Samos

The ship’s interior was sparse. They descended down some rough wooden steps and found themselves in the cellar. On both sides, some jars were irregularly stored near bunk beds that must be used by the crew. The sailor who guided them went to the bow and made them enter a small chamber. The sailor left, leaving the door open and the Theopoulos children relaxed. It was a small room, smaller than the deck; but it was dry and laying down they all fit perfectly. Almices and Telma were still uneasy, but their escape had been exhausting. They soon surrendered to sleep.

“Let me go, damn you! Get off me! Almices, help me!” Telma's screams woke her siblings up. The first thing Almices thought was that his sister was having a nightmare. He opened his eyes to see what was happening.

“Get off my sister!” The boy jumped up to defend her, but a tremendous punch made him fall on the little ones, who were screaming in fear.

“Stay there, brat!” The bearded sailor threatened. Almices got up again and without a second thought kicked the man between his legs. The surprised crewmember squirmed and howled in pain. The young boy jumped over him. Another sailor stuck out his leg and Almices fell flat on his face besides the ladder, at Zamar’s feet. The captain of the ship, strong and arrogant, was standing above him. Almices stared at his nose. It was large, half-crushed and deflated, a token of an unfortunate encounter with a powerful opponent. A thick scar covered his forehead, ending by the left eyebrow, giving him an even more fierce appearance.

“I ordered you to let them rest. Let go of her!” The sailors became defiant when they heard the captain's order.

“It's our reward," said one of his men, who was gripping Telma’s arm Zamar pulled out a small dagger without thinking drew it across the sailor’s throat.

“Let go of her! Right now!” his tone was sharp, leaving no room for doubt. The sailor released the girl. Telma crouched crying to her brother. “You three, go up on deck and don't let me catch you down here again.” He then bowed his eyes to the young ones. “As for you two, it will be better if you returned to your compartment. I apologise for my crew. They are men of the sea and lack the manners for how to treat guests. I assure you they will not bother you again.”

The two siblings, still startled, rose up and returned to their cabin. They hugged their sisters. Nobody spoke. Frightened, they didn't know if they could trust the captain of the ship. Zamar, who watched them leave mumbling something to himself as he also headed away. Noon passed and although they had a bucket full of water in their compartment, no one came down to offer them food. They refused to ask about it. Instead, they let the day pass in silence, thinking privately that it had been a mistake to climb into this ship, sharing looks of fear until late in the afternoon.

“Can you tell me what you were thinking, assholes?” Zamar asked, as he headed toward the three sailors in the privacy of his small deckhouse. “Are your heads filled with air?” One of the sailors, the one who caught Telma, spoke.

"Captain, you told us that we’d have our spoils on this trip and we thought…"

Zamar interrupted him, angry:

"You thought! You have no idea how to think! Don't you know how valuable those kids will be in Tyre? I’m sure they’re all still virgins, and I want them to stay that way!” he emphasized this by looking directly in their eyes. “Is that clear?” The three sailors nodded. “They don’t know how to sail. I just saw their boat. They want to go to Kos and so we’ll take them there.”

“But we can’t go to Kos. They’d hang us," interrupted another of the sailors with irony.

"You don't know a thing, stupid. It’s better for everyone if they think they are free, that way they’ll be less trouble when we get to Tyre. We’ve not been very lucky on this trip, but these children are worth much more than we can even imagine. I know we haven't been in port and resting for a while, but just wait. If any of you harm them even slightly, I will leave them at the first port we dock without pay or loot. I hope that is very clear. There is a lot of money at stake and I will not allow any of you to spoil it by behaving like animals.”

The ship was heading east. He sailed throughout the day; the calm sea and the gentle wind of the northwest were favourable to them. At sunset, the captain sent the children to their accommodation. A sailor went to look for them and them, hungry and unconfident, they rushed upstairs, staring at all the crew who were in their way.

