5 Tanasi Traders

Unaware of the eyes watching him, Kasim weaved through the bustling hall, occasionally checking the price boards. The deeper he went into the building, the more the prices dropped mirroring the deteriorating state the slaves were kept in. The cages further back were neglected and filthy. Stains of who knows what marred the stone floors. The stale scent of bodily odour overpowered the perfume that had been sprayed at the entrance of the shop.

Finally, Kasim reached an area where the prices ranged from low thirties to high fifties. According Einar they would be lucky to find someone suitable for 40 Dyn.

"How rare." Mr Tanasi murmured, watching the young adolescent who had easily passed by the display of beautiful concubines and wandered into the section where ordinary house slaves were kept.

Often, young men were sent on errands by their families to buy slaves. And due to Mr Tanasi's calculated displays, the young men who had never so much as been exposed to a woman's ankle let alone clothing that showed off her entire body, would succumb to purchasing some of Tanasi's beautiful stock instead of the simple maid or cook they had been sent out to buy.

Often times the youths didn't have the required money on hand. After all, they were only sent out with enough to purchase a normal slave. Mr Tanasi smiled. How easy it was to bring up the loan contract to those lovestruck fools. When they heard they could take home the beautiful concubines without paying in full, and instead pay in manageable monthly instalments with a little bit of interest, how their eyes lit up.

Even if the young men made the purchase without their family's consent, since they signed they contract, their families were also responsible for making sure the payments came in on time. If they managed to pay the instalments in full, they ended up buying the concubine for far more than she was worth. If they were late on a payments, the Tanasi group would send men to retrieve the concubine. In that case, the money already paid was safely in Tanasi pockets, and Mr Tanasi could resell the concubine to make even more profits. A few of the women had been through this process a number of times.

Mr Tanasi watched the young lad stop in front of a cage filled with cheap family slaves; their ages ranged from twelve to fourty. Mr Tanasi's curiosity peaked, he inched closer.

Kasim peered at one woman who was sitting, leaning against her cage. The price board around her neck was 29 Dyn.

Noticing Kasim's presence Runa swiftly scanned him. He was plainly dressed but his face and hands were too clean to just be an ordinary commoner. He was too young for a concubine, of course that didn't stop boys his age from pulling out their savings to buy a woman. But seeing as he made it all the way to her cage near the back, he was probably looking for a worker. She groaned internally. Working for a poor family could be even worse than becoming a concubine. Not that she could become a concubine with her scars.

"Hello, miss." Kasim's voice held a softness that took Runa by surprise. Since she had been confined to this cage she had only ever been addressed as 'you' or 'slave'.

"I'm looking for a woman to take care of my Grandmother. She's old and frail but needs to be attentively taken care of. What do you think?"

Runa was taken aback. No buyer had ever asked her opinion. Blinking rapidly, she noted the boy's polite demeanor, a sign of wealth in scholarly circles. If he hailed from such a family, she wouldn't mind working for them.

"Taking care of an elder isn't hard." She replied, sitting up straight.

"Can you cook, and clean?" Kasim asked treating this exchange like a job interview.

"I've cooked for a family of six, and a family of nine before that. I never got any complaints. And I've worked as a maid for a butcher shop, I'm good with stains."

Kasim was pretty satisfied with her at this point, but comparing her price to the rest of the women in her cage, she was the cheapest by a good 10 Dyn. Even though she looked healthy and had experience, albeit for the dark circles under her eyes, there had to be a reason for her low price.

Thinking of what Grandmother had gone through, even if he wasn't her real grandson, she deserved to live her last years in comfort. Having a good caretaker was essential to that.

"I'm sorry if it's rude, but why is your price so low?"

Runa raised her sleeve, revealing discolored flesh, scars from extensive burns.

Kasim braced himself as he felt someone approaching. The man in dark robes had a round face with plum cheeks seemed endearing. Strangely, the stout man made Kasim uncomfortable.

Runa scrambled to her feet and submissively bowed her head.

"Women's prices rely on their beauty." He informed Kasim with a gleeful smile that pushed up his cheeks transforming his eyes into narrow slits.

"If her beauty is distorted, then her price is halved." The man explained.

According to him, she would have been worth 58 Dyn if not for her scars.

Kasim bowed his head to the man in thanks, something he'd seen Einar do on their walk to the Traders.

He waved his hand to signal that Kasim's gratitude was unnecessary.

"My name is Aldric, It's my duty to help out customers." He smiled offering his lesser-known first name for the sake of discretion.

Kasim inferred that Aldric probably worked at Tanasi Traders, which would explain the woman's reverent attitude toward him.

"Then, have you decided to purchase Runa?" Mr Tanasi asked, still smiling.

Kasim realised that with all his questioning he'd forgotten to ask the woman's name.

"I have to check with my family first." Kasim caught a glimpse of a tall ragged man near the entrance of the hall, lingering around the display of tribeswomen. Next to him a beautiful women in a head scarf pointed her finger angrily.

They wouldn't be hard to persuade considering Runa's price.

"I'll wait here to reserve Runa for you while you complete the transaction with the sellers." Mr Tanasi offered.

Kasim bowed his head again, nodding appreciatively, but he didn't see the point since there was nobody else back here. With each step away from Aldric, Kasim felt a sense of relief. Something was unsettling about that smiling man. Then again, perhaps anyone involved in selling people for a living had to possess a certain uncomfortable quality.

The smile dropped from Mr Tanasi's face, revealing the beady eyes above his cheeks. He turned to Runa who immediately shuffled back a few steps.

"I wonder how long it will be this time, Runa." His small black eyes seemed to bore holes through her. "Perhaps it will be another fire this time. Maybe he and his family will drown in the channels. I hope it's more interesting than the last time."

Runa remained deathly quiet, her gut twisting in her belly.

A genuine smile tugged at the corners of his thick lips. "I jest, I jest... When they die, and how it happens, I'll hear it all from you when you come back."

Growing tired of teasing the girl, Mr. Tanasi retrieved the keys from his robe. As he flipped through them, relishing the hollow jangle the metals made, his mind dwelled on the handsome youth, Kasim. Observing Kasim's mannerisms and attire, Mr. Tanasi guessed he was the apprentice of a scholar of literature or of a Magresh law official. The boy had been controlled enough not to succumb to the concubines and had easily singled out Runa, the best product Mr. Tanasi sold for that price range. He would have grown to be a splendid young man, but he'd fallen into such a death trap. Mr. Tanasi suppressed a laugh, but he couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face.