If she was in fact his daughter.
Maybe she wasn’t.
Who knew?
Certainly not her.
She sighed and closed her eyes, secure and warm in Caspian’s arms. “I don’t suppose he said anything else about Lord Manning?”
“Only that he loved his daughter very, very much.”
The words felt comforting, even though she didn’t know if they were about her or not.
If she was his daughter…she had been loved. She had been cherished. And she was loved and cherished again.
Because she’d found someone who loved her for her, who had risked his life to save her, who had chased after her for miles and miles until he could bring her safely home.
It all felt like a fairytale.
She must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, they were riding through the busy streets of Riyel. Sophia’s heart leaped in her throat, and she wrapped her hand around Caspian’s arm as Lady Manning’s home came into view.
“What’s wrong?” Caspian asked quietly.
“That’s it,” she said as they approached the imposing residence that had been the source of her nightmares for years.
“Do you want to stop and see Rosaleen?” he asked. “Or do you want to go home and change first?”
Sophia’s heart was beating faster. She’d thought she wanted time…but now that she was here, she didn’t want to wait any longer to find out.
“No,” she said firmly. “Let’s stop.”
Caspian rode up to the front steps of the mansion and dismounted. He turned and nodded to Hopkins, who brought up the rear of their entourage. “We’re stopping here,” he said. “Tell Kellan we’ll be home in a little while.”
Sophia could hardly breathe as Caspian lifted her down from his horse. She picked up the tattered and torn dress that had once looked so fine and ascended the steps while Caspian tied the reins to a fence post.
Did this home truly belong to her?
She knocked at the front door and a moment later, it opened, revealing Lady Manning’s butler.
“We’re not in the habit of admitting street urchins,” he said blandly.
“Don’t you remember me?” Sophia asked.
He looked down at her for a moment before his jaw dropped. “Sophia?”
Caspian followed her up the stairs, his presence behind her lending her strength. “I need to speak to Rosaleen,” she said.
“Why didn’t you come to the back door?” he said with a frown.
“Because we were already here,” Caspian said in a cheerful voice. “Hello, I’m Lord Caspian Rendon.”
The butler’s jaw dropped again, looking between Sophia and Caspian. “Of course, come in,” he said hurriedly. “Would you like to go down to the kitchen, or shall I fetch Rosaleen for you, sir?”
Sophia could feel Caspian’s eyes on her, deferring to her in the moment. “We shall go to the kitchen,” she said grandly, sweeping in past the butler and leading the way to the kitchen.
Nothing had changed here.
But she had changed.
