1. Nonplussed- to cause to be at a loss as to what to say, think, or do (misused as bored)
When the enormous anchor of this pirate ship was casted away, and when this detestable band of swashbucklers chained my arms before dragging me to the noisy town market near the coast of Venetia, I was nonplussed by my fate and my mind seemed to freeze along with my weakening knees, despairingly surrendering to the subsequent act of viciousness I'd be subjected to which I had already determined before this even happened, but couldn't seem to escape.
2. Appraised- to judge and analyze the worth, significance or status of something (misused as apprised)
A grimy old woman eyed me meticulously, her slipshod apron hiding her twitching fingers as she appraised my price in the imperturbable slave trade relative to the other soon-to-be-servants', who were cowering in the humid corner of the stall, talents and capabilities.
3. Reticent- restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance (mistakenly interchanged with reluctant)
Noticing my tattoos, a bewhiskered nobleman alighted from his carriage and asked Mistress Alana, the old woman, about my price. However, a young man whom I'd seen hesitantly pacing back and forth in the stall's perimeter before had emboldened himself and bid for me with his pennies in a leather purse a little more than his insincere competitor, arguing with him although he seemed to be quite reticent in expressing himself as evidenced by his awkward demeanor.
4. Proscribe- to condemn or forbid as harmful (misused as prescribe)
While walking under the tropical sun, I mustered my remaining courage to ask this shy man about his personal background to hear it from himself. All I could digest from his concise reply was that his family was constantly shunned by townspeople after a town leader, a kinsman of a corrupt incumbent Governor, was stabbed to death by his father due to the former's encroachment of the latter's corn plantation. Thia controversy ignited an oppressing order from the ruling party to proscribe the whole family.
5. Disinterested- not influenced by regard to personal advantage (misused as uninterested)
He was particularly disinterested as to my occupation in his rural hut, which is creepily near the old Venetian graveyard, and said further that he wasn't my master despite his buying me.
6. Bemused- marked by confusion or bewilderment (misused as amused)
His aunt, an odd woman who showed an extraordinary kind of beauty even in her late forties, was bemused when I told her I came from the island of Quioa way up northeast, a dominion obstinately believed by ethnocentric Venetians to be occupied by barbarians.
7. Tortuous- marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns (misused as torturous)
Times had passed unnoticed in their company as I absorbed more of their culture and language. Suddenly, I voiced out my idea of venturing into the nearby forest to hunt. Jeraphim, the young man, consented after many exhortations and precautions. The lush forests, as I soon found out, were tortuous and dangerous. Games few and exceptionally elusive.
8. Witch- a woman practicing the black arts (misspelled as which)
While we're struggling to extricate ourselves from the thick bushes and monstrous roots and vines, Jeraphim, who was actually garrulous in the midst of people he's closely acquainted with, had breathlessly talked about his aunt's peculiarities, how she often sent him to get uncanny things like toads' eyes to complete her ingredients for a magic potion. This obsession with the mystical arts, which was being gradually disproved because of the budding systematic sciences in Venetia, had urged people to stigmatize her as a witch.
9. Wheeled- to turn and face toward a different direction often in a sudden fashion (mistakenly interchanged with wield)
As we seemed to spot a stag among the thickets, we clumsily wheeled toward him and ran our best, almost tripping on rocks, but since none of us knew the ins and outs of Venetian forests, we lost track of him, looking at every direction in a hopeless desire to find a sign that would help us go back.
10. Site- the local position of building, town, monument, or similar work either constructed or to be constructed especially in connection with its surroundings (misused as cite or sight)
Our feet led us to a cloistered mansion sited on a huge flat rock overlooking a deep chasm. We sighted Venetian guards patrolling around it, wearing their turquoise uniform and guns about them. Suddenly, a strong hand clasped my mouth from behind and I started to writhe and throw myself away from hia grasp. I couldn't see Jeraphim anymore behind the tree he was hiding in a few moments ago, but a distressed scream reached my ears from within the boundary, obviously boyish, that made my heart want to escape from my chest.
11. Intern- to confine within prescribed limits especially during a war (misused as enter)
They interned us inside the thick walls off which our voices caromed. Two guards were attending to me side-by-side, one of them being he who gagged us in the forest. This edifice was one big clandestine prison! I could see emaciated humans through heavily barred windows in iron doors, their eyes showing no light but that of severe suffering that was more than enough to incite both compassion and rage.
12. Knight- a man ceremonially inducted by a feudal superior into special military rank commonly immediately below that of a baron usually available only after completing regular periods of service as page and squire (misspelled as night)
Like what we expected, we were thrown into one of those cells! The guards outside were muttering something to each other, the only phrases I could hear were “absent,” “doing something of import,” “governor,” “quite a catch,” and “call him.” One swarthy guard with a balding hair left and when he came back he brought along with him a pair of imposing footsteps emanating from the spurred riding boots of a knight that were as black as night.
13. Pore- to gaze intently or fixedly (misspelled as pour)
The sunrays of early summer poured into the pores of mortars in the stonework, making the handle of the knight's sword glint momentarily. But before I closed my dazed eyes, I saw him poring on my natural tattoos.
14. Fulsome- offensive to moral or aesthetic sensibility (misused as abundant)
He told me that he and the Governor knew everything about me, and that the Venetian government could help me find my shipwrecked tribesmen in exchange for my clairvoyance, which would be an immense help in establishing a totalitarian government. Seeing me scoff at the vileness of their dreams, he stilled his abundant babbles yet it seemed to increase his desperation as he employed more tactics other than fulsome coaxing.
15. Lie- to be or to stay at rest in a horizontal position (interchanged with the word lie [to prevaricate])
I was having this whim to lie down and appear relaxed and uninterested as a way of taunting him, thus, infuriating him so much he would resolve to get rid of his own presence in my cell. I didn't have to lie; hearing nonsense bored me half to death.
16. Stationary- fixed in a station, course, or mode (misused as stationery)
Adamant to leave as soon as possible, I looked around to find any loophole. Even with my keen senses I couldn't spot any. There are only two windows, both of them too small to let my shoulders out. The one in the right side of this jail faced the part of the forest ruled by towering trees. The other was in the door through which I could see a stationary guard strictly ordered to make sure I was inside.
17. Practicable- capable of being put into practice, done, or accomplished (mistakenly interchanged with practical)
As a scheme, I tried to ask for stationeries for me to write down my thoughts to fight off ennui. But I was such an unfortunate tribeswoman for the man was overly reluctant. The only way I could break out was to manipulate this guard as there was no practicable weapon I could use.
18. Noisome- offensive to the smell or other senses (misused as noisy)
Time was running short. Jeraphim was surely thinking of subterfuges. But while nothing came to our minds, we've got to endure the stench of wet mosses clinging on the walls of this noisome prison which became even more torturous every second.
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