Chapter 37: A Slave’s Trial

Thick beads of sweat traced lazy lines down my forehead, pooling at my temples before dropping onto the grains I was painstakingly sieving. For some absurd reason, watching the droplets disappear into the mix gave me a twisted sense of satisfaction. Would my sweat spoil the grain? The ridiculousness of the thought made me chuckle inwardly. That was the level of exhaustion I had reached—delirium, grasping at nonsensical ideas like they could somehow help me survive this hell. My knees wobbled, my back ached, and the relentless fatigue clung to me like an overgrown vine, choking the life out of my body. I couldn’t even tell how long I’d been at it. Hours, maybe? It felt like an eternity. The work was endless, and my energy was nonexistent. My hands, raw from the repetitive motion, trembled with every movement, and my stomach grumbled, begging for nourishment. I needed rest. Dropping the sieve onto the floor beside the half-empty sack, I leaned back against it and slid to the ground. T