The days following the wedding were probably the most anxious I had felt in months. Even when my father gambled the deed for our house away, I never felt as anxious as I did when I woke up every day and didn’t see hair nor hide of Mordecai.

I would open my door and look across the hall, partially scared and partially yearning to see him, but his door would be shut. I would walk down the stairs, through the halls, pass dozens of servants and guards, and never sense his presence ...