The Slave Princess

Author's Notes: Hey! So a lot has happened since my last update. School basically murdered me last semester and the same is about to happen this semester unfortunately so I cannot say when I will be able to update next. Furthermore, I lost half of my novel when my hard drive crashed and all of my back ups managed to get screwed up as well :( there goes a couple years' worth of work... Anyway, I've been busy with a lot of things but I just remembered this and decided to update for in case any of you are still reading this. I hope you enjoy it :)

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Chapter 10
Nobility?


The night crawled by as Nyrobi rode away from the mansion. The only sounds accompanying the sound of the horse’s walking were the chirpings of crickets in the warm night. Nyrobi was surprised that she was feeling wide-awake, but it must have been the excitement of the escape that made sleep so foreign to her.

Her mind wandered. Should she attempt to rescue Nevi? She wanted to… but how would she even find her yana? If she attempted to ask anyone, they’d recognize her as a foreigner immediately and put her back into slavery. Hiding the fact that she was a foreigner was going to be difficult enough as it was. Her dark, olive skin contrasted with the pale skin of everyone who lived around these parts. As if that wasn’t enough of a give away, her scarlet hair was like a flashing neon give away sign. There was no denying that Nyrobi was exotic.

She wished she still had her machetes. She’d have felt much safer with them on her waist. All she had to protect her now was her bare hands and… they hadn’t proved too successful. She did have her horse, though, so a quick getaway from attackers was a possibility so long as she kept close to the mare.

As for the rest of the time, she didn’t plan to be in public places if that was possible.

Finally, the sun began to appear over the mountains and Nyrobi watched it in wonder as she rode along the road. She’d never seen a sun rise like this before. It was serene and beautiful. This place did have its charms now that she had a stress-free moment to look around. But it wasn’t home.

Kaytala seemed to be getting tired, though. She’d been up all night and deserved a break. Nyrobi didn’t want to stop, though, until she could find a place where the mare could get a drink. That was a bit difficult… this being nearly a desert and all.

She ended up riding closer to the town than she liked but only did so because she needed to use the well. There was a bucket tied to the end of a rope and she pulled it up to pour into the trough. Luckily, it seemed this well was used for watering animals often so someone had decided to put a trough beside it. Food would be a bit harder to come by.

Kaytala drank greedily, though, and Nyrobi scooped some water out of the bucket again so she could drink. She looked over to the town and saw people beginning to come out of their homes to go about their daily lives. A few people cast looks her way but none seemed to pay her much mind. For that, Nyrobi was thankful.

Soon enough, Kaytala finished drinking and Nyrobi led her toward the town. The outskirts tended to be where most of the farmers lived so perhaps one of them could help her. She was a bit sceptical, though. She had no money to pay them with.

However, she had to ask anyway. A woman was out feeding the chickens so Nyrobi approached her.

“Hello.” Nyrobi’s accent was thick and the woman looked up at her in confusion. She’d clearly never heard a Nyruan accent before.

“Yes?” the woman asked, waiting for Nyrobi to continue.

It took a moment to get the words right in her head, “I need food… for horse. No money have I but I will work.”
The woman looked disgusted and yelled at her to leave, “I’ll have none of your filth around here! Go ask some scummy man for work! We’re honest farmers here! Get out of here!”

Nyrobi was startled and ran back to her horse. What had she said that was so wrong? What did she mean by that, anyway? What was wrong with asking a woman for work?

She thought over what she’d said and she was certain she’d said the right words for what she meant. How had that been so insulting?

Thoroughly puzzled, Nyrobi hopped back up on her horse’s back and rode further into town hoping to find someone who was more willing to help her out.

It seemed that most people in this town weren’t very helpful. She asked four more farmers if they’d be willing to allow her to work for food. They all either ignored her or told her in not-so-friendly terms that they had all the help they needed.

A few hours found her wandering around in the market of what was more of a city than the town that she’d originally taken it for. Everyone was moving so quickly around her that Nyrobi was getting dizzy. She was already starting to feel weak with fatigue and hunger and the heat from the wicked sun wasn’t helping matters. She needed to find a place to eat and fast.

Unfortunately, finding her way back to the well didn’t seem like an option. Every stand in this market looked the same. All the buildings were so similar, too.

Nyrobi led herself and Kaytala into an alleyway to hide from the suffocating heat of the sun. Kaytala was looking like she needed a rest as well. Something had to be done soon or the two of them would be in real trouble.

“Soon, Kaytala. Keep that spirit strong. I will find us food and drink soon.” Nyrobi said in Nyruan. The mare’s ears flicked forward attentively and those intelligent blue eyes held so much trust in her that Nyrobi wondered if the horse understood her.

