Alleged Slavery

"Slavery?" asked Quentin.

"That's right, not just me, but many children from the merchants' market were enslaved by Jonas," replied the shabbily dressed woman, looking at Quentin faintly with tears in her eyes.

Quentin's head snapped up from where it had been bowed at the sight of the woman's face. He glanced around, observing the gestures of the merchants whose children were enslaved.

They nodded, some with sad expressions, some with severe looks as if they held a grudge against Jonas.

'Could it be that these books are the names of the people enslaved by Jonas?' Quentin asked himself.

He turned his eyes to the book he was still holding. Quentin opened it with both hands and asked the woman before him to say her child's name. The woman agreed and said Hilda's name.