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"My dear beloved,
The news I must give you is bleak but I need to tell you why I was unable meet you. I have only now been able to distance myself for a short while from the people who are accompanying me on this trip and who are keeping a close watch over me. I hope this letter reaches you.
My father suspected I would report what I have written below and locked me in my room. I will tell you everything so you understand how I suffered for our love and in the hands of such a wicked man. I want you to understand my pain and realize how keeping this inside has damaged me.
Despite crying and pleading with my father on my knees not to harm me, he had no pity. He dragged me like a dog and struck me on my face. I became unconscious. When I awoke, I had been tied to the bed, naked and face down. He tied a scarf around my mouth to keep me from screaming so the servants wouldn't hear. He then whipped my back and buttocks as if I were a slave who had committed a grave crime. The strikes were so painful, all I could do was cry while he screamed that I was his whore, his pet, that I could never be with another man, that he was my male, my lover, my man!
I cried and thought of you, my beloved, asking myself why God had denied me the man I loved and why he had left me within the grasp of this monster.
The whipping finally stopped, but that was worse because then he began kissing me and licking my feet, my soles, drooling all over me and uttering obscenities that would make the Prostitute of Babylon blush. I try to forget what happened but I cannot. My feelings in that room keep coming back to haunt me. His hot, disgusting drool seemed to burn my skin making me forget the bloody slashes on my back. His groans and his smell reminded me of a pig in heat. After kissing and licking my feet, my calves and thighs, he undressed and took me violently.
You know, my love, at times like these I have always tried to keep my thoughts directed at you, at our love, saying to myself that one day this will end and this is the penalty I must pay for loving you so much. But this time was not like the others. He took me in a place he had always respected in the past. I felt like a white-hot branding iron was being pushed into my body and I could not even scream to ease the pain. He pulled my hair with so much force it seemed to be ripping out of my head, the hair that you love to caress with such affection and love. I felt like a mare being tamed by a brute. His violence tore me and I began to bleed but he did not stop, nor care, he simply grunted and grunted.
After it was all over, he abandoned me there alone, tied and bleeding, tending to me only the following day. What a night I had to endure, my love. If I at least could have had the pleasure of saying goodbye to you, my suffering would have been worth it. I was not even given that simple respite.
He intends to keep me as far away as possible from you. He ordered me to take a trip, he will say I am on a trip to see my grandmother in England but I am actually fleeing. He thinks you are readying yourself to incriminate him so he has sent me far away from Portugal and he will follow me soon so the torture can continue. This will happen again if you do not do something about it, I have no one else to turn to. He has ordered Jonas to accompany me and told me that if I try to escape or ask for his help, he will kill him as soon as they meet again. Him and I, my love.
I know Jonas since I was a girl and he is like the father I never had, very unlike the horrible man that raised me. I have always been worried for his safety and would never do anything to put his life in danger. Even more so now, that he has vowed to kill the two men I care for the most. I cannot allow these crimes to happen, my beloved. I intended, during our meeting, to find a way out for both of us. I needed your advice. I even thought of running away to an isolated place so we could stay together but I was unable to do so. Forgive me.
Despite my love for you, I cannot help blaming you for what has happened and what will come to be. I know now that I will never see you again in this life and this fills my heart with grief. Despite not yet having recovered from the abuse I suffered in his hands, the pain in my soul is many times greater than the wounds on my back and the tear in my bowels.
My love, I now ask you to seek revenge. You must do what must be done and if such had been done long ago we may have been able to fulfill our destiny, but, alas, this was not to be. I was hurt by you too, for allowing me to be taken from you but I am certain of one thing. I will never again be taken by the devil. Now that I have more hope, if he finds me again, it will be only to bury my body because I will never be his again in this life nor in any other. Yes, my love, my passion, you will certainly never meet me in heaven because I will go straight to hell for my crime.
You will need to accuse him of being a freemason, the evidence lies in his bedroom, inside his wardrobe. He keeps his insignias in a box there. They will serve as proof for the accusation.
I wish you happiness. As for me, I will spend the rest of my days remembering the joyful moments I had with you.
Good bye my love. It is a pity you will never know the happiness of having me in your arms again.
From yours and only yours, Barbara."
Jonas' face transformed while reading the letter. He began reading with an ironic smile but it slowly transformed into a grimace of anguish and then anger. His eyes bulged and were blood shot. He struggled with his trembling hands like claws clutching and crumpling the letter. His breathing had normalized by the end but he was snorting like a bull.
"Barbara, what madness is this? If Leonardo did what is written here, I will kill him now!"
"Calm yourself Jonas, none of this happened. I am simply fueling the fire in Torres' heart. We wrote it together, Aia and I," Barbara remarked.
"I can't even imagine where you two found the inspiration to write something like this but if the archbishop loves you like he says, I don't think he will use the church to punish Leonardo, he will do it himself!"
"Jonas, Torres is nothing but a coward. After everything that I did and revealed to him, he should have done something about it but he always found an excuse not to do anything. After reading the letter I hope that he will at least be overcome with hate and remorse.
"If what is written here does not move him then nothing will. I will write a letter also. It will be addressed directly to the church accusing Leonardo of Simonia of associating with the devil. I doubt they can ignore both letters."
"Do as you wish but ensure that you are far away before they read it. If you are called on as a witness, he will accuse you and you will be in big trouble. It is not worth it, my friend," said Barbara.
