The Diamond In The Rough?

Crystal in the media:

I felt beyond weak by the time we'd gotten to the palace gates.

I spent the whole night crying.

Everything that happened yesterday was like a dream until I saw the blood stain on my body.

The painful memories came crashing back. Memories of losing me-maw and the tears in Eri's eyes came crashing back and they crashed hard.

Couldn't someone just kill me already? Life didn't seem worth living anymore.

I lazily watched two guards open the huge palace gates for our carriage to go through.

Everything looked nice though we were only following one straight path from the entrance.

The bushes were trimmed into various shapes. Flowers grew here and there; it wasn't what I'd originally expected. I thought everything would be dead like their hearts.

There were humans working in the gardens with little smiles on their faces. I would kill for a job in the gardens or kitchen.

Anywhere that was far away from a vampire. Even if it was the stables.

There were also other cage-carriages that had humans locked up inside. They looked just as sad and confused as I was.

So, I'm guessing they went to other parts of the Nightshade Empire.

The vampires lived in the middle of everything while humans lived on the outskirts. Scavenging for whatever we could find.

From what me-maw told me, there were about six to eight different villages excluding ours.

Some people are actually related but can't see each other because if they get caught going to another town, that'll be the end.

I shifted closer to the bars when I felt something odd in my dress.

There was a necklace with a blue crystal that was the center of attention. It was enchanting to behold.

How'd this get in my clothes? I've never seen something like this in my life.

Where did it come from?

Yes, I'm a thief but I only steal food. Besides what am I doing with a piece of jewelry that I couldn't eat.

Not to sound like a backward savage but from how I grew up, food comes before any other thing.

If this came with me from the village then I'm going to die with it. As a tribute to the life I once lived.

The carriage came to a stop and the sound of footsteps filled my ears.

"Alright you good for nothing; get down and don't make me drag you out" our captor yelled and opened the cage.

I reluctantly came out of my cage, mostly because I didn't want to get dragged by my roots again. It was getting a little stuffy there.

The guard didn't even allow us to stretch before pushing us off to where the slaves were gathering.

As we walked in a single file, he asked our names and wrote it down before another one gathered us.

For reasons I'm sure we'd find out sooner much more than later.

Few paces in front stood a footstool large enough for one person to stand.

I looked around and saw so many people. Male and female.

Some looked worse than I did. Others looked a bit better. Some younger, others older. The vampires really didn't have a preference did they?

The place was dead silent.