The dominant and impulsive temperament was inherited from Magdalena's father. No, it was even worse. Rafael knew where to keep his mouth shut, but Magdalena did not. That is why they were constantly at odds with each other.

As a child she had conflicts with other girls or boys in the village. In the face of disagreements, Magdalena wanted to impose her will no matter what, something that the others were not willing to allow. That is why they distanced themselves from her, until they left her alone.

Magdalena was not affected, at least that's what she said, however, she stopped talking as she used to, stopped going out and going swimming; she preferred to keep reading in the living room or helping her mother with the housework. 

That was how it was until she was nine years old. 

With the arrival of Alba, she was reluctant to the kind of coexistence her mother wanted, although with time, unintentionally, they grew closer. The errands were carried out by both of them, they went to and from town leaving the meals they ordered for Carlota. Everything was done diligently, until one day Chief Garcia's son, Roberto Garcia, stopped them at the entrance to the bridge leading to the dock. Without needing to get any explanation, Magdalena took two steps forward; she had a frown on her face and was filled with the urge to start with the countless expletives floating around inside her head. Still, she regained her composure after feeling Alba's hand on her shoulder and proceeded to ask the reason for the intrusion.

It was some blankets that fell from one of the baskets they were carrying. Both were grateful for the gesture and left. The event gave Magdalena pause for thought. She promised herself to listen before acting.

Unfortunately, her policy did not prevent her from getting almost the entire family into serious trouble.

Alba remained seated in a corner of the cell while Magdalena clung to the bars, alert for the arrival of any guard. It had been four hours since they had been taken there. Rafael was separated from them at the entrance, so Magdalena assumed he was being interrogated. Despite the time, she held out hope that he was only exposed to verbal and not physical aggression. Still, the desperation for answers was great and every time she heard the creak of the entrance opening Magdalena screamed at the top of her lungs to get them out of there, so vehemently that now the pain and burning in her throat was unbearable.

Frustrated, she turned to Alba.

-How can you be so calm? You're so ungrateful," she complained disdainfully.

Alba was unfazed by the complaint, she remained the same: eyes closed, head leaning against the filthy wall, legs cramped and hugged by her arms. While her attitude was not quite right, the heat that ran through her body was suffocating her, however, small waves of shivering were also tormenting her. It was a constant shock going on inside her, which was pushing her to the limit. Despite this, she continued to dissemble.

As the provocation she launched did not help, Magdalena turned her back on him. 

With each passing minute, the gap of uncertainty widened and guilt once again figured in Magdalena's heart. The original plan was just to express her displeasure at the lack of empathy from the privileged, she knew that doing so wouldn't change anything, but she wanted to get it off her chest and ruin the mood of anyone who would listen. Did it work? Yes. Was it counterproductive? Also. 

Vague memories of what happened rushed through Magdalena's thoughts, like a wave crashing on the beach: screams, blows, insults and crying. Carlota's drenched face was what brought her the most remorse.

Magdalena huddled close to the bars, sleep overcame her without her noticing. In the corner, Alba was still hugging her legs, however, the peace she exuded vanished, in her place, there was a trembling young girl who was breathing with difficulty, the pallor embraced her with desire and sweat ran through every corner of her body.

It will pass. Don't remember, just breathe.

Alba kept repeating to herself. 

To make her condition worse, a resounding ringing noise took over her ears, leaving her cut off from her surroundings and the flame inside the candle extinguished. 

Discomposed, Alba groped her way forward. She needed to reach Magdalena, perhaps the company or feeling the warmth of her body would keep her from collapsing; the very thought of succumbing to such terrifying attacks again frustrated her. She felt pathetic and cowardly; mentally she chided herself as she continued to struggle to take control of her body. Fortunately, her small hand touched something, it seemed to be a finger. Relieved, she kept touching, however, that was incomplete?

An amputated finger!

She released it, but not before letting go a high-pitched screech. With a jump Magdalena stood up, for a few seconds disoriented due to the darkness, but then her eyes adjusted. Unfortunately, her eyesight was partially limited and it was almost impossible for her to see anything after five steps, even so, she called out to Alba several times; getting no answer she decided to advance to where she remembered seeing her before she went to sleep. He didn't have to go all the way to the bottom of the cell to find her.

