Coretta
Lorenzo was perfect in his act as he conversed with the shop owner.
"What's the cost of this?" he asked.
"Two thousand drachmas."
This time, my anger soared to a maddening height. That was so much money for a measly slave like me. This wretched man! He outright doubled the price, seeing a royal warrior!
"Well, well, wasn't it a thousand drachmas?" Lorenzo lifted a brow, crossing his arms. "The others cost barely five hundred. What's so special about this one?" he waved.
'Omg, Cors, did you hear the wrong price? I didn't bring two thousand with me.' Lorenzo messaged me, fretting. 'That's such a huge cost, I'll probably have to take debts from Alexander!'
'This scumbag is snitching on you.' I grit out.
The slave master sniggered, bunching my hair in his hand. Lorenzo stared on, his fists clenched. "You see her exquisite beauty, gentleman," he cackled, "I may sell her no less than two thousand drachmas."
"But you were selling me at half a price to the man earlier!" I could barely control myself when I burst out at him. But that was a grave mistake.
For the slave master backhanded a slap at my face the moment he heard a slave talk.
It stung and tears overflowed my eyes, but I didn't want to cry in front of my friend. I couldn't even hear what the slave master was yelling about as the pain scorched my cheeks, his shouts just a buzz in my ears.
"How dare you hit her?!"
The slave master was thrown on the ground with a hard punch to his face, before I realised it was actually Lorenzo who'd hit him. His eyes seething with rage.
"I intend to buy her, and you are damaging my property, right in front of me?!" he roared. The slave women beside me shrunk in fear. Their faces were terrified to know such lethal masters existed in Greece, ever ready to buy them.
The slave master, trembling, raised from the ground. His bitter face directed my way, promising disaster.
"A- Apologies, gentleman. Kindly pay, and take your property," he gritted out, head lowered.
Lorenzo grunted a sigh, fetching an extra five hundred drachmas apart from the thousand. "Here," he handed the money, "My attendant will be arriving shortly with the remaining five hundred."
But the slave master was an ultimate money hog. Even after receiving a punch at the hands of Alexander's warrior.
"Gentleman, you can only buy her upon full payment," he scowled.
My heart was tearing up. Things were slipping from our hands, right in front of us.
"I'm bringing the money, right now," Lorenzo gritted out, jabbing a finger at his chest, "And you, slave master, if I get to know you've hurt her in my absence," the warrior stared at me, then at the owner, "Know your shop to be good as gone from a single order of Alexander." he threatened.
'I'll be back, Cors. Please endure a little more.' He gave me one last glance and climbed the horseback, pulling at the reins to go off from where he came.
"Ah! What are you doing?!" I cried out when the slave master gripped my arm, from where the whip lashes from earlier were still healing, and threw me across the room inside, heaving in disgust.
"You wretch! Because of you, I've lost two customers today!" he landed a punch at the door, seething.
"Hah, what does that warrior think? That he'll get away so easily with insulting me?! I swear he won't be getting his property till tomorrow!" he howled and returned to his slave shop, selling other slaves.
At least he had taken Lorenzo's threat to heart that he didn't hit me. Keeping myself by the door, I watched today's sale. Leashed humans being sold to the influential class of men. It was still so difficult to digest the fact that I was seeing live humans being sold like a sale at a mall. Quietly, I described everything to Aarmen, so he could write it in his AI book.
"Your perseverance at times like these is commendable, Coretta." The leader sighed. "Any normal human would've lost hope and just killed themselves off to deport back. And here you are…"
"When your hobby, your passion of years, becomes your job, howsoever mad it gets, you still love your work." I smiled, but it fell as I watched Lorenzo return with the money, but the slave master wouldn't let me out to him.
Maybe God has some other plans for you. A voice inside me spoke.
"God damn it, the people are sick here!" Lorenzo entered the group chat, heaving. "This shithead has some ego issues. He won't let you go until tomorrow."
"Then come to her first thing in the morning tomorrow," Aarmen advised. "Or see if you can take assistance from some well-known warrior of Alexander to scare the slave master into oblivion."
