ROYAL BLOOD
A woman's cry followed, sharp and ragged as the long whip stung her flesh, leaving faint red marks behind.
"Walk faster, we do not have all day!
The man with the whip said, and the woman increased her pace, tears stinging her eyes.
Another whip! and a boy lifting a heavy block staggered and fell on his face.
The whip lashed across the shoulders of the old and the young alike.
The slaves quivered beneath their burdens, blocks of stone hanging on their shoulders. Their trembling hands lifting up stones, their legs quivering.
They were chained. The chains biting into their wrists and ankles. An old woman buckled at the knees, her frail legs trembling, yet the lash drove her upright again.