Foundryside (The Founders Trilogy, #1)

by Robert Jackson Bennett

They’d told stories of slaves that had bravely borne countless whippings, stoically taking lash after lash. But the instant she’d been whipped, Sancia had realized it’d all been a lie. The second the lash had touched her, all her pride and fury and hope had been dashed away. It was surprising, how fragile your idea of yourself was.

A struck match sounds like a kiss in the dark, sometimes.

“Traditional,” she echoed. “What a curious word that is. So bland, and yet often so poisonous.”