The sloop hailed the Minerva and pulled alongside it. The rear half of the sloop was covered with a canvas and only four men were visible on deck. The wary captain called two more guards to the deck, but then he recognized Zacharias. “More cargo, captain. Hasshel’s orders. This one is special.”
“Bring her aboard, then. This is unusual,” remarked Hersion.
“Not my idea, I assure you,” Zacharias truthfully said. He called for the slave to be brought out with her warrior guards, sent one warrior up onto the Minerva ahead of the captive, and a second warrior brought the girl, whose hands were bound, to the edge. He put a rope around her under her arms and tossed the end up to the deck above. “Pull her up,” he ordered. She turned and spit in his face.
“She’s a wildcat, but a real beauty,” he said, wiping his face with his sleeve. Speaks four languages. Hasshel figures she’ll bring three times the usual.” The warrior below lifted her while the one above pulled on the rope. She kicked the man lifting her, which brought a laugh from the sailors and guards watching. Hersion could see that the girl was pretty, of dark complexion, and her eyes seemed to flash beneath her dark lashes. She began cursing them all in Egyptian and then in Greek, bringing more laughter. With the attention on the new slave, no one noticed the canvas on the sloop loosen on the side away from the Minerva.
“Throw her in with the others,” Hersion directed, as the second warrior climbed aboard.
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