“My people will come,” said Tam. “You have made a mistake in taking us.”
The man laughed, sun-darkened skin stretching tight over his sharp cheekbones. “You Gendishen are all the same. You think too highly of yourselves. You are no one now. Your people, if you have any, will not find you. If they come looking, maybe we will throw them in a cage, too.” He cackled at his own joke as he walked away.
As Tam and Uthey waited out the day, two more pairs of prisoners joined them. One of them was a young woman who looked terrified. The man she was chained to pulled her into his lap as he lounged against the bars. He ran his fingers over the bare flesh of her arms and neck. Her dress had been ripped down the front, and she held it together where it had been hastily tied in knots.
The man looked up at Tam and grinned. “At least they gave me a consolation prize.”
Tam looked at the woman. “Do you know this man?”
She blinked at him, then cried, “I don’t know what you’re saying. I don’t know what anyone is saying.”
“You’re Ashaiian?” he said.
The woman’s face lit, and she smiled for the first time. She struggled to climb out of the man’s lap to get closer to Tam. “Please, tell me what’s happening. Where are we?”
“My name is Tamarin Blackwater. I’m also from Ashai. What is your name?”
“Malena.”
“Malena, I believe we are on the Isle of Sand. They intend to sell us for slaves.”
She shook her head vigorously. “But, I didn’t do anything wrong! I’m not a criminal. I was visiting my sister and her husband in Jerea, and these men came in and took us. I don’t know what happened to her. Why did they take us?”
“Are you aware that King Caydean has started a war?”
“With Jerea?”
“With everyone. Ashaiians are no longer safe in the other kingdoms. We are refugees.”
“They must let us go home,” she cried.
He shook his head. “It is not safe there, either. Caydean has declared war on his own people. He has arrested or killed over half the noble families and their retainers. Most of the commoners have been drafted into the army or forced to work in support of the army.” Seeing her horrified expression, he said, “But, there is hope. The True King of Ashai has established a new kingdom—the Kingdom of Cael. All refugees are welcome there.”
One of the other prisoners laughed. With a Channerían accent, he said, “The True King? The Kingdom of Cael? They are myths. No such place exists. You look for saviors where there are none.”
Tam scowled at the man. “It does exist. I’ve been there, and I serve the True King. He will come for me.”
The man laughed again. “You? This True King, the savior of Ashai, will come for you?” He looked at Malena. “Do not listen to him. He has lost his mind.”
Tam pointed to his head. “I haven’t lost my mind,” he hissed. “There is a hole in it. They put it there while I was on Cael.”
The others shared a knowing look. Malena’s face fell, and tears welled in her eyes. Tam leaned forward to grasp her hand. “I’m not mad, and I’m not lying. When we escape, I will take you there.”
Her smile did not reach her eyes. “Thank you,” she said, as she patted his hand. “That is kind.” By her patronizing tone, Tam knew she did not believe him.
That night, the slavers did not vacate the market. They gathered around fire pits at the intersections, eating and laughing. The prisoners had not been fed that night, and Tam’s stomach burned. Worse than the hunger was the thirst. After weeks in the ship’s hold and another in the dark cave, he knew that if they did not escape soon, he would be too weak to try.
“They do it on purpose, you know.”
Tam rolled his head toward Uthey. “Do what?”
“Keep us hungry and thirsty. Keep us weak.”
Tam wondered if he had spoken his thoughts aloud. “So that we can’t escape?”
“Nah, they’ve got that under control,” Uthey said with a lift of his arm and jingle of the chain. “They think if we’re miserable, we’ll be thankful to our new masters when they feed us. We’re less likely to give them trouble. You can’t be grateful for what you have unless you know how much worse it could be.”
Tam said, “Maybe that works for some, but I remember how much better it can be.”
“Then you’ve lived a blessed life. I guess being a king’s man’ll do it for you. Yeah, I heard your nonsense. I don’t speak Ashaiian, but I understand a bit of the trade language. I got the gist of it. I don’t care if you’re mad, so long as you don’t get me killed.”
“I’m not mad,” said Tam. “I need to find some healers. The mages cast a spell to put a hole in my mind so that I can learn things faster. If they don’t close it soon, I’ll die. It’s probably too late as it is, but I’m not ready to give up.”
“That’d be a neat trick—having things spill into your mind. I don’t believe you, but even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. You’re not going to find any healers. From what I hear, Verril doesn’t have many—only a few for the king and court. No way there’s any around here.”
Tam growled in frustration. “You don’t believe me? A few months ago, I didn’t speak a word of Gendishen.”
Uthey shrugged. “Maybe you did, maybe you didn’t. Maybe you’re a fast learner. Why don’t you do us a favor and learn Verrili. That’d be somewhat useful.”
“That’s the problem. I don’t choose what I learn. It all just flows in—all of it! I didn’t notice at first. The hole was smaller, maybe. Lately, I can feel it. Everything goes in, but it’s a mess. I can’t sort through it. It’s tearing my mind apart. It’s why I get these headaches and nosebleeds.”
“I think you’ve got a tumor. You know what that is? My cousin’s friend’s sister’s mother had one. She went to a healer. He said it’s where a lump grows in your brain that doesn’t belong there. It makes you think all kinds of crazy things. Gives you headaches and nosebleeds, too.”
“It’s not a tumor,” said Tam.
Uthey shrugged again. “Of course, you would say that. You have a tumor.”
The next morning, they were marched through the passage again. After visiting an open pit where they could relieve themselves without privacy, they were lined up for inspection. Men and women peered into their mouths and ears and poked them as nearly every inch of their bodies was examined. Tam was glad they had at least been allowed to wear clothes even if his boots had been taken. The prisoners who resisted were beaten, and those that did not live up to the slavers’ standards were taken away, their partners reassigned. After being thoroughly humiliated, the prisoners were returned to their cages. The others who had shared the space with Uthey and Tam were still there, but an additional set of strangers had been added to the cage that was smaller than a horse stall.
After a while, a commotion erupted farther down the lane. The hoots and hollers moved closer, and Tam peered through the bars to find the source. A couple of men were walking alongside a cart pulled by a donkey. The cart was piled high with slop. Tam’s stomach grumbled, and where before he would never have considered eating what looked like a tavern’s refuse, he was now elated to see such a bounty. The cart stopped in front of their cage, and one of the men used a bucket to scoop out some of the slop. Then, he threw it into their cage through the bars, not even bothering to open the door. The prisoners descended on the rubbish like rabid animals, Tam included. He briefly worried that Malena would go hungry until one man tried to claim her score, and she bit him. Tam sat cross-legged with his stash in his lap, shoving chunks of old cabbage and hard biscuits into his mouth.
Uthey said, “Who’s the woman?”
Tam gave him a questioning glance.
With a nod, Uthey said, “That’s not something a man buys for himself.”