Unbroken

Chapter 17

"Rose!" Tarra gasped as she yanked the door to the shack open. her eyes widened as she saw the slave girl cowering on the floor in front of me. I stood over her with my fists raised. The slave girl covered her face and her shoulders shook as she wailed. 

I had to admit that her act was extremely convincing. She acted like I had attacked her and had tortured her for hours. She sobbed and sniffled behind her hands. 

"What are you doing Rose?" Tarra asked from behind me and the slave girl jumped at the sound of her growl. My shoulders heaved with the force of my breathing and I spun around to face her. 

"Those guards locked me in there and they deserve to suffer!" I yelled. "I want to be able to hurt them like they hurt me. They deserve at leas that!" I spun back around to the girl and I lunged at her. She recoiled against the bed frame and cried out in terror. 

I looked back behind me as I drew back a fist. Tarra was actually smiling at me. She had a real smile on her face that reached her eye. I lowered my fists and looked at her. 

"What are you smiling at sister?" 

"You, after all this time you are finally ready to prove yourself to Ruben." 

I smiled my reply and she extended her hand towards me. I limped towards her to take it. Slowly the two of us made our way toward Ruben's tent. Tarra reached down to fling back the flap. We hunched over as we walked through it. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the darkness inside. 

"She's finally ready to become one of us," Tarra said as she extended her arm towards me. 

Ruben got up from his chair and walked around me like a circling bird or prey. I could feel his assessing eyes on me as he circled. "Are you sure?" 

"She's finally ready to become my sister." 

"Is this what you want?" He asked me.

"I've never wanted anything more," I lied smoothly.

He grunted his approval. "Get her cleaned up, then the ceremony will take place."

Tarra giggled as she wrapped her arm around my waist and pulled me back out into the sunshine. 

"I'm so proud of you!" She said to me as she nodded towards a guard. He acknowledged her silent signal with a slight bow and disappeared to do her bidding. I didn't get to see where he went because Tarra hauled me around a corner and into a tent that I hadn't ever noticed before. Inside there was a large tub and a few slaves. "They'll help you prepare for the ceremony," she said as she pulled her arm away from my waist. She walked over to one of the women and whispered instructions in her ear. The woman nodded and Tarra walked towards the exit. "I have to get ready myself!" She called over her shoulder and gave a slight wave. 

The women looked me up and down and then gestured towards the tub. I sighed and allowed them to help me out of my dress and I sunk down into the warm water. They poured water over my head and started scrubbing. One of the women pulled my foot out of the water and unwrapped the dirty bandage. The wound didn't look nearly as bad as I had expected it to. 

The gash was only about an inch long. My eyes traveled across my other injuries as the women washed my hair for me. There were several bite marks on my legs and arms from the time that I had spent in the dark with the rats. I glanced at the brand that would forever be at my side. It was permanent and I wondered what other part of this place would be with me forever. No matter what I did I would forever be reminded of this place. I would forever remember the things that Tarra and Ruben had done to me. 

I tried to pull my thoughts away from my injuries and think of something else. I looked at the women who were helping me get ready for the ceremony where I would kill Grant. I wondered what they had seen in the time that they had been in Ruben's service. I wondered about the horrors that they had experienced. I wondered about their families or if they even had families anymore.