“Nox?” she asked, eyes welling with tears as she looked at her friend.

She saw the answer on Nox’s face. Pain lined her every feature. Her posture wilted, her brows scrunched, her lip quivered as she returned Amaris’s helpless look. Nox’s skin was turning a pale shade of bloodless green as if she were going to be sick. Amaris knew from the ragged hitch of Nox’s breath and the fists balled at her sides that this was the single, worst moment of Nox’s life.

They had no power.

When it became clear she would not be rescued, Amaris began the quiet, humiliating process of taking off her clothes. Her face, neck, and chest burned red with her shame. She moved with glacial slowness, slipping her tunic off, shuffling her pants down around her ankles. Angry tears threatened to spill, but she fought them with every drop of strength. One arm draped over her small breasts while the other hand hid her womanhood.

Millicent took two unceremonious steps toward her and pulled her hands away, looking positively delighted at what she saw. Amaris’s face remained hot with humiliation. She fixed her sight on the ground as eyes roamed over her, evaluating her as though she were little more than cattle. The Madame put her hands lightly on Amaris’s shoulders, spinning her slightly to ensure there were no scars or deformities anywhere on her.

“Such perfect, milky skin,” Millicent said, speaking of Amaris as if she weren’t in the room. “She is starlight personified, isn’t she?”

The comment made Amaris snap to attention, looking to the Gray Matron for her response. Nox turned her face away, trembling with her anger.

Agnes was practically vibrating. The confidence in her posture grew with every passing moment. “We have many inquiries about this one,” she said proudly.

The lie was said quickly and believably. There was no point in correcting the woman. Amaris knew damned well that no one had offered to purchase her, only as no one’s pockets had been deep enough to have afforded her.

Agnes continued. “Lords have stopped by to see this rare beauty for their sons. The church has examined her as an excellent ambassador for the All Mother for the sacred temple. She truly is brimming with opportunity.”

“I assume she is also intact?”

Acidic bile burned the back of Amaris’s throat at the question. It was as soulless and abhorrent as the woman asking it.

“She’s never been touched by a man. We’ve kept her very protected—set apart from the others. Nox has been something of a personal attendant to ensure she was always escorted by a female peer for safekeeping. We know what a treasure we have in her.”