Remember Then

XXII. Insinuations

Sophia could hardly believe what she heard.

Nicholas must have seen her reaction for he said, "Do not start fantasizing that I am taking you to Whiston for myself, Sophia, for you will be there as a prisoner."

"Prisoner? Of whom, my lord? Yours?"

Sophia did not appreciate that she would have to deal with this along with worrying over Marcus.

"Of the Guards."

She arched a brow. "I was not aware you have grown a fancy for the service, my lord. You have said so yourself that you are not cut for such profession."

"Unless you have better things to say, do cease talking about things you believe you know about me." Warning filled his words. "You do not know what I am capable of, Sophia. You have not seen that side of me."

"The part that is willing to turn his back on anything for family?" she could not help but ask. "That is why you are taking me with you. You believe that I know everything about Osegod. You believe still that he is after your family and that I am a part of that plan."

He made certain she heard his feign sigh of relief. "Perhaps there is advantage to having been a fool to tell you everything. I no longer have to explain why you are not going back to Rock'oles."

Sophia turned her head away, pretending to be looking out the window when all she could see was darkness and a glint of light here and there. "I do wish you did not have to tell me everything," she quietly murmured.

"What did you say?" Nicholas asked, his every word stinging.

"Nothing, my lord," she said, realizing the tears were safely caged now and that she could carry on a long conversation with Nicholas without fearing to appear like a total fool and have him think she was merely acting.

For some, tears were a great powerful weapon, but for people who were expected to use them to manipulate, it was merely a subject for mockery and she was tired of his mockery for now. Now when her brother was in potential danger.

"You were saying something," he insisted.

"I was talking to myself."

"And what was that you spoke of?"

"As I have said, my lord, I was talking to myself."

"And as I have asked, what was it that you spoke of?"

"My conversations with myself are private," she snapped. Marcus could be out there somewhere dying and this man sitting across from her was wasting her time and energy because he hated her.

"You think you can lighten the mood by a witty quip?" he asked.

"My only desire at this moment, my lord, is to be back in Rock'oles. And if you know what is right, you will take me there. I am sure your driver has not forgotten where it is located."

Nicholas let the sound of the carriage wheels reign around them for a while before he uttered, "If you know what is right, Sophia, you will tell me everything."

"I have been telling you naught but the truth. You simply do not accept it for it does not suit your fancy." She gave Aabha a caress when the dog whimpered beside her. "Now, if you still wish to take me to Whiston, I cannot stop you for how can a blind woman ever find her way home from a place she had never been to before? But know, my lord, that you shall not get anything about Osegod from me for I have none to offer. Dare not think that taking me prisoner shall make me an obedient slave. I have been through worse."

"And you truly think I cannot provide you the same treatment you claim to have suffered in the past?"

Her eyes flickered toward him and found that she was still blind despite the burning anger inside her. One would have thought it would pave the way for even a slight vision. "Will you force yourself on me then? Strip me of my clothes and tie me to the bed? Strangle me with your bare hands while you ram yourself inside me until you are satisfied? And then you shall forget you have chained me and return three days later when you do remember that you have chained an animal to a bed?" Sophia could not help but scathingly throw each word across the carriage. "Or mayhap you are also thinking of sharing me with your friends?" She lifted her chin, caring not that the tears were absent, that the love she felt for him was taking a respite, replaced by the cruelty of their reality. "Otherwise, yes, I claim to believe you will not come close to the men who came before you. But should you wish to hear advice, do be free to find my uncle."