Alessa laid still on Baron Phillip's massive bed for a good deal of time before her eyes went to the iron manacle that encircled her small wrist. Could she get out of it? Experimentally she tugged against it and found it very snug. She took her untethered hand and compressed the bulge of her thumb against her palm. She pulled again, applying consistent pressure, this time the manacle painfully slid a couple inches over the bulk of her hand. A moment of excitement pulsed through her, she knew she could likely escape this manacle! Then these thoughts came to a rude halt. If she did escape where would she go? Her home was burned to the ground and she was in an inner chamber of a castle that was so massive she wasn't sure exactly how to exit. Most of the kitchen staff and many other servants o
