"Good." Difyr said. She wanted to gather Pinja in her arms but knew that would only scare her. "Sleep well. Good night Pinja, Millie."

"Good night Difyr, Aalyssa." Pinja said.

Pinja set the borrowed pillow on Millie's bed. She went behind the screen and changed into a night slip. She crawled into her bed, praying she would not get any nightmares for a change.

"I'm sorry about your brother, Millie. I really tried to not do anything to lead him on. I don't know what I did to make him feel like he does."

"Good night, Difyr, Aalyssa."

Mille glanced toward Pinja. "I know you didn't, Pinja. There is nothing for you to apologize for. I know the heart wants what it wants, but one also needs to let it go and move on sometimes. He's being stubborn about it."

"I had to have done something for those kinds of feelings to have taken root in him." Pinja said. "He hasn't fallen in love with any other girl, just me."

"It's not always an action. Or even anything someone said. I've known girls who looked into a guy's eyes and fell in love. It's about the connection more than anything else."

"Oh!" Pinja touched her forehead. "I made eye contact with him, that's what did it. I'm such an idiot. I never should have looked him in the eye."

"Don't be silly. People don't always fall in love by eye contact. There's no explanation that explains how everyone falls in love."

"No, men think you're interested in them that way if you look them in the eye." Pinja sat up in bed. "I gave Lek the wrong idea."

"Using that logic, I should be very very offended then. I was brought up that eye contact was a sign of paying attention to what the other person was saying. I've made eye contact with lots of people, including men. And no one has ever felt anything toward me. I think eye contact is just being polite."

"The men from your village tend to be more... polite... than the ones in Boville." Pinja said. "They might get the idea you're interested in them that way but they don't go for bride kidnapping."

"Then you know there was no harm done by making eye contact with Lek." Millie clutched her blanket in her fingers. Her villagers may be more polite, but that definitely proved that no one but family could care less about her. She closed her eyes. "Good night, Pinja." She rolled over and pulled her blanket over her head.

"But there was harm done... He thinks he's in love with me and is throwing his life away over it." Pinja whispered. She lay back down on the pillow, hating herself. "Good night, Millie."

As much as Pinja tried, she could not keep the cruel memories from creeping up on her. She dropped the book she had been trying to read and curled into a tight ball, her knees knocked the cap from her short blond hair. She shook and whimpered.

Aalyssa looked up from her own book, then set it down  beside her. "Pinja? Are you all right?"

"No." Pinja whispered, still shaking. She could see the scissors hovering over her face, hear the laughter and jeers, smell smoke, taste the blood, feel the rough hands holding her down.

Aalyssa rose and walked over to Pinja, and sat down next to her. "You're safe. I'm right here and I will not let anyone harm you."

Pinja flinched into a tighter ball. Another girl might want her mother with her at a time like this, but Pinja's mother would have been of no comfort, that woman had considered her ruined and insisted she marry Jack after he had held her in that cabin for a month. Pinja felt beyond ruined now; scarred up, face mutilated, carrying an unwanted babe inside her.

She shook even harder. In her mind she was back in the raided dress shop. Jack was chopping off her hair. The gray haired midwife with the soulless eyes stood beside her. "I can tell she's been with other men, a lot of them. Make it so anyone else that sees her knows it too."

Pinja was too scared to scream. A small cry managed to escape her.
This message was last edited by the player at 13:09, Sun 16 Sept 2018.

"Pinja, focus on my voice. It's Aalyssa. I'm right here with you. Follow my voice. It's only the two of us here," Aalyssa said calmly.

Pinja whimpered. She could dimly hear Aalyssa's voice, but what was happening in her mind was more real. She was deep in the flashback.

Aalyssa began to lightly sing an Elven lullaby. They tended to be very gentle and calming, so she gave it a try while she made some of Pinja's tea.

Suddenly Pinja stood up. She began to run- straight to the window!

Aalyssa muttered some curses in Elven, rushing after the confused girl. "Pinja! No!" she said, almost on top of her.

Pinja struck the window with her head and was bounced back into Aalyssa's arms. The window cracked but held together.

Pinja was beginning to come back to herself but the memory was still strong. She curled into a ball again, weeping.

Aalyssa held Pinja gently as she lowered them to the floor.

"How long can they hurt me?" Pinja choked on a sob, for once not flinching away from Aalyssa. "After the first time I never thought anything worse can happen... I never knew people could do such terrible things to someone without killing them... It won't stop."