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“My entire body. He made sure I was disfigured so no other would want me. If he could not have me, then no other man ever could.”
With trembling hands, Lucero lifted her dress, showing her that the same symbols ran all the way down her thighs, but the more pronounced ones were on her lower abdomen. Lines and circles went all the way down to her pubic area. There was not one inch of her flesh that had been left untouched.
Noelle went utterly still, her eyes roving over the young girl’s face. Lucero was around her age, so young and with her whole life ahead of her. And that goddamn man had dared do something so heinous to her just because his male pride had been injured. God… Noelle couldn’t believe that someone could be capable of such evil. To a child no less, because back then Lucero had been a child.
“I’m so sorry,” she murmured, her voice full of sincerity laced with anger on Lucero’s behalf. “I’m so so sorry that happened to you.”
Lucero swallowed hard, giving Noelle a slight nod.
“It’s in the past…”
“How can you say so when he hurt you so badly? My God, he deserves to burn for even contemplating such a thing.”
“One day… One day he will pay for all he’s done—to me, and to others. I have to trust that he will pay.”
“How many others?” Noelle was afraid to ask the question, yet it was clear Lucero wasn’t the first, nor the last. For all she knew, she’d be next to be mutilated as such because she’d dared to refuse him. God, but he really believed himself a feudal lord, entitled to everyone’s lives, didn’t he?
“All the serving girls at the hacienda have at one time, or another, been his mistresses. Those who agreed, were used and then given a good position. The few who refused shared my fate.”
Noelle was horrified.
“You’re telling me that all those young girls I saw at the wedding…everyone?” Noelle croaked.
“They are gifts for El Señor for keeping our area safe and prosperous,” Lucero sighed.
“I’m shocked he allowed you to tend to me if you’re considered an outsider,” Noelle added pensively.
“I was sent to work at the temples. The big pyramids around the hacienda” Lucero explained. That’s when Noelle noticed the callouses on her hands and the many marks of labor. “It’s where I was working before I was assigned to you, and that was only because I’m the only one who can speak some English around here.”
Noelle digested the information, suddenly seeing the girl with other eyes. Still, she was afraid to blindly put her faith in someone when this could very well be just a ploy to gain her confidence before betraying her. While it was clear Lucero was afraid of Sergio and she hated him with her entire heart, fear was a strong motivator to make someone comply with orders.
“Why are you telling me all this?” Noelle asked, suspicion nagging at her.
She was alone in a foreign land, of course she would be easy prey for someone who seemingly shared a common enemy. It was a known tactic and one that Noelle was extremely wary of.
Without warning, Lucero dropped to her knees in front of her.
“Thank you. Thank you,” she murmured, her voice clogged with emotion just as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Thank you for what you did. No one’s ever dared… No one…”
“What… What did I do?” Noelle’s memory of that night was fuzzy. She remembered injuring Sergio, but nothing more than that.
“You…don’t remember?”
“My memory is a little choppy. Must be all the blows,” Noelle lifted her hand to her temple as she tried to make light of the situation.
Lucero dragged on her knees towards her, and in a hushed tone, she related what she’d heard.
“They’re trying to keep it very quiet but I eavesdropped this morning. El Señor… You hurt his member and there is nothing the doctors can do. They said he’s now impotent.”
Slowly, the events flashed in Noelle’s mind.
“I…did that?” She couldn’t believe it, yet a wide smile spread across her lips at the thought. “You mean he’s never going to be able to… you know…”
Lucero nodded.
“He cannot have any more children either.”
“God!” Noelle gasped, realizing the magnitude of it.
