Kafele could only watch as the sandy shores of Egypt disappeared. He tried his best to remember the way his home smelled and sounded, but soon his senses were overwhelmed by salt water and the crash of water sloshing against the sides of the longship. He flinched, hearing the crack of a whip over head and shuffled down into the brig.
He was a young man, trained to be a scribe and having picked up a bit of medicinal know-how from his brothers, who were incredibly adept surgeons. They had only lost five patients in the past two weeks, and those were very good numbers when all you had to work with were a series of drills and serrated blades.
He was literate and knew more languages than he ought to, but no amount of pleading in the hodgepodge of Scandinavina languages could save him. As his grey-green eyes beheld the hairy men, he was very happy to be bald, because he could only imagine how hard a time they must have with lice. But that was the only thing he had to be thankful for.
He nearly fell over as the line of shackled captives lurched forward. He'd never been on the water before, so it took all his willpower to stay upright. He could see a red-haired brute looking his fellow captives over and deciding if they should die rowing or die cleaning. Either way, they were going to die.
His golden-brown skin helped mask his fear, otherwise he would have been pale with fear and green around the mouth with grief-sickness. He tried to make himself look as small as possible. The scent of burnt flesh reached his nose. Were they branding the slaves? He glanced down at his shoulder. He was only wearing a linen tunic, it was hot as home, after all. As the sea breeze picked up, he deeply regretted his sparse covering.
He was a young man, trained to be a scribe and having picked up a bit of medicinal know-how from his brothers, who were incredibly adept surgeons. They had only lost five patients in the past two weeks, and those were very good numbers when all you had to work with were a series of drills and serrated blades.
He was literate and knew more languages than he ought to, but no amount of pleading in the hodgepodge of Scandinavina languages could save him. As his grey-green eyes beheld the hairy men, he was very happy to be bald, because he could only imagine how hard a time they must have with lice. But that was the only thing he had to be thankful for.
He nearly fell over as the line of shackled captives lurched forward. He'd never been on the water before, so it took all his willpower to stay upright. He could see a red-haired brute looking his fellow captives over and deciding if they should die rowing or die cleaning. Either way, they were going to die.
His golden-brown skin helped mask his fear, otherwise he would have been pale with fear and green around the mouth with grief-sickness. He tried to make himself look as small as possible. The scent of burnt flesh reached his nose. Were they branding the slaves? He glanced down at his shoulder. He was only wearing a linen tunic, it was hot as home, after all. As the sea breeze picked up, he deeply regretted his sparse covering.