Chapter 13 Summary

As a slave, fear is the only reason Birle has for doing a good job. Fear of Corbel, however, is more than sufficient. Corbel drops in unexpectedly several times. Birle makes sure he never catches her idle. Joaquim quickly develops a rapport with Yul, explaining things patiently to the man. The philosopher gives Birle clothes from a large trunk. They belonged to Joaquim's wife, who died last summer of fever.

A week latter, as promised, Corbel comes for dinner. He approves of the house and the meal, but still berates Birle for not keeping the laboratory clean, baking her own bread and doing her own shopping. After Corbel leaves, Joaquim gives Birle a purse of coins to the household marketing.

Chapter 13 Analysis

Birle has sympathy for Joaquim's grief, but thinks it would be easier for her if Orien were dead, rather than enslaved...