Elf On The Auction Block

I whistled as I drove the horse forward. It was a good day. The sun was beating down on my face as a gentle, cool breeze balanced it out. There was a sweet smell on the air I didn't recognise. The slaves I was dragging behind me were being fairly obedient. Everything was going my way for a change.

I had a good haul of slaves - five in total, naked as the day they were born, chained up in a coffle. Two were women secured from a village raid, slipped to me cheap by a friend; both of them were fatter than average, one with black hair and the other brown. Both of them were particularly scared and very easy to cow. One was a battlemaiden from the forests I'd captured; she had short, jet-black hair, tanned skin, and a muscular body. She carried herself with a quiet dignity that belied her nakedness and bondage - clearly, she understood her position and did nothing to rouse my punishing her.

The last one was my prize catch: an actual honest-to-Gods elf! She was tall, blonde, and slender. Her breasts were large for her frame. The others simply had their hands tied behind their backs, but she was in a set of stocks that kept her arms stretched out. She was also the only one I had to shove a ball gag into. She was silent now but her face was scrunched up into a scowl. I was astounded I'd even managed to get her and proud as punch.

I'd been travelling all morning. The slaves were starting to seriously tire, even by the standards of slaves; it's not great to completely wear them out before an auction. I pressed on nevertheless, making the calculation that the elf would interfere with any attempts to rest far more than I'd like. I wondered if the others would figure out she was making things worse for them. The battlemaiden likely did.

I pulled them up a hill, listening to the villagers moan and cry with exhaustion. As I came over the top, I saw the town ahead of me - an opulent set of white buildings sitting in a valley, surrounded by walls.

I pulled the slaves through the town. Heads were turning; slaves are not uncommon, obviously, but they were a special commodity, and few people saw a group this beautiful or diverse. I always enjoyed the attention. There's no feeling of power quite like leading a band of naked, bound slaves that you're going to market with. People see you, they know you're someone not to be trifled with. They sometimes wonder if they're next.

"Is that an elf?" I heard someone whisper in awe. I smiled. This is where the work really pays off; people were impressed by the exotic nature of an elven slave.

I came to the marketplace. The grand stage for slave auctions had already been set up; I hitched my horse to the post and hitched the elf to the slave post, knowing I'd save the most outrageous slave for last. She gave me a murderous look. I wasn't worried. She had no components for her spells, no ability to move her arms, absolutely nothing. She couldn't even speak!

The crowd began to gather. Signs had been posted for days that a sale was coming. I was regular as clockwork; neither rain nor snow ever slowed down my deliveries, even if it made my stock uncomfortable. I enjoyed my reputation as reliable.

I unhooked my first sale - the first farmer girl, the one with black hair. She tried not to look at me; this was something more innocent slaves tended to do. Admittedly, this made my job technically easier, and most of the time, people were perfectly content with an immediately submissive slave who could be easily made to perform her tasks. I dragged her on-stage by the collar around her neck, untied her hands, then pulled her hands above her head and tied them to the frame above her so she was properly on display. Her eyes were wide with fear and her face was red. She shifted her weight from foot to foot.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I barked out in my auctioneer's voice - so crafted, so perfected. I gleefully let the audience travel along my sentences. "Welcome to another beautiful day and another beautiful set of slaves to purchase!

This

lovely number was taken from a village of farmers. She's soft, she's pliable, she's ready to peel your potatoes! The bidding starts at ten copper! Do I hear ten?"

The auction went well. The bidding ended up at one silver, five copper - a reasonable amount, though nothing to get excited about. A little less than what you'd pay for a horse. A severe-looking man in a grey scribe's outfit came up to the stage with a pair of mercenaries at his side. He gave me a bag of coin, so I undid the slave's hands, retied them back behind her, and handed him the leash attached to her collar. As he pulled her away, she looked down at the ground. I was proud of a job well done.

The second farmgirl was much the same, aside from going for two coppers less, to my annoyance. Submissives consistently sell, but they don't sell for very much, mainly because the standard for them is so low. Most people just want someone pretty and obedient, and they won't look too close at whether the slave is any

good

. I was more interested in the reaction to the battlemaiden; fewer people are interested in women who cut their hair short, practice battle styles, or see their skin bronze in the sun, but those that do tend to have very high standards for them.