Alba lay on the floor in a ball. The scene was frighteningly familiar.

Despite this, Magdalena went over and tried to sit her up, but her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Frightened, she held her head with both hands to observe her better: from the corners of her eyes small tears, similar to dewdrops, slid down her temples; beads of sweat also emanated from her forehead and arms. Even as she trembled, she boiled with fever.

In his outburst, he dragged Alba to the bars, laid her down gently and then rushed to hit the bars. She banged and screamed at the top of her lungs, but no one came. 

Yes, she was desperate, every time she approached Alba and touched her, her body tremors increased. The scandal was useless, therefore, the best thing to do was to look for another alternative. He looked at possible tools to use on the door or bars, which were in a deplorable state; perhaps with a little effort and faith he would manage to open it, he thought. He felt with his feet, perhaps a piece of iron or wood had been left behind, but to his bad luck, he felt nothing. 

He approached the door again. She touched it meticulously, as well as the bars on its sides; surprised, she found one of these crossed horizontally on the door. Observing the scene, she remembered Rafael exerting pressure with his legs on the trunk to lower a strange thick-stemmed fruit. For her, the technique would be difficult to exercise, but she lost nothing by trying.

She hung on the bar and with her legs tried to climb up. On each attempt, she slipped, the culprit? Her dress. Annoyed, she tugged at the bow Carlota made with the lace at the back, only to loosen it and the dress came loose. Her diligent work was interrupted with a "clack" that echoed throughout the place. The glare coming from the entrance momentarily blinded her.

-Take the young lady home to her father, Valverde," ordered a thick, icy voice. I will take care of the other young lady. Villarreal, call the doctor.

The black boots were the first thing Magdalena saw, and she looked up to find three tall, imposing men. The one carrying the lamp had huge blue eyes, although they were attractive, they also had a cold touch; straight nose, rosy white skin, golden hair and thin lips perfectly delineated; they were so delicate and beautiful features that she thought she was hallucinating. The other two were also equally graceful, only one was dark and the other sported a stubble beard, both with black hair.

Despite their faces, what caught Magdalena's full attention were their uniforms. They were different from the ones worn by the guys who came for Rafael and, at the same time, among them, there were two alike and one different. The garment of the one holding the lamp was blue, but the red was predominant when seen from the front: the wrists, chest and shoulders; the chains that connected the buttons to each other were missing; from the neck rose a double ornamented with the figure of golden wings on each side, or perhaps it symbolized something else; and shoulder pads of golden chains. On the other hand, his subordinates followed the same line as the uniform of the others, the only difference being the shoulder pads, the fold of the collar and the golden figures on the collar.

-Will they separate us again? -she asked confused.

-No. He'll take you home," she pointed to the dark-skinned young man, "and I'll take care of your sister.

The frankness and security in those blue eyes flooded her with calm, yet the distrust did not let up.

-How do I know they won't hurt her like the others?

This time the one with the stubble beard intervened.

-Miss, your sister does not look well at all, the best thing to do is to obey Captain Aguilar.

Magdalena remembered the order they gave when they first arrived, because of her blindness she could not distinguish who gave it, but now she knew. It was the one with blue eyes, then the dark one was Valverde and the one with the stubble beard was Villarreal.

While Magdalena delved into her musings, Captain Aguilar dodged her in search of Alba, who was still shaking uncontrollably. The image was pitiful. Magdalena followed him and asked again:

-Can't I go with you? It will be difficult to deal with her, since she does not speak," she excused herself.

Valverde took her by the wrist kindly and said:

-She will be fine, on the other hand, her mother needs her at home.

-And my father?

-Outside, waiting for her," the captain interjected. If your sister goes with you, who will treat her?

Magdalena was speechless.

They had no money to call the town doctor and no reliable healers. If she took Alba home, all they could do was cover her with blankets and put warm cloths on her. Was that the best thing for her, Magdalena wondered.

-I understand," said the captain, "I can't help her if you don't allow it, every second that passes counts. Decide quickly," he ordered as he closed the distance between them.

-Save her," Magdalena whispered defeated, "please....