Strangers in a small town.

Bradin watched the snow flakes float down from the sky, and shivered. Most people had gotten use to the seemingly eternal winter by now, but not Bradin. Of course Bradin had only known winter.

A few months before he had been born, something had thrown off the seasons. Some said it was the Earthmother, goddess of life, trying to teach humanity a lesson. Others said that Grandfathertime, god of change, had fallen asleep. The last group thought that Darkfather, god of death, and what was beyond, had captured or killed the other gods.

Whatever the reason, on the fourth moon cycle on the year Bradin was to be born, spring never came. At first everyone thought that it was just a little late. By the end of the fifth moon cycle, every one knew that something was wrong.

Emergency meetings where held in every kingdom. If winter was going to be any longer the entire continent would starve. It was decided that each kingdom, would send their brightest minds and their strongest mages, to come up with a solution.

After three weeks of working together two of the greatest minds, came up with a solution. The first was an architect named Leland moss. The second was a fire mage named Brutis Smyth. Together they designed a building made of glass that would let the sunlight in, and with the heat produced by a crystal spelled by a fire mage, plants would be able to grow, within this structure.

The glass was also spelled to prevent heat from leaving the building. The crystal could be turned off with a simple word should it get to hot for the plants inside. it could melt the snow from outside as well providing a simple way to water the plants.

These houses where immediately constructed at every major city across the land. They worked and with the help of the plant mages starvation was no longer a glaring problem. As the years went by the houses where named moss houses after the architect. Each moss house housed now housed a different type of fruit or vegetable.

Bradin was leaning against the small moss house that was outback from the tavern where he was kept, trying to get a little warmth back into his body. He was supposes to be stacking the fire wood in the wood shed. The cold just cut right though the thin gray shirt and trousers he wore, that he just needed some relief from the cold.

Bradin looked around nervously if he was caught he would get a beating and no food for the next day. He pulled at the wooden ring around his neck. The ring of a slave. the wood was spelled to withstand anything.

It was fire proof, harder than steel, and the only way to get it off was if a mage stronger or of same strength as the one who put it on removed it. The ring would grow as the slave grew, remaining just smaller than the skull, to prevent it from slipping off.

Bradin looked at his reflection in the glass of the moss house. His messy dark brown hair was to his shoulders. His skin was pale, but if the sun had been stronger it would be an olive complexion. He had dark smudges all over his skin. some where bruises, while others where soot, and stained from stacking the wood, and keeping the fires in the tavern going.

Bradin's most catching feature where his eyes. They where a vibrant green. Milly, a slave who looked after Bradin when he was younger, said they where the color of a lush forest in the middle of summer.

Summer that was something that he would never get to see. Bradin thought bitterly. From the stories he had heard it sounded like paradise, always warm and bursting with life. Bradin was 16 summers old himself.

He chuckled darkly at the irony. Why it was still used to measure age was a mystery. A slamming door brought Bradin out of his thoughts. He dashed to the wood shed and started stacking the wood as fast as he could.

"You can stop panicking, its just me" a soft feminine voice said.

"Why are you out here Briana?" Bradin asked as he continued to stack the wood. Bradin slowed his pace a bit, but he still had to make up for some time.

"Cook needed some herbs from the moss house." Briana said

"Why would they send you?" Bradin asked. Briana was a house keeping slave. Her responsibilities where to clean the rooms of the tavern, not to go on errands.

Bradin looked over at her pretty clean face framed by golden blond hair. Her blue eyes held a worried look.

"What? What wrong?" Bradin asked concerned "Is it old Pete again, is he trying to buy you?"

Briana shook her head her eyes tearing up now.

"I over heard Madam Min talking to Stephaan."

Madam Min was the owner of the tavern and Stephaan, was her accountant.

"Did she seam happy?" Bradin asked worried now.

When the tavern had financial trouble it always meant less food for the slaves. Not that they got that much food in the first place. They where lucky to get two meals a day. If you call a piece of bread and a slice of dried meat a meal.

"She looked worried." Briana said " and i heard the words sell and slave."

Now Bradin understood. If Madam Min was thinking of selling one of her slaves, it would be witch ever slave was doing a worse job.

"You had better go and get those herbs for cook then." Bradin said "Don't give her any reason to get rid of you."

Briana nodded and hurried away. Bradin stood there looking at the now empty door way. He blinked and then started stacking the wood at a faster pace. True being owned by Madam Min was not a great place for a slave, but it was better than some of the other people that he had worked for before.

