YAY! More reviews from Lela-of-Bast! Thank you for reviewing every chapter, I really, really appreciate it!!! It makes me so happy! Also, the reason Elisa is tall is because I AM SO STINKIN' SHORT! Man I wish I were as tall as Elisa… sorry.

ATTENTION: Okay, I need the reader's opinion! (Forgot to add this before, sorry) Before I go on, I looked over my story and thought I could add more to it. Not draw it out, just add something. So, on your reviews, I would really appreciate you saying whether you want me to make this more of a love story or keep it the same. Just write LOVE or SAME, k? Thank you! The sooner you give me suggestions, the sooner I'll update the next chapter!!!!

Lady Emma: THANX! Magic cup was kind of a spur of the moment idea because I needed something to help people understand the story better.

Mellem: THANX! Yeah, I was kinda clueless that the anonymous reviews were off… then I wondered why I didn't have any anonymous reviews… yeah.

One hour later John shook me awake. It was time to do more work. But at first, I could not focus. I was wondering if I could live through this any longer.

Aunt Sarah soon got me focused. As soon as there were a small break in-between my chores, I was doing work in a huge garden behind the mansion that I hadn't seen before. And she made me do so much work back there, that I was behind schedule with everything else (because I had so much work to do without her, that if I got behind in one job, I'd mess my whole day up.).

Then Aunt Sarah yelled at me for being behind.

By the end of two weeks of all this torture, and without having a glimpse of Emma, I was through with it all, and I knew that within another week I would go insane. Then, one day when I was weeding in the garden, Robert came towards me. I ignored him.

"I haven't seen you in a while," he said. I could tell he had something in mind.

"Aww, that's too bad. Now go away," I growled.

"You shouldn't say that to me, servant," he said in an authoritative voice.

"Oh, really? Ooh, I'm scared." I kept weeding.

"Yes. In fact, I don't think you're doing enough work."

"Oh, really?" I repeated.

"Yes."

I stood up and began walking away.

"Stop!"

I stopped. I did not turn around, and I heard him walking towards me.

"So right now you are going to do work for me."

I was getting annoyed. So I towered menacingly over him (having a tall Father can really come in handy; I was 5ft 7in. now) and said, "Not only could I really care less about your stupid work that needs to be done, but I don't have time." By the last part I was almost shouting at him.

Robert drew himself up to his full height, which was almost a head shorter than me, and said, unafraid, "Yes, you do have time. Now I want you to-"

So I began my work for him, becoming so close to strangling him several times. I thought that he would be done after the second day, but, when I walked into the garden the next day, he was there, waiting.

"You're late," he said as soon as I was within earshot.

"Since when?" I snapped.

"I want you here at noon, and I want you to stand by the back door until I have finished eating lunch every day. Understand?" Robert acted as if he was the king of Kyrria. I wanted to punch him. It would be so easy… I restrained myself with every once of willpower I had.

"That's during my lunch break," I said through clenched teeth.

He smiled evilly. "I know."

So the next day, though against my will, my curse drove me to be standing at the door, waiting. I had planned ahead and had my lunch with me. So I ate while I waited. I was almost done, when Robert came out.

"Since when did I say you could eat lunch while you were waiting for me?" He demanded.

"Since when did you say I couldn't eat lunch while I was waiting?" I retorted, finishing my apple and tossing the core over his head. I wasn't afraid of Robert.

He was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Fine! Tomorrow you will stand by my chair in the house at noon until I'm done eating and you won't eat at all. Now I want you to –"

And the list of chores for that day grew.

Not so obediently, I came the next day and invited myself in the mansion door around noon. (John had let me eat while he did my chore for that time period. He's an awesome friend.)

Aunt Sarah was startled. "Does a filthy farm girl always come barging into the house when we are about to eat?!"

"No, only when she has been summoned," I answered. Good. I was making her mad and ruining her perfect house.

"And who summoned you?" Aunt Sarah asked, hands on her hips.

"Your son, Aunt Sarah," I replied.

"Wh—what did you just call me?" Aunt Sarah spluttered.

"I just called you 'Aunt Sarah', the name you told me to call you, remember?" I replied with an evil smile.

"No – no servant calls me 'Aunt Sarah'! To you, I am 'Madam Sarah' or 'Mistress'! Understand?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, Mistress. I am only doing what I have been told to do, as you should know very well by now."

"Ah, there you are, Elisa. I don't need you now. Go back to your work instead of waiting, and then bring me the juiciest grapes in the vineyard (one basket full) before dinner." Robert entered the room.

"What?! No, I won't! You can't just – I spent all this time – I can't–" I was furious now.

"Don't argue with my son! Do as he says! Actually, grapes sound good. Bring five baskets full. Oh, and bring in the milk from the cows, too, after you've milked half of them. Go now!"

After quite a few days of this, I was even more behind every single day, tired, sore, and fuming mad. But Robert was not through. I could tell he was enjoying this daily routine.

"Now I want you to-"

I clenched my fist and wailed him, hard. John was not there to stop me. In that punch, I let out my full fury, all the anger and hate that had built up over the months. He fell back onto the ground, stunned, but not unconscious. I was going to pay dearly for that.

I ran. I ran past staring servants, and John, who tried to grab me and calm me down, but I shook away. I leapt on Moonlight, and we galloped down the trail through the villa. I did not want to run away without Emma. I would figure out something. But I knew for sure that I was never, ever going to work for these spoiled brats anymore! I heard servants coming after me on horseback, but I kept galloping. They eventually stopped chasing me.

After an hour or two or three, I couldn't tell, and after I had calmed down a bit, I heard the thundering of hooves. John was herding the horses without me. I decided not to let him do it alone. I cantered through a field, leapt over the fenced-in pasture and helped herd the horses with a surprised John.

When we got back, "Mistress" and Robert were waiting for me. Madam Sarah was enraged. Robert had a large discolored bulge above his eye, I noticed with satisfaction. I also noticed without satisfaction that Madam Sarah was holding a whip. Was she seriously going to whip me?

"Come here," she ordered.

I came, my face expressionless. I was determined to keep my face expressionless.

"On your knees, girl," Madam Sarah ordered though clenched teeth. For once I obeyed without a struggle. I was fairly certain that she couldn't whip me hard enough for me to even feel it. And, like many other times before, I was wrong.

The whip sang through the air and landed with a loud crack on my back. Pain blurred my vision, but I refused to cry out. Madam Sarah must have done this many times before for the blow to be that painful and powerful. In front of all the servants, including John, working at the barn, she whipped me hard and good. I bit my lip to keep from crying, but a single tear slipped out in front of John. I wiped it away quickly and stood up when Madam Sarah told me to after whipping me ten times.

She then proceeded to yell at me to never again hit "her little boy", then I was made to do the rest of my chores without supper (this did not seem unusual to me, because ever since Madam Sarah and Robert came to the summer home, I was "being lazy" all the time and I had to skip a lot of meals. Luckily, at night, John would slip me some food, so I didn't starve.) I could barely bend or sit down, but I was stubborn and did not show any signs of having difficulty doing any of my chores. I wouldn't give Madam Sarah or Robert that satisfaction.

That night in the orchard I carefully peeled the thin tunic from my back, wincing as it took with it some newly formed scabs. Lovely. John had found me a new tunic, so I had gone out privately to change. The old tunic showed that it was going to be a while before the wounds healed. John was silent. I held my knife and wood and stared at it. Would I go through the rest of the three months? Even afterwards, Amelia will be there to order me around even more. Would I still bear it? Could I? After an hour, I stood up. I had made my decision.