Chapter 120

Fuji did not understand the walking I did with her and Rose. We just paced the compound. My balance got better and I got stronger as the morning wore on.

The lunch bell rang and we were on the wrong side of the compound. I’d never make it in time.

“Go,” I told Rose and Fuji, “I’ll get there.”

The girls ran off and I was left to stumble toward the lunchroom. The men were all feeding their slaves by the time I made it. I moved as quickly as I could to stumble and kneel before my owner.

The other men asked him what was wrong with me. He gave them brusque and noncommittal answers.

“You were not trained,” Basin hissed. “I’m not sure why Damien chose your family. There were better choices, there still are.”

“Mind your own slave, Basin,” my master said in his regular dismissive tone. “No one needs your opinion on the matter.”

The men in the compound found my obvious illness to be horrific, an insult to my owners. I heard them speaking about it when