Exile

Impudent. Headstrong. Selfish.

Arla knew many things. She knew how to keep a tidy workroom. How to infuriate her elder sister. How to put a smile on her mother’s face when there had been only tears. How to anger her father when she couldn’t seem to master her tongue or her temper.

She was supposed to want to be a wife someday. To smooth away the more difficult parts of herself until she was pliable and meek. Desirable.

But all Arla wanted was a friend. Someone that wasn’t sister, or mother, o...