Once the slaver is finished, other slavers begin passing down the lines, giving each captive a small cup of food and allowing them a single drink from a ladle, filled from a water bucket one of them carries. When Miko gets his, he eats the food ravenously, even though it tastes pretty bad. He drinks all the water and is about to ask for more when a girl of about sixteen in another line holds out her cup to a slaver and asks, “Can I have more?”
The slaver comes over to her and slaps her hard across the face, “Impertinent slave! You take what we give you and be happy that you were given anything at all.”
The girl cries, “I’m not a slave!”
All the slavers standing within ear shot hear her and break out laughing. The slaver who had come over and slapped her says, “You are now,” and laughs at her.
The girl starts crying hysterically and the man slaps her across the face again. “You shut up or it’ll be worse for you.” He grabs her by the hair and pulls her head back so her eyes stare right at him. “Do you understand?” he asks with an expression that says, ‘The only answer better be yes’.
Tears streaming down her face, the girl just nods. The man releases her hair and walks away. She sits there and sobs to herself quietly.
Miko looks around and can see that until that moment, some of the people who were tied to the line hadn’t come to that conclusion yet, that they were slaves. Some begin to murmur amongst themselves, others start crying. One of the slavers shouts, “Slaves only speak when spoken to, break this rule at your peril!” The people begin to quiet down until only muffled sobs can be heard. Several slavers come and collect the food cups that had been handed out.