His right eye, while somewhat operable, had a strange haze over it similar to a cataract and it took her several minutes before his memories became hers and she understood what had happened.
He'd been beaten so badly two years before by a soldier in the marketplace that the lining of the cornea of his right eye had been severely damaged. His left eye had been blinded several years before that by another beating at the hands of his brother Valerius.
Zarek wasn't capable of seeing much more than shadows and blurs.
Not that he cared. At least this way, he didn't have to see his own reflection.
Nor was he bothered anymore by people's scornful looks.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) Zarek shuffled across an old, crowded street in the marketplace. His right leg was stiff, barely able to bend from all the times it had been broken and not set.
Because of that, it was somewhat shorter than his left leg. His was a jarring gait that caused him to not move as swiftly as most people. His right arm was much the same way. He had little or no movement in it and his right hand was virtually useless.
In his good left hand, he clutched three quadrans. Coins that were worthless to most Romans, but they were precious to him.
Valerius had been angry at Marius and had slung Marius's purse out the window. Marius had forced another slave to pick the coins up, but three quadrans had gone uncollected. The only reason he had known about them was because they had hit him in the back.
Zarek should have surrendered the coins, but had he tried, Marius would have beaten him for it. The eldest of his brothers couldn't stand the sight of him and Zarek had learned long ago to stay as far from Marius as he could.
As for Valerius…
Zarek hated him most of all. Unlike the others, Valerius tried to help him but every time Valerius had attempted to do so, they had been caught and Zarek's punishment had escalated.
Like the rest of his family, he hated Valerius's tender heart. Better Valerius should spit on him as did the others. Because in the end, Valerius was forced to hurt him all the more to prove to everyone else that he wasn't weak.
Zarek, following the scent of baking bread, limped his way to the baker's stand. The scent was wonderful. Warm. Sweet. The thought of tasting a piece of it made his heart soar and his mouth water.
He heard people curse him as he drew near. Saw their shadows scurry away from him.
He didn't care. Zarek knew how repulsive he was. He'd been told so since the hour of his birth.
Had he ever been given a choice, he would have left himself, too. But as it was, he was stuck in this lame, scarred body.
He just wished he could go deaf as well as blind. Then he wouldn't have to hear their ringing insults.
Zarek approached what he thought might be a young man, standing over a basket of bread.
"Get away from here!" the young man snarled.
"Please, master," Zarek said, making sure to keep his blurry gaze on the ground. "I've come to buy a
slice of bread.
"
"We have nothing for you, wretch.
"
Something hard hit him in the head.
Zarek was so accustomed to pain that he didn't even flinch. He tried to hand his coins to the man, but
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) something hit his arm and knocked the precious coins from his grasp.
Desperate for a piece of bread that was fresh, Zarek fell to his knees to collect the money. His heart pounded. He squinted as best he could, trying to find them.
Please! He had to have his coins! No one would ever give him any more and there was no telling if or when Marius and Valerius would fight again.
He searched frantically through the dirt.
Where was his money?
Where?
He'd only found one of the coins when someone hit him across the back with what felt like a broom.
"Get out of here!" a woman snarled. "You're driving off our customers."
Too used to beatings to notice the broom strikes, Zarek searched for his other two coins.
Before he could find them, he was kicked hard in the ribs.
"Are you deaf?" a man asked. "Get out of here, you worthless beggar, or I'll call the soldiers."
That was one threat Zarek took seriously. His last encounter with a soldier had cost him his right eye. He didn't want to lose what little sight he had left.
His heart lurched as he remembered his mother and her scorn.
But more than that, he remembered the way his father had reacted once they had returned him home after the soldiers had finished beating him.
His father's punishment had made theirs seem merciful.
If he were discovered out in the city again, there was no telling what his father would do. He didn't have permission to be outside the grounds of their villa. Let alone the fact that he had three stolen coins.
Well, only one now.