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disobedience. Some of the Great Houses had different laws, but Tahar kept with the old ways.
    I made friends with as many of the maidens as would let me, and was glad never to be chosen for chores in Pleasure Hall, for I heard many tales about the cruelty of concubines.
    The hatred of some of the maidens was enough, indeed almost more than I could bear, for I gave them no reason to treat me so. But a few, seeing Kumra’s obvious dislike of me, sought to gain her favor by doing whatever they could to torture me. One had gone as far as dropping a small cauldron of boiling water on me to see how fast I could heal myself. I howled with the pain of the welts that covered both arms to the tip of my fingers.
    The following morning, as Kumra sent us to do our chores, her gaze landed on my hands.
    Her lips flattened into a severe line. “What have you done?”
    “An accident, my Lady. I beg your pardon for it.” I hoped she would allow me a day of rest so I could think of a poultice that could be made from the meager things available to me.
    “You useless, clumsy murna,” she yelled, and other offensive names followed. Then she suddenly calmed, which scared me more than the yelling. A cold gleam came into her eyes. “You will be assigned to the wash today. See that you make fine work of it.”
    I bowed, not wanting to anger her further by showing any emotion. A hard day that turned out to be. The hot water and lye like thousands of sharp talons and teeth attacked my injured flesh. I fainted twice with the pain of it but dared not to leave any of the work undone.
    These things happened and worse, and I learned to keep out of Kumra’s way. I did nothing to bring myself to her attention and tried my best to do my work as well as I could to give her no excuse for punishment, not that she needed a reason.
    The spirits watched over me, for no illness came to the House that would have required any true powers. The few cases of sour stomachs were righted easily with steamed borlan, and the various cuts and sores needed only cleaning and bandaging. Thus my lack of true worth remained undiscovered as the days passed, each colder yet than the one before.
    The work remained hard, the food scarce, and my heart shivered within my body, for I could never get warm enough. I tied rags around my feet and stuffed them with dry grass for added protection. To keep the chill from the rest of my body, I folded a large rag into a triangle and wore it over my shoulders as a cape, the edges wrapped around my waist and tied in the back, but still my sunborn body shivered.
    I had to gain my full strength back before the true winter arrived. My limbs, always strong from climbing, had grown weak. So wherever I had to go, I ran instead of walking. If anything heavy needed to be lifted, I jumped first to grab it. I did my chores fast, then helped the other girls. All the time, I planned, asking the spirits to help me. And then one day they answered.
    I was running through the kitchen, a bucket in each hand, on my way to the creek, when I saw a man whose familiar features stopped me, as did his thudrag, the traditional wear of Shahala men. Something in his face, in his being, called out to the kin in mine and drew me to him.
    “Little sister, what is your name?” His eyes crinkled at the corners. The words flew from his lips in the language of my people, sweet and smooth like dripping honey.
    “I am Tera.” I bowed my head as I should when addressing an elder.
    “Talmir is my name. By the spirits, I both laugh and cry at the sight of you.”
    I understood what he meant as I felt the same—happy to find one of my own, sad for he shared my sorry fate. I had so much to ask him, so much to tell. Two people standing together were ten times stronger than one. Hope filled my heart with warmth for the first time since I left our shores.
    “Talmir—”
    I fell silent as Kumra walked through the doors.
    “Here.” Talmir snatched a small sweetcake from the