July 18, 1415 – Budapest

The water is cooler than I expected but that is helpful. It distracts me from the fire raging inside. I swim slowly, watching the way the moonlight ripples over the waves my body makes as it pushes through the water. I had come here for seclusion so when a red-haired woman approaches with a wide smile, I am less than thrilled.
    She asks if I would like company in the water and on a typical night, I might have. But this is not a normal night. Tonight, I will come one night closer to gaining my freedom from all of Marcella’s supervision. I tell the lady the partial truth; that I do not want her in the water; that I am, in fact, avoiding people like her. I do not tell her that it is because I made a deal with my mother that I would not bite anyone for an entire month to prove that I am capable of such control, or that I am two days away from completion which is too close for a tart like her to ruin all my progress. Offended by my brashness, she leaves me alone to swim in peace, never realizing how close she came to a real-life boogeyman. As the clacking of her shoes disappears into the night, I continue paddling about letting the water comfort me once more and reminding my burning throat, it is only two more days.