Isther oversaw the affairs as I was held down and my windows were nailed shut, boarded with wood so I could not even see out of them for light, could not even delude myself that the moon would still shine on me.

“You have brought this not only on yourself, but on me as well, Cousin. And now we have displeased Father. And he will have to deal with Cranley and might lose a great deal of business. For you have already been promised to another and were to join him after your time of grieving among family. This was to benefit father’s enterprise. But now you have made a terrible mess of things.”

She pressed a hand to her sore midsection. “I will have to find a way to make you amenable. A…governess, perhaps. One who is strict enough to force words out of you.” She nodded, pleased with this idea. “And until then, there is no other option but to do as father commands. You will be punished.”

Episode 70: A Cousin In Need And A Young Woman’s Response

After many hours trapped in my room, I realized that my uncle, Braun Duval, did not intend to feed me, much less release me. This was a strategy attempted by the Femmes at the Fortress when I was child, and if either party were any good at listening, perhaps they would realize that this tactic was, at its very essence, futile. How would keeping a woman from all socialization teach her to speak to others? It was nonsensical and barbaric. And whoever, once being at last presented with food after it was withheld for so long, would feel in the mood to speak to those responsible for her deprivation?

But I waited in this room and wished I had at least a stack of books to put my mind into. Instead, I reviewed the stories I had already read and imagined myself walking through the snow of the South, Vincent off on some adventure I knew nothing of but close enough to come with haste if I needed him. I pretended that when I got tired, I could return home, and there would be my father. He would call me Twilight and worry about how far I’d gone and fuss about the late hour of my return. I even dreamed up my grandmother and had her berate me for my lack of decorum.

After what felt to be a day and a half, there was a creaking at the wooden window. The sound brought great alarm to me, for it came from outside the manor and, well, what could be tampering with a window boarded from the outside at such a great height?