38 Wisdom of a senior slave

Celtine had once again lived a strange day. It all started like usual, with nothing to do in a cell with a bunch of other slaves but it all changed when the so called master came in.

"We got a new student, who's next on the list?"

A nearby attendant looked at a list on a paper and answered.

"A girl called Harriett and the mute bird."

"Alright, bring them to the transfer room and find me their papers."

"Right away boss."

After that, she was dragged in a large room with another human girl. That one walked though, instead of being dragged. She seemed fidgety, maybe she knew what was coming up. Celtine had not paid attention because she didn't care much so she had no idea what they were brought her for.

Sometime later, a new pair of humans came in. One was a girl in a green dress that could have been mistaken for another slave if not for the fact that her clothes had an apparent better quality to them than those given to the slaves. The other was a small man dressed like a wolf or bear tribe chieftain. He didn't quite know why he was here either so the master man had to explain in details what was happening.

It turned out that the small chieftain would be the new master, not that it mattered at all to her. The other slave and her got transferred to him with the same long ritual she had already experienced and the old master guy left the room. She closed her eyes again, this wasn't of any interest. What song should she practice now?

The new one ignored her mental song and started by asking the name of the other girl.

"My name? It's Harriett Sklavsang but master can call me however master like."

It seemed a strange for an answer but whatever.

"Harriett then, and what is her name?" He asked, presumably talking about her.

"No one knows, I don't think that the man who sold her to the school knew either."

Of course he didn't know, no one even asked her for it from the moment the hunters had caught her all the way to now. They just called her stupid things like bird girl or the mute one.

"What is her name?" He asked again after a short moment.

The sound of paper scratching against more paper was then heard. What was he doing?

"Celtine Estelli, this is your name correct?" He said just after.

Her eyes shot open and flew up to him. How did he do it? No one said those words aloud to her for months, her name. She felt her heart beat once more after so long, interrupting her song. She was curious, how did he know? Had her tribe met him before?

"It really seems to be the case! Master, may I ask how you did it?" The girl said, putting in sounds what her own mind screamed.

"It is because of the book of answers." He said while showing them the book in his hands. "Whatever question I ask it, it always know the answer."

The book? Was there really such a thing?

"That's impressive master. Can it really answer anything? Could it even tell you the locations of the gods trial grounds?"

"I am sure it can, if it exist or if it is possible to do, I am pretty sure the book knows the answer, it was given to me by the god Sage himself after all."

A god had given him the book, a book able to answer any and all questions. Her mind focused on the book, more precisely, on a question that filled her head like nothing did since she lost her wings. Could the book tell her how to regain her voice, how to regain her wings?

The gears of her sleeping brain started working again after a long time of silence, activated again by the powerful tailwind that was hope. Maybe there was a way for her to fly again, to sing again. Things she heard but did not listen to started to place themselves in her head like how threads formed a gown.

The hunter's mage had said that she couldn't fix her wings, not that it was impossible. Her voice was sealed with a curse, if it could be made, it could be unmade too. The slaver had told her: "I don't understand you, if your life is so terrible, why aren't working hard to make it better? Because I know that you can and that you have it in you to do great things." She hated him for taking her voice but he was right, why wasn't she working hard to make it better? The hunters had said it too, she still had her arms and legs, she was crippled not dead.

All she needed to do was snatch the book. Snatch the book and find a way to communicate with it despite her lack of voice. If she did, maybe she would find a way forward.

While she was thinking that, their talk moved on and they were ready to leave.

"Of course I will, master. But I don't know if she can even stand on her own."

Could she? She had learned how to already but she was bad at it and out of strength. Even if it was hard, she needed to do it, she needed to go after the book. She tried her best and managed to not only get up but make a few steps forward without falling. She could do it but she really hoped they weren't going far or she would collapse way before they got there.

"Wow, she is stronger than I thought." Said the girl but the man seemed to think that it wasn't that impressive. It was really the best she could do though!

If she had known, she would have eaten what food was given to her instead of ignoring it. Maybe her legs would have been stronger then.

The man held the book above a bag around half of its size and made it disappear inside somehow. Her objective had left her sight but, she still knew where it was. She would eventually find a way to get it, she had to believe this. Meanwhile, the man somehow closed the gap between them in an instant and put a knee in the ground right in front of her. What kind of treachery was he trying to pull off?

"Here, use my arm and my knee as holds to get on my shoulders, it will be easier that way."

What was he saying? He wanted her to get on top of him to walk? Did he think of himself as a horse?

"But master, you can't do that, she is just a slave, and a cursed-blood. What will people think if they see you with her on your shoulders? You should have me help her instead."

Maybe she didn't trust her because she once had wings but herself didn't trust them because every human she met until now had made her life worse and worse. If she got on his shoulders, she would be at his mercy. If he had not wore an armor, at least, she could have targeted his neck. Last time she did something of the sort, it didn't work out but it was still better than nothing.

