ZANZIBAR SLAVE MARKET DIGITISED part 3
Lea’s cheeks burned with humiliation as Slavetrader Irmiya abruptly withdrew his fingers, leaving a trail of saliva on her chin. He wiped his hand dismissively on her shoulder, his heavy breathing the only sound in the damp, oppressive cell.
When the slave trader stuck his tongue into Lea’s mouth, she resisted and even tried to bite him, which made the slave trader quite angry. I don’t think the white lady has realised yet that her time of dominance is over, and that from now on she must be a willing slave. With a wave of his hand, he instructed Karim to put her in the cage for an hour, then we’ll see if Her Highness is still so defiant.
Irmiya’s face darkened, the heavy flush of anger rising beneath his beard. He did not step back; instead, he struck Lea across the face with a heavy backhand, the sound echoing sharply off the stone walls and sending her crashing into the damp floor. The taste of copper filled her mouth, and stars danced before her eyes.
"I do not tolerate teeth from my merchandise," Irmiya hissed, rubbing his hand where she had almost made contact. He looked down at her with cold, predatory amusement. "It seems the white lady has not yet realized that her time of dominance is over. From now on, she must be a willing slave, or she will learn the hard way."
He waved a hand dismissively toward Karim, who had been watching with a cruel grin. "Put her in the cage. Leave her there for an hour. If she screams, let her scream. We will see if Her Highness is still so defiant after some time in the dark."
Karim nodded enthusiastically, his eyes gleaming with sadistic pleasure. He grabbed Lea by her upper arm, hauling her up from the cold floor with bruising force. "Come with me, your Highness," he sneered, dragging her stumbling toward the back of the dungeon where the darkness seemed to thicken.
Karim grabbed Selena by the hair and forced her to watch as her sister was dragged away. “And you, little one, you’ll be a good girl, rest up in the cell—you’ve got a tough day ahead of you tomorrow.” He laughed grimly and dragged her down a dark corridor that led to a dungeon, where he chained the young woman to a pillory and touched Selena in all her most intimate places, saying, “It’s a shame we don’t have more time for each other.”
Meanwhile Lea was thrown into a small, iron-barred cage that jutted out from the wall, barely large enough for her to crouch. The door slammed shut with a resounding clang that echoed through the stone chamber. Karim laughed, spitting on the ground near her feet, before turning his back and leaving her in the suffocating blackness.
The darkness in the cage was absolute, a heavy, suffocating blanket that seemed to press against Lea’s skin, amplifying the cold bite of the iron bars against her bare back. Time distorted in the black void; minutes stretched into what felt like hours. Every creak of the settling fortress, every distant drip of water, sounded like the approach of a new tormentor. She curled into a tight ball, trying to preserve some warmth and dignity, her cheek still throbbing from the Slavetrader’s blow.
When the door finally groaned open, the sudden flare of a torch blinded her. Mustafas ’s shadow loomed large, twisted against the stone wall.
The slave trader and Mustaafaappeared; Lea was horrified to see what Karim was holding in his hand – it was a massive wooden phallus that Mustafaheld out to her with a smile. The slave trader spoke in a calm tone: “Now, my dear, are you going to be a good girl, or shall Karim stick the phallus in your pussy first and then in your arse? Perhaps your sister might enjoy it too. Well, what do you say?” At these words, Lea gave up all resistance. “Please, not my sister. I’ll do whatever you want.”
"I... I will obey," Lea whispered, her voice barely audible as she stared at the damp stone floor. The defeat tasted bitter in her mouth, but the thought of Selena suffering at the hands of these brutes was worse than her own humiliation.
"A wise choice," Irmiya sneered, though his eyes retained that cruel, predatory glint. He turned to his henchmen.
"Chain the 2 ladys so they are fixed, tomorrow morning we will make them clean for the auction," Irmiya commanded, gesturing lazily toward the far wall of the cell. "And make sure the bindings are tight. I don't want them getting any foolish ideas about escaping during the night."
Karim and Mustafa bowed low before their master. "As you wish, master" Karim replied, his voice thick with malice.
As Irmiya turned and exited the cell, his heavy footsteps echoing fading into the distance, the two henchmen descended upon the sisters with rough efficiency. They dragged Lea and Selena toward the back of the damp chamber where iron rings were embedded deep into the stone.
The air in the cell grew heavy with the sound of clanking iron and the sisters' muffled sobs. Karim and Mustafa, relishing their task, manhandled Lea and Selena toward the cold stone wall. Despite their promise of obedience for the night, the men showed no gentleness. They chained the sisters' arms , snapping the shackles onto the rusted iron rings set deep into the masonry.
"Don't get too comfortable, my beauties," Karim sneered, running a calloused hand down Lea’s exposed flank before securing the chain. "Tonight you sleep like the animals you are."
Mustafa laughed, a wet, guttural sound, as he tightened Selena’s bonds until she gasped, standing on her toes to relieve the pressure on her wrists. "The Grand Vizier will want fresh meat tomorrow. Rest while you can."
The heavy iron door slammed shut with a resonant boom that echoed through the stone corridor, plunging the sisters into near-total darkness. The only light came from a high, barred slit near the ceiling, casting faint, ghostly shadows across the damp floor. Lea listened until the footsteps of Karim and Mustafa faded completely, leaving them in a silence broken only by the distant drip of water and Selena’s soft, ragged breathing.
Lea shifted, trying to find a position that didn’t put all her weight on her wrists, but the iron held fast. The cold bit into her skin, a sharp contrast to the humid, stale air of the dungeon. She felt a profound sense of helplessness, stripped of her fine clothes, her family name, and her dignity, reduced to a commodity to be inspected and sold.
"Lea?" Selena’s voice was a whisper, trembling in the dark.
"I'm here, Selena," Lea replied, keeping her voice as steady as she could manage, though her own heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird. She strained against the chains, trying to inch closer to her sister, but the iron rings held them just out of reach of each other's comfort. "Don't look at the darkness. Just look at me."
Selena sniffled, the sound loud in the oppressive quiet. "I'm frightened, Lea. What are they going to do to us? That man... the Vizier..."
"Nothing you can't survive," Lea said, a lie she desperately wanted to believe. She thought of their father, the Commander-in-Chief. Surely, he would realize they were missing. Surely, the Royal Navy would scour these seas until they found them. But as she looked at the high, barred window that offered only a sliver of moonless sky, the hope felt fragile, like glass in a storm. "We just have to endure. Father will come. He has to."
The night in the Zanzibar dungeon was an endless stretch of misery. The dampness seeped into Lea and Selena’s bones, and the stone floor was unforgiving against their bare feet. They dozed fitfully, jerking awake at every distant sound of the guards or the cries of other prisoners, their necks cramping from the awkward position imposed by the chains.
Lea lost all sense of time. It could have been hours or mere minutes later when the heavy scrape of a key turning in the lock shattered the silence. The massive iron door creaked open, and bright torchlight flooded the cell, forcing the sisters to squint against the sudden glare.
to be continued
