Avarice Secret Unquiet CH 30

Disobedience Has a Price

It had not taken many years since ordered societies' demise for the institution of slavery to again take precedence. At the onset of the war, the strong were already beginning to lean towards slavery as an ideal. Many survivors would, after all, do anything to be accepted into the communities that had survived the initial destruction. If they had to bow and scrape to be admitted they most often did, and in a very short time it became the norm, the strong, exploited the weak, and slavery was reborn.

Human livestock had become a lucrative business not only for powerful men such as Master Jacques who sat at the top of the wealth pyramid of this new reforming society, but even for those assigned to capture this valuable resource.

Many seemingly very ordinary men participated in this unsavory trade. Even those closest to them never knew of their dark activities. They lived fairly ordinary lives most days, and on occasion, they left their families, farms, and trades to carry out the unthinkable. Most who were enslaved never saw their assailant's faces, as these men were always masked. Anonymity was of the utmost importance to them.

However men like Jormugar were an even rarer breed, he was not ashamed of his trade. To him, it was survival of the fittest, and he had no qualms about putting anyone in chains as long as there was gold to be had. He rightly didn't need the wealth, after all his tastes were simple, but he enjoyed the kudos his currency could buy him if he so chose to flaunt it. However, for the most part, the young man preferred the company of his fellow creatures and was very much a man of this new age.

Once again he rode north on his trusty grullo gelding, however, he was not alone this time. He had with him nine other slavers. They had gone north with Master Jacques' blessing and funding, to capture the prizes that Jormugar had alluded to. The young man had been told not to fail.

They had only been a few days into their excursion when they encountered a family traveling south. It was unusual to see anyone traveling in these parts anymore, and Jormugar guessed the family must have been fleeing some hardship, hoping to make a better life in the South.

His keen-eyed animal instincts had spotted the retinue when they were no more than a speck on the horizon. The men had halted and lay in wait. After all good captives even if they were not the original captives they had sought, would still bring a good price. Jormugar, never a man to miss an opportunity decided that this chance at more slaves seemed too good to pass up.

The family had been an easy target, and dusk found the party of slavers heading back to Master Jacques' compound. The family consisting of one middle-aged man, his wife, and three children, a comely daughter and young identical twin sons in chains. Jormugar was already counting his gold.

*****

Jormugar stood next to his horse in the hot, dusty compound as the animal sated its thirst. He stroked its shiny, warm neck, and ruffled its black mane as the animal took long deep gulps, making a sound that was calming to the wild tracker. He didn't enjoy the habitations of humans much, they always set him on edge. He preferred instead to spend time up north, alone with his animal companions. The cunning tracker was thinking that perhaps after he retrieved the slaves he had promised Master Jacques, that he would look for a new puppy and go back and spend some time alone on the land that he called home.

The other men who had ridden with him had departed for their former lives, and the captives had been removed to the holding cells. As for Jormugar, he had been asked to wait.

The bright sun had a sting to it today, and although used to the heat, the man felt beads of sweat accumulating on his brow, and on the back of his neck under his mop of thick, chocolate-brown hair. He wiped at it with his hand and decided to lead his horse away from the center of the compound, to the meager shade of the walls. He sat in the dirt and waited.

Jormugar more a wild animal than a man did not feel calm this day. He was unsure why, but his senses were on high alert as he scanned the hot, dusty compound. It appeared the Master had visitors, poppy buyers most likely.

The lengthening shadows measured the passing of time, and life carried on as usual in the busy compound. People drew water from the well, the blacksmith created at his forge, and slaves periodically cried out.

Jormugar fidgeted, fighting a restless unease, but he trusted his intuition, something was wrong.

The loud sound of a screen door slamming suddenly pulled Jormugar's attention to the veranda of the Master's home. He could see Master Jacques bidding his buyers farewell. They had brought with them a large retinue of men to guard the returning shipment, all dressed in desert robes the deepest shade of blue as to appear almost black, with swords in their belts, and bows slung over their backs. The last of the blocks of opium resin was loaded into an awaiting cart.

The tired bounty hunter stood up, and walked toward Master Jacques, still leading his grullo horse. He was most aware that two of Jacques' guards had followed their boss to greet him, and quite forgetting his warm discomfort Jormugar's hair prickled.

Master Jacques' lips twisted into an unkind leer as his eyes came to rest on his prize tracker. His hand went to the leather-wrapped butt of his cat, and Jormugar knew then for certain that he had made a vast error, and his patron was angry.

Jacques' hand left the pommel of the cat as he crossed his arms defensively over his chest, and his dark soulless eyes bored into him. The young man looked away, the last thing he wished for was to incite this cruel and sometimes crazed man further. The two accompanying guards took position just behind the young man, and Jormugar mentally prepared himself for the trouble he was now about to face.

"You are my best man Jormugar." Jacques said with a lazy drawl. "I send you on a specific mission, one we had agreed on. I provide the men, and the supplies out of my own pocket, and I trust you to lead it. Yet you did not do as I requested."

Jormugar could see now where this situation was headed, and where he had erred, however, he stood little chance of changing his fate. He had wrongly thought the captives he had brought would be an extra boon, they had only delayed him by a few days. Surely the extra profit was acceptable? He assumed wrongly that Master Jacques would be pleased. He didn't have a word to say in his defense and knew it was better if he didn't speak.

"I don't take kindly to my orders being ignored Jormugar."

The bounty hunter did not look up, he felt his weapons being divested from his person. He lowered his eyes, his senses tingling, waiting for the stinging strike of the cat which never came. The wild thing in him longed to flee, however he knew that act would be all but futile. He must take his punishment and make amends for his actions, or he may never hunt the wastes again.

"Take him and have him flogged!" Jacques ordered as he made to turn away. "Oh, and Jormugar..."

Jormugar looked up into the smoldering eyes of the slaver, there was no compassion there, just a cruel emptiness.

"If this ever happens again, your time as a free man is over... you hear me?"

Jormugar nodded his understanding, and he was led away.