When they return to the house, the reckoning cabinet is gone. The mess has been cleaned up, the chaos reversed. A tablet sits on the table, its green-brown wax still soft and tactile, a stylus beside it. Against the wall between the two windows, some sacks have been stuffed with straw and gathered together in a makeshift bed. Fresh clothes are folded atop one of the chairs. Siegfried gestures for Petra to sit and when she does, he sits beside her.

“We have our answer now, unfortunately. My lord commands that you live with me as my servant.” He informs her of this as though delivering the verdict himself. “This is a punishment for both of us. I do not keep a servant and never have. But my lord anticipates greater things for me and tells me I should act accordingly.”

Petra does not fully understand. She remains quiet, her hands folded in her lap. But inside, her heart beats wildly against her ribcage. She will live. She has damaged the lord’s property and she will live.