There were definitely three voices down below, and all three of them were familiar. Mother, and two of the Bruderschaft—Pieter Meinhoff and Joachim Beretz. Resolutely swallowing down sobs, determined to fight through all the horrible feelings coursing through her, she slowly dressed, grateful that the clothing she had been wearing was nowhere to be seen. She never wanted to wear that blouse and dirndl again.

She made her way slowly down the stairs, ending at last in the kitchen, where Mother and her guests were sitting at the table, talking and drinking. Old Pieter was facing the stairs and was the first to see her; he stood up, and the others turned and saw her standing hesitantly halfway down the last flight.

“Come join us, Liebchen,” said Pieter. “We were just speaking of your future.”

Pulling her shawl tightly around her, she descended the rest of the stairs and perched on the empty stool at the fourth side of the table.

For a while, they talked around her, and she learned that Pieter and Joachim had brought the wagon and the supplies Mother had been forced to leave behind. She learned she had been asleep around the clock. And that there was a reason why Mother had kept her all alone here.

An Air Master—and it had been plain to Mother that Giselle was going to grow into Mastery—was at her most dangerous and unpredictable in the years of adolescence. Strong emotions, which could call up powerful magic, were not matched by equally strong control, as evidenced by the terrible storm she had summoned while Johann was assaulting her, a storm so powerful that lightning and wind had felled nearly a hundred trees in the forest around the tower, and that storm had barely been at half its full strength when it died. So Mother had kept her isolated and happy, while she learned control.

“I should have also taught you how to defend yourself,” Mother said mournfully, speaking to her directly at last. “But I was so sure this place was so far away from everywhere, and had such an evil reputation for haunting, that no one would venture near. . . .”

Pieter reached out to pat her hand. “Never mind, Annaliese. We can’t change the past. We can fix things now.” Now he turned to Giselle. “That is why Joachim and I are here now. We are going to teach you these things. Not only how to use your powers to defend yourself, but also weapons, or anything that can be used as a weapon.” His expression turned fierce. “No man will dare try to touch you, for you will have his guts on the floor before he can take a step.”

“Pieter—” Mother said, looking at him with wide eyes.