Chapter Three – Shopping in Town

Killertrees snaps his fingers and tyki rises to her feet, she lifts her chin and turns her head to the left, her wrists extended at shoulder height, making access to the locks on the sirik readily available to her Master. Killertrees releases the locks on the sirik and the shimmering chains pool on the floor at tyki’s feet.

While she gathers up the sirik and places it on the workbench, Killertrees rummages thorugh his large bag and tosses a small vest and a piece of silk along with a lenth of binding fiber over to tyki. “Put these on girl, we have much to get done today.” She slips her arms into the vest and notes that the front barely pretends to cover her nipples, the length of silk wrapped low on her hips brushes the tops of her thighs, leaving her midriff bared except for the strand of silver slave bells around her waist.

Killertrees then hands tyki an empty backpack and pats his left hip, signaling she is to heel, as he steps out into the yard. The girl pulls the door of the workshop closed and hurries to keep up with her Master. Her feet moving quicly to keep up with her Master’s long purposeful strides. Sunlight filters through the thick canopy of leaves that shade the roadway into town.

As the step through the gates of the city, the sounds of the song birds are lost in the thriving hustle and bustle of the city. The girl follows quickly on her Master’s heels. Killertrees lightly pats his side, summoning tyki to follow close. There are a few girls scattered about, standing on the corners with coin boxes attached to their collars. The girls have been sent out into the street by their Masters, the boxes indicating their Master is offering their use for sale. This could be as punishment, or could simply be a means of acquiring a few tarsk bits to supplement his income. Tyki keeps her focus on her Master although she senses the glares from the girls on the corners. As they turn the next corner, tyki is assaulted with the delicious aroma of fresh baked bread and an assortment of fresh pastries. She follows her Master into the store and then sinks to her knees beside another girl on the slave mats behind the doorway. The other slave girl keeps her head turned down, ebony dark hair falling like a silk veil across her cheek. Tyki notices the girl has a number of fresh red welts on her back and between her toes a steel chain can be seen along with ankle bindings, the girl is obviously under discipline by her Master.

Killertrees buys two loaves of black bread, and two pastries. He nibbles on one of the pastries as he moves along the pastry case, considering additional purchases, and then pauses and loves over to the slave mats. He holds a bit of the pastry down near his nknee, and says, “you may feed girl.” Tyki quickly crawls across the bakery on hands and knees, her kps pressing a soft kiss to her Master’s fingers before her tongue draws in the bit of sweet pastry. She then licks and kisses his fingers and remains with her eyes loewered until Master dries his fingers in her hair. Killertrees leaves a coin on the counter saying, “I am please to have a good bakery back in town.” Killertrees turns to leave the shop and pats his hip once again for tyki to follow quickly.

The girl rises quickly to her feet remaining close at his hip, her eyes blinking a bit as we step out into the bright sunlight. She feels the warmth of the sun on her face and arms.

As the Master and his girl continue down the street the aroma of fresh bread is replaced with the clean citrus air of fresh ripe fruits. Killertrees pauses from time to time to greet friends and customers. The girl takes mental notes of the blacksmithing queries from customers. Killertrees stops at the fruit vendor, selecting some tospit and larma, and fresh berries, he exchanges coins with the man at the booth.

A whip is heard off to the side a s a Master disciplines his slave girl for some reason, and tyki winces as she hears the crack of the whip and the yelp of the slave girl. A Freewoman walking down the street stops in her tracks and looks at tyki with disdain, “Slave trash, you should be whipped for walking the streets that way,” she mutters half beneath her breath. The girl continues following her Master, her eyes lowered in submission and deference, the displeasure of the veiled Freewoman stinging tyki’s heart, much like the crack of the whip was stinging the girl in the distance.

Killertrees stops and turns to face the mutteringt freewoman in the heavy crimson robes. He puts his hands on his hips and says, “Is there a problem woman?” She tells Killertrees, “If you choose to have your pets, your slave trash unclothed, you should keep them behind closed doors. Not parade them through town. Slaves should be covered when taken into the shopping district, so the Free are not assaulted by such vulgarity.”

Killertrees calmly matter-of-factly, responds, “Woman if you don’t mind your

Tongue, you will find yourself dressesd as she is, or wearing even less.” The woman gasps and steps forward raising her hand as if to slap him. She looks into his eeys and stops, she drops her hand and clasps the skirt of her robes and stomps off, muttering, “Vile perverts…….”

The crack of the whip in the distance has gone silent, replaced by the sobbing pleas of a slave girl, begging her Master for forgiveness as he walks away. She stumbles after him, eyes blinded with tears and swollen from prolonged crying, her back crisscrossed with large red welts from the beating.

