The barracks was a wooden structure, barely elevated off the ground. There were no beds or bunks. There were no beds or bunks, just a piece of thick cloth thrown on the floor. Along one wall was a bench nailed to it, which, judging from the pieces of cloth lying on it, served as a bed for a privileged section of the prisoners. Two fryers provided heat, making it a little more comfortable than outside.
- Come on, suckers, line up in front of his grace! - shouted the warden.
The convicts hurried to fulfill the order. In a minute Alexander saw before him an uneven row of dirty and haggard women in colorless rags. The vampire grimaced and took a step toward the nearest lady.
- Tell me your name," the overseer yelled in his ear, apparently eager to please the knight, who had been singled out by the archmage himself, otherwise his behavior did not fit the usually peaceful coexistence of the convicts and their few guards.
- Martha...
- Stop," the knight interrupted her and turned to the warder, "I'll take it from here, stand aside.
Looking around the row once more, Alexander took a deep breath. Some explanation would be necessary.
- Listen to me! Now I will approach each of you and look into your eyes. Do not avert your gaze! Those who avert their eyes will be punished!
Let them think it's a matter of direct eye contact rather than body contact. It was the necessity to look into the eyes of each of them that Alexander was going to explain possible questions about why he grabbed each of them by the chin and held them.
- Those of you I single out, go to the clerk and tell him your name!
Making sure he was heard, the vampire took another deep breath and roughly grabbed the woman in front of him by the lower jaw and forced her to look into his eyes. Blood memory obligingly showed the entire life of a mere twenty-year-old girl who looked no less than thirty-five.
A thief, numerous street thefts, gang involvement, street robberies. Doesn't fit! The next one in the row is grabbed roughly by the face.
An orphan of seventeen, tried body-selling, but didn't like it and committed two petty thefts to end up on penal servitude. Just what the doctor ordered!
- To the clerk! - The girl was pulled out of the row and pushed toward the standing petty official, while the vampire took in the face of the next one.
Orphan, twenty-nine years old, on penal servitude since fifteen, petty thefts for the sake of the court. Too bad he doesn't know another life, but it fits!
- To the clerk!
A Southern girl, a craftswoman, the baron's daughter didn't like her work. It's coming!
- To the clerk!
Murderer of her husband for money. Next.
Things got better. The convicts, of course, did not understand the meaning of what was happening and were afraid of everything in advance, but obediently carried out the instructions. The worst punishment was to be left without rations. Not to eat once on a penal servitude is not to sit on a diet or to torment one's organism with therapeutic fasting. It's scary.
By evening all the work was done and the vampire, who was having dinner of porridge, held in his hand the sheets with the names of the women he had selected. A total of one hundred and ninety-two convicts had been deemed worthy by Alexander to settle among his tribesmen.
Not all of them were pure angels, only by virtue of insurmountable circumstances of life, who had found themselves at the penal colony. But all of them had reasons why the vampire was ready to pay for them from the common treasury and provide them with very tolerable living conditions.
I've got more interesting stuff on patreon
patreon.com/Chill76