The rest of the day passed uneventfully; the children finished their meal and returned to their willing enslavement.

  When daybreak arrived, the children, except for the older sibling, were already up, though they mostly kept to themselves.

  This was highly unusual for such a rowdy bunch. Belying their spirited selves, each muttered something while occasionally making weird hand movements, as if rehearsing for some play.

  Soon, the older sibling awoke. She pulled the blanket from her face, stretched, and let out a long yawn.

  Upon waking, she immediately noticed two things: first, her sprained ankle, now almost entirely healed, aching only when pressure was applied directly. And second, the tranquil surroundings left undisturbed by her travelling companions.

  Are they still sleeping?

  Sitting up, she noticed everyone had a serious look about them: "Hey, is everything alright?"

  Without looking at her, Livia replied, "Yes, I; we're just practicing."

  "Practicing? For what?"

  "For the presentation at the outskirts," Livia answered, then looking at her, she added, "we will be—"

  Livia broke off mid-sentence with a small giggle. She covered her face with a palm in a well-mannered gesture and pointed at the older sibling's face: "I, what's that on your face?"

  What's what? The older sibling seemed confused.

  Livia's words drew the attention of Sena and Gar as well. They immediately burst out in laughter, forgetting all about their preparations. The older sibling slowly traced her cheeks with her fingers. When she looked at it, her fingers were covered in a thin layer of black powder; she instantly realized that somebody had drawn on her face.

  She tried to smell the black powder to identify it, but failed; tasting it crossed her mind, but she decided against it. Sena crawled towards her, picking some of the strange black powder—without a second thought—she put it inside her mouth.

  "Hmm... Ith's thastheless. Wonder whath this could be?"

  Gar following her lead also tasted some of the black powder and remarked, "No, it's not tasteless per se, it tastes a bit like chalk."

  Why does he know what a chalk would taste like, the older sibling thought, looking concerned for her fellow companion.

  "Its charcoal. Someone must've brought it back from the bonfire yesterday," Livia concluded.

  The older sibling rubbed her face with a spare fabric and asked, "But who? Why?"

  Resting her head against a finger, Livia said, "I think—"

  Suddenly, the carriage stopped, Livia lost her balance and stumbled slightly. From outside, distinct sounds could be heard, but before the children could discern them, the metal door opened. Outside stood the skinny man with a deep scar on his face.

  "Presentations will begin soon, everyone follow me," the scarred man said.

  Noticing the black mark on the older sibling's face, he gestured for her to come forward, then tightly cupped her cheeks with one hand. He forced the older sibling's face upward until their eyes met, then questioned, "Why's your face dirty, girl?"

  The older sibling saw utter lack of emotion and the malice that practically oozed out of the scarred man's eyes. But with her face being tightly pressed, she could not speak, prompting Sena to intervene, "Ith's charcoal, masther. She did noth do ith on purpose, ith was..."

  The scarred man stared at Sena, making her stop speaking. He callously dropped the older sibling to the floor, and told her, "Clean your face, girl."

  "Yes, Master," the older sibling replied.

  After a brief pause, the scarred man inquired, "Has your leg healed enough to walk?"

  The older sibling thought for a second, then moving her leg she let out a seemingly painful yelp: "Ah! No master, sorry. It has improved, but not enough."

  The scarred man pressed her ankle: "The bump is gone. Must be some internal injury. It should heal completely before long. You stay here, the injury will affect your price."

  Shifting his gaze towards Sena, he probed, "What happened to your voice, girl; you didn't have any lisp before."

  Sena simply opened her mouth, revealing three missing frontal teeth. "They somehow broke when I was asleep, masther."

  "You too will stay here, girl. I'm leaving the carriage open, but don't roam too far," he said, then added with a hint of levity, "it's not safe out there."

  The scarred man proceeded to take the rest of the children to the presentation. Only Sena and the older sibling were left inside the open carriage.

  "I, do you think any of them will be selecthed?"

  The older sibling did not respond, she only looked at Sena with pity.

