The emperor paused before giving the final sentence. The slave held his head high. The royal assembly had recommended the maximum punishment. Its members were sure about the words that would come out of the emperor's mouth. Still, the air around them was filled with suspense. Like the air around the whole city.
This was not the first time history was churning out a love story between a slave and a princess. This is why the slave felt that time is mocking him. Being a slave was not fun. One had to remain dark in complexion to give the contrasting touch in a white man's photograph. Before metros arrived, sexuality was all black and white. Human rights conventions came into vogue much later. He could not assign a PR firm with a Save the Slave promotion program. The only fashionable thing he could do was to hold his high without any particular reason. It gave a heroic feel. Feel is all that matters.
He could not understand the pause in the emperor's speech. It was not printed for a typo error to happen. Kings have a habit of drama. It goes in tune with their pompousness. A king without a drama is like a white slave. Cannot exist. The slave gave an internal smile during the slow motion of affairs created by the emperors overplay. The slave was tempted to call him the Drama Queen. It was at this point of time that he saw a slight smile in the Queen's face. Meeting of minds. Seated next to her is our heroine, the daughter of the Queen and the Drama Queen. If the slave had made an mms of whatever the princess had done to him, the whole royal family would have been just a family - with 'royal' removed from it. Technology was not on his side.
The king cleared his throat. Simply. He pronounced the final judgment. Free sale. The slave would be put on auction. That was the biggest punishment. See, they are traditional slaves. Traditionally, they have licked the king's feet. Traditionally, they felt honoured to do this. An open auction would mean that anybody could buy him.
The slave wanted to end his own story by writing out the following climax scene:
Scene - Auction House. Slave in chains (That was the feel-good factor then). Auctioneer opens the sale. The highest bid is called. Just when the auctioneer was about to bang the hammer, the princess comes in and makes a higher bid. Hammer down. Deal closed. The slave would be the princess' slave forever.
But, or however, or sadly, slaves always get the worst deal.
Nobody came to buy him at the auction house. Nobody wanted to buy a slave who holds his head high. He did not have the feel of a 'slave'. He is not a genuine slave. Comments like these were abound.
Anyways, the moral of course, is, that fashion helps. Even if you are a slave.
