Always, I'm amazed at how much you pack into so few words.
His commands each day: why would any sane woman comply?
She finds ways to execute each order.
You comment: "all three of his commands could have been requests to harm him in some way" -
Intriguing!
And this biographical gem: "My having once stabbed a heart in just this way appeared. Into the story it went."
Their children write poems and turn them into bookmarks for her.
That small detail really leaps out at me.
Along with the line everyone will gravitate to: children know more about love than we do.
(Sure enough, others have already highlighted it: "Children of seven years know more than adults in any room, don't they? When do we unlearn how to love?")
We readers could speculate and write pages about this story!
Bravo!!!!