"Make the line properly. Don't rush!" A tired but firm voice shouted as he waved his hands and brandished his spear in a sign of intimidation.
A frail looking man jumped in shock as the spearhead passed by his face. He looked to his right at the soldier, who had been passing orders for some time.
Making sure the man kept to the line, the soldier nodded to the more talkative soldier, who in response took out a small wooden board from his package upon which several pages looked like they were clipped together.
"You can start now. Consider this the official registration, Slave Master."
The man whom he addressed - the one who had been carrying the whip; seemingly, he was a Slave Master. And as the title suggested, he carried out the ritual to convert people into slaves.
Placing his whip aside for a moment, the Slave Master retrieved a small stick that had a rubber looking ball attached at its tip.
Then he stepped in front of the line as he asked the first person. "What's your name?"
***
David watched in horror as one after the other, the Slave Master pressed the rubber ball against the person's neck. In a moment, they convulsed as an intense wave of tremors passed through their body before a sign appeared on the impacted area.
It looked like a shape had been carefully crafted and stored away for a long time, only now to be taken out of some ruined spot. The colour of the circle that had a pentagonal star drawn inside it looked like it had been painted in a bluish ink that had now dried off completely, leaving crusty stains in their place.
Soon after, it was David's turn as the man came and stood beside him.
Just as he had been doing with the other people, he asked him. "What's your name?"
For a moment, he almost said David. But then feeling the stare of the nameless girl behind him and not wanting to break the custom of their clan, he said in a sober tone.
"I am just a nameless individual...I am yet to earn a name for myself."
The soldier who had been noting down the names of all the newly enlisted slaves stopped midway from writing "Nameless" on the paper.
Glancing up at David, the soldier sighed. "Ah right, the nameless barbarian. Hey boy!" He said in a loud voice from the front of the line, capturing David's attention.
Then he continued as he pulled up few other papers sticked on the wooden board, "If any superior asks your name, answer them your name is A17. It's not exactly a name, just a code to call you by."
David felt as if he was a cattle that was being branded for sale. Naming him with some random code? It wasn't just inhumane, it was insane.
But then again...were slaves even treated as humans?
He opened his mouth to reply something in affirmation but before he could, the Slave Master beside him grumbled with mild impatience. "Enough yapping, let me do my work now."
The very next moment, he struck the rubber tip of the stick against David's cold skin. He felt a sparkle of warmth igniting at his neck as the heat soon spread through his body.
In seconds, a stinging pain arose at the spot in his neck where the rubber had left its touch. His body suddenly became numb and involuntarily, he started shaking in his place.
Eventually, he got some of his energy back as he touched his neck, where the same symbol must have been imprinted by now.
'The symbol of eternal slavery.' He thought bitterly.
"Are you a nameless as well?"
"Yes."
"Oi, we have another of them here. Assign something to her."
They talked behind him but to David, it was all background noise for now as he found himself lost in wonder. Soon he shook his head as the dark thoughts dissipated from within him.
"...From now on, you shall be termed as Z2. Remember it properly." The soldier who had been noting the names, said to the nameless girl.
He glanced behind him, only to see the same sign of slavery on her neck.
'I wonder if Thorgar is receiving the same treatment at the Northern Capital.' Before he had split up from the camp, he had heard the General speak the same.
'Even though he is particularly annoying and quite egoistic, I wish he passes the trials for the Sihapis.' He could atleast wish the bare minimum for a fellow member of his clan.
The soldiers soon gathered all the newly "ointed" slaves. As he walked to join the others, David stole a glance at the two slaves that had been pulling the caravan for this long.
A logical and an efficient way of carrying them would be to pull the caravan through horses. However, horses in this and even in the surrounding kingdoms severely lacked horses.
In fact, David was probably lucky to see so many horsemen chasing their group back in the forest.
As such, each horse in the Windsor was not only expensive but treated as a national level treasure.
'Well maybe not that valuable....but it definitely has such a large value that people wouldn't leave them around carelessly.'
The soldier holding their names commanded once everyone had gathered around him. "From now on, each of you are an exclusive property of the kingdom. Sounds harsh right? But that's how life is."
Then in a conspirational tone, he added. "Just a piece of advice. Between them..." While saying so, he glanced at the two fallen slaves that looked like they had been beaten to death.
"...and the Sihapis, the slaves residing among the ranks of the Sihapis have had a much more pleasant fate than these two. So try giving your all and maybe...just maybe, you won't be in the place of these two fellows one day."
Hushed voices whispered as the soldier finished his words. Unsurprisingly, there was a nervous mood permeating the air that was soon silenced when the soldier coughed as if clearing his throat.
"Now with that done, go into the village and buy the essentials we shall be asking you to. Here, so you...yes, you...go and buy..."
His voice continued as he assigned different works to different slaves. Few of them lucked out as they didn't get any such works.
David stared at the few crooked coins in his palms as he thought, 'So four loaves of bread for all fourteen of us? Why even bother with this... generosity?'
But nevertheless, he set out to get the items.