Now that she knew life could be like that…she would never stop fighting to get it back.
So she sat and waited and prayed that she would make it out alive, that Caspian would find her, and that they would make it back to the Northlands and safety.
“We’ll be home tomorrow,” a menacing voice said from behind her.
A chill ran down Sophia’s back. She refused to turn to see her. It wouldn’t help the situation. Lady Manning didn’t like it when Sophia looked into her eyes, so there was no point.
“You are worthless, and the only thing you’re good for is serving me,” Lady Manning continued.
Sophia’s heart lightened at the words. It was the first time Lady Manning had said anything that led her to believe she wouldn’t be killed.
“And I can’t wait to punish you for having the audacity to run away from me after all these years. I raised you, fed you, clothed you—and you ran away? Such insolence must be punished, don’t you agree?”
Sophia’s heart was beating faster. Rosaleen was the one who had raised her. Lady Manning had done nothing for her.
“I’ve had my huntsman searching for you all this time, and now that we’ve found you, you’ll spend the rest of your miserable life serving me and the estate,” the woman continued, a sneer in her voice.
Sophia didn’t have to turn to know what her face looked like. She knew it all too well—the pursed lips, the haughty eyes, the look of malevolence that never quite disappeared.
“I’ll never serve you,” Sophia said quietly.
Perhaps it was foolish, but she’d spent her whole life staying silent. She’d never spoken up before, never talked back, never given voice to the words that ran through her head.
“You are cruel and abusive, and though you may keep me imprisoned, you’ll never win my spirit.”
She turned to face the woman who had made her life a living hell.
Who’d thrown her into a holding cell more than once without reason, forced her to go days without food, and ordered her to do inane tasks for no reason other than spite.
“You finally show some of your father’s spirit,” the woman said with a haggard laugh. “But it’s too late. You are mine, and you will be forever.”
Sophia’s heart leaped at the mention of her father. Lady Manning had never mentioned him before. Why now?
“Why do you hate me?” she asked. Was it because of her father?
“Don’t you wish you knew,” Lady Manning said, her lips twisting into the ever-familiar sneer. “As if I’d tell you.”
Could she goad her into revealing the truth? Had her apparent meekness and decision to remain calm above all kept her from finding out more information long ago?
“No, I don’t suppose you would,” Sophia said. “Then I’d have even less reason to be afraid of you.”
“You should be afraid,” Lady Manning said, her eyes glittering with the hatred that usually simmered under the surface.
“I have no reason to fear you,” Sophia said, staring steadily into the face of her captor.
The words rang true for the first time in her life.
She knew what she was worth now.
Nothing that Lady Manning could do would change that.
“You would if you knew the truth,” Lady Manning said, her voice growing louder.
“I don’t need to know the truth,” Sophia bluffed.
She needed to know.
The need burned deep within her.
