Tears blurred Sinda’s vision as she staggered down the dirt track from the Lord’s estate back to the town, arms wrapped around herself - not to fend off the cold, but to try to offer herself some comfort. She could barely breathe, so deep was her anguish, her heart torn in two.

To think, she’d been so overjoyed at the sight of her beloved approaching the stables. She’d been sweeping up hay as she did most afternoons, but her mind was barely on her task, consumed as she was with worry. A few hours ago she’d seen the Lord’s men drag Zallia from the house and escort her into town. She’d desperately wanted to follow to make sure she was safe, but there had been a guard in the stables at that time, so she couldn’t have slipped away without attracting attention. She’d had to continue her work while fretting helplessly about her girlfriend, worried her cruel stepfather had finally resorted to extreme measures to deal with her defiance.

So it had been a huge relief, at first, to see Zallia crossing the wide expanse of grass outside, a broad smile on her face, apparently unharmed. Sinda told herself then and there, they were leaving that afternoon, to begin the nomadic life of adventure they’d always longed for. She’d already packed her few treasured belongings, ready to go at a moment’s notice - she had nothing to stay for except a vindictive drunkard mother, a lecherous landlord, and a job she largely despised - and she was more than willing to help Zallia gather whatever she wanted to take with her.

As her girlfriend had reached the stable, Sinda had raced towards her and pulled her into a deep embrace. (By now there was no-one else around to see them, so she had no fears of being caught displaying her affection for Zallia.) “Thank the Gods you’re safe!” she cried. “When I saw them taking you away, I thought...”

“I’m perfectly fine, Sinda,” Zallia assured her. “Better than fine, in fact.”

Sinda pulled away just far enough to look into her eyes. Something was... amiss. Something in her voice, her eyes, her face. Her soft, dreamy voice. Her glazed eyes. Her relaxed, tranquil face...

The Zallia she knew had always had a hard edge, a bitterness that stemmed from over a decade of neglectful, derogatory treatment by her stepfather. Even in their most tender moments, when Sinda tried to make her feel safe and separate from the pain of her home life, that hardness was still there - a slight tightness of her jaw, or a stony glint in her eyes.

But it wasn’t there now.

“What... what happened?” Sinda asked hesitantly. “Did they do something - did they hurt you?”

Zallia chuckled fondly. “Oh, Sinda, you do make me laugh! No, nothing like that. I’ve simply had a change of heart - or, a change of mind... Perhaps it’d be simpler to say, a change of perspective. And while I cannot describe how happy that makes me feel...” She paused for a moment, breathing in deeply and smiling blissfully as her own contentment seemed to distract her from the conversation. Then she came back to herself, and her expression became tinged with faint sorrow. “It does mean I have some bad news for you.”

“What is it?” Sinda asked nervously, still deeply unnerved by her lover’s strange demeanour.

“I’m afraid I have to end our relationship. I’m very sorry, Sinda, but I’ve agreed to marry a friend of my stepfather.”

Sinda gaped at her. “Wh-what?” she blurted. “I - but... you said you’d rather be bludgeoned with a hammer than accept that proposal!”

Zallia shrugged. “As I said, I’ve changed my mind.”

“Since this morning?”

“I realise this is upsetting...”

“No, it’s confusing, more than anything else,” Sinda interrupted bluntly. “I’m having too much trouble believing what you’re telling me to get upset about it! Zal, six hours ago we were making plans to leave together. Six hours ago. And now suddenly you’re breaking up with me, and getting betrothed... Is your stepfather making you do this? Don’t tell me he didn’t do anything to you, because I simply don’t believe it!”

“Alright, alright!” Zallia stroked Sinda’s shoulders to try to calm her. Normally that was the quickest way to relax her, but right now she was too agitated to respond positively to the tender gesture - especially from someone who was trying to break up with her. Pulling away from Zallia, she took a step back.

“I didn’t want to tell you this,” Zallia continued hesitantly, “because I had a feeling it would give you the wrong impression... but the Lord sent me to see a friend of his. Have you heard of Magus Thezon?”

Sinda’s heart dropped like a stone into her boots. Suddenly, all was clear. Everyone in the town had heard of the Magus and his talents, though no peasant could afford to pay for his sorcery. Many stories had been told of the rich nobles who would come to his store, paying for him to treat their wilful wives, or mistresses, or daughters, and make them placid and subservient.

“We had a very productive meeting. Now, thanks to him, I understand my proper place in the world - our proper place. We were wrong to defy the Lord. He’s a man - a powerful man - and we’re just girls. And, he’s my Daddy, and I need to be a good daughter to him.”

“No,” Sinda whispered, horrified.

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am to Master Thezon.” Zallia’s eyes shone with genuine joy. “Thanks to him, I have a chance to become a perfect wife, and a perfect daughter, just like every girl is meant to...”

“Zallia, stop! Listen to yourself!” Sinda was crying openly now, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t you understand? You’ve been altered! The Magus has destroyed everything you are - your spirit, your free will, your sense of self - and left you as this... shell!”

Zallia blinked, confused. “Well, that’s not true. I mean, yes, of course I’ve been altered. I understand that, and I remember the process... But I’m glad it happened, Sinda. I was so misguided, so rebellious... so cruel to my Daddy. He didn’t deserve that - not after taking such good care of me and Mommy for all these years...”

Sinda shook her head in disbelief and distress.

“And Master Thezon didn’t destroy those parts of me. He just removed them, and put them in a jar, up on one of his shelves.”

Sinda caught her breath. The other parts of Zallia - the parts of her that made her who she was - weren’t gone forever? They still existed? Then, perhaps...

Her train of thought was interrupted as the docile, pleasant, empty shell of Zallia drew her into another embrace. “I truly am sorry for hurting you,” she whispered. “But I hope you see that this is what’s best for everyone. I dread to think what would have happened if we had gone through with our plan - and I hope you don’t still intend to leave alone. The two of us wouldn’t have survived on the road, let alone just you by yourself!

“We’re just girls, Sinda. We’re weak, and silly, and we need men to take care of us and tell us what to do. That’s what Daddy’s been doing - he’s been so kind to me, forgiving me for all my many transgressions. And he’s been very helpful in the last couple of hours, teaching me everything a good wife needs to know, so I’m ready for my marriage. I would have come to see you sooner, but he was teaching me how to suck cock properly.”

A fresh wave of grief hit Sinda, and she suppressed a shuddering sob, closing her eyes tightly to halt the streams threatening to fall from them.

Zallia stood back to look at her, her hands still on Sinda’s upper arms, rubbing them gently in an effort to comfort her. “I wish you a wonderful life, Sinda. And I want you to know, I do not regret our time together. I understand now that my future is not with you, but you were a great companion to me. I hope you find a man to take care of you, just as I have.”

With one last fond smile, Zallia turned and strode back to her stepfather’s house. She never once looked back.

Sinda watched her go, her face soaked, her teeth clenched.

“I’ll save you,” she vowed. “I’ll get you back.”