5. Ship’s log of Captain Karim Assaraf. Safar 25 1218 (later in the day)
In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful, the plan having been agreed to with Tarik, I was able to sleep for a few hours in my cabin, waking around noon to a repast of some flatbread and sheep cheese with an orange, washed down with some of our excellent Moroccan tea. Coming up on deck, I found us headed at a good clip in the direction of Tripoli under the steady command of my cousin Rafiq, the drum beat that spurred the rowers steady, but not impossible to maintain over long stretches of time with the right inducement provided by the whip that always accompanied the drum.
It was time for a closer inventory of last night’s take. I approached Steele, who was standing guard over the women, leering at them like a horny old goat, such as I had seen in the Atlas Mountains. “So tell me what you know about these slaves, Steele. Which are the Ladies and which are the maids? In those torn nightgowns with their tits hanging out, I cannot tell. But some buyers may be willing to pay extra for a real English Lady.”
The Englishman escorted me down the line of coffled captives, naming each one and describing her status back in England in his reasonably good Arabic. As he did so, rather than point at the seated girl, he forced her to stand, taking the opportunity to paw them as they rose. I noted their names, although I guessed that once sold, their new masters would give them a good Arab name as would befit their new status.
That task completed I ordered one of the crewmen to fetch one of the slave whips, handing it to Steele when it arrived. “Have them undress, Steele, so that Muad can examine them,” I told him in Arabic. Muad wasn’t a trained physician, but he was the closest we had on the ship; he was the one who did his best to treat sick and wounded crew members.
Steele approached the girl standing in the first position in the line, a very pretty blond, whom he had identified as Lady Jane. “Take your nightgown off,” he ordered in English.
She looked horrified and stood there glaring at him. “Most certainly, I shall not,” she replied. “In front of these horrible foreign men that is a most indecent request.” Steele raised the whip and slashed it hard across her breasts. The torn fabric that partially covered them did little to cushion the blow. She howled like a banshee, twisting madly as Steele raised the whip to strike again. A most unladylike string of oaths flowed from her mouth.
“Shut your fat mouth, you slut. I’m not your stableman back in Surrey.” He struck again. She raised her arm to deflect the blow from her breasts, but the impact with her arm still appeared to be painful. As she shook her arm in pain, Steele took the opportunity to strike another blow across her breasts, even harder than the first. The force drove her to her knees, screaming in agony and surprise at such brutal treatment, since she had doubtless been cossetted and indulged her entire life.
I could see the shocked look on the faces of the other English infidels at the treatment of one of their own, a Lady, no less. Steele was handling this very well, impressing upon them what their new life situation was and that there would be no aid even from fellow English.
“Now get up and take that nightgown off,” Steele ordered. Jane, or, I should say, the Lady Jane, rose slowly, her hands stroking her breasts in a vain attempt to soothe the fire. Her eyes downcast, sobbing in pain and shame, she slid her arms through the holes in the garment and then, noting that the rope around her neck prevented her from raising the cloth over her head, lowered it slowly over her hips and let it fall to the ground.
She was every bit as lovely as I would have hoped, her soft white skin glowing in the Mediterranean sun to which it was so unaccustomed. Her breasts were not diminished in their attractiveness by the livid streaks from Steele’s whip. Rather they looked even more desirable for the marks that had been put on them as a first taste of the life as a pleasure slave that awaited her.
“Alright, the rest of you, get your nightgowns off,” Steele ordered. “Anyone else want a taste of the lash?” he asked. Cowed by the threat that they could have little doubt was meant in earnest, the others followed suit, looking frightened, a few struggling to keep the tears from flowing.
There, by the grace of the Prophet, thanks be to Him, stood my dozen English roses, naked and helpless, to do with as I wished, to sell or keep for my own enjoyment or to allow the crew to have their way with.
I called Muad over to do his examination. He took his time with each captive, examining their noses and mouths, holding each breast in his hands, weighing it and judging its texture, running his hands over buttocks and thighs, and, in a final indignity, sticking two fingers into each one’s female parts to feel for the maidenhead.
Finally, he came to me to report his findings. “All are healthy, Captain, Allah be praised. Any would make a most delightful pleasure slave. I can tell you that of the ladies, all but two are intact. He pointed to Lady Charlotte and Lady Primrose. Of the maids, two are intact,” he indicated Mary and Alice, “and the others not.”
I knew that English women, unlike ours, rode horses and participated in games, and that maidenheads could be lost in those pursuits. Nevertheless, our family had a reputation throughout the Barbary Coast that when an Assaraf sells you a virgin, a virgin she will be, as sure as the sun rises in the East. So, all those without maidenheads would be treated as though they had known the company of men before this day.
I ordered the crew to untie the women and had Muad and Steele sort them into virgins and non-virgins. I called the crew together. “You men have fought well. This may be the best haul in the long history of the Assaraf family. You deserve a reward. All of these slaves,” I indicated the non-virgin group, “have known men before, so you can enjoy yourselves with them. Don’t damage them, but you may satisfy the lust you are no doubt feeling.”
A raucous chorus of cheers rang out from the crew who swarmed around the shrieking women, grabbing at them, a few dragging each one off, some below decks and some to a far corner of the deck. I could hear the women pleading for mercy, but from the lustful sounds of the men, it was clear those please were being ignored.
As for the virgin group, I, Steele, Muad and Rafiq would have to find ways to slake our thirst while maintaining their value at auction.