"Go ahead, my friends," Zamar greeted smiling from the door. “I hope you managed to rest, we have had a lot of work up here and thought that after the incident this morning the best thing was to let you rest until the afternoon". The siblings entered the narrow compartment and settled together on one of the benches fixed to the ground.

"Good afternoon, captain," Almices began to speak. “Why did your men act like this?” Zamar expected the question.

"You have to excuse them; they have been on board for a long time and sometimes they are a little overtaken. I have already warned them. Well, tell me, I know you want to go to Kos; I don't know how you got to the point where we picked you up.” Almices quickly told him, without going into many details, the escape from Samos and the odyssey suffered with his boat. Zamar apparently listened attentively as he estimated how much he could get for each of them at Tyre’ slave market.

"So, you’re fugitives?”

"No, not at all," Telma said, somewhat taken aback by the comment. “We are not fugitives. We left Samos because we no longer had family there, our closest family is in Kos.”

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Whatever it may be, you are now safe on my boat. Come, you must be hungry, eat a little.” He sat next to the table too and served himself a succulent roast chicken thigh. Nerisa and Janira immediately imitated him greedily eating the food. Telma and Almices glanced at each other, hesitating for a moment before joining in.

The dinner was quiet, the children recovered strength and satiated their appetite, two days had passed since their parents murder, two eternal days in the middle of the sea. They were not used to eating meat, their usual diet almost always included fish and vegetables, and the ate meat only on exceptional occasions. They regained the desire to move forward.

"I see that it’s been a while since you've eaten," Zamar scratched his head as he spoke, digging between his battered hair.

"Yes, we brought food, but not a lot; most of it was dried fish, we thought the crossing would be easier. We thought we’d be in Kos by now.”

"The sea is very scary. Fortunately, you are alive, though you have deviated quite far from your route.”

"How far away from Kos are we?” Almices was startled, surprised.

"Not far, a couple of days away; the current dragged you west. In any case, we'll take you there. It doesn't take us far from our route.”

"Don’t worry, captain, we have some money to pay for our passage.” Almices took the coins out of the inside of his clothes and offered them to Zamar. The captain collected them observing them, they were coins minted by the Ptolemy.

"It's little money, but enough," he cheered and changed the subject, keeping the coins in his bag. “Tomorrow will be a long day, better to retreat to rest.”

"Thank you, captain, we will," Telma replied whilst standing.

"One more thing, I prefer you not to walk on deck, I mean the crew, they are good people, but avoiding them is better.” Zamar undressed the young woman with his eyes as he spoke. The girl certainly had much more value than the rest in Tyre’s markets. The pirate smiled to himself as he dismissed them.

The night passed without further incidents. Janira fell asleep fast. Telma and Nerisa were worried because the youngest wasn't speaking, in two days she said practically nothing, neither wept nor played. It was as if she had retracted herself, isolating herself from everything around her. Almices felt responsible for their situation, especially Janira; after all, she was the most defenceless.

In the morning they went on deck for breakfast with the captain, it was a good excuse to get some fresh air. The lustful glances that some men gave Telma made them return quickly below deck. They had plenty of time to think. Almices found that they were going to the east, it was clear that they had deviated; although he had not said that they were so far from Kos, he did not understand how they managed to get so far from their original route. They ate lunch and dinner below deck, they preferred not to leave. The captain went down several times to visit them to make them feel safer, anticipating that they would probably arrive in Kos by the end of the next day.

It must have been after midnight when rough hands grabbed Telma by covering her mouth. She tried to fight, but several men held her and took her out of the dank room without disturbing her siblings. She tried to release herself to ask for help, as she once again, scared, fearing the worst; but her captors' hands were like shackles. They carried her next to the base of the mast, under cover. The men spoke in whispers as Telma's frightened eyes tried to find an escape route. In the midst of her helplessness, her muscles were desperately trying to get away from her kidnappers. A strong blow to the head stopped her from struggling.

