Chapter 9

THE DOOR TO that dark room opened the next day, at least I think it was the next day, I wouldn't know.

Since Madam Claire has decided I was a bad investment, her soldiers didn't bother wasting her food on me.

It was so cold, alone in my thin strip of a dress, I was freezing and my teeth were chattering by the time they came to take me away.

I wasn't taken through the brothel, lest my dirt and smell irritate the important clients.

No, I was taken through the rear of the brothel. I only saw Kezira once, and it was enough to break my spirit and stop me from fighting.

She had taken a bath and looked considerably cleaner. She had makeup on, the rosy blush bringing life to her cheeks. She stood beside a client and when he whispered in her ear, she laughed.

I was struggling against the guards hauling me towards the rear exit when I heard the sound of Kez's laughter.

The moment I saw her laughing, all the fight went out of me, and I just fell limp and allowed them to carry me away.

I was