Chapter 13: Communication

My faith in Farai’s abilities to extract information from obstinate slaves is fully justified when she reports her progress communicating with Meghr. In Meghr’s case, it isn’t that she is being awkward or rebellious, it’s simply that she cannot utter any sounds other than a weak grunt. There is still a long way to go before we can learn about Meghr’s past, and even her real name remains a mystery. However, Farai has established a means of communicating simple instructions to Meghr through hand signals and pictures.

“Is she ready to begin training?” I ask Farai when she meets with Amina and me to discuss Meghr’s progress.

“As ready as I can prepare her, Sai,” replies Farai. “She can communicate using about twenty different hand signals. I’ve shown Amina the ones Meghr definitely understands. Anything else will need to be done using drawings.”

I’m reluctant to divert Farai away from learning about Aren’s duties any longer than necessary. However I have Farai watch Amina’s first session with Meghr to assist with any communication difficulties. I resist the temptation to watch as well. I have too many caravanserai tasks needing my attention, and I don’t want to crowd Meghr on her first day of training.

Amina gives me a progress report in the early afternoon while we watch Meghr sweeping the corridor floors. It’s a daily task that one of the Wadi Halaf slaves normally performs, but there are plenty of other tasks for them to do elsewhere. I watch Meghr with interest. She is very pretty, and I’m sure that she would be welcome in most men’s beds despite her disability. Her posture is good, unlike many newly enslaved women, who tend to slouch. The absence of clothing, other than a loin cloth, doesn’t seem to trouble her. That suggests she has at least lived in an environment where near-naked slaves are commonplace. The collar around her neck is clearly a new experience for her. She constantly touches the collar and sometimes briefly lifts it off her shoulders.

“To attract Meghr’s attention, we should whistle twice like this,” says Amina as she demonstrates what she means. “She can hear sounds, but she doesn’t seem to understand any of the languages I’ve tried so far.”

Meghr halts her sweeping and turns to face Amina. A short signal from Amina sees Meghr drop to her knees and bows her head.

“From what Farai told me, Meghr already knew to adopt this position in response to the signal I gave, Sai,” says Amina. “Please come and stand in front of her. I think she will demonstrate another response she knew before she arrived here.”

I do as Amina asks. Without any further signal from either of us, Meghr leans forward and kisses my feet before returning to her kneeling position. Then she moves her right hand across her body in a pattern. I recognise the pattern as part of a religious benediction I’ve seen some men from the west perform on occasion. My immediate thought is that she has been a captive of the Grey Monks, and that she has been subjected to their perverse ways. But on reflection, that doesn’t seem to fit with their usual style of operation. Women of the Grey Monks’ Divine Harem aren’t instructed in religious ways. They are simply there to spread their legs on demand and service the monks’ cocks. Besides, Jacinta has already confirmed that Meghr is a virgin and that her malformed tongue is the result of a cruel punishment inflicted on her when she was child. Why it was done, and who ordered the evil deed, must remain a mystery for now.

“She’s obviously followed someone’s orders before, although I suspect not as a slave, Sai,” says Amina. “My guess is that she has lived and worked with a religious order. Given her inability to speak, they may have seen it as their duty to look after her.”

“Yes, I was thinking something similar myself. But if that’s the case, it doesn’t explain why she is no longer with them.”

“Religious orders aren’t immune from attack by raiders, Sai. It’s possible she was kidnapped. You said that the trader purchased her from a back street market. That’s where raider’s victims who can’t be ransomed usually end up.”

In the absence of any evidence, Amina’s and my musing is nothing more than plausible speculation. Training Meghr to be a useful slave is still going to be difficult. But the extra challenges at least prove that Amina, Farai and I can manage the workload on top of our caravanserai work.