"None of that matters."He answered the girl. "I am just helping a girl in trouble. Also, you are not that strong either, it is way easier if I do it myself."

She really wanted the book but she couldn't bring herself to trust him. She was stuck standing there, unable to decide on which possibility could be worse. between being left there and losing sight of the book or leaving herself at his mercy.

"Why are you hesitant? Just climb on, no need to torture yourself with this. I do not know anyone of your kind yet so I do not feel anything good or bad towards you if that is what you are afraid of."

She looked deeply into his eyes to sense if it was really the truth. Listening to the wind, the words didn't matter, only their meaning. Even if he spoke in the human language, she could feel his intentions, there were no lies, he thought nothing of her or the wing tribe.

The huntress hated her before they even met but that man had no such emotion. Leaving herself to him should not be dangerous, even if it turned out bad, her situation couldn't get any worse. She chose to do it. She climbed above his head with her legs shaking of weakness and wrapped her thighs around his neck.

"Just old on to my forehead to steady yourself."

She had to roll up her dress because it got stuck everywhere, this wasn't really the best piece of clothing for that kind of thing. She held his head as solidly as she could and shivered when she felt his gauntlets clasp around her ankles. At least there was no way she would fall.

When she saw the length they had to travel to reach his place, she became really glad he was carrying her. The stairs in particular might as well be a wall for her.

The man walked really fast, or rather, his steps reached unnaturally far, forcing the other slave to almost run to keep up. In no time at all, they arrived at his door. He released her ankles to unlock the door and led them inside. once he got to a set of chairs, he gripped her by the waist which scared her but he just lifted her off of his shoulder and sat her in one of the chairs. He then told the other girl to take a seat as well, and placed himself in another chair he turned to face them.

"I will tell you both about me because it will make everything easier I think."

He told them his name was Emperor and celtine thought it was strange until he told them he was created by the gods themselves and showed them his hunting card.

Of course, she knew of the gods, one of them was even called Wind, she knew, even though he wasn't the wind she followed. The gods were above the laws of this world, they did whatever they pleased and lived forever. They would easily be the true rulers of the world if not for the well known fact that they didn't care at all about any of this. This was also the reason why the wing tribe sang to the element of wind instead of the god Wind, the god would not answer however much you sang for him.

Having been created by the gods and wearing four of their treasures, five including the one he got in a trial afterwards, he was already like a living legend. It was impressive but Celtine only thought and cared about the book until later when she found herself alone with the other girl in their common room.

Between the talk and the time she went to bed, she had a taste of the girls cooked fish. Celtine never ate fish before, she found it tasty. The girl had talent in cooking but she could only complaint of the lack of ingredients at her disposition. The cupboards were all empty and the man apparently never bothered to buy anything to add unto or with his fish. He found some vegetables and fruits, mostly apples for some reason and the poor girl had to somehow make do with those. Celtine thought that the best part of the meal was the fresh apple but it was because of her own preferences rather than a lack of talent or efforts form the girl in her preparation of the fish.

Later, Celtine was lying on her side in what was now her bed, she didn't have a proper bed in so long but her wound stopped her from lying down properly. Anyway, this was no time to sleep, there was more important things to do.

She was wondering if she should wait for everyone to sleep and try to snatch the book when she heard the voice of the other girl.

"Hey, Celtine was it? I'd like to talk to you a bit, would you please listen to what I have to say?"

She opened her eyes again to look at the other girl. Maybe she should have paid attention to her name when she said it before. But then again, she couldn't speak so no one would notice she hadn't paid any attention to it. Anyway, listening to her didn't require any effort so why not, maybe she would learn something useful. The girl came to sit at her side and talked in a low voice to not disturb their master.

"You seemed really interested by that book of answers."

Celtine frowned as an answer. What was her intention, had she already been caught before even trying? The girl followed.

"I do not know what you want to ask to it but it must be really important to you. With the way you looked at it, I can feel that you are probably following us willingly only because of it but I would like to make you understand something. Even if you get that book, you won't be able to do anything with it. I'm not even talking about your voice, I'm just saying that in case you didn't know, godly treasures can't be used by anyone aside from their true owner, in our case, master Emperor Muracier."

Was this a true thing? Was she saying the truth? There was no way she would believe a human just like that.

"Don't get angry at me, it's just the truth whether you like it or not but, there is an easier way to do this than going against the seal and our master. That's what I wanted to talk about. Listen until the end before you chose on what you will do. You are very lucky the master hasn't noticed what you were after yet, you still have a choice. Or maybe he already knows and he is just giving you a chance? In any case, you have to understand the situation we are in."