One of the sailors tore off the linen that covered her torso. Her breasts were shaking in the light of the lamps, reflecting the sweat caused by the struggle. Another crew member, without making noise, lifted her remaining clothes above her waist and indulged his most basic instincts. Telma came round, screaming in terror. She was fully aware of what was happening, her worst fears were being fulfilled and she had to escape at all costs. The rapists had let their guard down and Telma had her hands free, she tried to get away from the large sailor who was claiming her. At that time, Almices woke up, startled by the noise, he looked around and saw his sister in the middle of the room under the sailor's body. He ran full of rage towards the aggressor, wielding a small knife that he had hidden in his clothes, from which he never parted, while Telma continued to scream and struggle, digging her nails with all her strength into the eyes of the abuser above her. The sailor’s comrades tried to move Telma's hands away from their partner's eyes.

"Get off her, you son of a bitch!” Almices pounced on one of the men who he stabbed in the shoulder with the small blade. He kneed him in the stomach, which left him lying on the ground, winded.

“Let go of me, you bitch!” The sailor who was raping Telma stood up in pain, with one eye torn out of its socket. He grabbed her neck with all his strength and hit her head several times against the base of the mast with unusual violence while she wailed. It was the last thing he did.

"What the fuck are you doing, assholes!” Zamar had just stabbed the sailor from behind with his sword. “I told you to keep you away from them. Stupid!” One of the sailors faced him with a thick wooden plank.

"Who do you think you are to boss us around?” He was an enormous being, who remained bent over to avoid hitting the ceiling with his head; Almices, still on the ground, contemplated the scene but did not dare to stand up; he had never seen a man so big. He lunged at Zamar, who swiftly swung his left hand and plunged a pair of knives into the man's chest, who crashed down next to the stones that acted as the ship's counterweight. The third man, the one who wounded Almices, dropped the plank he was carrying, begging for mercy. Zamar’s sword pierced human flesh a second time that night.

Nerisa and Janira had woken up, startled by the uproar of fighting, and watched the scene horrified without daring to leave their cabin or even move. They remained still like statues. The other crew members of the ship approached lurking. Almices got up and moved slowly to his older sister. Telma was lifeless, her head deformed by the attack, her hair tangled, and blood trickled down her neck. His soulless, tear-filled eyes were focused on the ceiling. He lowered her clothes to cover her genitals and covered her breasts.

"How is your sister?" Zamar asked as he approached.

"You told us we were safe with you!” The boy responded, his voice was an amalgam of anger and contempt. “My sister is dead; your men have killed her. Is this what you call help?” He turned his face toward the captain with a frosty look, which for an instant altered the cold composure of the captain.

"I didn't want this to happen, I’m sorry about your sister. I have lost a lot of money because of these imbeciles, but they will no longer bother me.” He put his sword back in his belt.

"Money? What did you want to do with us, you wretch?” Zamar punched him in the mouth. Almices endured the pain as the blood came out of the inside of his lip filtering through his throat and leaving a bitter taste.

"You fools! I'm going to sell you and your sisters in Tyre, we'll arrive in town in a week.” He laughed. “Did you really think you could pay for your passage with a few coins? It's a shame your sister is dead, they would have given me a lot of money for her. At least I have you and your beloved sister's body will be able to satisfy the rest of the crew while it is still warm, at last she will serve for more than just to complain.” Almices lunged toward him, blinded by anger. A sharp blow to his back knocked him out again.

After a while, Almices woke up locked in the small enclosure next to his little sisters, who were crying. On the other side of the wooden barrier, which was used as a wall, they could hear noises. He tried to push the door open; it was locked from the outside, they were trapped. Almices then looked between the slits in the wood. What he saw left him feeling deflated. Some of Zamar's men were queuing up to abuse his sister's lifeless body. They had no respect for the dead. He began to scream, curse, plead; but his cries were ignored. The gods must have been busy with other more important tasks not to intervene in this sinister event. He could have spent an eternity begging and hurling threats, but he finally succumbed to his emotions and cried with his sisters looking up at the cracks in the ceiling. What had they done to the gods to displease them this much? What hopes did they have for this life now? What did the sinister future have in store for them? There was nothing in the world that mattered. Perhaps not even their gods were the true ones, maybe they did not even exist. Almices wanted to die, and wished they were all reunited with their parents.

