Justice Copperfield didn't know what she was getting into when she married Lord Jack Westmoreland upon turning eighteen. It wasn't like she had much choice anyway. Her parents had already vowed her to him when she was still in junior high, and now that she was of age, the promise had been fulfilled.

                                       Justice had her eighteenth birthday, graduated high school, moved to the United Kingdom on a visa, and was actively pursuing citizenship. She had been introduced to Jack over an official meeting, and after a few chaperoned dates, he proposed and she accepted as obligated.

                                      She often wondered how this deal even came to be. Her parents were American, she was American, and as far as she knew, no one after her grandparents had ever even visited the United Kingdom.

                                      Regardless, she and the Baron had done as they were now expected to do. Justice converted to the Church of England, and the pair had set a date, composed a guest list that consisted of much of Jack's royal lineage, hired a choir to sing love songs, and Justice was gifted a designer gown.

                                      The day came upon them in which they entered into the union of marriage. They were allowed a brief honeymoon, and the title bestowed upon her was Baroness. Jack and Justice were sent on their first tour as a royal couple, and now it was time for her new life to set in.

                                      Jack had been called on official business, and he decided to leave his Baroness at home. He would be gone for a few months or so, and when he returned, talk was to begin regarding starting a family, so Justice figured it was a good thing. She wasn't exactly ready for motherhood, or bearing a child to protect political interests, so she would relish in these few months of solitude while he was away. The only thing Jack asked of her, was that she not go in the attic.

                                     Justice could abide by that, or so she thought. She started hearing strange noises overhead after Jack's departure. They sounded much like that of a struggle, and woeful moaning. Justice had asked anyone and everyone who came over if they knew anything about it, but many of them denied ever hearing anything.

                                    That is, however, until one day when she had pressed their most loyal servant, Edward, about it. He had gotten incredibly nervous about her inquiry and excused himself immediately. So naturally, her curiosity got the best of her.

                                   Early in the morning, a mere hours before Jack was to return, she got out of bed and tiptoed down the hall. Justice pulled the cord to the door, sliding the ladder down to the floor. She ascended the rungs and walked through the cold attic, arms around herself.

                                   It was empty. Nothing but a door on the other side of the room. Justice briefly wondered about going back down, but then she heard the dreaded moans on the other side again. Forcing herself to do the right thing, she carried onward.

                                   The door was locked, the knob refusing to budge. Justice reached into her hair, withdrawing the one thing girls from her homestate were never without. She twisted the first bobby pin into an L shape, and the other into the shape of a ribbon.

                                   Justice jammed the pins into the keyhole, twisting until she felt the pins in the lock lift, and the door give way. She opened it and tiptoed in. The sight that greeted her was one that immediately made her sick.

                                   There were women chained to the walls, some covered in bruises, some shuffling uncomfortably and making that moaning sound. They looked starved, beaten, captive. Justice ventured further into the room, completely ignorant to the second person making their way up the ladder.

                                   She approached one of the girls, kneeling down beside her and looking into her glazed-over eyes, not paying attention to the shadow on the wall.

                                   "Hello?" Justice asked, her voice squeaking. The imprisoned girl didn't respond, just kept looking on.

                                    "She won't talk anymore." Said a man's voice behind her. Her husband.

                                    "Why are all these girls here?" Justice asked, backing up against the wall beside the girl.

                                    "Because they were all promised to me. Just as you were. They gave up certain things to be with me and I tried to give each of them the life I gave you. But these ones here, they were each missing something. That one," He said, pointing to a girl in the corner.

                                    "She wanted to be with me, but she didn't want to get married. That one," He said, pointing to one chained to a bedpost.

                                    "Didn't believe in titles. She didn't want to be a Baroness."

                                    "Then why not let them go?" Justice demanded. Jack grinned and laughed mirthlessly.

                                    "I'm not a well man, Baroness." He replied. "They're still mine, and I love them all. So this is where I can keep them. It's not like their families want them back anyway." His voice sounded devoid of all emotion as he knelt down to the girl Justice stood beside.

                                   Justice watched in fear as he touched the girl's cheek, then reached for a pair of cuffs beside her. "The shame is, you did everything I asked of you. You just couldn't stay away from the attic." He held his shaking hand out to her.

                                  She knew that he was right, and no one would be coming to rescue her. And trying to escape the secure perimeter was futile.

                                  Though she'll never understand why, she held her hand out to him and let him lead her to the place she'd stay for the rest of her life.