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Due to Kandek’s interest in having private meetings with me in his chambers, everyone thought he wanted to make me his concubine after I came of age. After today.
    Yet he always seemed interested in what I had to say and I’d never noticed anything inappropriate about his behavior.
    While it was strange he would request an audience with me and not any other slaves, I couldn’t believe he had bad intentions. Behind closed doors he was kind, almost friendly to me. Although I had witnessed his cruelty, I couldn’t believe he would ever treat me that way.
    No matter how much I protested their beliefs, the other slaves still treated me like an outsider. Only Ivy had gone out of her way to befriend me and over the years, she had defended me many times.
    “Morning, Luci,” I said as I walked into the kitchen. The heat of the room overwhelmed me as the breakfast bread baked in the ovens. The smell of rising yeast never failed to make my stomach growl.
    “Finally.” Luci said, wiping her flour-covered hands on her gray dress. “I’ve been waiting for you. I was about to send someone to fetch you. You spent too much time chatting with Ella this morning. You two need to move faster in the morning.”
    “Sorry.” I balled my hands up into my dress, feeling the token lying within the secret pocket. “Since Ivy left so early this morning, I had a little extra work to do.”
    Luci rolled her eyes and grunted. “Ivy has never been anything but nice to you and here you are blaming her for making you late. You’re so ungrateful. Now get out so I can open the windows.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” I took one quick glance at the heavily curtained windows. Not only did they provide light for Luci and her staff on sunny days, but they also gave the heat from the ovens a place to escape. And they couldn’t be opened until I had taken my place in the back room.
    Holding back a sigh, I shuffled into the dark dish chamber. The walls were filled with shelves and with dishes of every kind waiting to be filled with every kind of delicacy from roasted pheasant to exotic fruits from the Southern Kingdoms beyond the mountains. There were small bowls for finger cleaning between courses. Soup bowls, salad plates, and mixing utensils. Hand-painted plates saved for visits from dignitaries ranked higher than Kandek and the chipped ceramic plates we slaves used for everyday meals. I was amazed how many dishes one man and his household could use in one day.
    As I pulled dishes off the shelf for today’s breakfast and placed them on the cart, I let my mind wander away from Ivy and to my other troubles.
    I wanted to forget today was my fifteenth birthday. I wanted to lose myself worrying about Ivy, but no matter how hard I tried to keep my mind off of it, I couldn’t forget that today I faced my greatest fear.
    Handmaids sewed dresses of the finest silk with gold thread and embellished with pearls. Every man’s finest garb would be aired out for the occasion. Food from all over the island arrived daily to be added to the feast. The oranges from the south shined like gold. My mouth watered just looking at them. I could smell the cakes, already in the oven for today’s celebration.
    Unfortunately none of it would pass my lips. I wouldn’t wear a beautiful dress either. Those were only for noblemen and their wives who would be here to watch me receive a permanent gift from my master, the brand of a fox on the back of my neck, forever marking me as his property.
    Every morning we slaves shaved our heads as a sign of our restricted status. Only free people were allowed to grow their hair. Long ago, there was the theory that if a slave ever escaped and hid long enough to grow an adequate amount of hair, she could join society as a free person. To avoid losing their slaves forever among the masses, masters branded the slaves they intended to keep on their fifteenth birthday.
    Ivy received hers last month and we had gripped hands until the moment the guards