4 Al-Saraya

"We could take her to the slavers, and sell her off as a criminal," Suriya suggested, wincing as she tried to straighten her posture; she suspected she had sprained something.

Einar shook his head, punctuating his thoughts with a loud burp. "Grandmother freed Vetna years ago and made her a citizen. Selling her back into slavery would need criminal charges."

With Grandmother's head resting against his thigh, Kasim listened to Suriya and Einar with great interest.

Suriya nodded, grimacing at the painful idea. "Considering her age and injuries, selling her as a criminal slave won't earn us much anyway."

"Not even enough to cover the costs of filing charges," Einar remarked, scrutinizing Vetna on the floor.

Kasim side-eyed the oblivious pair as they casually talked about selling Vetna as if she was a sack of potatoes. It was clear that slavery was very much still alive in this world.

After deliberation, Suriya agreed to confine Vetna in a closed-off courtyard, assigning her menial tasks as punishment, such as cleaning chamber pots.

"We should go out and buy some chain then, also we'll need to hire a caretaker for Grandmother." Suriya frowned slightly as she calculated the expenses in her head. "How much money do we have?"

Einar groaned and swiped his hand through his hair, summoning his sober mind to recall what was in the ledger.

Remembering the line he'd seen at the bottom of the ledger Einar showed him, Kasim said, "There's sixty-five Dyn left over after taxes and water payments."

Einar eyed him before confirming Kasim's words with a nod.

Suriya forget her momentary surprise at Kasim's memory and sighed. She felt it was a disgrace that a noble family with an honorable name like Ish-Kanaan could barely afford to buy a servant for their elder.

Einar dragged Vetna by her arm to a nearby courtyard and then tied the old doors shut with a strap of leather from around his waist.

"Let's go to the Kormesh company, their slaves are of better quality," Suriya said as she dusted off her dress and used one of the folds of fabric to wrap around her head like a headscarf.

"They're too expensive. We'll go to the Tanasi traders." Einar said.

Suriya scowled at him, "We're buying a caretaker for our grandmother, we need to prioritize quality. Unless you want something like this to happen again." She motioned to their sleeping Grandmother on the floor.

"Tanasi has quality slaves, you just need to have a good eye for them."

"And you think you have a good eye? Didn't that woman you bought with a month's worth of our earnings run away with our last porcelain sets." She pointed her accusatory finger at him.

Their argument faded into background noise for Kasim who was deep in thought, analysing what he knew about the society he was living in.

Seeing as they were getting ready to leave, Kasim dusted off his black harem pants. A pair of sandals in the corner of the room caught his eye. He slipped his feet into them and found that the grooves fit him perfectly, perhaps they were his.

"You're coming with us?" Suriya asked surprised.

Kasim shrugged, trying to mask his unease. "Why not?"

While Einar went to retrieve the money from his room, Suriya and Kasim walked together to the front door.

The front doors were large and twice as tall as Suriya. Made of hard black wood that was reinforced with metal plates and bolts. The doors were so heavy that Kasim and Suriya had to push with all their might until finally a space big enough for them to squeeze through opened.

Outside on the ground to the left of the door, an old beggar wearing tattered rags was dozing off against the wall. The creak of the huge doors closing startled him awake. He immediately bowed his head to Suriya and Kasim.

"May Ish-Kanaan sleep well tonight." His dry throat croaked out the strange greeting.

Suriya didn't bat an eyelid at this. "Remind me to bring him some water and food later."

"Who is he?"

Kasim couldn't help but stare at the old man's eyes, they were glazed over and milky in color. A feeling of recognition stirred within him but he couldn't find the source.

Suriya's expression softened as she glanced back at Kasim. "Einar mentioned that you were having trouble remembering things..." Her warm brown eyes glossed over him with concern.

"He's the beggar that lives in front of the Ish-Kanaan palace. He's always been here. Sometimes I think he'll be here long after we're gone."

She chuckled softly as a gentle breeze passed by, and a few strands of her chestnut hair glided out of her headscarf. Kasim was once again reminded of how beautiful she was. 

The large doors creaked open and Einar stepped out, He squinted under the blazing sun while striding towards them. "Let's go."

*****

"How do you not even remember the name of the city you live in?" Einar snapped after Kasim asked his latest question.

"Maybe we should take him to the medicine hall." Suriya pointed at the three-story building across the street with domed rooves and people bustling about outside.

They had just passed by a street filled with bazaars so the air was rich with the smell of spices and perfumes.

Now that they were close to the medicine hall, the earthy smell of herbs and salts wafted onto the street, cleansing the air and somewhat relieving the dreadful heat.

"And pay for his treatment with what money?" Einar said through his grin while waving at a passing woman.

"The money you used to buy that concubine! Or how about the money we could have gotten from selling that porcelain she absconded with."

After being with them for less than a day, Kasim was bored by their quarrelling. He walked ahead with their destination in sight. The signboard of the 'Tanasi Traders' was a deep purple color that stuck out from the side of a sandy colored building.

People were entering the building in droves and Kasim walked inside while the greeters at the door shouted their welcomes. They were advertising their new stock of beautiful tribeswomen who 'would make great concubines', and 'strong tribesmen who would make great workers'.

Inside the building, men, women and children stood in cages or large cells with price boards secured around their necks. Kasim sucked in a breath to stop his discomfort from showing on his face.

Near the entrance, the aforementioned beautiful tribeswomen stood in a line. They wore strategically placed strips of silk, or skimpy dresses that exposed their shiny waists, shoulders and arms. Kasim guessed they had been slicked in oil before being put on display. Their eyes were lined with charcoal, something Kasim noticed was a beauty trend among women in this city. Some smiled and fluttered their long eyelashes at the spectating men while other girls kept their gazes fixed on the floor, obviously uncomfortable, which seemed to be a preference for some men. A Tanasi employee stood in front of their cages detailing each girl's height, weight, origin and whether she was a virgin or not. Their prices ranged from 120 Dyn to 500 Dyn according to the characteristics the workers mentioned. All of the girls who were declared virgins had a starting price above 300 Dyn.

Kasim turned away from the energised crowd as the bidding war was started, and kept on walking deeper into the building, a sour taste permeating in his mouth. As normal as everyone was treating this, the sight of people in cages gnawed at his conscience.

Another group of potential buyers walked around the cages containing muscular men. The employee pointed out that such tribesmen were particularly suitable for guarding their houses and shops, but were also perfect for more menial labour like farming and gardening. Their prices ranged from 80 Dyn to 220 Dyn. The employee also mentioned that they were all young and in good health, all of them would father healthy children who could also make great workers. Which begged the question, could children be born into slavery?

The muscular men inside the cages seemed oddly docile as the workers ordered them to turn around or position themselves in a certain way. Kasim glanced at the leather whips secured at the workers' belts.

Turning away from the cages of tribesmen, Kasim walked deeper into building.