A red-haired slave trader tosses Nathan over their donkey and shoves a little girl to the ground. The only things Elijah knows are the point of a knife is pricking a hole in his throat and the man’s breath stinks. Yet Elijah’s father knows where the man is from and how to handle him.
The slaver leered at the crawling child. In the far north, this man had welded these children into his chain and would sell them where they knew not one cousin nor one word of the language. . . .
Syed Kasran, Iran
“I’ll handle this.” Dad’s wrinkled sunburn came into view, and his deep baritone rumbled. “You’re not in Kasran anymore, Red. I own this piece of the road.”
Sniffles and a hiccup came from the little girl on the ground.
Elijah sucked in a breath. The set of Dad’s jaw was weapon enough to back most men down.
While he handed mutton and pickles to Nathan, Dad parked his bulging biceps and barrel chest next to the slaver.
The man hissed, slid the knife into his belt, and released his grip.
Elijah slumped to the ground.
The Boy Who Closed the Sky, Pages 4-6
And in The King’s Man, Chapter 18. Obadiah’s bodyguards leap from their horses and pointed spears at the thugs. “Filthy Kasrans.”
Both Pakistan and Iran claim towns called Kasran. I doubt the residents have hair the color of the fictional slaver who held a knife to Elijah’s throat.
