Break her

"I won't repeat myself, kid." The man's dangerously low voice sent chills down Moremi's spine as she saw herself instinctively move back when he stepped closer.

Yet, she was unwilling.

The other slaves looked at her, some with pity while others grimaced at her blind confidence. Did she think the warden was going to be fascinated by her boldness and let her go?

These slave traders were sadists who derived pleasure from seeing people like her break. Dealing with her kind wasn't workload for them. It was a sport—they found it entertaining.

Shifting back once more, Moremi held firm to the hem of her clothes. It was still the same black disguise she had worn the day she sneaked out of the palace. It didn't matter what this man or anyone thought. She wasn't going to let anybody stare at her naked figure.

Never.

Seeing her determined reaction, the warden smirked triumphantly as if he had finally found a plaything.

There were other white men who stood around the courtyard, watching. Usually, these men's jobs were to serve as watchmen, making sure no slaves tried to escape the area.

On mornings like these, however, these perverted guards would rather perch around the courtyard, peeking lustfully at the women who stripped naked.

The warden turned to them, giving an order, "Take the rest of the slaves along to the stream. Let them wash and clean themselves up. Only the presentable ones will be taken to the market for tonight's auction." He instructed before returning his gaze to Moremi,

"I'd deal with this one." He said with seriousness.

Moremi kept a straight face, not showing any sign of fear, but she was uncertain how long she could keep up the facade. Internally, she was screaming at herself, wondering if she should have just stripped and got this over with.

She gulped as she grew afraid—so afraid she gripped her dress tight enough for it to tear.

With a smile, the guards scrambled the other slaves ahead, leading them down to the stream. They were more than glad to obey the command , knowing exactly what it meant to prepare slaves for auctioning. It gave them free will to do whatever they liked to these people and nothing made them happier than a 'little fun'.

When the slaves had disappeared, the warden faced Moremi fully, removing his jacket and tossing it to the side along with his whip.

It was nearly as if he was telling her he didn't need a weapon to make her do his bidding.

"Don't you dare touch–" Moremi didn't finish her words when the warden suddenly grabbed her by the neck, lifting her off ground like lightweight. The act caught her off guard as she hadn't expected him to attack her straight up.

Panicking, she started to scratch and kick desperately as a burning sensation pulled around her neck. She tugged at his brawny hands and face, trying to pull him away but failed.

She choked hard as he marched into one of the empty huts, jamming the door open before throwing her mercilessly to the floor.

Moremi crashed on the stone-hard floor like a baby before carrying her hand to her neck instinctively, coughing and clearing her throat as she crawled backwards when he came closer.

"Strip."

He once again commanded, his tone so calm, one would not have imagined he had not almost just had her killed.

Moremi glared at him with her now red eyes, her neck showing faint traces of red marks on it.

She would have undressed the next second he gave the command, to save her dear life, if her little pride hadn't just been bruised by his action.

Who did he think he was?

As much as she didn't want to keep reminding herself that she was a princess, she also couldn't help but imagine what her father or Akan would do to anyone who dared attack her like this in her kingdom.

Too bad for her, though, she wasn't in Mandinga and neither did she have people to protect her here.

She was alone and would have to protect herself.

With that in mind, Moremi scanned the room swiftly while the warden locked the hut door. She needed to act fast.

Taking note of a wooden plate kept by the corner of the dark room, Moremi crawled down to the edge where the weapon sat and without thinking even for a moment, she grabbed it.

Just when her captor was about to turn to her, she slammed the plate right onto his forehead with all the strength she could muster, shattering it on him before staggering back to see the result of her work.

The plate broke in half by the time it touched the warden, injuring him to hear him hiss in pain. He had been caught unaware.

A tear, coated with small blood, shone on his forehead the moment the plate fell to the ground and when Moremi saw it, she smiled wearily.

At least, that would be enough to incapacitate him before she escaped the room, she thought to herself with a thread of hope.

To her, since the white men were pale-faced, they were more vulnerable to attack.

But she was thoroughly disappointed.

Her face paled when the man only rubbed his head and wiped off the blood that dripped like he had barely being smacked by a child. This time, his face turned darker when he gazed at her.

Huh?

"No." She whispered, shaking her head in shock as she stumbled to the edge of the room, wishing the ground would open and swallow her this instant.

She raised her hands to her face in disbelief.

She was stronger than this...she knew that.

Perhaps not as a strong as a man but Akan had thought her self-defense a lot of times. She had trained with him and had managed to beat him many times.

What happened today? Was it probably her lack of enough food for strength?

However, she didn't have the luxury to bask in her thoughts, when the warden grabbed her hard by her afro hair, pulling her to him to hear her scream in agony as some strands of her hair followed him.

Moremi yelled horrifically as tried to take off his hands but to no avail.

He shoved her against the muddy wall, pressing his body on hers, as cries erupted from her lips.

Bringing his mouth to her ear, he whispered, "I have met many just like you, lass...and each time, I have relished crushing them into proper slaves..." his voice made her shiver as she grimaced in disgust, feeling him press himself further on her.

The next moment, he moved his other hand to her waist, grabbing a handful of her dress and shedding into pieces, exposing her buttocks.

Moremi felt her chest tighten at his action, letting out a chilling shriek, not just from pain but from fear.

She would never let any man defile her...never!

She twisted, fought, slapped, even punched him severally but it was of no use. She had grown too weak.

Moremi sensed him do the same on her upper body, tearing every flesh of cloth that covered her chest without mercy and soon, she could feel something poke her from behind.

She didn't know what it was—in fact, she didn't care to know. She just wanted to get out of this mess. Even if it meant undressing with the others, she would do it.

But this...

This was far more humiliation than she had earlier tried to avoid.

Now evidently caught up in his lust with a bared Moremi, the warden didn't hesitate to unbuckle his belt and remove his pants. He shuffled quickly across the hook, his face raw with impatience.

Moremi, in the middle of her plight, tried to think fast about how to save herself. She apparently couldn't fight this nasty man as she was too weak for it. Her cries also didn't faze him and had fallen on deaf ears.

Her vision was already blurred by the time she opened her mouth to plead and she could barely feel her mouth move but she had voiced out a 'please' in her hazy moment.

The warden didn't even hear a thing Moremi said. His eyes and hands were all over her body, touching and groping whatever he could with uncontained lechery.

He slapped Moremi's behind with every roughness, scratching and imprinting marks on her bare skin.

By the time he had undressed himself, just when the girl's consciousness began to slip, a loud unsettling knock was heard on the door, startling the warden as he swayed in the direction of the noise.

With annoyance written all over her face, he asked, "Who is that!?" His voice was harsh, almost jolting whoever stood outside the hut.

"It's me, Warden Nathan." The person replied. "Captain George has arrived and wants to speak with you."