"We could take her to the slavers, and sell her off as a criminal," Suriya suggested, wincing as she rolled back her shoulder; she suspected she had sprained something.
Einar shook his head, punctuating his thoughts with a loud burp. "Grandmother freed Vetna years ago and made her a citizen. Selling her back into slavery would need criminal charges."
With Grandmother's head resting against his thigh, Kasim listened to Suriya and Einar with great interest. What they said was far beyond the common sense of a twenty first century earthling like him.
Suriya nodded, grimacing at the painful idea. "Considering her age and injuries, selling her as a criminal slave won't earn us much anyway..."
"Not even enough to cover the costs of filing charges," Einar remarked, coldly scrutinizing Vetna on the floor.
Kasim side-eyed the oblivious pair as they casually talked about selling Vetna as if she was a sack of potatoes. It was clear that slavery was very much still alive in this world.
After deliberation, Suriya agreed to confine Vetna in a closed-off courtyard, assigning her menial tasks as punishment, such as cleaning chamber pots.
"We should go out and buy some chain then, also we'll need to hire a caretaker for Grandmother." Suriya frowned slightly as she calculated the expenses in her head. "How much money do we have?"
Einar groaned and swiped his hand through his hair, summoning his sober mind to recall what was in the ledger.
Remembering the line he'd seen at the bottom of the ledger Einar showed him, Kasim said, "There's sixty-five Dyn left over after taxes and water payments."
Einar eyed him before confirming Kasim's words with a nod.
Suriya forget her momentary surprise at Kasim's memory and sighed. She felt it was a disgrace that a noble family with an honorable name like Ish-Kanaan could barely afford to buy a servant for their elder.
Einar dragged Vetna by her arm to a nearby courtyard and then tied the old doors shut with a strap of leather from around his waist.
"Let's go to the Kormesh company, their slaves are better quality," Suriya said as she dusted off her dress and used one of the folds of fabric to wrap around her head like a headscarf.
"They're too expensive. We'll go to the Tanasi traders." Einar said.
Suriya scowled at him, "We're buying a caretaker for our grandmother, we need to prioritize quality. Unless you want something like this to happen again." She motioned to their sleeping Grandmother on the floor.
"Tanasi has quality slaves, you just need to have a good eye for them," Einar rebutted, resolute in his decision.
"And you think you have a good eye?" Suriya's eyes widened in disbelief at his audacity. "Didn't that woman you bought with a month's worth of our earnings run away with our last porcelain sets?" She pointed her accusatory finger at him Einar.
Their argument faded into background noise for Kasim who was deep in thought, analysing what he knew about the society he was living in. A society where is was common to employ servants, slavery was also very much alive. The Currency was Dyn, and they were very much lacking in it.
Seeing as they were getting ready to leave, Kasim dusted off his black harem pants. A pair of sandals in the corner of the room caught his eye. He slipped his feet into them and found that the grooves fit aroun dhis toes him perfectly, they must be his.
"You're coming with us?" Suriya asked, a glint of surprise brightening her features.
Kasim shrugged, trying to mask his unease. "Why not?"
While Einar went to retrieve the money from his room, Suriya and Kasim walked together to the front door.
The front doors were wide enough for several people standing side by side to enter at the same time, and thrice as tall as Suriya. Made of hard black wood that was reinforced with metal plates and bolts. The doors were so heavy that Kasim and Suriya had to push with all their might until finally a space big enough for them to squeeze through opened. Such unreasonably large doors were not meant to be opened by ordinary people. He imagined that in the past, during the time when parties were held in front of the angel statue, strong guards were stationed at the door, opening and closing it at their master's beckoning.
Outside, on the ground to the left of the door, an old beggar wearing tattered rags and a grass hat was dozing off. The creak of the huge doors opening startled him awake. He immediately bowed his head to Suriya and Kasim.
"May Ish-Kanaan sleep well tonight." His dry throat croaked out the strange greeting.
Suriya didn't bat an eyelid at this. "Remind me to bring him some food and water later."
