Slave Auctions (M for f)

[jacobjon]

I've been toying with several different ideas, both of which involve the idea of slave auctions. I want them to be story driven, but also have a fair bit of bondage, submission, and things of that nature.

1. The Investigation (Modern) In an alternate timeline, people can sell themselves into slavery to cover overwhelming debt, or can accept slavery as an alternative to a crime. In some rare cases, the very wealthy can even manage to put a loved one into slavery to escape punishment for their crimes. Your character is a reporter who believes that slave markets are being manipulated, and innocent people are being forced into slavery by a corrupt system. She has pushed a lot of buttons and been warned off the story, but she won't give up. But everything changes when she finds she suddenly has a mountain of debt, more than she could ever pay off. She knows the debt was added to her file by someone trying to silence her, but before she can prove it, she is taken away by the authorities and put up for auction. Her only hope is that a co-worker is at the auction. His family is wealthy enough that he doesn't have to work, but he has a fondness for journalism that dictates his actions. If she could convince him to buy her, she could stick with the story and find the truth. But while her co-worker might be willing to allow an investigation, he also isn't going to spend a small fortune on a slave just to free her.

2. An Elf's Vow: (Fantasy) It is a well known fact about elves that once they give their word, their honor prevents them from breaking it. To do so would expel their ancestors from the afterlife. When an elven warrior and her men are captured by human soldiers, their leader is put up for auction, while the men are scheduled to be executed. There seems to be little chance to save the men, but the elven leader sees that one of the men attending the auction is the king's third son, visiting the auction to select a gift for his coming of age birthday celebration. He had planned on bidding on one of the human slaves, but the elf convinces him that if he could release her men and win her, she would swear herself to his service. She could be servant, bodyguard, and lover rolled into one. The prince is intrigued, and uses a great deal of his political capital to win her and free her men. Unfortunately, doing so puts a target on him, as there are many who see someone who is soft on elves as the sort who needs to find a knife in the back before he can claim the throne.

3. The Genie: (Fantasy) Our characters are lessor nobles, somewhat wealthy, but not the sort with unlimited resources. Their parents are seeking to increase their power by joining their houses, and plan to do so by marrying off our characters. Our characters meet at a ball, share a few dances, and seem to be getting along well, but the evening comes to an abrupt end when soldiers for the king arrive and decree that your character's family has been stealing from the crown for years. As part of the punishment, your character is to be put up for auction and changed to a genie. Through powerful magics, she can be bound to an item, in this case a ring. She would have no supernatural powers, but whenever the bearer of the ring starts a sentence with "I wish," she would be compelled to carry out that wish. Now bound to a ring, she is one of several genies put up for auction. She fears the kind of man she will end up bound to, but as the auction starts, she sees my character in the audience. What has been done cannot be undone, but at least if she were his, she could be spared an even more cruel fate.