Dawn rose over the rooftops of the hodgepodge houses. The structures were as varied as shells along a sea shore. As sunlight crept fingers along their heads and down their sides, the houses seemed to stretch and sigh with the coming day. Carts rattled down the street passing by the early morning workers shuffling their way through the neighborhood, glancing up to the finer homes, curious to their inhabitants, and once again grumping away the twinge of jealousy for those that lived inside.

Lirssa's bedroom window was on the second floor of the brownstone and faced the east. Even through the curtains, blue and green in swirling patterns, light tiptoed in to rouse Lirssa. With a stretch in her bed, her toes pointed and arms above her she could almost touch the foot and headboard but not quite. Nights were still cool, so she had worn a long linen shift and slept deep in the comfort of the cotton sheets and heavy quilted comforter. Long ago she had learned to sleep almost anywhere, and whether soft and luxuriant or hard floor with hay as a cushion, sleep was taken when she could get it.

Rubbing at her eyes, Lirssa sat up and the peace of the sleep drained out of her like water from an upturned pitcher. A rich comfortable bed, fine clothes, and food were all well and good, but she was still a prisoner. She was still trapped by the bargain she had made to learn how to control her ability in exchange for finding what Fitzhugh and Arabella called artifacts. So far, the finding had been practices. Each practice something a little further away. Each item found just as swiftly and easily as the key.

Well, that was one thing, Lirssa thought with a grin. They had not used anything that was hers anymore. Still, as the distance grew, so did the feeling of being pushed aside in her body, its use consumed by the needs of another. There was only the tiny selfish glee, that each time Arabella looked very ill used herself and had headaches that kept her out of Lirssa's business for the rest of the day.

Annie had set out the clothing Lirssa was expected to dress in the night before. The chemise, blouse with its high collar, long skirt, fitted jacket, all had the look of fine quality. Lirssa hated to wear it. It was another prison. But unless she was to go perform her acrobatic tricks in the Marketplace, she was required to wear it. Arabella had said that sensibleness of dress would help the sensibleness of mind she needed to control the gift.

Gift. Bubber had once told her to never look a gift horse in the mouth. After he explained just what that meant and how it worked in his ideas of bargaining and not taking anything for free, Lirssa had decided he had been not thinking straight after the few days without food. Gifts like those were always trouble.

As Lirssa dressed, she felt herself souring even more. She soured a lot these days, and she did not like it. "One year - less than that now." She constructed a smile for herself in the mirror as she pinned on the cameo at her throat. It was a very simple cameo of a bird in flight with a pale blue background. A living cousin of that bird twittered on a branch outside her window, singing with the cheer of dawn and life. Or, more likely, Mister Jolly would say something logical like for a mate or food or something basic.

Drawing aside the curtain, the sunlight embraced her and caused her to wince slightly and blink until she could focus on the green leafed tree. Nestled in its branches was a finch, tiny but mighty voiced, and Lirssa smiled. Basics were still important, too.

That meant starting with breakfast and facing Arabella's opal eyes, Jasper's oinking eating, and Fitzhugh's next request. A temptation to sneak out the back way, charm a bite of food from the kitchen maid, and avoid the trio it all together was a powerful one. It lit a wicked glee inside her that sent a shiver across her back like little fairy feet running along her skin. Wiggling away the feeling, Lirssa left her room and stood at the head of the stairs. If she went down the main curving entrance, there would be no way to sneak past Arabella. But the back room at the end of the hall had an iron landing with an escape ladder. She could go that way and slip away for the day. Surely they would not do anyone harm if she simply missed breakfast and came back at noon instead.

Should Lirssa ? A) Go downstairs as expected of her and eat breakfast with the trio, facing the expected request. B) Go downstairs and tell the trio she is not going to eat with them, and she will see them at lunch. C) Sneak out the back way and do what she likes.