HAZEL
The pamphlet was thin. That was the first thing that struck me. Something with this much power over a person's life should have weighed more.
I read the first rule twice before the words fully arranged themselves into meaning.
"Rule of Male Oversight. Every unmarried woman of substance within the estate must be assigned a male guardian. Even if she is high born. Even if she is a Luna. She cannot attend meetings alone. She cannot leave the grounds without escort. Violation results in confinement."
I sat with that for a moment. I read it a third time just to be sure I had not invented the words out of shock or exhaustion or the particular kind of delirium that came from watching a man die and then being handed a pamphlet about etiquette.
The words stayed the same.
I turned to the second rule.
