Eliana returned home exhausted , only to find that her worst fear had come true. Her younger sister, Diane, was gone. The house smelled of stale alcohol and dust, a cruel reminder of the hell they've had to endure in. She stormed into the living room, and found her father slouched in the chair, reeking of whiskey, counting coins with a crooked, triumphant grin.
Eliana's hands shook as she grabbed the edge of the table, staring at her father. "How… how could you?" she whispered, voice cracking. Rage and disbelief warred inside her. "She's only a child! She's my sister! My little sister!"
Her father barely looked up, eyes glazed from drink. "girls are nothing but coins," he slurred, throwing a handful of silver onto the table. "The sooner you understand that, the sooner you survive."
Eliana staggered back, "Survive? You call this surviving? You sold her… sold Diane like she was a piece of meat!" Tears blurred her vision, but she refused to let them fall. Not yet. Not until she acted.
"You're the one I should have sold first" he muttered, leaning back, he continued drunkenly "but the merchant insisted he needed a young girl about fourteen, and Diane happened to be a perfect match"
Eliana's heart pounded, she wanted to curse him more but not while Diane was out there, helpless, in the hands of monsters.
Clenching her fists, she backed toward the door, eyes blazing. "I'll find her. I'll get her back. No one will take my sister from me. Not you, not anyone."
Iron vale was a small town where girls were considered weak and worthless, freely sold from a young age to merchants who dressed them in the most seductive clothes, selling them to men of power, influence, and wealth for slavery and pleasure.
Eliana's father had once tried to sell her when she was little, but her mother had stood her ground, fleeing with them to protect her daughters.
After her mother died of a terminal illness, Eliana and Diane had no choice but to return to the hands of their cruel father. But Eliana had promised herself she would be strong, just like her mother. She wouldn't rely on him for anything....they only needed a roof over their heads, and she would do whatever it took to keep Diane safe.
Her stomach dropped. She understood immediately what had happened. Her heart pounded so hard she thought it might explode.
No… No, it can't be…
She ran as fast as she could to the hall without thinking,she needed to get to her little sister, Diane. She had sworn to protect Diane after their mother died, to never leave her side and in just a few hours, that promise was being torn from her hands.
Her father had done what they had always feared: he had sold Diane to the market for peanut, a small pieces of coin to buy himself fresh wines. How cruel was he.
She caught sight of the carriage in the distance, a wooden cart shaking under the weight of her sister. Diane's small figure was slumped, clothes torn and covered in mud, her arms hanging limply over the side.
Eliana's chest tightened, but she continued to run as fast as she could, lucky for her the carriage was moving slowly.
I can't let them take her… I won't…
She followed the carriage, careful to stay hidden in the shadows. Sweat ran down her face, mixing with the dirt on her skin, but she didn't care. Diane was in danger, and as her older sister she would protect her.
When she reached the market, she became confused, she lost sight of the carriage in the crowd. She searched through the crowd, walking past angry Merchants shouting over one another, buyers examining goods with cold, calculating eyes, and in the center she saw a small cage held her sister.
Eliana's stomach twisted in pain. Diane's face was streaked with tears and mud, her arms and legs tied with chains, blood dripping from her fragile skin. She had been dragged across the ground.
"Eliana…" Diane whispered, barely audible over the din.
Shhh… don't speak too loud, Eliana thought. "I'm here, Di. I'm here," she murmured, sliding down beside the cage, fingers brushing her sister's hair from her bloodied face. "I'll never leave you."
Diane's small hand twitched weakly. "Eliana… they… they said…"
"I know," Eliana whispered. "I know. I'm here now. I'll fix this. I promise I'll fix this."
She tried the lock. Iron bars held fast. Her fingers bled as she pulled, twisted, tried to jimmy the latch, but nothing worked. She sat on the ground beside the cage, holding her sister as tightly as she could. "I won't leave you," she whispered again. "I'll stay. I promise. I swear, I'll never leave you."
Hours passed. The sun rose high and dipped low again, Eliana stayed beside her sister, tracing cuts and wiping away the thick mud, whispering every word of comfort she could think of. She felt Diane shivering beneath her, small body trembling, and she wrapped her arms tighter, rocking her gently.
When the evening sun went down, A guard loomed over her,
"Why is this slave outside the cage?" he barked. "How…?"
Before Eliana could answer, a hard blow sent her sprawling into the mud. Pain exploded across her back, hot and sharp. They didn't know she wasn't a captive. They didn't care. They only saw a girl where she shouldn't be.
They flogged her so hard as a punishment for trying to escape, or so they thought. Eliana endured every pain, every lashes cutting through her skin.
If the pains would reunite me with my sister, I would endure for her sake... She gritted her teeth, refusing to scream, refusing to let her sister see her fall. The blows ended only when they shoved her into the cage.
Breathless and aching, Eliana blinked through tears, gathering her sister in her arms.
"I'm here, Di. I'm never leaving you," she whispered, lips pressed to Diane's hair.
"I'm scared sister, what if we get separated" Diane said, her voice weak, tiny and broken from crying.
"We won't, I'll make sure of that" Eliana told her sister, reassuring her they wouldn't get separated but fate has other plans. Auction night was coming.
The two sisters clung to each other in the small filthy cage, as the market activities carried on around them, ignorant of their silent vow.