  Sena continued, "I think Theo and Livia will be selecthed for sure. I mean, Theo's big and muscular for his age, he'll be plenthy help in any manual work. And Livia... Well she is Livia—the perfecth girl, if she is noth picked then who will be."

  Looking ahead, she humorously added, "Buth I don't think either Gar or Olren will be picked. Olren mighth be on accounth of his sweethness. Buth Gar, nah, no chance."

  The older sibling opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Sena spoke in a low voice: "Personally, though, I don'th wanth any of them tho be picked... ath leasth noth withouth me."

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

  The older sibling could understand Sena's situation better than most. She had also developed a bond with her and the rest of the children, enough to care what happens to them. She wanted to console Sena in her bad time, but the older sibling had someone who needed her much more—her sister.

  "I need a walk, I'm not used to enclosed places," the older sibling said.

  "Sure, I'll give you supporth, c'mon."

  "No, it's fine, I'll manage. You stay here Sena," the older sibling spoke as she easily got up and moved ahead with no signs of any lingering injury remaining.

  There was no one on the ground. The enslavers had either gone to the presentation, or had ventured into the marketplace to pass the time. As for the common folk, they were not allowed in the parking area, which was reserved solely for the enslavers and their ilk.

  The older sibling moved through innumerable carriage, wagons and other vehicles parked haphazardly. Some of them were made of metal, some wood, while others were just open-roofed structures.

  Yet, they all bore a distinctive stain of snow and dirt, signifying the great distance each had traversed—to trade in others' misery.

  The air hung still, heavy with the scent of frost and iron. Her heartbeat seemed to be the loudest thing in the world at that moment. The quiet pressed against her ears until it felt almost deafening.

  Where are you 'squeak?

  Though, the older sibling was travelling with the enslavers for the last few days, she had never managed to see their cart. She carefully peeked through the crevices and holes on the carriages to locate her sibling, but to no avail.

  Still, she did not give up, relentlessly scouring each coach, the older sibling continued to move. However, time was not on her side, there were just too many horse carts left to search, and too much time had already passed; the slavers could arrive at any moment.

  The older sibling tightly clenched her fists as hope began slip away. Grinding her teeth, she punched a carriage forcefully and let out a long stifled scream—more out of frustration than pain. Suddenly a light grazing sound came from behind the carriages followed by someone's footsteps approaching.

  Before the older sibling could react a voice echoed: "I, is thath you?"

  Sena? she recognised the voice.

  Soon, Sena emerged and approached the older sibling: "What are you doing here, I?"

  "I'm—nothing. But why are you here? And how'd you found me?"

  "You were gone for a long thime, so I came tho check; then a I heard a loud bang, and I came here," Sena answered.

  Her gaze then shifted to the older sibling's bruised hand, prompting her to ask, "Why's your hand injured, I—who did punch now?"

  "This—it's nothing, don't mind it," the older sibling hid her bruised hand behind her back.

  Can I trust her—that doesn't matter I have no other choice. Shaking off her cautious instincts, the older sibling decided to ask for help:

  "Sena, do you know where is the master's carriage? Or what it looks like?"

  Sena raising her eyebrows questioned, "Why? Whath are you going tho do, I?"

  Holding her shoulders firmly, the older sibling earnestly pleaded, "Please tell me, if you know."

  Sena flinched a little under the older sibling's keen yet vulnerable gaze, but the former's priorities and outlook were vastly different from the latter's. As such, Sena did sympathise with the older sibling, but she did not want to do anything that might jeopardize her own well-being.

  "Sorry, I. I can'th help you," Sena responded, looking down in guilt.

  However, the signs of breaking were clear on Sena's face, all she needed was a further push—this the older sibling noted.

  Grabbing her hand, the older sibling again pleaded, "Please, Sena—it's my little sister, I must save her. Please help me."

  Sena hesitantly raised her gaze, and pointed to her right: "Go there, I saw the master's carriage somewhere in that row. It's painted in green and has an anchor symbol on it."

  "Thanks y..." the older sibling's last words barely audible as she ran at full speed, leaving Sena alone to contemplate the weight of her decision.

