Free A Lesson for the Cyclops by Jeffrey Getzin

sorcerer and the brigands left me in the middle of nowhere, naked and hideous. I was awash in agony, barely able to think, let alone move, but I realized that I needed help or I would die.
    “So I crawled back to the city. Horsemen and carriages passed, yet not one would stop to help me, no matter how much I begged. Only once did someone show me mercy; a priest, seeing me on my hands and knees by the side of the road, tossed the remains of his pheasant dinner from his carriage. The carriage didn’t slow the slightest as it passed.
    “It took me days to get back to the City of Bryanae; I slept in ditches, on rocks, wherever my strength to crawl just gave out for the day. When I made it to the city, I was such a bloody, disgusting mess that the Guard refused me entrance, fearing that I carried plague.
    “I skirted the city walls, and eventually regained my ability to walk. I staggered along the path to my new home, still agonized, and now wearing a discarded blanket as my only attire.
    “I reached the Duke’s manor a couple of hours before dawn. I had convinced myself that when he saw what had been done to me, he’d care for me until I had recovered enough to have our wedding, and that he would exact cruel vengeance on those who had done this to me. Yes, I was that big of a fool.
    “The night guard refused to admit me to the manor. I begged and pleaded with him, then his superior, and then his superior. At last, the Duke himself came to the castle gates. He glanced at me only once, averted his eyes in disgust, and told the guards he did not know me. They dragged me from the castle gates and set me back on the road to Bryanae.
    “I walked for days, all the way back to my family’s home, but they, too denied knowing me; indeed, they denied ever having a daughter. I sobbed and begged them to forgive me, but there was no forgiveness in their hearts. I left my home, heading off without a direction. Where was I to go? How would I survive without any prospects for marriage, without any skills?
    “While I stumbled through a field, starving and feverish—much as you were when you came to us—I was beset by thieves. They were dismayed to learn that I had nothing of value. I was too ugly even to bother raping. However, one of them knew a man who ran a freak show, and he brought me there for a finder’s fee. But the owner of the show had been cruel, and smashed everything I loved, down to the smallest teacup. When the Venucha Players passed by, I left the freak show and begged Marco for a job with the circus.
    “He paid me almost nothing, but for the first time since I had been abducted, I was in a place that could pass for a home. I wasn’t respected, but I wasn’t treated any worse than the other freaks. And I even bought a pair of teacups. I’ll show them to you if you like…”
    D’Arbignal eyes shone with moisture, and for a moment, he seemed stricken mute. When he tried to speak, his voice caught and he had to clear his throat.
    “Sure,” he said, his voice gruff, his eyes full of sadness. “I’d love to see your teacups.”
    The Cyclops stepped around the beautiful wig she had thrown to the floor and went to her trunk. She searched through it to find her teacups, only to find the shards at the bottom.
    “Oh,” she said, tears dripping down her face. “I guess Alfredo must have smashed them when he was looking for your rapier.”
    “What?” D’Arbignal said, his eyes narrowing. The expression on his face was fierce.
    The Cyclops shrugged and pointed at the gown she wore. “So you can see why I don’t deserve to have a nice dress like this, or a beautiful wig like that, or even to have you be my friend. I deserve to be the hideous freak that I am. I deserve to be alone and despised. I have no right to want or expect anything else.”
    D’Arbignal stared at her for a few minutes, saying nothing. Then at length, he nodded in agreement.
    “Right,” he said, standing up. “You’ve got a point. I’ll go