Bradin had been left on the doorstep of an orphanage as a baby. Unfortunately at the time of his birth, the last thing any body needed was another mouth to feed. For the first six summers he lived at the orphanage.

Just before his seventh summer the orphanage fell on hard times. To survive the head mistress of the orphanage sold some of the older children, as slaves. Bradin was the second oldest.

So began nine years of being bought and sold. The economy was so fickle, and slaves where a luxury, so the longest Bradin had been owned was a year and that was by Madam Min.

Bradin finished stacking the wood just after the sun went down. He hurried in to stoke and feed the fires. First he did the fires in the kitchen, then moved into the main room and built up the fire there.

His next job was to light the fires in the rooms that had customers in them. Looking at the book that recorded which rooms where open and which rooms where empty, Bradin got worried again.

Only three rooms had customers. Bradin quickly lit those fires and stocked the rooms with wood. He was not going to get sold if he could help it. Bradin was tired as he made his way down to the main room.

As he got there he surveyed the room hoping from more customers. Unfortunately there was just the two regulars at the bar and the three who had booked the rooms. The two at the bar was old Pete and his son.

They always came to drink there troubles away. Unfortunately they only could hold five drinks between them. so they where not great suppliers of coin.

Bradin looked at the customers that had rooms. two where sharing a table making small talk as they ate their meals. From the look of them they where small time merchants petaling shoes or little nicknacks.

The third was sitting in the corner back to the wall eating a small bowl of soup. he was dressed in a black cloak that covered most of his face. His hands had two rings on them both had clear crystals set in black metal. The sleeves of his shirt as well as his boots where also black.

As Bradin watched him, the man froze with the spoon half way to his mouth. He raised his eyes slowly and met Bradin's gaze. Suddenly Bradin felt as if his head was under ice water. He was having a hard time breathing, but for some reason he couldn't look away from the eyes of the man in the cloak.

"BRADIN!!" a high nasally voice screeched.

Suddenly Bradin was freed and he turned to look at Madam Min

"Sorry Madam, what do you need?" Bradin said looking at the floor.

"FINALY! i have been asking you if you have gotten all the fires lit for the past five minutes."

"Yes Madam. i have is there anything else i can do for you?" Bradin asked still looking at the floor.

"No there isn't, but for ignoring me you will not get dinner tonight." Madam Min declared.

"Yes Madam. i'm sorry Madam. it won't happen again." Bradin said

"No it won't." Madam Min said "Now go to bed I need you bright and early in the morning."

"yes Madam." Bradin said as he moved to go towards the kitchen.

As he did he glanced back at the man in the dark cloak. He had finished his soup and was leaning back against the wall. As their eyes met again, Bradin hastily looked away. He hurried through the kitchen to the small room where the slaves slept, and got ready for bed.

He lay on the thin mattress, it was really two blankets sown together and stuffed with inedible plant parts, leaves, and grasses. As he lay there he thought of the feeling he had felt staring into the eyes of the strange man.

He shivered at the memory. Clearly that man was not to be messed with. Bradin shook his head to clear it, and started to hum a lullaby he remembered from his childhood. He couldn't remember who had sung it to him, but he remembered it as he had hummed it to himself every night as long as he could remember. As he drifted off to sleep he could remember the faint outline of a glowing woman.

Bradin was woken from his sleep by cook hitting a pot with a wooden spoon. He groaned as he sat up. Then he remembered that Madam Min needed him for something this morning.

Bradin got up and straitened his clothing. He ran his fingers through his hair until it all laid flat then headed through the kitchen to the main room. As he entered the main room his saw Madam Min talking to a city guard at the front door.

A sinking feeling filled Bradin as he approached. He vaguely noticed the man in the black cloak was in the same corner as the night before, but he could barely process that, before he saw the guard hand a pouch of gold coins to Madam Min. He then saw her give a gray crystal to the guard.

NO! Bradin thought in disbelief. There was nothing that he could do to change what he just saw.

"Here he is." Madam Min said as he reached them.

"He will be a nice addition to our stock. Its not often we get young male slaves especially around here." the guard said appraising Bradin. "The auction will be held tomorrow, at midday you have until then to change your mind and buy him back. COME! slave."

Bradin slowly fallowed the guard out of the tavern still not believing. As the tavern disappeared around a bend in the road, it finally sank in. He had been sold AGAIN!