"Up, children," the voice of a sailor called them, knocking on the door . Nerisa was the first to open her eyes, it was noon. The small opening in their cell on the ship's bow let a clear light shine through. Her eyes were sore from crying. She stood up to wake up her sister. Janira opened her eyes in terror, envisioning another tragedy. Her sister smiled at her and hugged her tightly. Almices woke up too and put his hand to his lip, he could barely touch it without groaning.

The door opened and the sailor dryly asked them to leave. Almices looked at him carefully, trying to recognize if he was among those queuing up to abuse his sister's body hours earlier, but he did not recognize him. The man urged them to go on deck. Almices grabbed his sisters by the hands and headed toward the steps that went up to the deck. Next to the base of the mast, a small reddish spot indicated where his sister’s life was taken. He looked around, but could not see her body.

Nerisa was right, the sun was high when they stepped foot on the deck. A sunny day greeted them. Fresh tears flooded the young girl’s eyes, unsure whether it was because of the dazzling light or that neither her sister nor her parents would ever enjoy this feeling again. Janira was still silent. She had a permanent look of fear in her eyes. She stared at the ground so as not to deal with her new reality. Almices blamed himself for falling asleep without knowing what happened to his sister's body. He searched for her again on the deck, but only found some bloodstained fabrics by the starboard side. He assumed she had been thrown overboard, along with the bodies of her rapists. The very idea shook him.

"I hope you have rested," Zamar greeted them as if nothing had happened. The young man was surprised by his tremendous cold blood. That man had executed some of his men and then, without hesitation, allowed them to dishonour his sister's lifeless body. “I have called for you to tell you what will happen to you from now on. These things happen, the last night with your sister did not need to happen; however, and to avoid further incidents we are going to put some beautiful shackles on your feet so that you cannot cause more problems. I don't want to lose more money.”

"You can't do this!” Nerisa was worn down.

"Wow, I think genius runs in your family," the captain laughed. “I can do whatever I like with you, even offer you as food to the fish. Your sister has already fed them tonight.”

"You pig!” Almices struggled to free himself from his captor’s grip.

"No, no more than those who killed your parents.” Almices was surprised, they hadn't told them how their parents had died. “Surprised?” Zamar continued as if he had read his mind. “You talk in your sleep, so the whole crew know what’s happened to you. As I said, I don't want you to die, I just want to be paid well for you. Slave life is not so bad, you will always be fed. And if they cannot feed you, they will sell you to another. You will be properties with a value. People in the West do not mistreat their slaves, sometimes even treat them better than their families.”

"What have we done to you? We only asked for help.” Nerisa didn't understand the captain's attitude.

"That's life, little girl, you're very young and you have your whole life ahead of you to try and earn your freedom, but that will depend on you. For now, spending a week in the cellar, the time it takes to get to Tyre, will be the best thing for you, you don’t want what happened to your sister to happen to you, do you?”

"You said we could trust you, that you would take us to Kos.” Almices was becoming angrier. “You knew from the start you’d sell us as slaves!”

"When we saw you drifting, you had already passed the island of Kos. What we have done is given you a chance. You’re no longer scorching in the sun and dying of thirst in the middle of the sea, now you have at least one chance and we will be rewarded for picking you up. It is nothing personal, it is our job. We will see you again in Tyre.” The captain turned around and headed to his quarters, as the sailors placed the shackles on them.

Time passed by slowly below deck. The small opening in the helm and their one meal a day were their only time references. Their meal was a mixture of flour and water which was difficult to swallow. They has plenty of water; but the space was small and trapped as they were, they had to do their business in the corner of the dank room.

