Katharina woke puffy-eyed to that incessant pull, sharp and unmistakable, like someone had reached inside her chest and yanked her upright by the skin beneath her brand. She winced. Around her, the stable was already shifting with movement. Straw rustled. Bare feet slid against wood. Quiet breaths became resigned sighs.

  No one was talking, the outer door didn't seem to have been opened, and it didn't seem like any sort of morning bell had rung.

  And yet... everyone was getting up.

  A suspicion that had been growing in Katharina ever since the wagon ride was slowly confirming itself; the others had to feel it too, the tugging urge to obey, every one of them had that same invisible leash tethered to their souls. And she was sure that if she pulled the shirt off someone's back, she would see whatever marking was left by that brand, just like on her shoulder.

  From the other side of the thin wooden partition, she heard the muffled sounds of someone stirring, a quiet grunt, then the shuffling of limbs against old straw. Katharina had barely slept. The horizon outside still wore the faintest blush of pink; it couldn’t be more than a few hours since she'd collapsed into that makeshift bed of linen sacks and exhaustion.

  Then, without warning, a head popped up over the dividing wall.

  A girl, slender, with thick, waist-length hair and straight bangs that framed a pale face. Her eyes were shadowed with sleep, and her warm, nearly-black hair fell like a curtain around her shoulders. She let out a long, unceremonious yawn before resting her chin lazily on the top of the stall wall, letting her face settle into expressionlessness. She blinked down at Katharina like one might do while regarding a strange animal in the next pen over.

  "χ??'? Ω?, °?? ??∞'? ??∞? ? ????ψ?∞Ω 木?? ???∞Ω χ???"

  The girl gestured toward the door, in a motion that read 'follow me'.

  Katharina stared at her, unsure of what to do. But the tugging in her shoulder was growing more insistent by the second. Whatever the girl had said, she wasn’t wrong; there was no time to sit and think. She stood slowly, wiping stray hay from her shirt, and stepped into the cold, clammy morning behind the girl.

  Outside the stables, a line had already formed, pairs of people walking two by two down a narrow gravel path.

  The girl from the stall walked beside her, hands swinging at her sides.

  "? ????? °?? ナ?°?∞Ω...

  ??? ?? °?? Φ∞??... ??? 木??χ?? ??? ∞?? ?? ??? ????.

  ?????? ???∞??∞? ナ?∞ ?? ? Ω?∞?χ? ??∞."

  The girl was looking straight ahead, but her voice was low enough that it could only have been meant for Katharina to hear.

  A silence dominated the caravan of people, marching in the morning dew.

  "??, ????'? °???..."

  "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what you are saying."

  Katharina cut off the girl because hearing more of that foreign language only made her want to tear up again.

  The girl had turned her head, staring in surprise at Katharina.

  They had come to a stop; the line in front of them was wrapping around the corner of a building, and something around the corner was creating a queue.

  They stepped forward by inches, one pace at a time.

  Katharina glanced awkwardly at the girl beside her, and a forced smile formed around the corner of her lips as their eyes met.

  The girl looked wrapped in thought, as if trying to unravel a mystery.

  Then suddenly the girl pointed to herself with exaggerated gestures, pointing right at her own collarbone.

  "?° ∞??? ?? χ? ?∞."

  She sounded out the last part in clear syllables, while letting her pointing hand follow the rhythm.

  "Li - ?∞"

  "Lian"

  She smiled expectantly at Katharina, who lifted an unsure finger to point at the girl, who must be named Lian, unless there was some crazy cultural barrier at play. "Lian," Katharina tried, with a small, unsure voice.

  The girl immediately flashed a gentle smile and turned her hand to point at Katharina.

  "???? ?? °??? ∞????"

  Again, the girl sounded out the words with clear distinction, putting a heavy emphasis on the last word.

  Feeling reassured by the immediate affirmation of the girl's smile, Katharina thought . And while mirroring the exaggerated pointing, she sounded out her name.

  "Ka - tha - ri - na"

  "Katharina"

  Ending with a careful smile. Lian chuckled and gave her best attempt, "Kakarina?" clearly knowing she was probably pronouncing it incorrectly, but with a sincerity that hinted at no ill intent.

  "Ka - tha - rina"

  Their eyes met again as Katharina corrected her, and a smile formed on both their lips. Somehow, it seemed a curious understanding had formed between them, and Lian repeated, "Katharina", and repeated the name just a few more times under her breath, as if to make sure she never got it wrong again.

