Leila listens to the sobs of the woman in the jail cell next to her, and wonders if she can hear hers. They seem to mourn together, both devastated by the loss of their freedom. Leila has languished in this prison for the past month, and while her conversations with Anna-Nina are brief, she knows well her situation. They are captives – enslaved by hearsay and accused of acts they did not commit. “The lashings, do they hurt?” Anna-Nina breaks from her crying, and whispers the question. “I don’t know,” Leila replies, hugging her knees against her chest on the steel bed. Leila reflects on the judge’s sentence six we [...]