Page 17 of The Fighter who Needed Me
Persephone
London, England Dec 1812
Going to the country for the Christmas holiday was something she never thought would happen and she had counted down the days.
And though there were some requirements that she had to agree to, she was thrilled.
She and her new maid, Anneliese were to attend together, and she had spoken to her new maid hardly at all because she had learned that lesson a long time ago.
She knew not to become friends with the women or men who were there to help, because it was not their place and Kitty had become so angry when she had found out that Persephone’s governess had filled her head with dreams.
When she was 10 years of age, her mother decided to hire a governess even though she knew deep down she would not need the lessons she would be taught.
But her mother insisted, and she had gone along with everything because it was how she was raised.
She was not allowed to make her own decisions, but she also did not question what her parents wanted because she did not know any different.
She did not know that young girls did not constantly stay in their room, stuck in their bed and never saw the outside.
She did not realize that being tied to your bed when you were little because you wanted to learn to walk and you were too ill to try, was not something that people did.
She truly believed that all children took all manner of medicines and were constantly told how sick and weak they were.
Until her governess had arrived. And had taught her how wrong life was.
That she should be outside and living life like everyone else.
Not drugged all the time. Not made to stay inside and never have fresh air and never see the sunshine.
She did not understand it at first, but when Alice told her the stories of other children and how they lived their lives she was shocked and intrigued.
She and Alice would talk every day and the more they spoke the more she wanted to know.
And she wanted to be like the other children. It was her fondest wish and when she asked her mother about why her life was so different and why she was not like the other children out there, her mother was less than pleased and Alice went away.
There was no goodbye, just Alice. Gone. And Persephone had cried and cried. Had pleaded for information about her maid and she was given none.
She was not allowed to have any more contact with the staff and her mother decided then and there that no more governesses would come to the house unless they were monitored through the entire lesson.
And so that was her life. Alice had planted hopes in her head, dreams and wishes to be a normal girl and with each passing year those dreams faded slowly, but one remained steadfast. She wanted a season. Wanted nothing more than to be normal and dance at a ball like a girl her age would.
But her hopes about dancing were dashed on the rocks. Blown into the winds. Since she was a very small child she was made to lie still in her bed. Tied down until the urge to learn to walk faded.
And her legs were weak, thin and small. Not able to hold her meager weight.
She hated that and had fallen more than once trying to get up and walk. To make herself grow stronger.
It was not to be. With each fall, her mother would re-tie her to her bed. And she slowly felt her dreams about dancing one day at a ball die in her head.
Her parents were adamant about her never having the independence she craved and had not allowed the privilege of learning to walk. It was too much of a nuisance and they had done all they could to beat the urge to walk out of her.
She had to give up trying because it hurt too badly to move the legs that did not want to move and the falls she had taken were intense.
But she still wanted to see London. And to see a ball for herself. To experience it first-hand. And no amount of beatings or medicines or being tied down would stop her.
She put her foot down, -metaphorically speaking- and her parents knew she would not be swayed.
They tried and their threats were horrible. Menacing and terrifying but she did her best to stand her ground and force them to do something she chose.
