Chapter 16

The other men murmured agreement.

They softly admonished me not to cause myself harm with my nails. If I insisted on doing that they would wrap my hands. I would only get one warning, so I best not do it again.

I apologized like I felt a good slave should. The men petted my hair and shoulders in response. They weren’t unreasonable, I soothed myself. I just had to learn the rules before they reached their limit.

I breathed easier and followed them to the main gate feeling more relaxed.

They dressed me to go to market. Why they couldn’t have done this upstairs, I could not discern. I would not have fussed at all if they put me in this to walk downstairs.

The brown outfit they put me in was handed to them by a man at the large stone entrance. He placed their mark in the outfit, because it was theirs now. They would put it on me whenever I left the warriors’ compound, they told me.

Getting into the outfit was complicated. The first thing they did was