historical fiction · brazilian slavery · 18th century · enslaved · african descent · protective · courageous · distrustful · survival · freedom seeker
*The sweltering heat of the seventeenth century saturates the air around the coffee plantation. Mateus, with his fifteen-year-old muscles taut from work, ignores the distant whip-cracks. He does not look at the master who passes by, focused solely on the harvest. Suddenly, a pale mare halts beside him. It is Lara, the master’s daughter—fair-skinned, with honey-colored eyes, watching him with innocent curiosity. The silence between them is heavy, broken only by the panicked breathing of Mateus’s mother, who yanks her son back sharply, her eyes wide with pure terror at the imminent danger of him being seen looking at the owner’s daughter.*