Chapter 15 - More reveals before the festival

It had been a customary expectation that after the bell for a daily check, the meals would come. As expected, the meals came with Somba and some maids but just after the cell was opened, there came a call from the chief of guards and the women that signified earlier were asked to step forward. They did and were taken out of the cell. It was sure that the women knew what to expect – Axena too. Somba had said it all – they would be washed and fed and given new clothes and then given to guards to be fucked till daybreak.

"Somba, you first," the chief of guards said and Somba pointed to Axena.

Axena was thankful for that and she keened her eyes on Somba. The chief of guards walked towards Plinx and pulled her hair. The other four guards hooked up with the remaining.

"Wash them in the slaves' pool. Feed them in the kitchen with whatever they want to eat, give them clothes but do not allow them to wear it, then send them to our rooms," the chief of guards laid out the order for the maids that came along with him.

"You, you and you," the chief pointed his bat to three of his guards. "Ensure that they don't escape or try anything. Should they do, kill them," he said and walked away with the remaining single guard.

Plinx together with the other four women stepped out of the cell and was delivered into the hands of the maids. As Axena was about to step out, Mowe walked to her and held her hand. "Be careful. May the gods be with you," Mowe said.

"Mowe," Axena said and placed her hands on Mowe's cheek. "There are no more gods. Just our choices, with the weapons they place in our hands," Axena replied and stepped out of the cell. Into the hands of the maids that had come for her and the other mates.

According to the orders from the chief, the maids accompanied Axena with the other five into the pool where they would be washed. Where there was a pool made for slaves of their levels. They stepped into the pool and each of the women had a maid attached to them for their cleansing.

After the bathing was completed, they women were ushered to the slave's kitchen where they all were nakedly set before an empty table. Moments after they sat, the same maids that washed them came along with cotton clothes for the breasts and groin and dropped it on the table before them and then left.

The women stared into each other's face. It was the best treatment they had been given since their arrival in Tipotha and it seemed more like it was the last good thing they would ever experience.

"I feel like we are going to die," Plinx said after the long period of silence.

"It depends," Daxa, one of the women in Plinx fighting squad said. 

Immediately after Daxa responded, maids from the kitchen came along with trays and plates in them. They all stared into the tray and then looked into each other's face. It was cereals with a large cut of chicken by the side and a jar of wine. None wait for orders as they descended on the plate before the and ate.

Couple of minutes into the voracious devouring of the meal, Axena lifted her head and saw a woman looking form the entrance of the kitchen. She paused and starred back too. After the two exchanged gazes for some moment, Axena pushed down the mouthful of chicken bite with wine and then stood and walked towards the woman who had been staring at her.

When she went close, a guard approach them when the woman smiled at the guards, he returned to his position. "I heard you're from the Rebelhood," the woman spoke.

"Yes," Axena answered. "Who are you?" Axena asked.

"I have no name. A name is not necessary when you are in captivity," she answered.

"You are a slave?" Axena asked. Now taking her position right before the woman.

"Yes. I am a slave. Once a woman of the Rebelhood,'' she responded and Axena widened her eyes. "You should be in your first decade when I was taken. I'm sure," she added.

"How did you survived?" Axena asked.

"A long story," the woman answered.

"No matter how long it is, I need it to survive," Axena said.

"The story is mine and I want to say it but there is no time. Your mates are done and soon you would be taken into the rooms of the guards who wants you," the woman continued.

"You know it all? I thought slaves are not permitted to know the intentions of guards,' Axena questioned.

"That is true. But look at me, do I look like a slave?" she asked and Axena shook her head to the question. "I am the chief cook for the slaves and the slave's guards. I know you definitely want to know how I got here but there is No time for the long story. But if you would survive the terror of Tipotha as a slave and break through to experience a little freedom. As I can see, you're on the way to having the freedom but you have to give more. Before I knew the price I would be giving, I gave my body for a long time. Then, in the process of giving my body, I started giving my skills. I cooked for the guard that kept having me every night, then, the chief of guards took me in, then a soldier, then a lord who placed me here to have a little taste of freedom. I sent the guard back when he was about so stop you, he would get a price for that, a Rebelhood mountain recipe that no one else in this walls knew. That is because I fought with the skills that I have from the Rebelhood and paid the price for my freedom with my skills. I can see you are willing to do the same with your fighting skills. I can see you are willing to satisfy Tipothans and make them cheer your name maybe that will earn you freedom but no. You are not in the Tipotha that I grew to know. This Tipotha of this age is willing to sacrifice slave's bloods to a certain god we do not know. This is why tipotha is more inclined to slave trade than ever before. There are odds against you so that you don't survive tomorrow and it starts this night."

"How?" Axena asked immediately after the woman was done.

"The guards that will have you in their beds tonight will see that you don't have your feets tomorrow. Since sunup, guards have been coming to me for recipe. They want to last hours and take your feet from you so that they become weary overnight and fail you tomorrow. They want you to satisfy the crowd with the spilling of your blood," the kitchen head said.

"I have got limited time. My mates are done with eating and we would soon be called on" Axena hurriedly said.

"Yes. Your mates are done with eating and you would soon be called on. Yes. So?" the woman asked.

Axena looked into the woman's eyes and couldn't picture the message in her words. She looked back again and saw the guards standing to check how much time they had left. "What can you do to help me?" she finally asked.

"You should have asked instead of complaining and pointing out the danger. I am casting my bet on you to be in the best position tomorrow. Give it your all and survive even if it's a day. You never can tell how much you can achieve with your breadth in your lungs," the woman said and then stepped close to Axena and hugged her. When they detached, she dipped her hands into the pocket on her kitchen apparel and brought out a doze. 'This had helped me avoid sex with kids and unworthy officials who would not do a thing to increase my status. It is an efficient sleeping pill that was handmade by me. Keep it in your mouth and bite it to a burst when he is ready to mount you. A deep kiss would call his nerves together and nothing less than an eight hours of sleep would happen to him," she said and handed the pill to Axena who immediately put it in her mouth.

She heard an agonized whimper behind her and when she turned, she saw the guards forcing her mates up.

"We would talk later," the woman said as she walked away and Axena returned to the table too.