Killertrees hands tyki the fresh fruit has has just purchased and she packs them into the bottom of the backpack and then adds the loaves of fresh bread to the pack. While tyki packs the purchases away, Killertrees flicks the nipple rings a number of times. Tyki slips the backpack onto her shoulders; the tug of the pack lifts the silks around tyki’s hips up onto her waist, baring the roundness of her bottom beneath the backpack. Tyki feels the caress of the silk and the brocade of the vest against her flesh, even more keenly aware of the fabric’s hand after hearing the Freewoman’s comments. Her nipples swell against the brocaded vest that barely covers the nipples.

Killertrees reaches back and flicks his slave girl’s nipple a few more times before continuing down the street. He turns down an alley. The air here much heavier than out on the main street, fresh bread and fruit scents replaced with the thick heavy smell of iron and blood. He has entered butchers row. He barters for several slices of bosk and a roast and a couple small tabuk steaks. As he barters, Killertrees glances over his shoulder a few times and chuckles to himself as he spots flashes of crimson robes ducking into doorways.

Tyki’s stomach churns at the smell of fresh blood, the stench of spoiled blood and meat, and the thick smell of iron. She notices that her Master has been glancing back and keeping track of someone following them. Tyki's senses go on alert, her Master hands her the meat he has purchased to place in the backpack. While she packs the meat away, tyki hears Master chuckle to himself, and tyki relaxes. Whoever is following is not perceived as a threat, at least not a threat to Killertrees.

Killertrees pats my slave girl on the head and smiles. He pats his left side, letting his girl know he wants her to stay close. As he steps out of the alley, his stand and step change. His steps are almost fluid, graceful like a dancer about to begin a dance, or like a larl stalking its prey. The girl follows close at her Master’s hip, noting the difference in his stride, his steps seem almost choreographed. Her breath quickens as she senses something is up, Master has begun a hunt. She hears his finger flick the release on the hasp of his sword. With a subtle turn of his wrist, Killertrees points to the ground on the corner of the alley and tyki sinks to her knees on the spot.

As Killertrees moves out of the shadow of the alley, he sees the woman motion to someone. A beggar steps out of a doorway and heads towards Killertrees begging for food and money. Killertrees tosses a pastry that lands behind the man and off to the left. The haggered man pauses, not sure what to do for a moment, and then lunges towards Killertrees, the flash of a knige blade gleams in the man’s hand. Killertrees draws his sword and whacks him with the butt of the sword on top of his head and the man drops in his tracks to a hudled mass on the sidewalk. Killertrees steps over the lump of a man and strides forward. His piercing fiery gaze locked on the woman in the crimson robe. He grabs her arm and strikes her forehead with the helt of his sword and she melts to the ground unconscious. Killertrees drops to one knee and with a single stroke of his sword he strips the heavy robes from her, her rips her linen house robe into strips and binds her wrists and ankles and tosses her over his shoulder, kicking the freewoman’s clothing to the side, “she won’t be needing these anymore.”

Killertrees rises to his feet and pats his left hip, and tyki hurries across the intersection to follow her Master. Killertrees heads for home, pausing once more to buy a small bouquet of flowers. The vendor winks to tyki as he tucks a single talendar blossom into the center of the bouquet and tyki smiles appreciatively. “I think these will brighten up the house,” Killertrees says as he hands the flowers to tyki.

Killertrees hums quietly as he wanders up the road towards home. The sun setting behind him casting shadows ahead of him on the path. His new captive is draped limply over his shoulder, her head bouncing lightly against his back, her arms dangling down past his arse.

Tyki follows behind her Master, inhaling the sweet scent of the flowers, pausing from time to time to retrieve the hairpins dropping for the girl’s hair. As they near the house, Killertrees tells tyki to put the purchases away and then join him in the forge. Tyki swallows the lump in her thoat as she nods and hoarsely whispers, “Yes Master.”

Tyki takes the bundles from the market into the house, she wraps the loaves of bread in rep cloth and puts the meat in the cool room. She pulls down a basket from the shelves and places the fresh fruit in the basket before setting it in the cool room as well.

She turns her attention to the shelf with vases and draws water from the well and fills a crystal vase with water and then arranges the bouquet of flowers and sets the vase on the low table in the living room. She adds a log to the hearth and stirs the coals, with the sun going down the room will grow cooler by the time Master returns here to relax.

Tyki glances around the room, satisfied that all is in place, then sighs as she steps into the kitchen. She stops to collect the talendar blossom the vendor had tucked into the bouquet and the handful of hairpins tyki had collected on the way home. Tyki strips off the vest and silks and hangs them on the hook by the door and then tugs open the door and heads across the yard towards the growing light in the shop.