turned and slept again.

"The woman must be in pain.'' I murmured only to receive a snort in response.

"She must have either broken the rules or been denied to sleep with any of them?" he said as if he was talking about the falling of rain or deciding about the food.

Then as if he had been reminded of something very important, he stood up and walked in front of me. He looked at me closely and then smirked.

"Soon it will be your number." he said with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" I asked with a frown, but his smile only widened with my question.

"I will soon be hearing your cries like that when the master will spend the night with you." he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"I am not going to sleep with a woman." I shook my head, as my virginity belonged to the woman I love.

"Who said that he was a woman, he is a man, but he enjoys both. Basically he enjoys crushing the souls and hopes, so that the slaves give up fully.'' He had an amused smile over his face, but his every word was creating a shiver down my spine.

'If sleeping with a woman was already a sin for me, sleeping with a man was something I could not even imagine. I shook my head badly.

"No, I will find a better way to get rid of this place." my eyes filled with determination as i decided to try to run once again.

"Tsk. you are nothing less than an animal for them. They will either tame you or hunt you and feed to others. So think twice before escaping, even your skeleton would not receive the burial." replied the man and went to sleep again.

I would not believe him, I could not believe him. I will find a way, I continued to chant this to give myself a little bit of strength but it was not that easy. I knew that he was right, the large strong walls and the iron bars were too strong to be broken, and the shrills and cry that was filling the air was telling that the person was getting punished gruesomely.

But strangely it worked as a lullaby to me. My exhausted body that did not have sleep from days and proper food from weeks.

A cold water splashed over my body, making me wide awake. I shivered and my eyes snapped open wide.

"Do you think it is your palace, king Arthur?" said the same man from last night.

"Why did you do that?" I asked bewildered. I was already shirtless and it was winter. The place where we were was already wet and cold. My teeth started gritting and I started rubbing myself to get rid of the cold seeping in my bones.

"To save both of our asses. If you do not go out to work with me, we both will be punished." he replied as he put the small pitcher back in its place.

In the daylight, I could see the place way better. I was in a small room with a pitcher in the corner and two plates near the iron bar. It was too dirty and a foul smell was coming from every corner.

"If you have inspected your new palace, your highness. Stand up and come with me. If I get punished because of you, I will beat you when we come back." he snarled, stomping his foot on the ground with impatience.

But all I could hear was going out of this prison. A ray of hope filled my eyes. There might be a way if i explore the area while dong my assigned work., with that thought i stood up abruptly with determined eyes.

"You are a dumb person who is still dreaming. Don't come to me crying when your wings get cut and your soul dies." he said, shaking his head and walking towards the door.

Taking his hand out of the iron bars, he held the lock and opened it, making me shocked again.

"So all this time the door was not locked?" I was flabbergasted but the man just shrugged his shoulders, making me exasperated.

As I walked out with him, I saw many other slaves walking around. Most of them were walking mechanically, like a dead body, there was no emotion on their face or eyes as if they were dead a long time ago. Only there were a few young looking one who were losing farther, scared and walking by holding each other's hands.

He noticed a girl coming out of a nearby prison who was covered in dried blood. Her injuries was making him vomit blood. Her clothes were completely torn and there were many scratches and belt marks on her body, making it clear that she was forced last night.

I closed my eyes for the cruelty she had suffered but there was nothing I could do. If possible I would come back to take her soon, I promised. Though I knew even my own chances of getting freedom again was no more than a thin thread that could break at any moment.

I bumped into my partner at the prison and he turned to glare at me when I noticed that the slaves had stopped walking.

I looked around with confusion when I saw each one of them stripping whether they were male or female and walking into a common pond-like structure which would make people dirtier rather than cleaning them. There was no hesitation in the movement of even girls who were of ripe age. I closed my eyes in shame as I did not want to see them in that way, but I knew they had passed the stage to care as they did in one swift motion.

"What are you waiting for?" a guard came to me and hit my back with a stick. I opened my eyes only to see that only I was the one left standing there while all of them were in the pond.