  Running at a breakneck speed, several carts zipped past the older sibling before a green carriage with an anchor mark at last appeared. The carriage looked much more spacious and comfortable than most carriages around her, and far better than the one she was staying in.

  She rubbed the foggy window of the green carriage, and peeked inside: her sister lay there, peacefully asleep. The older sibling smiled.

  Found you Pipsqueak.

  But the door was locked preventing her from reaching the younger sibling.

  Not for long, the older sibling wrapped her clothes around her hand and just as she was about to shatter the glass—a hand stopped her.

  "Waith, I. You'll alerth everyone like this," Sena spoke.

  The older sibling looked at her thoughtfully, then replied, "Do you have any better idea, because I'm not leaving my sister behind."

  "Yes, justh waith genius," Sena added as she tore three splinters of wood from a nearby wagon and began to pick the lock.

  "You know how to crack lock?"

  "One of the many skills in my reperthoire—impressive, aren'th I."

  A few tense minutes passed with no visible progress. Sena continued working the lock, fully aware she did not have long before the presentations ended and everyone returned.

  Hurry Sena, hurry!

  Sweat began to roll down Sena's neck despite the cold air of the outskirts.

  Before long, noise began to emanate from the presentation venue—a large tent—catching their attention. The older sibling and Sena exchanged a quick look: They are returning.

  Clearing her mind of any unnecessary thoughts, Sena picked up her pace. By now, people had begun exiting the tent.

  "Sena, c'mon."

  "Done," in tandem with Sena's declaration, the lock fell down with a click.

  The older sibling briskly opened the door, placed her sister on her shoulders, and ran toward her carriage along with Sena.

  Upon reaching the metal carriage, the older sibling noticed that the metal gates were not designed to hold any lock, meaning only a rudimentary yet robust metal latch kept the doors shut. This flaw in design gave her ideas, but now was not the time to act on it.

  Quickly placing her sister inside, she and Sena jumped in.

  "Cover her with blankets."

  Following her lead, Sena swiftly covered the younger sibling with several blankets.

  "Those boys were quite the steal, I'm telling you," a rough voice came from outside.

  Soon, the man with sturdy build and the scarred man appeared. Trailing behind them slowly were two more figures, Livia and Olren. They quietly entered the carriage.

  "That they were, but are you sure about not letting these two go. They attracted some of the highest prices in the entire presentation—especially the girl," the sturdy man said.

  "It was not even half of what we can get for them in Bleakmoor Hearth; have patience Darrow," the scarred man spoke as he shut the door before walking away.

  "Livia, where are Gar and Teo?" the older sibling asked.

  "A construction firm took in Teo, and some military officials took Gar," Livia replied evenly with a smile.

  Already on edge, the older sibling's composure shattered after hearing the cruel fate that had befallen her companions. But more than that the acceptance and ignorance of that fact by Livia of all people enraged her. The older sibling grabbed Livia by the neck and pinned her against the wall.

  "How can you say that? They were your friends. None of them found new homes," the older sibling hissed, tightening her grip. Sena tried to remove her hand, but to no avail.

  The older sibling was not the same fatigued and injured person that Sena had once easily overpowered. Right now, with rage fuelling her strength, Sena could not even budge the older sibling's arm.

  "They were sold like objects—to become mere playthings at the whims of the powerful!" the older sibling snapped.

  Livia gasped for air, while trying to free herself from the choke, but the enraged older sibling would not back down as she maintained her grip. Suddenly a small figure ran into the older sibling, she looked down: "Olren?"

  Clutching her clothes Olren spoke while crying, "It was me who drew on your face. Please, don't hurt sis Livia because of me—it wasn't her fault."

  The words rang in her head, It wasn't her fault.

  And indeed it was not. Livia too was a victim of the same system that had forced the older sibling and her sister to venture thousands of miles away from their home.

  Letting go of Livia, the older sibling wiped Olren's tears, and replied, "I'm sorry to hurt your sis, Olren."

  Livia broke down in tears. The older sibling without a word wrapped her arms around Livia. Sena quietly rested a hand on each of their shoulders, while Olren hugged Livia.

  "Say, do you have more of that charcoal, Olren?" the older sibling asked.