You decide to do as he asks, after all he did save you from the fate of being slaughtered for people’s enjoyment; the only question being what he has in store for you. As you follow his direction, you feel a light tingling sensation from where the cord is tied around your neck; it is a strange, but oddly pleasant sensation.
As he leads you down the streets and out of ear shot of the slavers, you finally summon the nerve to ask the question plaguing your thoughts. “What do you plan on doing with me?”
The man gives a faint shrug as he continues walking, “I have had a number of unsatisfied customers threaten my life and my shop lately, as such I figured having some muscle to act as my protection seemed like a valuable investment.” He casts a glance back at you, “Besides, I couldn’t bear to see the first sentient minotaur gutted in the arena for profit.” You mutter a thank you, which comes out louder than you intended, “You are very welcome.”
“Why didn’t you just hire guards to protect your shop, rather than buy a slave?”
“A fair question, the simple answer is that I do not trust people whose loyalty is constantly for sale. While that might sound strange given that, in a sense, I did just purchase your loyalty, but unlike guards or mercenaries, you cannot go resell your loyalty to someone else.”
“What stops me from just letting them have at you?” In exchange for my freedom, you add with a thought.
“Another good question. Well, no minotaur is allowed to travel through the city without his owner, to do so would draw attention from the guards who would capture or kill you. Remember, most of your kind are mindless beasts. Also, with my death you would be resold at auction and would likely be purchases by the very man I just outbid. Besides, those customers who would want to come after are not the kind you would want to trust with your freedom. They would no doubt betray you the moment they got the chance, which would mean being resold.”
You drift into silence at that, your head tilting forward as reality starts to sink in. You are in a foreign world, trapped in a foreign body, and a slave in a foreign city, could things get any worse.
Your owner’s voice breaks your rumination, “I am curious though, how did you obtain the power of speech? Do you remember what happened?”
You look at the back of his head with mild irritation, “Nothing happened to give me speech. I was human and was turned into a minotaur.”
The man suddenly stops and turns to look at you, “Really? What can you remember from what happened? Can you describe the spell or ritual used? Were you compliant or forced? Was there anyone else involved and, if so, can you describe them?”
You shake your head, “No, no. I don’t know. I’m not even from this world. Where I come from minotaurs, centaurs, and magic don’t exist. One moment I was in a park and the next I was lost in a maze. When I stopped to rest for a while, I woke up as…this.” You gesture to yourself.
Disappointment drains the eagerness out of his voice as he sighs, “I figured as much. The experience of obtaining more intelligence than you have ever had before has resulted in your mind fabricating a story to make sense of everything.” He turns and continues walking, “It’s to be expected really, but I hoped you might remember something.”
You hurry after him, the heavy clomp of your hooves on the hard ground distracting you slightly, “I am not making it up, it is the truth!”
“And I do not doubt that is what you believe. The mind is a tricky thing, capable of making even the most fanciful of imaginings seem real when such is truly not the case.” Before you can argue, he turns towards a plain looking door, “Here we are.” You look over the building, it is a simple and uninteresting structure that blends in with the surrounding places. You probably wouldn't have noticed it at all if he hadn't pointed it out, your attention constantly drifting past it to the other shops on the street. The man opens the door and steps inside, “Come in and watch your head. Don’t need you dulling your horns on the frame.”
Following his commands, you step into the building and are surprised by how much bigger it looks on the inside. From the street, you would have guessed it was just a tiny little shop that wasn’t worth paying attention to. The man smiles as he watches your look of shock, “I love watching people’s expressions change when they step in here, though I haven’t had the pleasure in quite some time as I like to keep this side of my shop private.” You turn your gaze from the shelves of books, jars, gems, and various objects you can’t identify to the man who owns the place, and you. He gestures to the door on the opposite side of the room, “That door connects to the public side of the shop, they only know of this as the back room. In fact, my shop is likely the largest in the entire city, though most of it is below our feet, but I happen to like my privacy and prefer to let people think that there is far less here than there really is.”
“What…do you sell, exactly?”
“Magical objects and services. Potions, totems, enchantments, tomes, rituals, spells, that sort of thing. Every now and then, though I get a customer who believes magic can do something impossible or asks for something they think they want but really don’t. And usually such miscommunication results in them being dissatisfied and angry, which, like I said before, is why I need you.”
Hope returns to you in a flash and excitement fills your booming voice, “So you’re a wizard? Does that mean you can turn me back into a human?”
He shrugs as he begins unpacking his bag, placing items on the shelves, “Yes and theoretically. I can’t turn you back into something you never were.” He holds his hand up before you can object, “I do not believe in other worlds, at least nothing like you describe, for if they really do exist and it is as easy to move between them as you say then they would be more well-known, at least among the magical community. Or at the very least, heard of in legends or stories. And I can assure you, that neither is the case.” Your shoulders slump with disappointment, “In addition, no one that I know of has successfully turned a human into a minotaur and still maintained their intelligence for more than a few hours. No one knows why it doesn’t seem to work, but believe me many have tried. As such, I believe it is more likely that someone found a way to give you intelligence, as there are plenty of spells and potions for increasing human intelligence already, and resulted in your mind tricking itself into believing that you were once a human.” Turning to face you, “However, I paid a significant amount of money to have an intelligent minotaur protect my life and livelihood, so turning you into a human would not be very beneficial for me.”
Your head tilts forward in disappointment, hope completely fading away. The man sighs at your forlorn look, “But I suppose I can try to figure something out. And studying you could give me an idea on how you were given your intelligence which would increase my revenue and pay off your cost sooner.”
You look up at that, “So, you will turn me into a human if I work off my debt?”
The man shrugs, “Sure, it seems like a reasonable enough agreement. Though this is assuming it is possible to do such a thing, I can’t be certain without further research.” He gestures towards a staircase off to your right, “Shall we head down to my lab and begin right away?”