Chapter 5

Rani walked down the steps, nerves twisting her stomach. When her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the lantern, she swore.

Rows and rows of humans lined the lower deck. The air stank of vomit, blood, and shit, and the floor was soiled with all three. Many of the bodies were thin, clearly from a lack of food and their huge eyes told a story of desperation and capture. Rani glanced at their torn, dirty clothes, some of them not even clothed at all, and noted from their style that these poor, pitiful creatures were Afarans, from the other side of the world.

"Get Captain Jones," said Rani.

While they waited, Rani's gaze fell on a small girl, no more than twelve. She only had on a bare dress, no shoes, and a necklace made of small seashells. She looked so miserable that Rani's heart cracked a little, although she couldn't cry in front of the men. Her eyes didn't seem to plead for help; the little girl had simply given up hope.

"Good gods in the skies," said the captain as the stench hit his nose and the misery engulfed him. He surveyed the scene, of bodies whipped and tortured, emaciated from not eating, and shiny with fever.

"Afarans," he muttered. He wiped his face with his hand.

"Captain," said Rani. "We have to take them back to land."

The Captain glanced at Rani, a look of frank incredulity on his face.

"Boy, the Afarans are worth damn near the price of sugar," he said. "Do you know how much they'd fetch at the Gallikian ports?"

The other men nodded, and Rani was silent for a moment. "It just doesn't seem right," she said.

"Right?" said the captain. "Boy, you're in the wrong business if you're worried about right. These are Afarans." He spat on the floor. "They're barbarous savages; they eat their meat raw, when they're not cooking human flesh over their fires. There no more trustworthy'n the demons of the waters. And you want to let them go?"

Rani flushed. She knew she was dangerously close to getting clubbed over the head for speaking out of turn. She realized that Afarans were the ones who labored in the palace kitchens, did every speck of cleaning, and worked at Rani's personal handservants. The Afarans basically did every dirty job in the city: picked up trash, cleaned the gutters of refuse, and cleaned the public latrines of filth. They performed the hardest labors: growing sugarcane, for one, which was brutal, backbreaking work. Rani knew that the Afarans were beneath her; after all, they spoke some strange, exotic tongue that no one could understand, wore their hair in curious designs, and their clothes were little more than animal hides.

But seeing them chained up at the bottom of a dirty ship, with whip marks scouring their backs, and their own shit on their legs made Rani's stomach clench. She didn't know if Afarans were fully human; they looked human, but their customs were so bizarre, so otherworldly that she harbored doubts as to whether they were really as human as she. Even so, whatever they were, they were living creatures, and Rani didn't want to see even chattel treated this way and said so.

"No creature should be treated like this, even if they are Afarans," she said.

"You're soft, Rani," said the captain. "You're the softest one of us, because of your...age." Sex, she could hear in his voice. The softest one, because you're a woman.

The remark stung, but Rani would feel the pain of it later. "As young as I am, I have plenty of years left to harden," she said. "It's in your best interest to release these pathetic creatures onto the island."

The captain paused, waited for Rani to continue. She moved her head to indicate they step away from Fenris and the others.

"I'll reimburse the men for the cargo," she whispered. "This raid won't be a loss for you or them, and we won't have nightmares about these people later."

"I've stopped dreaming long ago, you idealistic, arrogant wench," said the captain. "But fine. Do as you please. But just know you won't always have your palace gold to throw around."

"Thank you, captain."

The crew of the Trident sailed back to shore. They pulled into a quiet, deserted spot on the north side of the island, where the forest was the thickest.

As the captive men, women, and children descended from the ship, Rani pulled the little girl with the seashell necklace aside.

"I can't give you much," Rani said. She knew she must sound like babble to this girl, but she hoped she could convey what she meant. "But I can give you this."

Rani untied the sheath that held her knife to her ankle. She had many knives and swords both strapped to her body and in the ship. Rani held it out to the girl. I could give it to one of the men, she thought. But then again, men have ways of protecting themselves that little girls don't.

The wide-eyed girl took it, wrapped it around her own ankle. Rani began to walk away when the girl made a noise.

Wait! She cried. Use this only in dire need. Rani did not understand the word, but she knew the meaning.

The little girl untied the necklace around her neck and held it out to Rani. The delicate shells clinked against one another, and the leather strap was soft from wear. Rani accepted it, tears gathering in her eyes. She put it on and made her way back to the ship.