"Alright, time to take a rest," the man in blue said as they reached a small village. Ishbosheth had almost grown accustomed to the chains around his wrists and ankles, causing him to walk hunched over like an old man. No surprise to him, they didn't get their chains removed.
The man in blue and the Leoxin walked over to a building, dimly lit by a fire further in. The man in blue handed a bag over to a man inside, who exchanged him with a bucket, and pointed around the back of the building, saying something Ishbosheth couldn't make out.
The Leoxin took the chains attached to the lead man and led the group around the back of the building, which Ishbosheth had gathered was an inn. Behind the building were crates stacked up as tall as Ishbosheth and had words written on them in a language he couldn't read.
The Leoxin hooked the end of the chain to a post used to cinch horses to. He hefted a box from the top of one of the piles onto his shoulder and then onto the ground. Taking a knife out, he pried the cover off, allowing the smell of salted meat to fill the air.
Ishbosheth's mouth was so dry that the salted meat didn't sound very pleasing, nor did the bread the man in blue held in his hands as he emerged from the kitchen. However, he felt as though his stomach was nearly caving in on itself, so as the Leoxin passed by giving each person in line a strip of the meat and the man in blue gave everyone a chunk of bread, he devoured it. He could barely swallow it.
The man in blue and the Leoxin continued down the line until they were nearly at the end when Ishbosheth heard the man in blue yell, "What in the name of Addonai?!"
He glanced down and the man in blue was holding Ana by the back of the head, her white blond hair falling gracefully between his large fingers.
"I told you I didn't want you! You're too young! That damned trader must've slipped you in! May he burn in Verago. May his children and his children's children after them follow him down."
He let go of Ana's head and she fell to the ground, tears streaming down her face. The man in blue dropped a piece of bread by her head. The Leoxin knelt down, picked her face up and looked in her eyes as he brushed a tear away with an enormous, furry finger, and placed a piece of meat in her hands. He said something to her, but Ishbosheth couldn't hear.
The man in blue kept on walking down the line, tearing pieces off, very obviously upset. Once he got down to the end of the line he yelled to the Leoxin, "Water them, goddammit!" and went in the back door of the inn, taking a bite of the very heel of the bread before throwing it against the inside wall.
The Leoxin went to a well in the courtyard, put the bucket on the end of the rope and lowered it. When he drew it back up and took it off the rope, he grabbed a small tin cup from his pack that he had set down and plopped it in the water. He went down the line and one by one the men and women dipped the tin cup in the water and drank. The Leoxin would periodically have to refill the bucket, but he did so without a fuss.
Once everyone was watered he walked over to his pack and pulled out a thick cloak and threw it over his broad shoulders. "You will sleep here tonight. More meat and water in the morning. Another day's walking and we will be at my master's house. Until then, sleep well and stay in line."
Everyone chained up stood there for a while, not sure what they were supposed to do. Finally, one of the men lay on the ground and put his folded hands under his head like a pillow. Everyone followed suit. The Leoxin, however, sat there, with his cloak wrapped around himself, staring at each person specifically for at least a minute each.
Several minutes had passed and Ishbosheth couldn't fall asleep: his teeth were chattering too loudly. The Leoxin was still awake, staring at one of the endmost women in the line of chained people. Once Ishbosheth figured he had spent enough time looking at people, and he had mustered his courage, he propped himself up on an elbow. "Psst!" he called to the Leoxin.
The Leoxin turned his big maned head and blinked those big dark eyes at Ishbosheth. Ishbosheth stared at him with a look that he hoped read, "come over here." It translated and the Leoxin got up and walked over, crouching down to try to meet Ishbosheth's level. "What is it boy?"
"Is the man in blue your master?"
"No, he works for my master."
"What's his name? The man in blue."
"Torres."
"And your master?"
"Antony."
Ishbosheth looked down the line to where Ana appeared to be sleeping. On such a bumpy surface Ishbosheth couldn't understand how. "That girl down there. The one who Torres yelled at and said was too young. What do you think will happen to her?"
"Torres will probably try to find someone else to buy her. Someone who doesn't mind lying about her age. It's funny, he won't lie about a girl's age, but selling her to be used by strangers, and sending men to their deaths he has no troubles with."
"Could you maybe try to talk to him? See if he could keep her?"
"And why would he want to? What good is she?"
"I know her. I maybe she could be Antony's servant."
"Antony has many servants already."
Ishbosheth looked down at the ground and felt as if he were about to cry, but then felt the heavy paw of the Leoxin. "But I will see what I can do. Perhaps he would reconsider keeping her as a housemaid until she turns 16, then he could sell her."
That still didn't sit well with Ishbosheth, but it was better than their current situation. The Leoxin got up and was starting to head inside the inn to talk to Torres, but Ishbosheth caught him before he started off, "Excuse me. Thank you. What's your name?"
The Leoxin smiled, "My name's Luther," and walked into the inn.
Ishbosheth shivered a while longer, until he eventually rocked himself to sleep.
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