She had been made into a slave. Of course she knew, that didn't mean she had to submit and let them do just anything. They could hurt her but she wasn't afraid of pain anymore, she had to live with it. Just free her or let her die, why did they have to torture her like that?

"With the way you act, it is obvious you haven't been a slave for all your life like me."

What did it mean? Did she want to be pitied? Why should she pity humans and their strange cruel customs?

"Before that, I was a slave to a merchant who happened to also be my father. He had only one wife but a lot of energy so he sometimes fooled around with some of his slaves, including my mother."

That man made his own daughter into a slave? Did human insanity know no bound?

"At the very least, he was a kind man and never mistreated his slaves. I was sealed like his other kids because of his wife who felt threatened by the amount of slave child he had compared to his legitimate kids. She wanted to be sure us kids would not betray our half siblings to take their place, their inheritance."

It was a hard concept to grasp for Celtine because the only position that mattered in her tribe was the duty of being the wind caller and the position had nothing to do with the bloodline. She could only imagine that kind of woman as a human. Giving a hard time to the children of her mate wasn't something anyone from her tribe would do.

"So I was born a slave and sealed right away, I lived my whole life following commands but being an obedient slave doesn't mean I don't have my own wishes and desires."

Good for her then, what did it have to do with her? None of the humans she met until now cared about her own wish and desires when they ruined her life. Why should she do it for someone else then?

"As I grew up, I came to think that if I was to live my whole life in the service of someone, it should at least be someone powerful, someone worthy. After all, the personal slave of a king is treated much better than even minor nobles. If my father was to be the richest man alive, I would live in luxury as well despite being a slave."

That did make sense somehow, If you don't have the choice but to serve, might as well serve the winning side. The only things Celtine served was her own tribe and the wind but she could understand the point of the girl.

"I gave it my all, working hard every day of my life and learned everything I could to make the life of my father easier and more profitable. I rose to become the head of all the other slaves and my words came to hold power even over the free employees. They all knew my words were like the words of my father and what I said was for the profit of all. I held respect and power."

It was just like how Celtine sang all day, every day, to be able to perform her task perfectly when the time came for her to fulfill her duty to the tribe. That girl, by the sound of it, made as much efforts as she could to get herself out of her fate.

Thinking about it, both of their destinies had been decided right at their birth. It was decided since they were born where they would go and what they would do and both worked hard with it in mind. One fully embracing it and the other going against it head on. They were both the same but opposite.

"This scared the wife of my father. With all my efforts, I had become a better daughter than her own children, she became scarred father would free me from the seal and make me the heir in his growing age. After many arguments, she convinced him to sell me and that is how I found myself here. At least, father made sure to sell me directly to the school to be sure I would end up with at least a decent master."

All this effort to been sent back all the way to the starting point, what bad luck. At least she still had her voice and hadn't been maimed. She didn't have any trace of anger, resentment or pain floating on her face. It's like she had expected it to happen since long ago. Maybe she knew her father would yield to his despotic wife from the very start.

"In my life, I saw a lot of different masters, coming and going from my father's business." She said, completely changing the subject. "Maybe you've only seen horrible people up until now and that is why you look at us like that but there are both good and bad ones, we are too many to all be the same."

At least part of it was true, all she had seen was bottomless cruelty and insanity. After months of captivity, she was pretty much convinced that all humans were like that and her own story only did reinforce that impression. As for the possibility of there being good ones too, she wasn't that convinced. It should make sense, after all, even her own tribe had seen some terrible individuals, all tribes did. With how the humans reacted to their presence, they probably only ever met with those the tribes banished. Maybe her kin all had similar experiences with humans and there were indeed some good ones strewn into the majority of malevolence.

"I was very lucky until now, I had a good master in the form of my father but not all were as good as him. Some simply threat their slaves like employees, other like inferiors beings, some like tools and other like mud. I saw some hit their slaves for no reason, force them to walk around naked or cut off a finger for a fallen vase."

She did not have a hard time believing this, she had lost a lot to them already. She would have preferred a finger or an arm to her wings.

"I knew of a man who had a hundred slave girl he kept pregnant in a prison-like building at all times and lived on selling his kids to slavers. In reverse, I knew of a woman who wed her slave out of love."

Both of those sounded insane. The first for its sheer madness and the second because she could hardly believe one of them feeling love.

"You know you don't want to be the slave of a woman when all her slaves always show up full of whip lashes and bruises." She continued. "The best you can hope as a born slave is to end up with a good master. This time we hit it big I tell you. Our new master is a heaven sent gift, figuratively and literally."

Was she finally getting to the main point? She wanted to talk about the guy who now held power over their two lives. How was he a gift? Weren't they supposed to be the gifts in reverse?

"This is what I want to make you understand. The first thing master asked for was our names, do you realize what this means? There is no need to know the names of tools but for him, it was so important to know that he used a gift from the gods to learn yours. Not only that, he couldn't bear to see you suffer so he carried you himself. Do you understand how low the chances of finding someone who would do such a thing are?"