  Their quiet exchange had distracted them just long enough for the queue to round the corner, revealing the source of the slow procession: a narrow window set into the stone wall of one of the outbuildings, where bowls were being handed out, one per person, containing whatever passed for breakfast.

  Only now did Katharina feel the gnawing pit in her stomach. She blinked at the sight of the bowl in the hands of the boy ahead of her, watery, grayish, with something that might have once been barley floating in it, and realized just how long it had been since she’d last eaten. The only real food she'd had since arriving in this godforsaken world was that strange, bland porridge the couple, who had seemed so nice at first, had offered her back in their house. And even then, she had only taken a few bites of it before being sedated and dragged off by the two brutes.

  Thinking back over the chain of events, from that breakfast to being branded like cattle, from the cold stone cells to the terrifying grandeur of the manor, all the events that had transpired unfolded before her mind's eye. It didn’t feel like a single day. It felt like an eternity.

  When her turn came, she took the bowl without a word and scarfed it down too fast to even taste it. It wasn’t nearly enough. Her stomach didn’t feel full, just momentarily pacified. The hunger was still there, waiting to be satiated. But before she'd even swallowed the last bite, everyone else was already moving again, funneling away from the manor and toward the edge of the estate.

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  A hand was suddenly offered to Katharina; it was Lian, who looked at her with urging eyes, nodding in the direction of the fields that lay beyond the manor. Katharina grabbed it hesitantly, and they filed into the line.

  The gravel path crunched beneath their feet as they followed the others across the grounds. They were passing an orchard where some pairs left the formation and started their day's work.

  As they walked further, the group grew smaller and smaller. In the beginning, Katharina would have estimated the group to be around 40 people, who had all slept in the stables. By the time they reached a long wooden fence lining a vast stretch of field, only about fifteen people remained.

  As they entered the field, Lian let Katharina's hand go, and Katharina stopped for a moment, taking it all in. The field was lined with neat rows of vegetables stretched toward the horizon, their green tops just beginning to peek through the dirt. The rising sun washed it all in gold, and above it all were tubes stretching into a lattice that hung over the vegetable rows like skeletal ribs, an irrigation system maybe.

  The people around her moved like ghosts, pairs peeling off in silence to take up stations along the rows. A few knelt down immediately, while others began to weed or haul empty crates toward shaded corners. Lian motioned for Katharina to follow, guiding her toward a patch near the edge of the irrigation lattice.

  Work began, but an eerie quiet covered the field; no one was talking, and no instructions were given. Katharina felt that she was supposed to work too, but in her mind, all she wanted to do was escape; yet she knew her body wouldn't obey.

  Katharina parted her lips to ask Lian what they were supposed to be doing, but the moment she drew breath to speak, the now-familiar burn flared hot under her skin, right beneath her brand. Her voice caught in her throat, and her body froze mid-motion. The urge to stay silent was so strong, so absolute, it was manifesting itself, becoming a state of being rather than a feeling.

  But Katharina was determined to take back control and pushed it down.

  “Lian, what-” she whispered, barely more than breath.

  Lian’s head snapped toward her in alarm. Her eyes went wide. She shook her head in sharp, jerky motions and pointed to the far side of the field. There, sitting rigid atop a tall, dusty-gray horse, was a figure in polished leather. The morning sun glinted off his posture like armor. But she didn't press any further, just mimicked whatever Lian was doing to the best of her ability.

  The hours passed with slow, grueling work; the weeds they were pulling were coarse and cut her fingers, sores were forming on her knees, and she felt her jeans cutting off the blood flow to her shins no matter how she sat down.

  By the time Katharina's mind had gone numb enough to not care about the pain, the sun was already high. The heat was sweltering, pressing warmth into Katharina’s back as she kept digging out weeds with bloody fingers. She noticed a girl walking across the field to a large stone basin. The girl knelt with both palms hovering around a collection of thin tubes. The tubes snaked out from the basin and rose toward the sky, connecting to the irrigation lattice above.

  Suddenly, a low hum filled the air. It wasn't obvious what the girl was doing, but it was clear that it was straining, her face twisted with focus. Beads of sweat rolled down her temples, and her skinny arms were trembling, as if she were carrying something dangerously heavy.

  And then, as if the gods had opened the skies, it rained down in a steady drizzle, soaking the thirsty earth. Somehow, this trembling girl was running the irrigation system, simply with a pair of hovering hands. Katharina marveled at this intriguing technology and felt relief at the cooling of her burning skin.

  Without warning, the girl collapsed forward with a grunt. Her shoulders heaved. Katharina glanced at Lian, who hadn't even looked up while all of this was going on, as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

  It really did seem like no one cared; the girl just stayed lying there for a while, before getting up on her one, and huddling back to her post, to continue weeding.

