Lilith was still sleeping in her cell when the sound of chains approached her.
She opened her eyes.
At the door, the guard and a jailer stood there.
"I'm only taking you today," the jailer said in a bored voice. "So hurry up."
The gate opened with a creak. They placed shackles on her wrists. The metal was cold. Heavy.
They loaded her onto a cart.
She remained there, the chains fastened to a ring on the cart's floor. The wind hit her face as the vehicle began to move.
She just watched the landscape.
The dry area was starting to show more life. First, small bushes. Then yellowish grass. Then fields. Perfectly laid out and trimmed. Straight lines of crops disappearing into the horizon.
She saw carriages and carts pass by with fruits and grains she didn't recognize. Brightly colored fabrics. Carved wooden furniture.
Then she saw it.
The capital. Aldric Thorn.
Tall towers scraping the sky. Buildings decorated with reliefs and columns. Everything perfectly ordered, as if someone had drawn the city with a ruler and compass. It was vast. It filled the horizon from north to south.
The road veered off to a distant one.
---
They arrived at a covered enclosure. Beneath it, a line of prisoners waited. Men and women in the same dirty clothes, the same tired faces.
She placed herself there.
Ahead, a man was reviewing a letter. Papers. Scrolls. He indicated what to do with each prisoner according to what was written.
Lilith heard some.
"Theft of grain sacks," the man said. "To the fields."
"Animal mutilation," he continued. "To the pit."
Her turn came.
"Horse theft," he read. "To the fields."
She went where he indicated. Another line. Other carts waited.
But something was happening.
Several people were walking through the line. Men and women in fine clothes, with calculating looks. They examined the prisoners. They inspected them the way one inspects merchandise.
Lilith looked at the man in front of her. Tugged at his clothes a couple of times.
He turned around.
"What's happening? Who are they?"
"They're slave traders," the man whispered. "They pick the best ones for themselves."
Lilith watched. They looked for injuries. Hair quality. Hands. They asked what skills they had.
They reached Lilith.
A short man with thinning hair raised an eyebrow when he saw her. His eyes ran over her from head to toe.
"What's your name?"
"Lilith."
He nodded. Lifted her arms. Examined her dress, running his fingers over the fabric. Opened her mouth. Looked at her teeth. Her gums. Her tongue.
The man seemed astonished. Something in his eyes changed.
"Set her aside," he said to an attendant.
The attendant took her by the arm. Led her to some benches apart, under the same roof but away from the line. He left her there.
Lilith waited.
Her feet swung in the air, dangling from the bench that was too high for her.
*I hope a rich man buys me*, she thought. *If it's a common one, I'd just be wasting my time.*
Hours passed.
The sun was setting. Shadows grew longer. The slave traders left. The prisoners too.
Lilith was already asleep on her bench.
---
Footsteps woke her.
The attendant and the same man from before stood before her.
"Hey, get up," the attendant ordered.
She sat up.
They removed the chains. The shackles fell to the ground with a metallic clatter.
"Don't cause trouble," the attendant said.
"I won't."
Lilith and her new owner walked together. Beside them, the line of prisoners kept arriving. More carts. More chained people.
The short man spoke.
"So, where do you come from?"
"I come from Elionor. From a small community."
"I don't know Elionor." They walked a stretch in silence. Then he continued. "You know, from the moment I saw you, you caught my attention. How you ended up like this. It's clear you've had better days."
"It was a difficult journey to get here."
The man laughed.
"It's a shame your journey failed. I'm a perfumer and distributor. I have a flower plantation. You'll work there."
Lilith said nothing.
And so it was for the entire journey.
---
They walked until they entered the city.
The streets were cobblestone. People hurried past, with serious faces and quick steps. Children played in the squares, running among the pigeons. The shops had a variety of products: breads, fabrics, tools, spices.
Among them, completely ordinary, was her master's shop.
A wooden sign hung above the door. A hand-painted perfume bottle. Windows with lace curtains.
Lilith paused for a moment.
"Will I see him again?"
"Perhaps not."
The man opened the door.
The scent was strong. A mixture of essences from all the bottles inside. Flowers. Fruits. Something darker, woody.
"I'm busy, so I'll go upstairs. I saw you like sleeping on benches, so you'll sleep on that one over there," he pointed to a wooden bench against the wall. "Tomorrow I'll take you to the plantation."
Without waiting for an answer, he locked the shop door, turned, and went up the stairs.
His footsteps faded on the upper floor.
Lilith stood in the middle of the shop.
She looked around. The wooden bench. The closed door. The windows facing the street.
The silence was dense.
She sat on the bench.
She didn't know exactly what to do now.