The Madam still took me in despite what happened, she docked my pay for the days that I was healing, and Marina and I used that time to plan. It took a few weeks for me to be able to work, and by that time Marina has noted the scars on my skin and how the silvery lines on my back won’t ever leave me, if I had mother’s poultice then I doubt it would’ve stayed.
The spidery web-like lines etched on my skin are still fresh, silvery pink lines, I touch the edges of one on my side. Plump and thick, I try not to cry. Not because of my marred beauty, I could care less about being pretty, I could imagine my parent’s face. The sadness, the fear, the depression, and the truth that their fears were proven right, despite my hiding. My heart broke for them, and I know I’d meet them with the guilt that