  It was nearly midday when the sound of a sharp whistle cut across the fields. Followed by the guard shouting something.

  "????Φ ????, °?? ??χχ ???? 二?? ??∞????."

  A low mumble broke out among the slaves, as if the gags had been taken off fifteen people at the same time. And everyone got up, as if a curse had suddenly been lifted. Lian grabbed Katharina by the elbow and pointed to a shaded spot at the edge of the field beneath some trees.

  The group settled in small clusters on the packed dirt, backs hunched, knees drawn up. And there stood the brooding man from yesterday beside a cart, ladling a slop of pale mash into rough ceramic bowls.

  And a single slice of dry bread, to give the meal some excitement.

  When Katharina stepped forward for her bowl, the man looked her up and down, then filled the bowl to the brim and placed the biggest slice of bread he could grab on top.

  "? ??? °?? ???? Φ?ψ? °?????χ木 ??? ?木 ?????χ?."

  He said something with a teasing twinkle in his eye. Then he pointed to himself.

  "????Φ"

  "I'm sorry?"

  "Ma-rek"

  Now, slower, the man sounded out what Katharina assumed had to be his name.

  Katharina politely repeated "Marek." He gave a satisfied nod and shooed her away to let the next person in line get their meal.

  Katharina sat cross-legged beside Lian, who had already torn a piece of bread and was dipping it into the warm paste. Katharina mimicked her, unsure if the gesture would be enough to make the food more palatable. It wasn’t.

  Lian pointed to the bread in her hand.

  "?????"

  Katharina immediately knew her first language lesson was beginning. Lian turned her hand to point up at herself.

  "?'?"

  Then she lifted the bread up to her lips, and took a large, exaggerated pretend bite, and continued to pretend to chew,

  "????∞Ω"

  Finally, she pointed back at the bread.

  "?????"

  She closed off by saying the full sentence "I'm eating bread", then motioned for Katharina to repeat.

  As Katharina clumsily sounded out the sentence, a loud chuckle erupted behind them. The brooding man, Marek, was listening in. At first, Katharina felt embarrassed that she was stumbling over something as simple as 'I'm eating bread'. But then she thought to herself,

  The mood had lightened a bit, and even though the food was horrid, at least she got a substantial and filling portion.

  Lian glanced at her, eyes softening for a moment, as if she knew. As if she felt the same bite of invisible chains every time she dared to think of freedom. Their eyes met, and Katharina saw it: they were both prisoners, but maybe, just maybe, they could keep each other alive.

  For the first time since she’d arrived, Katharina felt she might make it through this, that there were people around her who might even help.

  But it didn't take long for the mood to sour again. Katharina had let her eyes wander, and they had settled on the girl from earlier, the one who had powered the irrigation system, sitting with her back against a post, barely lifting her spoon. Her arms looked limp, like string left out in the rain. Her bowl tipped once, spilling a little. Katharina felt bad for her, even though she couldn't understand how the girl had gotten like this. A moment later, the guard had gotten off his high horse, just to come over and slap the back of her head, hard enough to jerk her upright.

  "? ??χχ ∞?? ???? °?? ?ψ?χχ?∞Ω ?????? ???∞??∞?'? Ω?∞????? ?木木???∞Ω."

  His reprimanding words were firm, and his angry face told Katharina that you did not want to cross the guard. And here she had hoped he was just a passive overseer, as he had been the whole morning.

  After lunch, the work resumed, signaled by the whistle again, but forced by that same quiet compulsion. The afternoon had dragged worse than the morning, her limbs heavier, the sun crueler, and her mind too numb to even form complaints. By the time the sky began to shift, golden to gray, she wasn’t sure how she was still upright.

  Katharina didn’t remember the walk back to the manor. But they were handed a bowl of the same stuff they were served in the morning. When she finished, someone took her bowl. Then someone else guided her toward the stables, or was it just the exhaustion?

  The scent of hay and sweat and damp wood greeted her like a warm pillow.

  She collapsed into the same patch of linen sacks she’d woken up on, though now they felt somehow thinner, and she had no patience to arrange them into anything. Her body ached in places she didn’t know could ache. She wanted to cry, but nothing came. There was nothing left in her.

  Then, in the darkness, a quiet shuffle.

  A soft weight pressed against her side. Lian, curling up beside her, a quiet offering of warmth in the cold night, in a world that offered none.

  Katharina fell into sleep, but this time not entirely alone.