Caught

“You will cast the net into the sea and pray the catch is plenty,” the Slavemaster ordered. She was a tall, witty woman with quite an authoritive voice. Her crooked nose suggested she either had a very abusive husband or she had been punched in the face by rebellious slaves many times. Both conclusions were realistic. She held herself high and proud and her eyes were a sharp, ethereal green. Every slave on the boat resisted eye contact as she walked by. She continued in a harsh voice, “If you do not catch the required amount you will be flogged until your lesson is learned. Is that clear?”

 There wasn’t an answer. No servant here was supposed to have a voice. Those who spoke out in the past revealed themselves as strong-willed, dangerous, and free-thinking. The newest slaves knew this. Most of the slaves on the boat today were fresh, stolen from their homes. Fifteen of these new ones were still tied down and being initiated into slavery. I was number twelve. I watched as the Slavemaster walked by, hiding my eyes from her. I could feel her glare down at me before she continued down the line. I continued scanning the large ship. Not far off were the seasoned slaves. There were only four of them, and of these four three had their tongues removed. It was a common practice. Silencing happened to most of the slave population once they were working for more than five years. I knew this from my schooling in my home country. Sadly, I would never finish my studies.

 The crack of a whip split the silence and I forced myself not to flinch. I glanced up, meeting the gaze of an Anu, one of the slave traders and punishers. He smiled as he held the whip, wiping the blood off. The slave in front of him hurriedly pulled on the rope, tightening the sail. His hands were cut, bleeding and covered in blisters. The Anu put his whip on his belt, set one more glare on the slave, and started toward me. His black eyes had no compassion in them. They were holes in his face. I immediately put my eyes down, staring at the wood beneath me.  Fear sent a chill down my spine. I had made a mistake.

 “Raise your head.” The order was sent in a harsh, rusty voice. I didn’t want to raise my head, but obedience was part of survival here. I saw everyone else avert their gaze, silent as the grave. They didn’t want to take part in this. I understood completely, and lifted my head. The Anu stood in front of me, his black robes hiding most of his figure. But I could still see the lean muscle beneath. He was going to punish me. It was like looking a dog in the eye. I had challenged him and now I was going to see the teeth. But even with my face in full view I made sure to keep my eyes trained on the deck, on his boot-clad feet.

 He knelt down, quickly grabbing my jaw in one of his hands. I felt like a child. His grip was rough, bruising my skin. But I didn’t move.

 “Not so quick to challenge me now, are you?” He mused, throwing me to the deck as he stood up. The rough wood scratched my cheek and my head throbbed. My hair made a sunray on the deck, black against the dark brown. I wanted to glare at the man for doing this to me, to make me look so pathetic. But I had to bite my tongue. Not only for my sake, but his as well as he cowered over me. “Don’t want a pretty face like that getting ruined, do we?”

My arms were tied behind my back and my legs had gone numb long ago. I could do nothing but lay there, trying to force the anger back as he walked away. I was grateful he had shown me mercy and not made an example of me.

 “Are you okay?”

 I heard the whisper off to my left and shifted over to see the daring soul. A girl about my age was looking straight at me. She was also tied and waiting for instruction. She had long, dark hair and brown eyes. Her oval face was an olive color, but she didn’t have a trace of fear on her. And her question startled me. It was dangerous to talk at all. So I could only guess she wasn’t accustomed to Allaun traditions.

 I did the unthinkable and answered her, “Yes, I’m fine.”

 She blinked, confused. I knew why. My accent was uncommon and it always surprised people at first. After all, not many came from the land I belonged to. It was very far away.

 I felt a sharp pain in my heart. I might never see my home again.

 Farther up the line, near the beginning, another Anu picked a boy up by his short hair. The boy was about fourteen years of age, only a few years younger than everyone assumed I was. He didn’t squirm or fight but stared defiantly at his captor. His hands were in fists at his sides.

 The Anu was tall and built, his tanned skin showing years of experience on the unforgiving sea. He held the boy like he was picking up a kitten by its scruff. Still the boy did not cower or beg.

 “Fool,” the girl whispered, watching.

 I agreed with her. This boy would be punished severely. He might even lose his life if he continued his obvious defiance. It made me wonder just what he was thinking. This was not being brave; this was being stupid and reckless.

 The Slavemaster hurried over to the Anu, whispering in his ear for a brief moment. I watched as, miraculously, the boy was set back down. He stared up at them, hatred in every inch of his body. I wondered why they didn’t at least whip him. What was so different about this slave?

 “He was foolish to show defiance,” the girl murmured.

 “Why was he let go?” I asked her.

Her brow furrowed. “Don’t you know?”

 I thought about it. Nothing came to mind. We were all new slaves from different lands. We were all of many cultures and the oldest was about thirty years old, at the end of the line. The youngest was at the front, looking to be about six or eight. And she was crying into the deck again. I could not think of a connection.

 As my silence stretched out, she smiled. “We are not ordinary slaves. Each of us is different with certain…roles in our countries.” She nodded to the front of the line, where a small blond boy knelt, seemingly devastated. “That is Korrin, and he is next in line for the throne to Ragvok. That is why he has not been punished for the tears he has shed. And the girl at the front is Kristyn, Korrin’s sister.”

