Disclaimer: Still don't own them.


66. Rain

Edmund thought, hoped, that he had hit rock bottom. Surely there couldn't be anything worse than what he had been put through already. If he could just survive the beatings and remember how to talk to his friends, he wouldn't live, but at least he wouldn't die. He had resigned himself to the idea of never breaking free, never seeing his siblings again, never living the life Aslan had shown him. Edmund thought that his life couldn't get any worse without Death being involved. But he had forgotten one very important detail. What the slave trade was all about.

As time had progressed, Edmund had gotten close to some of the slaves. With some the relationship stayed at acquaintance level, but with most of them, they had become good friends. Each person played a role, as well. Nash was the older brother that Edmund didn't think he'd ever see again. Nasrin was the little sister, Lucy's twin if it hadn't been for her black hair as opposed to Lucy's red. Hanah was the mentor, the one who saw only facts and worked through only heart. Calla was the mother of the group, making sure everyone was safe and warm at night and hydrated and fed during the day. Basam was the younger brother who, at night when they were all alone, showed his humorous side and kept everyone's spirits as high as they could go. Akmal was the teacher. He had experience in every line of work a slave could be in and was never afraid to answer questions or lend a guiding hand. He could be rather harsh about it, and he was hard to talk to, but he helped nonetheless. Lamis, though the silent one, was a good person to talk to. Edmund never heard her say a single word, but she didn't need to. She showed sympathy and understanding through her expressions, and she was always willing to listen.

The thought of giving any of them up never crossed Edmund's mind. Never, that is, until day 130. It had started out like any normal day. At dawn, everyone went out to do their chores. Edmund took care of the horses as always, and he was proud to see that he was finally making some progress with Kamal, who no longer snapped at him the second he came into view. Once he had finished, he went inside and suffered silently through Mahir's abuse, and when he wasn't being struck, he did Asha's bidding. She was especially gentle with him that day, and he was grateful. It wasn't until the late afternoon that anything seemed amiss. Asha had instructed him to put out two extra place settings at the dinner table. Mahir was expecting guests, she explained, but she did not say why and Edmund wasn't about to ask. Mahir had never had guests before and he didn't seem like the type to welcome anyone into his home, and Edmund, still retaining a small slice of curiosity, had to wonder what the occasion was.

Once dinner came around and as Edmund served it to the family, he stole glances of the two guests. There was a thickly built Calormene man and his small-but-tough looking wife. They appeared to be in their forty's and definitely had quite a bit of money stashed away. The conversation was sparse and Edmund learned nothing through eavesdropping other than how the weather was, how the crops would sell, and that the foals would need weaning soon.

After dinner, Nasrin took Sanaa to bed and the four adults moved into the parlor. Their conversation barely made it to the kitchen, where Edmund spent forty five minutes washing dishes, and what little he could hear was jumbled and slurred to the point where nothing made sense. Once he finished the dishes, he went outside and took care of the horses, talking to them softly as he always did. None of the horses seemed to have any inclination as to what was going on inside the house, and if they did, they weren't saying so. Then again, they weren't Talking Horses, so it wasn't as though they would if they wanted to anyway.

Edmund finished his chores by nightfall and, as always, went straight upstairs to the attic where the slaves slept. Everyone else was there too, sitting on the floor asking each other questions about the newcomers. Akmal swore that they were relatives of Mahir's, asking him to return to Calormen. Nasrin insisted that she had heard them discussing money and how much they were willing to pay for something. Nash stayed worrisomely silent. Edmund took his seat between Nash and Basam, saying nothing. Everyone looked up at him, and though they didn't say anything, he could see in their eyes that they wanted to know what he had heard.

"The foals need to be weaned soon." He almost winced at how weak and tired his voice sounded. He didn't talk much anymore, and he hadn't realized how much his voice had changed.

Before anyone could ask him what he meant by that, the sound of Mahir's footsteps coming up the stairs echoed through the gray room. Everyone dashed to their appropriate beds, waiting silently for whatever punishment was about to be dealt. Mahir never came upstairs in the evening, and everyone had a sinking feeling that it had to do with his guests.

"They're right in here." Mahir's voice could be heard booming through the door.

Said door swung open just a half of a second later, revealing the room full of eight to the hallway full of four. Asha stood toward the back, hidden by the two men, but Edmund's eyes immediately flew to her. She looked solemn, though not quite sad. While the two men entered the room, she and the other woman stayed in the hall, watching from afar. Edmund bit his lip as the stranger inspected every slave. He forced their mouths open and looked at their teeth, looked at their eyes, their hands, and with some, made them stand and walk in a circle. When it was Edmund's turn, he let the man do whatever he wanted, eventually standing up for him and sitting back down when instructed. He watched as Mahir and his guest went back to the women. They talked for a moment in voices too low to be understood, and once they had all seemed to come to an agreement, they turned back to the slaves.

"Lamis, someone has come for you," Mahir kept his eyes fixed on the silent slave. Her body trembled. "Aban is your new master. You will go home with him tonight."

Edmund paled. He looked over at Nash desperately, pleading for him to do something. He was the oldest of the group, and he had been here for five years. Surely he knew some way to get little Lamis back. But Nash simply watched, emotionless, as the fourteen year old mute slinked over to her new master and mistress and followed them out the door, crying quietly. It wasn't until all four adults had left and the door was shut that Nash said something.

"It's starting early this year."

