All is lost.
These words echo in my mind as I head towards the end of my life as a free woman.
When the Imperial Guard attacked the city, the Queen did everything she could to protect us... She even offered herself to our oppressors in exchange for our freedom. But the men of the Imperial Guard were too power-hungry to content with a single catch.
When they entered the city, while they slaughtered my people and raped the women before enslaving them, I managed to escape into the desert. For hours I wandered the dunes, under the night sky, in the dark. Behind me echoed the cries of my people... And the flames of my city in the middle of the darkness. When I lost my strength, I fell unconscious into the sand.
A kick woke me up much later. The sun was already high in the sky, and soldiers were surrounding me. Desperate, I crawled into the sand. A man grabbed me by the ankle and pulled me to him. I struggled in terror, but a slap to the face stopped me dead in my tracks. The man threatened me with his scimitar. I felt the tip of his blade against my belly, under my clothes. He ordered me to remain calm as he thrust his blade against my navel. A small cut let out a few drops of blood. Docile, I let myself be tied up with a rope. I was lifted up, my arms behind my back. The soldiers tore off my clothes. Helplessly, I found myself naked, tied up for all to see, my ropes as only clothing. Finally, a soldier put a leash around my neck, which was joined to those of other women... all naked. Other runaways spooned by the guards around the city... Others condemned to slavery.
And that was at this moment I realized that from now on, I too would be just another slave, a merchandise who'll work to death for the Empire.
In the distance, I can see the city walls and the smoke behind. I realize I'd been walking in circles all night before I fainted. If only I'd been more careful.
CRACK!
I scream as the whip falls on my back... It's the first time I've felt such pain. My back burns from the first bite of the leather. And without even being ordered, I start walking, imitated by my chain sisters. Hands behind my back, I'm careful not to trip... My feet hurt, the sand is incandescent... I'm so thirsty and hungry. The soldier on horseback in front of me pulls on my leash and quickens his pace... I'm strangled by the rope around my neck... Why didn't I die in the desert?
And soon on the double, the soldiers drag us to the city, to hell. The whip keeps falling. It's no longer to motivate us that we're being beaten, it's for the Masters' pleasure, to satisfy them with our frightened female moans... To animalize us.
We finally pass through the city gates and arrive at the main square... Everything has changed so much overnight. There's no more music, no more stalls, no more couples kissing under the trees. Only the soldiers, the bodies of the dead, and cages filled with naked men and women awaiting their fate. Cries, pleas and barks echo from all sides. One by one, the slaves are taken out of the cages. The women are palpated, interrogated, used. Further on, the masters chain captives condemned to leave for the desert. Bought slaves are branded on the cheek. The sound of burning flesh is lost amidst the howling.
The soldiers lead us to the large platform, where stalls stood yesterday. The din is continuous, as soon as one slave leaves a cage, another replaces him.
As my chain-mates are thrown into the cages like cattle, a guard pulls on my leash and drags me towards a woman tied up at the back of the stage. I don't have time to look at her before the guard pushes me with his foot. The blow to my buttocks makes me scream in pain again, and I fall pitifully to the floorboards. I remain on my knees, trembling, naked, my hands still tied behind my back. My whole body is in torment : my back burned by the whip, my feet by the sand, my breasts and crotch by the violence of the soldiers...
With difficulty, I raise my head and meet the desperate gaze of the woman bound by the arms... I recognize her, it's the Queen... What humiliation to contemplate her Majesty, naked too, her body covered in sweat and water stinking of sewage. I see the same terror in her eyes... The soldiers must have tied her to the platform so she could see her people reduced to frightened animals.
I scream again as the guard grabs me by the hair and forces me to bend over. My face is pressed to the Queen's feet. I can feel urine dripping down my face.