Although the first two days were very hard Nerisa and Almices tried to get their little sister to speak. She barely said a word. Almices had found a small piece of coal on the ground, with which to draw scribbles for his sister to entertain herself. When she went quiet, Nerisa made up small stories to try and make her smile.

The weather was good, and the journey was smooth. Zamar honoured his word and the children neither left their cell nor were they again disturbed by the crew. Janira did not regain his speech; as soon as her brothers stopped talking to her, she lowered her head to the ground for hours. She barely touched the food and seemed to lose weight as the days passed.

Nerisa and Almices had plenty of time to talk about everything that had happened to them. They missed their parents and Telma a lot. They took advantage of the time to tell each other all sorts of things about themselves and their experiences. They thoroughly reviewed their short lives. They learned more about themselves in those days than in all previous years. How mature Nerisa was for her age, Almices thought, what fortitude she had. The first few days she had cried a lot, but now her brother believed that she was much stronger than him. She thought the same about her brother, was proud of him and wanted to raise his spirits at all costs. They avoided talking about what would happen once they got to Tyre. When her sister let them share her thoughts, they tried to get Janira out of her inner abyss. It was an exhausting effort with minimal results, the little girl sank into a deep depression and her siblings didn't know how to help her.

The days passed and the crossing came to an end. Mid-morning on the eighth day of confinement, Zamar came to their cell with the impression he was a kind person unable to harm anyone. They had arrived in Tyre.

IV

It was a sunny day in Tyre. The city was on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, the central sea that linked the whole world, the Mare Nostrum that the Romans tried to monopolize for their emerging empire. The metropolis, raised almost a century ago by Alexandro the Great and his troops, was located at a strategic point that constituted a natural gateway to the Eastern countries. The ancient caravan routes, which for some time changed their course, soon returned to Tyre. The old city, destroyed years ago almost entirely, began to resurface from its ashes with new energies.

The Asian routes, came through the Euphrates and Tigris, nourished the city with exotic goods which were then distributed southwards to Egyptian markets, to the north across the expanse that was the former Macedonian empire and to the Mediterranean Sea reaching the Pillars of Melkart and even beyond the civilized world thanks to the commercial eagerness of its merchants. In return, Tyre had become a source of resources for the Persians and their neighbours, providing them with wines, oils, ceramics and, above all, slaves. The once-ruined city had become the main market on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean for slave trade. Its strategic location allowed it to supply slaves to many traffickers who roamed the main cities of the eastern Mediterranean and the lands of the Middle east.

Anyone could fall into slavery. Tribal wars and quarrels were the main way of supplying slaves who then worked in temples, farm lands and wealthy estates. Another critical way you became a slave was through debt incurred with other citizens or with different social classes. In many regions the punishment for unpaid debt was loss of freedom. Homelessness and deprivation could also lead to slavery. Janira, Nerisa and Almices observed the city from the deck of the ship, worried about their future. In their village they had never seen a slave; although they knew perfectly what they were, people abandoned by the gods who had lost their freedom. And so, the three of them felt abandoned by the gods, subjected to their whims, and abdicated to the abyss of uncertainty. They did not want to be separated. Janira had not understood the situation, the events of the last few days were completely beyond her understanding. Nerisa and Almices tried to explain it the day before, but the little one did not understand why they had to go to the home of a stranger. She insisted that she return home to her parents, they were the only words she spoke captivity.

The port of Tyre was a hub for commercial bustle to the eyes of visitors compared to other big cities. Many ships constantly entered and left the port. They were close to each other for lack of space on the docks. Zamar's ship docked next to another similar sized vessel. The captains greeted each other. The children did not understand the language they spoke. Almices would then find out that they were speaking in Phoenician. To reach the port's dock, the children had to pass chained, among the indifferent looks of the other ship’s crews, from ship to ship until they stepped on land.

Nerisa and Almices tried once again to convince the pirate not to sell them; the answer was a blow to the boy's ribs, dutifully delivered by one of the sailors. Janira gripped her sister's arm.