Celtine was angry and disgusted at humans but she wasn't completely blind. Once pointed those things so clearly, she could understand where the girl was going, she was saying that this man was one of the rumored good guys she had spoken off before. Maybe she was right too, how could she know?

What she said made perfect sense after all, Celtine would never give a name to her clothes even if she liked them. The proof of that was that no one had asked for her name before because they indeed din't care at all for the name of a tool. He on the other hand, did care and had even given her a ring. Her eyes wandered to it losing herself in its bleeding gash once more. This was what he saw her as, a hurt girl. He had even said it himself earlier when picking her up, I'm just helping a girl in trouble. Not a bird, not a slave, not a cursed-blood, a girl. The other slave confirmed what she was thinking in her next sentence.

"If you had observed him carefully you could have felt it too, the master is a good man. Not only will he take care of us but he will also rise high. With the backing of the gods, and the name of Emperor, he very well might succeed in his mission and rise above everyone else."

This man could be the next chieftain of every human tribes in the lands, all would have to obey, slave or not.

"We would be serving the most powerful man in the world. This is what I dreamed for, all our wants and desires fulfilled, our wishes made true."

Weren't they just slaves, how would their desires be fulfilled? Her skeptical look came across to the other girl as she explained her point better.

"With that kind of man, we aren't just slaves, not only are we his first and oldest companions, we can make ourselves into friends or even lovers. He would do all we could ask from him, not because he would be forced to but merely because of appreciation, friendship and love."

This made sense, if to him the seal didn't mean much, just like the girl had managed to rise above the free men around her father, they could make themselves more than just valuable helpers to him. This time, there were no jealous wife to expel them, they were the very first at his side like the girl had said, they had a huge advantage.

"Instead of doing something you would immediately regret, you could just have him ask what you want to the book in your stead, could you not?"

Indeed no need to steal it if she could just ask him for it instead, not only would she dodge the pain but the answer would be much easier to obtain even if what she said about the owner limitation of the artifact was false.

"Think about it, with how kind the master is, he would surely do it for you. Instead of going against him, you should follow him, befriend him. He will help you then, not only will he ask his book, I am sure he will help you make what you want true."

That was a part she hadn't even thought about herself. Just asking the book would instantly give her wings back to her, she would probably need to do something really hard and complicated. With her own strength and talent, there was no way she could ever do it herself. Him though, had the potential to do it.

"Contrary to most people, he doesn't think anything of cursed-bloods because of how he came to be. Don't you think it would be a great opportunity? You may be in the position to hold influence over what might one day be the most powerful man on the continent. You could have such a man side with you and your people instead of against you."

This was also a good point, with a backing as powerful as the emperor of mankind, who would dare hunt her wing tribe?

"That is all I wanted to say. Don't think that I told you all this for your sake, I am helping myself instead by stopping you from doing something that could hinder us both. The first impression is very important, like how you will act from now on will probably decide how he views the rest of your people, your actions could bury us both."

She did understand the importance of first impression. Her previous encounters with humans had almost blinded her to this better path. At this point, Celtine had no idea if the girl was good or bad, she only felt that her idea made sense. It would be really easy to know what he thought about them too since the ring was supposed to change to reflect his view of them. If he was truly a good man, it was an even better thing, it was always worth it to sing along with good people, the more friends you had, the easier the flight was as her mother often said.

"Learn the wisdom of another slave, make yourself useful and earn his favor. Follow my plan and we will live like queens someday."

With that, she got back up and walked back to her own small bed. Celtine had no desire to live like a queen, she just wanted to get back what she had lost and if she did, go back home to her parents and kin. Before the girl buried herself under her own sheets, she turned around one last time.

"Oh, one last thing, this might also be important. With how huge of a secret he told us earlier, there is no way he will let us go, he has no intention of selling us to anyone else after. It would be way to dangerous for him then if his origin and quest were to be revealed. There is no way he will let us go, at least not alive."

Those were some ominous closing words but they weren't necessarily true. There were two more possible outcomes. If he was a truly good man, he would put trust in his friends and let her go home. The other important things was that, once he did become the leader of that green dragon empire, his quest would be complete and his secret worthless, then, there would be no reason to keep them from saying anything.

The two girls lied down once more to sleep.

"We should make sure to wake up before the master and be ready to serve immediately when he wakes. Let's turn these rings into diamonds." The girl mumbled from over there.

She fixed her gaze at the ring once again, a mirror of her wounded back and bleeding heart. She knew what she needed to do now, she needed to do her best, help him however little she could and find a reliable way to communicate without her voice. If she wanted to request his help, she needed a way to ask for it after all. Loosing herself in the ring, she fell soundly asleep.