Chapter 3 Part 2
Arnulf in in the barn

Deeply buried images appear in her mind's eye. A man in the sand, brutally beaten before the stable tent, the right eye swollen shut, his face disfigured beyond recognition by the dark open mouth, blood on the blue silk vest. Amina  crouched down to the dark tent wall, unnoticed by the unscrupulous killers of her father. The robbers pull her father away from the place screaming at each other:
  "Quick, what are you waiting for, you want to wake up the whole village, get out of here before they see us."
They pull the heavy body along the ground, disappear into the forest. Never before has she heard animals scream so terribly in the morning.

All appears to her as if it happened only yesterday. The images are not faded. She never saw her father again, the dark dense forests of the Carpathians became his last resting place.

But here now:  the Lord of Eden, the evil Arnulf, not her father is stretched out before her. Thoughts are racing through her head as she stands, her hands wrapped around her body as if in protection. I have to go to my  room,  and then, just go away. She rushes out of the stable to reach hier little chamber, when a call stops her short -  it is Babette, Maria von Eden’s maid. Amina sees  her standing in the entrance of the mansion, arms akimbo, her  mouth curled contemptuously, as she always looks at Amina. With her high-pitched voice she demands:
"The mistress is calling for you, hurry up Amina."
She pulls a contemptuous grimace, repeated:
"Come on, you know, the lady does not want to wait."