The morning was cold. Summer was fading, breathing its last breath, hinting at the imminent autumn. And when the caretaker told me that in an hour I should be completely ready, for the first time in my entire stay here, I wanted to object, get under the covers with a book and not go out into the inhospitable world. Freedom did not please. It was a mockery to take me out into the world to demonstrate what I would never be a part of again.

Alas, to do so was to incur the wrath of Lucas, and I vaguely understood that my defiance would not end with a simple reprimand....