“No need to thank me. I’m doing this for the future of all women,” she replied.
Seeing this, Princess Angela quickly spoke up. “I know there are other noble girls who are unhappy with these laws. I’ll gather them immediately.”
Before we could react, she hurried out the door.
I glanced at the sky and decided to head home to avoid raising suspicion with my family. I always slipped out through a small hole in the wall, and my parents had no idea I was gone.
When I returned through the doggy door, I was stunned to find our yard packed with people. Wendy was tied to a chair, her clothes drenched in blood, her condition uncertain.
“Wendy!” I screamed as I rushed over.
Holding my breath, I nervously checked her pulse. Thankfully, she was still breathing. “Get the family doctor! Quickly, we need the family doctor!”
“She’s had thirty lashes; she won’t survive,” my mother’s heartbroken voice said.
I looked up to see a crowd of faces in the yard, with my father at the front, my mother by my side, and my uncle, aunt, and cousin among them. The scene was a far cry from the cold, deserted house where I had once knelt in silence!