 “And the others?” I asked, surprised. How had they managed to capture a prince and princess? It was unheard of.

 “I do not know them all.”

 I sighed. Of course not. These were all strangers to me. How could she possibly know them all?

 She continued, “But I can tell you the ones I do know.”

 I nodded.

 “The obvious rebel of the group up there is Tonte, and he supposedly has mystical abilities to heal the sick. That girl, there,” she nodded to a girl about sixteen years old, with curly red hair and a pixie-like face, “is Sadne, sister to the prince of Norden.”

 “And what of you?” I asked her.

 “I am the queen of Abberdon,” she stated simply, her smile falling into a deep frown. “And I was stolen from my home, leaving it in chaos.”

 I could not help the shock that went through me. A queen? How? Surely she was only eighteen? She could not possibly be so old. After all the way she was set, she should be younger than me.

 “But you can call me Eve.” Her eyes met mine. “And now I must ask you who you are. And why you are traveling with royalty, famous assassins, and beings with strange gifts,” she narrowed her gaze. “I am sure you are not royalty, nor do you seem the type to kill others for payment. You have strange eyes and a strange aura round about you.”

 I shook my head, feeling the wood rub against my black hair, catching in a few spots. “I cannot tell you why they would want me, for that is my secret. But I can give you my name. I am Athena Rayne Forden, from the land of Awylin.”

 “Awylin?” Eve echoed. “What sort of land is that? I have never heard of such a place.”

 “It is very far and we do not get visitors, let alone raids from Allaun.”

 “So you know the place we are going to?”

 I closed my eyes. “Unfortunately, yes.”

 Allaun was a place of horrible slavery. It was a beautiful land but it was ruled by wicked people. It was a miserable place to live. And the only reason they continued to capture such a large number of slaves was due to such a harsh work load. It had been said that at least five out of ten slaves died within a year of work. I knew I could handle the load, for I was stronger than I looked. But all the same, it would kill me in the end. It was very likely I would die long before I could raise children. That is, if I had a normal life span. After all, most normal humans were alive up to eighty years. I was supposed to live for much longer than that. Awylin had a very different way of time and every resident had been alive longer than me. The eldest was about six thousand years of age, and she did not look a day over fifty. I was one of the new generations. The only one born in the past three hundred years. Among my people I was a jewel of the land. And now I might never go back. Awylin would be devastated.

 “Well,” Eve said, “This shall be a fun journey into strange lands. I know they will not work us, for we are far too valuable. So I only wonder what they want.”

 I agreed. What could they want with such a diverse group of people? What could they want with me?

 “How old are you?” I asked Eve, pushing the other thoughts to the back of my mind.

 “I am about seventeen years old. Why do you ask, Athena?”

 “You seem young for a queen.”

She smiled. “I just recently came into the role. I am in the midst of learning. My father and mother never came back from a voyage over the sea.”

 “I am sorry for your loss,” I whispered. Awylin had rarely seen death and so we all took it very seriously.

 Eve got a strange expression. “So tell me more of your land. Where is Awylin?”

 I pinched my lips together. “It’s hard to explain, for I have never left the island.”

 “So it’s an island?”

 “Yes. And it is a very beautiful place to live.” I wouldn’t give her too much information. I had, in fact, been off the island once. I visited Norden. It was a terrifying experience but necessary. I just did not want to tell any stranger about my home.  The fewer visitors we had, the better.

 It was truly astonishing that anyone from Allaun could find Awylin. The island was at the border of the edge of the world. Right before the land split into the heavens and the places of gods. I had been to the end of the land once, and the dark abyss lead into a land of stars. A golden pathway stretched far as the eye could see. I had been told that, at the end of the path, the gods rested.

 “What of yourself? And your people? How do you live?” Eve snapped me out of my thoughts and back to the big vessel.

 I thought about what to say. I needed to word everything carefully and be as vague as possible. I didn’t want to mention my parents or my elders. Everyone there was part of a large family. We did not have a million people, more of about five thousand. And the one closest to my age was three hundred and twenty four years old. It was a little bit of a lonely childhood.

 “Eve, I do not know you or your land. In time I might tell you more. But you must understand that, for now, I am doing my best to protect my people from future invaders.” I was bold in my words. I knew she would be offended, as royalty always is when diverted from what they wanted. I didn’t care.

 She frowned. This was not the answer she had expected. “And your age?”

 “I am the same age as you, I would imagine. I will be eighteen soon, however.”

 “Oh really? That’s nice.”

 We stopped talking as another Anu walked by. I saw small drops of blood on his hands. It made me sick. How could anyone live their life with so much pain? Surely it was hard to be so cruel?

 The boat gently swayed and the wind was light. I watched the other slaves fish with their nets, straining their muscles as they heaved in a load. The sun beat on their bare backs, the scars and cuts standing out like blood on snow. As I watched them, my mind drifted, and I waited for the end of my long journey to Allaun.