Prologue

My father hated my voice. He said it reminded him of my mother who passed away a couple of years ago. We made a deal when I was fifteen that I would stop talking. His end of the bargain was that he wouldn't marry me off to some guy in an arranged marriage. The deal was actually a joke to him; he didn't think that I would be able to do it. He thought that I would talk and he would be able to marry me off and get rid of me. But I haven't talked. I really don't want to get married. I haven't heard my voice in two years. It was really hard in the beginning, not to speak. But my will is strong. I knew that I would be more miserable if I was married off to some guy I didn't know. It's easier now, it's almost like I don't even have the ability to talk. And it's not like I've been completely alone in this. I had a friend who stuck with me in all of this, Lissa. I didn't tell her about the deal but I think she guessed. She's ok with the marriage stuff because she's been betrothed for two years to a guy who's perfect in her eyes. He said he'd wait on marrying her until she was eighteen and settle on courting her. I didn't have such luck, or a father that loved me. He wanted me gone, but he would have to settle for my silence.

My silence ruins one other thing for me. I'm a part of this women's right group, which was inspired by the Seneca Falls Convention, but I can't ever voice my ideas. We've met a few times, the first meeting only a few months ago. Lissa doesn't go because she's too afraid of getting in trouble, or offending Christian. And I don't blame her. If she was caught there it could ruin her life. It could ruin all of our lives, but we're willing to risk it. There needs to be a change, women need their own rights. We need equality.