Harring
th the exhausted breathing of the othe
tark reminder of my reality. I closed my eyes,
ll struggles, never expecting it to end.I remembered the neon glow of the city, the conve
hard on my lip, stifling the sound that threatened to escape. I didn
still alive. Even as a slave. And as long as I
low, a human female slave. My threats: the mysterious man from the
not just a faceless f
es, a voice moving through the dark. But memories did not leave such precise marks. My wrist still tightened
him. It had only hidden the
followed me into this world. I still didn't know his name or rank. I knew only that he was a w
omewhere behind the amber of his eyes, something had fought to hold
ises, but my skin remembered the pressure. I pulled
woman. And... Matron Thorne's uncertain favor. I still had no explanation for why
ard from other slaves while being transported. In
r own freedom. If you could save up a huge sum of gold, y
for a slave, but it was the
every word I spoke, had to serve this one purpose. I would
e desire to live burned like a fir
le cleaning, but learning the intricate etiquette of the Vo
han before. The slightest mistake
t to memory, performing each task flawlessly. I treated it like
use for complaint. The look in her eyes
ed quickly. It was the da
rious posts throughout the keep. For your final training exerc
that area is near Lord Callahan's residence. There will be
. The name shot through my mind like a b
e man from the Moonwise Festival... could
e. Going to the gardens me
to shrink back, to fin
hed the thought. Defyi
rything in my power to become co
cing the fear down into t
excited to be out of the dungeons, other
d picked up the heaviest pair of long-
the low-lying bushes. That way, I could keep my ba
ble scenario in my mind
ould not be recogni
/1/124637/coverbig.jpg?v=98ffb1eec6fd9e2e3c2f05443b2cce0d&imageMogr2/format/webp)