The silence had stretched on for such a long time that Claudia had begun to accept that she was going to belong to the toothless man. But then another spoke. She turned her gaze to the potential buyer, studying him intently. Despite her condition, she found him rather attractive. Surprised by the audacity of this sudden thought, she chided herself for these ponderings. What am I thinking? she asked herself, Do I have no dignity at all?

But before she had time to chastise herself further, the second bidder had demanded whether or not she had teeth. She grew indignant when he asked to see for himself. She grew even more so when the auctioneer pried open her mouth, handling her a little too loosely for her comfort. She might have bit him if she hadn't remembered the earlier blow dealt to her.

Her face burned up when the bidder asked if she was "pure". Just who was he to ask such a question? The auctioneer answered truthfully, however, to her relief. She had been embarrassed enough as it was. Up until now, Claudia had wondered why the guards or her seller had not taken advantage of her helpless state. Now she realized that they hadn't wanted her to appear too damaged or used for the buyers.

The next few moments went by in a flash. Before she knew it, the toothless man withdrew his bid, the auction resumed, and then she was sold to the second bidder. She supposed she should be relieved that she hadn't gone to the toothless man, but she wasn't sure if the alternative would be any better. This second bidder held a shred of cunning that was going to go against her. He had managed to haggle the price down to nearly half the original, after all.

Claudia watched with growing trepidation as her new owner returned to the stage. He ripped off her clothes. It took a moment longer than the crowd for her to register what he had just done. Her jaw dropped in utter surprise as the crowd grew louder. She would later realize how silly she must have looked, completely nude with mouth agape. But having lived in the sheltered life of a noblewoman, Claudia had never, ever felt so exposed. She stood, still stunned, as her hounds were bound together.

A tug of the rope awakened her senses. She quickly stumbled along after her new owner, blushing furiously. She realized that she had been supplied with a cloak. Claudia followed closely and wrapped the cloak around her figure as much as she could. It would do little good to try and resist.

After a good while, Claudia's head began to clear. The scarlet blush that had painted her cheeks was now a tint of soft pink, but the humiliation of the circumstances almost sent it back into furious red once more. She was wearing nothing but a cloak, her hands were bound, and she was following a stranger. And one none too kind either, if his actions towards her were any to be judged. But the worst part was that she was being led around by a leash. Animals were suppose to be leashed. Was she some common mule now?

Claudia tried not to think about that too much. She had to focus on trying to get out of this situation. As thought of before, escaping seemed like a small possibility. Trying to resist and giving a hard time would do nothing except annoy the man and earn herself some more pain. Perhaps she could reason with her new owner. He didn't seem like a fool or idiot.

"Please, sir," she said timidly, straining to be heard over the din of the market, "Could I have some water? I haven't had any since yesterday morning."

There were two motives to this question. One was that she really was thirsty. She hadn't lied about when she had last gotten water. But she also wanted to see if he would give her any. It would let her know how much compassion she was dealing with.