Despite her muscles and clear discipline, I felt no fear when I came to the battlemaiden slave. As I unchained her from the coffle, she silently looked down at my wrist tattoo from the Orion Slaver Order, then back up to my face. Her expression was impassive. When I pulled her along, she elegantly kept pace with me. I was glad; clearly she was someone of great skill who recognised someone of greater skill. Perhaps she was biding her time for escape later; that was not my problem.

I did enjoy how her feminine body and masculine pursuits collided. She was strong and muscular, but her breasts were beautiful, and the hair between her legs was soft and wispy. She carried herself with restrained pride, which only drew attention to her shameful nudity and her clear humiliation.

I brought her to the stage and the audience started laughing, some of them even pointing. I felt her movement change only slightly; I was impressed by this slave's tenacity. She turned so that I could more easily undo her restraints, then allowed me to lift her arms and tie her up again.

"Now, my friends, my compatriots, you may laugh. Perhaps well you should - this young lady reached beyond her grasp and was felled while her beauty is at its greatest. But with her obvious strength and power, you have the potential for a mighty farm animal - perhaps you could use her to pull a plow! The bidding will start at five copper. Do I hear five copper?"

"Five copper," said an older man. He looked like a farmer. I smiled. I knew that little hook would catch someone.

"Five copper! Do I hear six? Six copper."

"Six copper," said a voice. I looked over - it was a young woman. She wore a strange, subdued outfit; it looked grey and silver from a distance, and her blonde hair was tied back in a simple ponytail. She radiated authority, but was very still.

"Six copper, to the young lady in the back! We have six copper, if you want to jump in on this."

"Seven copper!" said the farmer. It went back and forth like that quite a few times. I was thrilled and totally within the flow; I lost track of time as I navigated the two of them pursuing this battlemaiden slave.

Eventually the farmer hit his limit. The woman was offering three silver. However carefully I nudged, the farmer wouldn't go any higher, continually shaking his head. I was delighted.

"Sold! Three silver pieces to the woman in grey! Lady, come up and collect your prize!"

She did so. I turned to unbind the slave, and I was amused to see the humiliation in her eyes. She had just been completely owned, quite literally. Sometimes slaves are humiliated to find how cheap they are; others are humiliated by costing so much. What will someone with a lot of money do to them?

When the woman came to the stage, she was alone. I realised the grey of her outfit was actually a pattern of stars etched into her clothes. She pushed her bag of coin into my hand, and I felt much unnatural strength in her hands, to my great surprise. She took the slave by the collar and puleld her in for a gentle kiss.

"You will be my comfort slave, battlemaiden," she said. The battlemaiden instantly went red and looked down. Seeing a mighty battlemaiden reduced to a whimpering sexual object was a surprise, but a delightful one.

As the woman took away her prize by the throat, I went back over to the elf - standing alone now. She had clearly been chewing on the rope, to no avail. She looked up and saw me and scowled, making strange noises muffled by the gag. When I unhooked her from the post, she started thrashing. It was very amusing - not just because of the sheer hopelessness of what she was doing, but the way her breasts jiggled about. I pulled her along quite easily as she continued to fight and try and drag herself away.

The crowd began laughing as soon as they saw her, which I thought was heartwarming. We really can all come together to hate elves and enjoy seeing their subjugation and humiliation. She started crying tears of rage, trying to swear at the crowd through her gag.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a fighter here!" I chuckled. "Now, as you can see, this is an elf - oof!" She had tried slamming into me with all her force, and she fell back like she'd hit a brick wall. "Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen." I cast a simple spell, flinging magic into her eyes. The elf got dizzy for a few seconds, giving me enough time to wrestle her up, undo her binds, lift her arms, and rebind her. I saw the clarity return to her eyes as soon as I finished binding her to the frame. She shook her head and started trying to kick at me. "I'm sorry, everybody, but I'm going to have to damage to goods slightly!" I stepped back off the stage and grabbed my toolbag, pulling out the paddle.

The crowd cheered at this. I comedically sauntered over to the elf and wound up for a few revolutions before whacking her hard on the ass. She cried out through the gag as a red mark appeared on her round buttocks. The crowd counted along as I did it again and again, and the elf gradually submitted to the pain and power. I was the toughest guy in the world, and this elf could do nothing about it.

I proudly stood at the front of the stage. "So, five coppers."