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She decided to ask the question openly.
“Is he so violent with everyone?”
Lucero pursed her lips.
“Only those that defy him.”
“Have you…defied him?”
Lucero looked down in embarrassment.
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I’m sorry. I gather you’ve been in my position before?” Noelle inquired softly.
“I was given to him five years ago.”
“Given to him?”
“To be his mistress,” Lucero nodded, carefully helping Noelle out of her gown before tending to her injuries.
“But five years ago… You couldn’t have been more than a child.”
“Thirteen,” Lucero nodded, and seeing Noelle’s bewildered expression, she went on to explain, “It’s customary in this area, and Señor Villanueva is the ultimate authority. It’s expected for him to receive tribute from his people.”
“Tribute?” Noelle blinked. “We’re not in the Middle Ages, and he’s not some feudal lord.”
“Maybe. Yet here I am. And here you are, too, a bartered wife. We might not be in the Middle Ages, but the Middle Ages are still with us.”
“Good Lord. You’re telling me you had to…sleep with him at that age?”
Lucero nodded, her expression shrouded in sadness.
“I refused, of course. I fought him at every turn, as you did.”
“And you escaped that fate?” Noelle’s voice turned hopeful.
“Maybe I received a worse fate,” Lucero added quietly.
“What do you mean?”
“He didn’t rape me, but he made sure I could never be with anyone else either.”
“I don’t understand,” Noelle frowned.
Lucero stopped her ministrations for a moment, taking a step back and unbuttoning her tunic.
Noelle watched intently, her pain momentarily forgotten as she saw the marks seared on Lucero’s torso. A series of rune-like symbols ran all over her torso, starting from her collarbone, circling her breasts and going all the way down to her stomach. They looked like they had been tattooed into her skin, but Noelle couldn’t be sure.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I’ve been cursed by the gods—an outcast. But that is not all,” Lucero trailed off, her cheeks heating up as she buttoned up her tunic.
Noelle tipped her head, a worried expression on her face.
“He wanted to make sure no one would ever touch me,” she whispered.
“What do you mean?”