She sighed and leaned her head on the mare’s forehead, half to comfort herself. What was she going to do?

Just then, Nyrobi caught a whiff of something that smelled great. She tried to identify the source and walked further into the alley. It ended in a T and after a moment of trying to figure out where the smell was coming from, she decided to turn right. The mare plodded along behind her faithfully. Soon, Nyrobi found herself walking along a street with higher-end stores and inns. She walked up to the step of the inn that the smell was flowing out of and looked in. It seemed like a nice enough place. Big, round wooden tables were scattered throughout the room with wooden chairs around them. An oak bar was on the far side of the room with kegs set up behind them and a cooking stove set in the corner. There was a washtub set up nearby where a woman was washing some plates. Now clearly wasn’t a busy time. There was only one other person in the tavern and he seemed to be enjoying a pint of ale by himself.

Just then, he looked up and spotted her.

“You a guest?” he asked in a rougher tone than Nyrobi had ever heard from Darius but not quite rude. She got the impression that he just spoke harshly naturally and meant no insult by it.

When she didn’t answer, the man motioned to the woman who was looking over now. The woman put her dishes down and went over to Nyrobi. “Come with me, I’ll show your horse around back. You been here before?”

Nyrobi found her tongue, "Never. I was just passing through..."

The woman cut her off before she could say anything else, "Well, you've come to the right place, then. Where are you from? I've never seen anyone who looked like you before! We get the odd Easterner but with hair like that, you could never have come from there."

The woman rattled away all the way until they had reached the stables and handed Kaytala off to a scrawny young boy in ripped clothing. The boy bowed awkwardly and led the mare into a stall. At last, the woman stopped to let her answer.

By this time, Nyrobi had forgotten all of the questions the woman had posed to her and simply looked at her apologetically. The woman just laughed, "Never mind any of that. Come and eat. We don't get many of your stature around here. May I offer the mutton? Danna makes an awfully good mutton."

"I do not-" Nyrobi started and was cut off once more.

"Nonsense! It really is excellent!" She saw Nyrobi to a table and bustled away chattering to herself.

At this point, Nyrobi was completely at a loss. She hadn't understood half of what the woman had said and knew that she had no money to pay for whatever services were about to be given to her. Furthermore, she must have worn her hopelessness on her face because the man who had spoken earlier chuckled, "Sara overwhelm you?"
Nyrobi bit her lip in response.

"She has that effect. A bit overbearing. I'll have a word with her." The man grinned. "My name is Dom. I come through here regularly with my caravan." He paused and gave her a quizical expression, "You're not from around here, are you?"

The question was more of a statement than anything but Nyrobi found herself unable to lie to this man. She shook her head.

"Didn't think so. I've been all over the map and I have never seen anyone who looked like you." He paused meaningfully then lowered his voice. "You didn't come here by your own wishes, did you? You're from the jungle."

Nyrobi's jaw nearly dropped but she caught herself and corrected her composure. This was getting dangerous. He had figured it out so quickly. Was he going to tell them? Would she need to escape again?

"You're going to have to work on that face of yours. You give it all away in your expression. Don't worry, I'll keep your secret. We get women from down your way every now and then. Come out here, find a man then head back once the job's done. Never seen one with your hair colour or eyes." Dom shrugged, "Well, you can stay with me and my caravan until we run into someone from the jungle if you'd like."

"Why are you helping me? What do you want?" Nyrobi eyed him warily. Why would she trust someone who offered so much up front? What did he want from her?

Dom guffawed, "I don't know why I'm helping you. I guess you just remind me of my wife when she was your age. I have a soft spot for maidens in need."

Nyrobi studied him for a long moment before replying, "I will reward you greatly if you will help me."

Just then, the woman, Sara, walked out carrying some drinks and put them on the table. "Some wine. The vineyard is not far from here. This bottle is aged five years. The owners sent it as a gift. Sorry it isn't up to your standard but it's the best we got."

Nyrobi looked at the glass, looked at the woman and after a moment, "Thank you." She was in for it now. Sara smiled hugely and walked back into the kitchen.

Dom was smirking at her. "I hope you'll be rewarding her greatly too. She will not be too pleased when she discovers you're not some Lady or Duchess."

"I do as I must." Nyrobi smiled back pleasantly and took a sip of her wine.

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A/N: There's chapter 10 :) Hopefully I'll be able to throw something your way soon. I know, I'm not very good at regular updates so I won't promise when I'll update again. But I will promise to finish this. It has a direction and... a not horrible ending. In fact, might even be satisfactory. We'll see ^_^ Anyway, don't forget to review! There will be some awesome twists in the next few chapters.