"Nah, that'll be too risky. Those lecherous men for warriors won't think twice before taking Cors for themselves." he heaved, "Anyway, thanks for the advice. And very sorry for my outburst earlier. See you tomorrow then, Cors." He bid us adieu and left.
As the Sun started going down, fire torches flickered by the shops, and an incessant amount of flies began accumulating around. I was about to fall asleep when I witnessed a man coming up to the slave shop.
His face was scrunched in outrage as he forcibly held a frail woman by her arm, shoving her inside the shop. My heart clenched seeing tears smudging her face, as she repeatedly shook her head to a no. In her arms was a newborn and clutching her robe by the knee, a small girl, looking up, terrified of the man.
I held onto the door frame, watching the utterly unbelievable sight before me.
"P- Please, please give me one more chance, m- master. I- I won't upset you-"
"Shut up this instant!" the man roared, boiling in rage. Then he turned his gaze to the slave owner, who looked very pleased by the events unfolding before him. "Price for the three of them?" My mouth opened in disbelief as the man looked like he was here to sell his family.
"Two thousand drachmas, gentleman," the slave owner smirked.
"Quit it," the man huffed in annoyance, wiping at his sweat. "This infant here is a girl, too. She'll be of good use in the future." I didn't know how it was possible for him to look at the baby girl in utter disgust. "So quit fooling me and pay the definite price."
"M- Master, please," the woman begged again, clutching her newborn to the chest, "I- I have p- prayed to the Goddess, next time she- she will give a boy-"
"One more word and I'll rip your neck, slave," the man looked like leashing in his anger, pointing one dangerous finger at the weeping woman. "I gave you your freedom, and what did you give in return? Girls?" he barked out, and a pang hit my chest.
Girls? What the hell does he mean?
"I made you my fucking family, slave, my wife!" the woman flinched as his voice rose, "And you didn't bother to give me one son in return?! Making me a laughingstock in society!" The baby started wailing, which irked the man even more. I was so scared for them because it looked like he could hit them any moment.
"You don't deserve to be a wife, slave. Ever." he spat in venom. "Pray that I haven't killed you all and allowed you to live!" My hands shook in helplessness at not being able to do anything, seeing the little girl by her mother's knee, trembling so badly. Controlling her tears as she didn't dare cry in front of her monster of a father.
Such anger rose in me, throbbing my temples, but I was just a spectator of the ghastly ancient world. I stared at the man, wanting to rip his hair apart.
"It's not her fault. It's the fault of your fucking sperm, you moron," I gritted out as unexpected tears formed at the corner of my eyes. The slave master paid the man a hefty price and dragged the woman into the room as if she was a commodity.
"Clean up," he ordered. "You'll be put up for sale tomorrow."
Sitting by the door, I tried my hardest not to cry. The woman, with tears still smearing her face, tried to quieten her baby as she continued crying. Her cries sounded as if she was a very young newborn. The other little girl, who looked three, sat fearfully by her mother's side, clutching her robes. Her little brown eyes darted around in dread, shaggy red hairs matted on her forehead.
"Can I help?" I approached them, because if I didn't, the last ounce of humanity left in me would've died. The woman looked up at me, looking so broken that it seemed no one could fix her ever. My throat closed up on me, seeing as she looked around my age.
Such different worlds of two women of the same age. One, a learned time traveller and scholar. The other, a slave, a mother of 2 at such a young age, sold again into slavery.
She had no strength left in her as she wordlessly passed me her baby.
Despite the situation, I tried bringing a smile to my face. Wrapped in poorly roughened fabric, the baby lay wailing. "Sister, I think the cloth is causing her discomfort," I said and without waiting further, unwinded the long end of my linen, tearing an ample amount of my cloth. When I was removing the harsh fabric from the baby, did my eyes filled back with tears.
Because she was so young that she still had the umbilical cord attached.
H- How can someone be so harsh as to abandon such a gift from God?
