Day after day, he did his work and fretted over what had become of Kannak. If she were unwell, he would not be there to hold her hand this time and if a man tried to force her, he would not … He had to wipe that worry out his mind before he lost it completely.
The portions of food were small and again only given twice a day. On some mornings all they got was a piece of bread. Trying not to think about his hunger was even more difficult than trying not to worry about Kannak.
Night after night he replayed their last moments together, sent his mental message and prayed she was receiving it. When it was dry the slaves slept in the open where the guards could watch them easier, but when it rained they were allowed to sleep under the branches of the trees. Still, he found no avenue of escape. At night the ankle of each man was tied to a heavy shaft of wood with only enough rope to allow him to turn over. As well, the camp fires were kept ablaze, shedding ample light on the captives.
He wanted desperately to talk to the other Macoran, but it was still forbidden, he suspected, for fear they would join forces and rebel. Rebellion, to Stefan's way of thinking was highly unlikely since the strength of the men dwindled with each passing day.
Twice the guards lashed a man for becoming distracted instead of working and it intensified Stefan's desire to escape. If only there were not so many guards. He might manage to take a sword away from one of them, but he could not fight all twenty men and win.
There was some measure of solace when he could observe how the bridge was being built, if only for a moment or two at a time. He found the construction genius and wished he could become friends with the builder, but alas, that was not possible either.
Then he became fascinated with one of the other slaves. The elder was a smaller man than most and daily, Stefan noticed, the man thought of something to smile about. Some days it was the beauty of a flower he managed to pick and tuck inside his belt so he could smell its sweet fragrance later. Some days it was the splendor of a soaring eagle or the speed with which a squirrel scampered up a tree. Once, the old man almost felt the lash for watching ducks swim down the edge of the river.
But most important to Stefan was the man's smile and after watching him more intently out of the corner of his eye, it was clear the old man often glanced upward and moved his mouth as though he were talking to God. The elder was missing two teeth, was dirty, hungry and exhausted like the rest of them, yet his smile warmed Stefan's heart and he endeavored daily to work beside the old man just to see it.