"Yeah…usually he waits until winter to sell us." Calla piped up.

"Maybe that was just a fluke. Some friends who needed one now for some reason." Basam joined in.

"Maybe." Nash didn't sound convinced.

Edmund looked around the room nervously. Everyone looked shaken up by the early sale and Nasrin was comforting an upset Jenae. Jenae and Lamis had been close, from what Edmund had seen. The two had arranged their beds so they were next to each other, and when they couldn't sleep, they would often pass notes back and forth. Edmund looked over at Nash, who looked like he was trying to sleep and failing miserably.

"Will I be sold?" Edmund whispered. His voice shook a bit.

"I don't think so. You've only been here four months. Usually Mahir will wait a year and a half or more before he sells a slave."

"Usually?"

"Enough questions, Emad. I'm tired." The bite that had been in Nash's voice when Edmund had first arrived was back. It made Edmund flinch and pull away.

The night dragged by slowly, sleepless for most of the slaves. Only Akmal slept the entire night which wasn't a surprise to anyone. Lamis had been afraid of him, and it was obvious he didn't like her much. The morning eventually came, and Mahir woke everyone right on schedule. Not a sound was made as the seven remaining slaves went out to do their chores. As Edmund put the horses into their pastures, he looked on sadly as the foals picked at the grass. He had seen several foals be weaned at Cair Paravel, some of them Talking Horses, and he knew how upsetting it could be. It was never an enjoyable task, that was for certain.

The days went by, and the cycle remained as it always had. No other buyers came calling, luckily, and Edmund and his friends began to relax. It wasn't until five days after Lamis' selling that anything changed. It was time to start weaning the foals, and Mahir had made it quite clear that he was leaving the task up to Edmund to prove just how well he could work with horses. Luckily, Asha had once again convinced her husband to give Edmund some help, and Hanah was recruited. It was no surprise. Even though they weren't her horses to work with, Hanah had found a way to bond with Edmund's foals and she made the task much more bearable.

It was during those first, long days that Edmund finally learned more about her. He had only heard bits and pieces from her past, but as they worked, she filled the awkward silences with stories. First, she spoke of her parents. Edmund wasn't at all surprised to find out that she had pure Calormene blood running through her veins. She had quite the story-telling talent, a respected trait among their kind.

Both of her parents were hired servants, moving from house to house and name to name until they were no longer wanted. Hanah went through four different names when she was young, but her parents always called her Kalila. Sweet hearted, she said it meant. With each residence her family worked, they always had horses. Hanah claimed she had been born in a barn, in the stable where her parents were allowed to sleep. At the same time, the mare in the next stall over was birthing her daughter. Hanah said that they bonded before they had been cleaned off, and it was because of that little filly that she was so good with horses. She had literally been born around them.

She lived in that barn with that filly for four years, and had even helped break her in. When the master of the household died, the mistress gave Hanah the filly as a thank you. Hanah's parents allowed her to keep the horse, as did each new master they served. She named the horse Anisah as a tribute to their friendship.

When Hanah was thirteen and living in her fourth home, a band of raiders swarmed the house and killed everyone inside. She said that the only reason she survived was because she had been with Anisah, and when the raiders came into the barn, the mare covered Hanah with her body and acted crazy until every single man had left. The two spent the next month traveling alone, eventually winding up in Archenland where a farmer took them in. Six months later, Tahj and his men kidnapped her and her mare. They sold the two as a pair, and Mahir bought them. The rest, she said, was history.

When Edmund asked what the mare looked like, Hanah described his favorite palomino mare to a T, the mare that had been carted to Phillip and accepted him readily on the first day. When Edmund told her this, Hanah smiled and said her horse could tell a good man from bad much better than the purebred stallion in the stall next door. Edmund couldn't agree more.

Nine days after the weaning had began, after everyone had gotten used to Lamis not wandering among them and had accepted the notion that her early sale was just a one-time thing, Asha asked Edmund to set out an extra place setting. His stomach dropped and he could feel his face go ashen. He did as he was told, and the visit started out exactly like the previous had. Any worthwhile conversation was said after dinner, where Edmund was incapable of listening in. He did his evening chores in a daze, wondering who would go this time and if the new visitor would treat them like animals, as the last one did.

Once again, when Edmund went upstairs, everyone was abuzz as to who the visitor was and what he wanted. Just like last time, too, Mahir came upstairs and said a quick "They're right in here" before swinging the door open. An old, somewhat skinny, noble looking man stepped into the room, glaring at every single slave one at a time. He said nothing as Mahir took his place to the man's right.

"Calla, Akmal, someone has come for you." Edmund had a very strong sense of déjà vu. "You will go home with Kedar tonight."

Everyone in the room paled and looked over at the two who had been chosen. Calla was quiet, but didn't look at all upset or scared. She strode over to her new master with sure, even steps. Akmal was the complete opposite. He was as white as Kamal was black and he stumbled twice while walking over to his owner. It was clear that both knew Kedar very well.

With a final, disapproving glare from Kedar and a vicious smirk from Mahir, the four left the room. Edmund rushed to the window, watching in horror as his friends got into a large cart pulled by two draft horses. As Edmund stared out the window, trying to keep his eyes locked on his two friends surrounded by four other slaves, a crack of thunder echoed through the room and rain began pouring down in sheets on the uncovered wagon. He bit his lip, drawing blood, watching the sea of faces until it was no longer visible.