1200 A.D

Ana looked out of the lone window in their small cottage, and saw the dawn fast approaching. She quickly rose out of bed, pulled her overdress on, and padded outside, barefoot. Her older, and only, sister, Jane, heard her arise, and was walking beside her before Ana had reached the gate. The elder sister looked closely at Ana, and found her to be attempting to wipe away tears. She put her arm around the sobbing girl. No words passed between them. But what could be said? All was lost now. Ana was being shipped off to be married to a man she had never spoken to, and seen only once. No more walks at dawn, no more late night conversations with Jane, no more of Father's quiet stoniness. Ana was leaving every thing she had known for a desperate, horrid life in London with her soon-to-be husband, a cruel man called Henry Ogden.

After a few more minutes of crying, Jane took her sister's arm and gently guided her towards the small cottage. "It will be alright Ana, I'll visit every week, I'll even come stay with you, if you would like." Ana brightened after that. "Really?" "Sure, of course dear. I don't know what I would do without you Ana." Jane started a fire, and put a pot of water on to boil. "You'll need to wash, Ana. You're filthy." "So are you," Ana grumbled. Ana looked at Jane's pocked marked face for a moment. Her sister had once been very beautiful, but then the pox struck. She survived, but at a price. She was disfigured now, and scorned throughout the entire village. She wore a veil every time she left the cottage, which was never very often. Ana wished she could give her sister her own face. Many called Ana very beautiful. With her large blue eyes, perfect, pale skin, childlike features, and long brown hair that cascaded down her back in flowing locks, Ana supposed that it was so, but had never really paid mind to it until the day that Henry came.

He arrived in a carriage so large and ornate that it made the small cottage look ugly and tinier than it already was. He knocked on the door, and Ana answered it. She made a deep curtsy, and asked what assistance she could give. He asked for her father, Isaac. She fetched him from the garden, and the two men stayed inside talking for many hours while Jane and Ana tried their best to eavesdrop. When Henry finally did leave, Ana opened the door for him. He looked at her like she was a piece of meat. She quickly dropped her gaze, but he forcefully grabbed her chin, and made her look up at him. "You are very beautiful, my darling, but make sure you are clean before I set eyes on you again or there shall be…consequences." He dropped her chin, and walked out the door. She sunk to the floor, shaking. Her father came behind her, and delivered the news. That was the day she thought that things could get no worse. How very wrong she was.