Blind Beauty and Other Tales of Redemption by Meredith Leigh Burton

Author:Meredith Leigh Burton [Burton, Meredith Leigh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781720301288
Published: 2018-08-09T04:00:00+00:00

Two Months Later

Faluri heard the groans and cries before she reached the fields. The clash of whips brought bile to her throat. She had worked in these fields so often with her mother. Now, she paused before the vast stretch of swaying canama plants. Women struggled under heavy baskets, which were strapped to their backs. They crawled along the ground, gathering stalks of canama. Young girls stood in a colossal pit, their hands and feet moving in a rhythmic dance as they used mallets to crush canama stalks into coarse granules of sugar. Men struggled to unload heavy crates of the freshly prepared sugar into colossal chests.

Above this activity loomed five burly men, each of them wearing crimson robes. They held whips in their hands as they marched through the fields. Faluri gasped as a young girl paused in the rhythm of the dance, slumping forward and crying with exertion. The mallet fell from her trembling hand, and she bent to retrieve it.

SWISH! SWISH! One of the overseers paused beside the pit, his whip crashing upon the little girl’s shoulders. Faluri bolted toward the pit. She lunged at the overseer, attempting to snatch the whip.

“Stay back, beast!” The overseer shoved Faluri backward, delivering a vicious blow to her stomach. She gasped and struggled to reach the pit, to cradle the young girl and bring her comfort.

“Wait.” One of the other overseers approached at the sound of the commotion. He scrutinized Faluri closely, grabbing one of her hands. “Soft as goat cheese,” he murmured. “You don’t belong here, despite your obvious Pacmana status. A house slave, eh?” He leered at her. “What brings you here?”

Faluri shuddered, longing to back away from his scrutiny. Yet she also realized that he had given her a golden opportunity, and she must make the most of it. “Lord Locmana sent me here to retrieve another girl for the kitchens.”

The overseer frowned. “Do you take me for a fool? His Lordship has been ill for a week. He can’t even rise from his bed. Why are you really here?”

“I’m telling you the truth. Some dignitaries are coming for a banquet tomorrow, and we’re short-staffed.”

The overseer leant closer to her, his leer more pronounced than ever. “Wench thinks she can pull one over on me, does she?” he chortled. “I’ll just put you to work till I can verify your story.”

Faluri stared. “Y-you’ll pay for your mistreatment of me.”

The overseer laughed. “Lord Locmana couldn’t care less what happens to you swine.” He shoved her toward the pit.

As she fell into the gaping hole, the deep thrumming of the earth immediately pulled at her, forcing her to rise and move in tandem with its rhythm. She struggled with all her might to resist, but the pulsating heartbeat brutally pummeled her.

“You must obey him,” a little girl whispered. “If you don’t, you’ll be beaten.”

Faluri gasped and turned to the familiar voice. With a strangled cry, she reached out a hand to the petite, auburn-haired girl, the only one whose ears were not pointed.

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