After Fermina's frenzied escape into the salty Madrid night, we now bring you Chapter Two of the Symposiasts Period Romance. I particularly admire the following line: "a whirlwind of thoughts erupted within her". Nice, eh? The complete manuscript can be found here, and it will be updated shortly. As always, comments and suggestions would be appreciated:

Chapter II

All Fermina could feel was shock. As the coach sped off into the distant night, the life that was to be hers – the life of captivity – seemed to follow, vanishing up the city streets, until she was left entirely, entirely alone. It was not exhilaration that she felt. Rather, it was a kind of emptiness. For although (as she was beginning to recognise) freedom had been suddenly and unexpectedly thrown upon her, at this stage all she could feel was the lack of constriction and constraint – something that had surrounded her for as long as she could recall. Freed from the cold walls of La Denetrione, who was she? What would she become? How would she cope? A whirlwind of thoughts erupted within her, and her face began to pale. She started to breathe heavily. She felt, strangely, that the walls were closing in around her. Not the walls of La Denetrione, but the walls of fear. Suddenly, she collapsed onto the roadside. Everything was black.

Fermina awoke with a start. Her brow was caked with sweat, and she felt fatigued, as if she had been on a long, long otherworldly journey. As she gradually began to survey her surroundings, she realised with a shock that the room in which she lay was entirely foreign. What was this rank, dirty place that surrounded her? Where was she? It occurred to her that she had absolutely no recollection of what occurred between the moment at which she jumped from the speeding carriage, and this point. Violently, she leapt up from the bed upon which she lay and ran towards the closed wooden door. Without thinking, she attempted to open it, and after finding that it was fastened shut, began to throw her palms against it with all the feeble strength she could muster.
“Where am I?” she screamed. “Open this door, open it right now!”
Alas, there was no response, and after many minutes had passed, she retreated from the door and lay once more upon the bed. She closed her eyes and returned to the world of sleep and dreams.

As she awoke the second time, Fermina could dimly recall the feeling of safety that Alejandro’s strong arms had provided her – if only he was with her now! ‘He would know what to do,’ she thought despairingly. As she shook herself out of this dream-state, she realised she had been woken by a jangling of keys outside her door. As it began to slowly open, Fermina froze where she lay, barely even able to breathe. As the door continued to open, the figure of a woman was revealed; an old woman, of short stature and stoic build. Grey hair topped her head, pulled into a tight bun. Her face was bare, except for two orbs of bright rouge atop her cheeks.
“Ahhh,” the stranger sighed, “I’ve got myself a good one”.
At this point, Fermina was able to shake herself free of her crippling fear.
“Who are you,” she screamed, “where am I?”.
The woman only laughed, shook her head and retreated back through the doorway. As the door began to close once more, Fermina began to cry uncontrollably.
“Where am I,” she sobbed, “Let me free. Do you not know who I am? Let me free!” As salty tears streamed down her face, Fermina heard a sharp locking noise, and realised that, after a brief taste of freedom, she was once again trapped, constricted and constrained. But where?