Chapter 3: The auction

7 July, 1686 Afternoon

A small platform had been set up in the port. The crowd was too big for the main square. Isabel had just been auctioned off.

The sisters, having been placed behind an improvised curtain, had not been able to see anything, but they had heard the bid—ding and the roar of the crowd.

Isabel had been sold to a Miss Bjorn, a land—owner of Scandinavian origin who possessed one of the largest plantations of sugar cane on the continental coast.

She had fetched five thousand gold dou—bloons. A man with a strong Spanish accent had bid against Miss Bjorn, pushing the price up. The sisters thought, mistakenly, that Isabel had been lucky. They thought a woman would treat her better...

Constance was next. She waited nervously, with her sister. She was dressed in a bright red, sneakily, sexy, specifically designed slave auction dress with a plunging neckline that appeared to plummet all the way down to her waistline, but had a panel of material behind its ruffled trim that kept Constance fully covered while still maintaining an alluring illusion. The overall effect of the dress with its ruffled theme was designed to give the wearer a girlish charm, while still maintaining all their flattering curves at the hips as it flared out slightly downward along its two rows of ruffles. A few carefully placed gathers at the waist easily displayed Constance's gorgeous feminine shape.