I have to endure, was all she could tell herself. Her mother, brothers, sisters, and all the young ones from the clan relied on her. If she could sway the young master and help lift up her clan’s status… then maybe her life could hold some meaning.
A vain hope that would soon be extinguished.
After her father handed over the satchel, he got an approving nod as they all turned to pray to the statue in the middle of the room. One of the Brimstone Conglomerate tenets was to always make business deals in the presence of a statue and always credit the act of the deal to the Brimstone Hegemon. So was his creed and his faith. God-things Meira didn’t understand.
As they were all bowing, they all heard a sound—a crackling.
The master of the branch looked up, and his eyes went wide. A long c***k
