The Bloodless Girl

Chapter Four.

The slave quarters had no official name, whatsoever. It went by many names- the Boneyard, the slave pit, the dirt slums- but it was the common town for El Tazumal's slaves. Located at the far end of the city and separated from the city via a stone barricade, the Slave Quarters had been built to cut down on running cost, which had been crippling the lords and ladies of El Tazumal. In the past, slaves lived among their owners, who had to feed and clothe them. But as the slaves begin to start families and the conquering Culhua-Mexica added more soldiers to their armada, it reached a breaking point where the Yucatec couldn't afford to support their slaves. More than one noble family had to end up destituting itself in desperation to run a large household of hungry slaves.

The Slave Quarters was the answer to this problem. Dumped into an old, crumbling ruin, the slaves could live whenever they weren't hard at work. While some slaves lived close or among their by their required owners to be kept close by hand, a mass majority of slaves were housed in the Quarter, who usually waited for service. At the end of each shift, these slaves went back to their masters while others went back to their home to enjoy a certain degree of freedom.

Every family in El Tazumal supplied small amounts of food and drink to the Quarters via tax, and this usually lead slaves to fight among themselves on how to distribute these provisions. The strong thrived among the weak, for they were more of use and healthy and content. As for the weak themselves... Well, the nations of Mesoamerica were better off without their services and slaves were much more easily replaced. Tawantin Suyu and their neighboring allies were broken, defeated countries and regiments were regularly sent there on slaving raids for fresh supplies.

The Quarters were always crowded in the evening as the bulk of the workers made their way home. The thin, narrow dirt paths were packed tight with slaves drinking, eating, dancing, praying, arguing, fighting and mating. Hordes of dirty children ran wild, often fighting among themselves with their fingers painted red or playing a ball game with a human head, sometimes a child or an adult. Emaciated, exhausted women washed clothes with water they could find. Men with cracked hands and creaking bones chewed tobacco and sipped Pulque. Skinned animals, usually someones' pet, were roasted alive.

When Sarach entered the Quarters, the gate guard paided no attention. Many of the Yucatec people often slipped into the Quarters in search for women or watch slaves kill themselves in bloody matches. Sarach had been to the Quarters before, often with Moctezuma to meet with his family. During the day, it was often quieter. She was disgusted by the press of bodies, decaying or filthy, but the place creeped her. The filth, noise, the stench. There was no toilets. Every few minutes, slaves lifted their clothing to been seen squatting, all in plain view. To Sarach, she only saw Slaves as disgusting, feral freaks of nature.

Sarach spent an hour, wandering around the jostling and filthy streets, her body shaking with fear. With each passing minute, everything had happen too quickly for her to think. She hadn't really thought about the problems of undertaking the quest. But now that she considered the facts, she began to realize the true extent of the challenge before her.

I'm out of my mind, she thought. Even the elders would twice- more than twice!- before even thinking about questing to Tepētl. I'll need supplies. A slave, gold, weapons... I can't do it! It's impossible!

Sarach longed to back out now but she knew it was already too late. She had already told her decision to Moctezuma and Ocuil. She cursed her recklessness. Moctezuma wouldn't have a problem if she changed her mind but the real problem was Ocuil. Ocuil wouldn't take mercy on her soul. She would tell everyone, brag about it! Better to slit her throat and...

"No," she said. "One step at a time, Sarach. If I can find a slave, I can deal with the next problem. And the next one, and so on. If I don't put forth the effort to move the foot towards the first step, then how should I able to keep walking towards the goal?"