War Prize

Chapter Twelve: KATIRINA

        The Mobile drove into the base of the Castle, and dropped into an underground chamber before it finally stopped. Immediately after the doors opened, I was shuffled out of my seat by Clara, and was collected by group of painted people, whose faces were frozen in different stern expressions. They each examined me slowly, from the top of my head to the tips of my toes, and I felt as though I was back on the slaver's auction stage. Finally the woman with a frozen scowl took me by the top of my arm and began to drag me out of the basement, the others following closely behind us.

         The woman dragging me is far taller than me that one of her steps equaled three of my own, but she didn't slow down to allow me time to catch up. In fact, my stumbling seemed to please her, that at one time I believe she speed up. I didn't get the chance to look around at the Castle as it blurred around us too fast.

          We walked up stairs, down hallways, through doors that lead to even more stairs. I even got the chance to to ride in the mechanical lift not once but twice. By the time the woman finally stopped, my legs felt as though they were going to collapse in on each other, and I would go flying to the ground. I took a deep breath, and pushed away my exhaustion to focus on the present.

          The woman had stopped in front of two large doors, the color of freshly fallen snow. Wistful memories from my childhood rose in my mind, but I stubbornly pushed them away refusing to become distracted in the past. The doors were made of wood, a luxury most could not afford, that had intricate carving decorating them. I wanted to reach out my hand and trace the designs,that someone had created with such dedication, but I don't think the lady would appreciate the dirty hands of a slave toughing something so beautiful. Instead I tucked my hands into the side of my dress, content to just look.

          The woman finally released my arm, to push open both of the doors. I sucked in a sharp breath as my eyes adjusted to the sight before me. If the doors were beautiful, then the room they led to is magnificent. Natural light, that streamed in from the wall of windows, touched every surface in the room. A cool breeze floated through the room, entering through the doors that lead out to a balcony, and lovingly lifted up the wispy white curtains. The pale stone floor was covered by a dark rug, that laid beneath five cream colored couched.

          And draped across the couches were a group of women.

          They were exquisite, each one of them, as they rose to greet us, their silk dresses floating about them. I had seen much beauty aboard the slave ship, but none seemed to compare to the beauty of these women. I gazed at them individually. There were six all together: Three with hair the color of liquid gold, one with eyes the color of the ocean, one with skin the color of coco, and one who seemed to have had the color drained from her.

           The three with gold hair stood in a tight huddle, whispering amongst themselves, shooting cruel glares my way with vicious teal eyes. The one with the ocean eyes sat back down and began to braid the hair of the girl with coco skin. And the girl without color stared at me curiously with eyes the color of blood.

           "Girls." The scowling woman said. "This is Contestant number Twelve. Our last contestant." She declared with a proud wave of her head. "Please tell the others, that the Dividing with begin in two days time." She then proceeded to shove me into the room, and slam the door shut.

           I wanted to turn, bang on the door, and scream to be released. I wanted to yell that I didn't belong, not here in this room, in this castle. Hell-fire and Damnation, I didn't even belong on this planet.

           But I didn't scream, or bang on the door. I stood in place, quietly assessing the girls before me, just as they were assessing me. I twisted my hands in front of me nervously.

           "What do we call you?" The girl with ocean eyes asked, never taking her eyes of the braid she was making.

           One of the blonde girls snickered, "Didn't you see the SnapIt. She can't talk. Prince James said is was some sort of birth defect or something." The girl who spoke, stepped away from her group. She circled me slowly like a vultori, a flesh eating bird from my home planet, waiting for a sign of weakness to attack. When she finished her examination of me she sat back on one of the couches, and was joined by the other two golden ones. "She is a bit too ugly to be a contestant." She said finally, causing the other two to laugh behind their hands.

           "That's quiet enough Addrianna."The ocean eyed girl said. Her voice as sharp as a blade. Her eyes finally focused on me, sliding over me, before she addressed me. " I am called Hellena." She pointed at the two blonde girls siting around Addrianna "They are the twins, Eleni and Elyssa." She gestured at the girl whose hair she is braiding. "This is Basha." Her ocean eyes flickered to the girl with red eyes. "That is Inu." Her eyes finally swung back to mine. "What should we call you?"

I struggled my shoulders in indifference. Inu tilted her head, her red eyes still glued on me. A shiver ran up my spine at the look them, I shifted uncomfortable with the attention.

"We must call you something." One of the twins, Elyssa, said. Her sister huffed in agreement.

"Oh. I have an idea!" Basha stated excitedly. Snapping her fingers, I watched in shock as paper and a writing utensil floated into the room. "Write down your name." She glanced at me skeptically. "You do know how to use the common characters, don't you?"

I nodded me head, giving her a small smile when she handed me the utensil and paper. I carefully wrote my name. The letters were slightly crooked from lack of practice these past few years. I handed the paper to Hellena once I finished.

She glanced at the paper, then at me. "Well Katirina.... Welcome to Gallium." She turned back to braiding Basha's hair, adding. "We'll try not to kill you in your sleep."

My eyes widened slightly in shock at her statement. I glanced at Inu, who flashed me a smile full of sharp little teeth.