Counted With the Stars by Connilyn Cossette

Author:Connilyn Cossette [Cossette, Connilyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042030, FIC042040, FIC026000
ISBN: 9781441229410
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-02-12T05:00:00+00:00

23

A slight breeze fluttered the linen tent, casting transient shadows around me as I turned, again and again, trying to find a comfortable position on my mat.

My mother and I lay side by side in the tent. Her back was to me. She had not stirred for a long while.

This is foolish. Why am I dancing around demanding answers?

Sitting up, I steeled myself for the long-overdue conversation. If I could confront Tekurah, I must have the courage to speak to my mother.

“How could you do it?” I whispered softly, half hoping she would not hear me.

She startled me by turning over.

My heart raced.

“Shefu came to me,” she whispered back. “It was his idea.”

“But I thought Father . . .”

“No, Kiya, your father did not want to sell you.”

I slowed my breath, not wanting to miss a word.

“We knew we were trapped. There was no other way to pay back our debts than to sell ourselves into servitude. Your father, myself, you, and Jumo.” Sorrow edged her voice. “The debt was greater than even I knew.”

“How could you not know? Everyone in town knew Father insisted on the finest of everything. His ships, jewels, our home.”

“I knew that, but I assumed he was bringing in a fortune, and I had no concept of any such dealings or the cost associated with them. I didn’t even know that he’d asked a loan of Shefu for the ships.”

“You didn’t know? Why didn’t he tell you?”

“Your father did his best to hide his failings from me. It must have galled him to ask Shefu, of all people, for a loan. He must have figured that the return on the investment would pay Shefu back before I ever suspected.”

“It was his greed that did this, subjected us to this misery.”

“Yes, it was. But it was mine as well. I may not have known the cost or understood the burden of debt we were under, but I spent the gold. The gowns, the wigs, the jewels . . . we are both to blame. And for that, my beautiful daughter, I am so sorry.” She placed a warm hand on my cheek. I resisted the urge to pull away, but still I winced.

“When Shefu came to me, offering to pay off our debts, to shield us from slavery to some unknown master who knows where, to protect our family from being permanently ripped apart, I jumped at the chance. You have such strength, my precious girl; I knew you would emerge on the other side of this in victory. Shefu promised to protect you, to ensure that no harm would come to you. It was either allow us all to be sold or put you under Shefu’s care and trust him—as I always have.”

I let her confession hang there. Sink in for a few moments. She must have known what my next question would be.

“Shefu. Tell me. I need to know.”

She expelled a long, slow breath.

“Ah, Shefu. I loved him as a little girl. Our fathers were friends from childhood, and our families were close, but his mother was ambitious.

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