"Who is he?" Kasim couldn't help but stare at the old man's eyes, they were glazed over and milky in color. A feeling of recognition stirred within him but he couldn't find the source.
Suriya's expression softened as she glanced back at Kasim. "Einar mentioned that you were having trouble remembering things..." Her warm brown eyes glossed over him with concern.
"He's the beggar that lives in front of the Ish-Kanaan palace. He's always been here. Sometimes I think he'll be here long after we're gone." She chuckled softly as a gentle breeze passed by, a few strands of her chestnut hair glided out of her headscarf. Kasim was once again reminded of how beautiful she was.
The large doors creaked open and Einar stepped out, He squinted under the blazing sun while striding towards them. "Let's go."
*****
"How do you not even remember the name of the city you live in?" Einar snapped after Kasim asked his latest question.
"Maybe we should take him to the medicine hall." Suriya pointed at the three-story building across the street with domed roofs and people bustling about outside.
They had just passed by a street filled with bazaars so the air was rich with the smell of spices and perfumes.
Now that they were close to the medicine hall, the earthy smell of herbs and salts wafted onto the street, cleansing the air and somewhat relieving the dreadful heat.
"And pay for his treatment with what money?" Einar said through his grin while waving at a passing woman, who resembled the woman Kasim had seen on Einar's lap earlier that day.
"The money you used to buy that concubine! Or how about the money we could have gotten from selling that porcelain she absconded with." Suriya barked back.
After being with them for less than a day, Kasim was bored of their quarrelling. He walked ahead with their destination in sight. The signboard of the 'Tanasi Traders' was a deep purple color that stuck out from the side of a sandy-colored triple-story building.
People were entering the building in droves. Kasim became part of the fast paced crowd and drifted past the entrance while the greeters at the door shouted their welcomes. They were advertising their new stock of beautiful tribeswomen who 'would make great concubines', and 'strong tribesmen who would make great workers'. Kasim wondered which tribe exactly these slaves came from, and whether they were being sold by force or not. Could this world have a system where people could leverage their own bodies to pay for debts? Kaism and Einar already mentioned that people could be sold into slavery once they commited a crime.
Inside the building, men, women and children stood together in large cages with price boards tied around their necks. Even though he expected it, it was still jarring to see people being sold in real life, and not in history textbooks. Kasim forced aside his discomfort, rolling his shoulders to loosen up a bit, then continued down the large hall.
Near the entrance, the aforementioned beautiful tribeswomen stood in a line. They wore strategically placed strips of silk, or skimpy dresses that exposed much of their shiny, smooth skin, thin waists, slender arms and legs. Kasim guessed they had been slicked in oil before being put on display. Their eyes were lined with charcoal, something Kasim noticed was a beauty trend among women in this city. Some smiled and fluttered their long eyelashes at the spectating men and women, while other girls kept their gazes fixed on the floor, obviously uncomfortable, which seemed to be a preference for some men. A Tanasi employee stood in front of their cages detailing each girl's height, weight, origin and whether she was a virgin or not. Their prices ranged from 120 Dyn to 500 Dyn according to the characteristics the workers mentioned. All of the girls who were declared virgins had a starting price above 300 Dyn.
Kasim turned away from the energised crowd as the bidding war was started, and kept on walking deeper into the building, a bitter taste permeating in his mouth. As normal as everyone was treating this, the sight of people in cages gnawed at his conscience.
Another group of potential buyers walked around the cages containing muscular men. The employee pointed out that such tribesmen were particularly suitable for guarding their houses and shops, but were also perfect for more menial labour like farming and gardening. Their prices ranged from 80 Dyn to 220 Dyn. The employee also mentioned that they were all young and in good health, all of them would father healthy children who could also make great workers. Which begged the question, could children be born into slavery?
The muscular men inside the cages seemed oddly docile as the workers ordered them to turn around or position themselves in a certain way. One employee even casually opened a slaves mouth, showing the potential buyer his teeth. Kasim glanced at the leather whips secured at the workers' belts.
Turning away from the cages of tribesmen, Kasim walked deeper into building.