Nikos got up and walked around her lifting the shirt at different places. This girl had not been flogged. Her torso was  not scarred.  He pushed the hair from her face with a finger. One eye was dark and puffy and her left cheek was bruised. Clearly she had been beaten. That explained her timidity. He lifted her chin with a finger and smiled at her. She would make an excellent cabin servant and perhaps more. Time would tell.<br/><br/>He reached down and unchained her ankles using the key he was given. Now that they were at sea, she could not escape, and as timid as she was, he had no worries for her leaving the cabin.  Do you speak Greek? He asked her.  She certainly didn't look like she had been born on Crete. He had never seen a blonde haired woman.  He knew this, she was valuable. First she was beautiful, and second so different from other slaves. She came at a high price, and whoever had owned her had been wealthy and probably powerful, and would want her back. He was better off keeping her presence on the ship a secret if he could. He would keep the cabin locked from now on.<br/>