But then again, there were many ancient kingdoms where people as high as monarchs would bury newborn daughters alive, kill them off using trained killers, because they wanted sons.
Still, in my world, there were reports of people killing or abandoning baby girls. It put me in utter shame that even after 2000 years, immoral acts like these lurked around our world.
Quickly bunching up my torn linen; with utmost delicacy, I picked the frail child and laid her on the soft cloth. Carefully winding the cloth around her, I picked her in my arms and used my index finger to draw soft circles on her forehead, all while singing a hymn of Aphrodite, very softly, like a lullaby.
"A- Are you an angel? F- Fallen from the heavens?" the woman uttered, looking dazed at me.
No sister. I'm a time traveller from the 21st century. And I'm here to listen to your story and share it with my world. I smiled to myself.
Over the night, she came to be an excellent source for me to know about the situation of slaves in ancient Greece. Her older daughter, who looked like a preschooler, slept peacefully in my arms, having made good acquaintance with me in the evening.
There was no benefit for me to lament and beat my head at my condition. Blaming myself or the department. Despite the mental torture, there was this mad zeal within me to not leave any information behind.
Because the worst that could happen to me was death, which would simply transport me back to my world.
* * *
The sleep was better than what I'd gotten over the days on the ship. Wordlessly, the women cleansed themselves, ready to be sold off today. Sharing my experiences of Aphrodite's mercy, I made some slave women learn a few of the goddess' hymns, which eased their fear somewhat.
It was unnerving how the slaves were put to display at the crack of dawn itself. Fingers entwined together, I kept my head lowered, my heart finally at ease that Lorenzo would come, and at last we'll exit this world. The lovely Mediterranean would help us.
Even the slave owner was probably scared of Lorenzo because he dared not sell me to some other man today. I was as good as a showpiece for his shop.
As morning came by, an unexpected hustle disturbed the marketplace. Peeking in the said direction, I witnessed some high flags of sorts belonging to an elite family in Greece.
Royal guards marched with those flags and long spears, and for the first time, I saw women in the public place of Greece. The slave women began whispering to one another, hopeful that an influential person would buy them. And they'd be on their ultimate road to freedom.
Amongst the women wearing white linen, moved another lady. Her robes were colourful and so rich and beautiful compared to her apparent maidservants. She was checking the shops about the marketplace as the shop owners bowed deeply in her presence. Her lengthy black hair was straight as a waterfall.
But when I met her eyes, I felt my soul leave my body.
"Hey, Cors… I- I've… reached…" Lorenzo was breathless as he called in my head, and looking the way opposite to that of the elite class, I saw him, devoid of his horse. Close behind him was the first man who'd come to buy me yesterday.
But I couldn't feel anything. Neither happiness nor fear. My mind was so utterly blank about what was to happen now.
And then, like a dam, impossible terror broke out in my head. Bound in chains, I couldn't even run. Not even Lorenzo could save me.
I kept my head lowered, wishing to disappear from the site as my teeth clattered in utter dread.
I didn't know my fake black eyes were going to be my ultimate tragedy today.
As assumed, the royal lady came to stand before me, and I swear I would've cried out at her domineering presence, if I hadn't bitten my tongue back.
Without a word, she tilted my chin up with one long finger. Her eyes bore into mine, in curiosity and surprise, as she contemplated something within.
"Oh, fuc- oh Cors, h- how will I save you now?" Lorenzo saw my impending doom.
"What's your name?" she asked, as if hitting the bullseye with that single question.
I whimpered. In no way was I going to tell her my name.
"S- Slave, m- mistress," I mumbled, my heart weeping in my chest with the way I was torturing it with the lie.
She sighed in dissatisfaction. Voice holding guilt as she spoke further.
"Didn't know my son would stoop so low as to sell you off in a slave market."
"N- No! No, he didn't I-" And the remaining words lay choked in my throat when I realised I'd put the hammer to my own foot.
She gazed at my different coloured eyes again, her exquisite face giving away no expression.
"So, Althea Rosemary is it, hm?" Mistress Armonia whispered.