PoV Beverly
The world was with a constant low buzzing sound. It buzzed day and night, never stopping for a second. It had not stopped for years, and now I lived with it. Every day, I grew better and better at ignoring it. The wish for silence, even though I could no longer hear, was deafening to me. I wished for the silence, for it would be better than this low buzz. My hatred for the bandits that did this to me was visceral, and I finally ended up with my dream job.
A Tiger Beast-kin of some subspecies that I did not know hired me to 'take care' of bandits while she was gone. She paid well, better than well, and all I had to do was keep them alive. Nothing more, nothing less. As I used to be a part of a roaming merchant band, I was better educated than people knew, and I could read between the lines here. The constant buzz did not lower my intellect. All I had was reading, and I read whenever I could.
So I knew that she gave me a free pass to do what I wished with these bandits.
And I did.
The first days started with a good bit of fun. I chained them up, beat them when they tried to resist, and resist they did. But I finally put them in the chains I wanted and left the water inches from where they could reach. Food, just inches from what they could reach. I did that for every single one of them. By the next day, I picked it up, looked at it, and left it an inch closer. Still out of reach, but there, in their sight, just one more inch.
Then I put the water just close enough that they would have to fight for it, but they could get the water from it. However, if they weren't careful, they might spill it too. I paid attention to them that night, and although I could not hear their screams, I knew they were.
God, I wish I could hear those beautiful screams over this constant buzz. The buzzing continued, though, and I had to give out some water to a couple of them after they had despaired for a couple of hours after spilling the water.
I had no idea how long the beast-kin woman would be gone, but she left me with a lot of silver and a couple of gold coins to do this. I could have run with it, but why should I? This was what I wished to be doing. So I continued, using food and water to watch them despair. I watched them some nights, and I would watch as they reached for the food but failed to grab it. Just a fingertips distance away. The female bandits were delightful too. They screamed, begged, but I heard none of it. I could not understand them over the buzzing in my head caused by the bandits all those years ago.
Night after night passed, and I made it look like when I finally gave them food, it was an accident. The elation was short-lived as they found that the food had gotten old and moldy. They did not care, but their despair reached a new level. After that night, many screamed, smashed their fists against the floor, and I started to feed them small amounts. I could not let them die.
But I always made it look like an accident. I would feed them every couple of days, and they fought desperately for it. I was tempted to move them into group cells, but decided against it. I was enjoying their agony at this point too much.
Then, over a week later, I never kept track of it as I was having too much fun. The Beast-kin woman returned. I was still surprised by her elegance and the way she controlled the room just by standing in it. Then she made an offer to train me in slave training.
I only had one question, and I pulled out the chalk and blackboard I had saved up for, so I could communicate with people: "Are you any good?" The way the woman started to laugh made me smile. I guess if that was her reaction, then she was probably good. She took the blackboard and wrote on it, and I smiled as I read, 'You can decide as you learn,' she replied. I couldn't help but feel hope as she began to teach.
She started to write and tell me things about how I did things to the bandits, just from looking at the condition of the slaves now. It took her time to write them all out, writing, showing, then erasing, only to repeat. Not once did she show annoyance, and then she wrote something after explaining everything to me.
'The biggest barrier to you being a slave trainer is your inability to talk. You haven't lost your voice, though; you've lost your hearing. You will start to practice with me while we train. You will start to learn to talk while not being able to hear what you are saying. If they cannot understand you, you just whip them until you do.'
Those words on a blackboard filled me with hope, and I looked and pointed at the bandits, and I attempted to say something. I felt the vibrations in my throat, and the woman smiled and nodded. She walked over and kicked the bandit I pointed to, to which I asked for her to kick, and an even greater hope filled me.
This woman was giving me the chance to communicate with those who could not read or write. A resolute feeling hit me, and I smiled. "Thank you. I will try my best," I tried to say, and the woman smiled and wrote something on the board.
'That is all I ask. You are better at speaking than you think you are.'
For once, the constant buzz felt like something was accompanying it, and the Mistress wrote another thing, 'Now, to begin with, your style of play lacks finesse. You left them vulnerable to health issues, which are common when training degenerates like them.'
As I read what the beast-kin woman wrote, I realized something.
This Beast was better than any human I ever met since I became deaf. What did that mean for humans around me?
-------------------
Hey Everyone,
I hope you are all enjoying the Novel, if you are interested in Supporting me then please check out my Patreon at Patreon.com/madjic
Otherwise, please continue to enjoy.