**THE BRAZEN SERIES is part of the GOLDEN UNIVERSE**
♦YOU MUST HAVE READ BOOK ONE, A BRAZEN MAIDEN, TO READ THIS SEQUEL!♦
♦♦It is ALSO recommended that you read THE GOLDEN GIRL/DUCHESS/PRINCESS & QUEEN to better understand events in this novel, as...
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♪ So much you left between us But you don't ever think about us ♪ {Jonas Brothers—Every Single Time}
On the way home, Johanna again kept to herself and spoke little—but Harriet noticed something off about her. She slouched more than usual, her words were clipped, her demeanor reserved and almost fearful.
When she had arrived from the prison, there were obvious tear stains on her cheeks, her forehead was warm, and she was paler than Harriet had ever seen her. Had visiting Eugene traumatized her that much?
Not that Harriet could blame her; she would have been a mess if she'd had to attend such a fetid place twice in one trip. The stories about the Torrinni Prison varied, but most said it was a building haunted by ghosts of former inmates and wails of the current ones, begging for their release.
Johanna gave little in terms of details, though she claimed the structure wasn't as dilapidated and run-down as one would expect for a prison.
In the first few hours of the voyage, Johanna revealed Eugene's vague comments. How he implied he was the ring-leader, that he had friends at court that might still operate for him, how he made it clear he'd have no trouble ending his own daughter to re-install his practices to ensure Limesdale flourished. Though this news didn't shock Harriet, it still prompted shivers to squirm up and down her arms and a bout of nausea to swell in her gut.
My own father... wishing me dead so he can make more money.
When Harriet asked her how he looked, Johanna shriveled up like a turtle tucking into its shell and mumbled some incoherent excuse about being tired. Harriet didn't press further, but she knew something was up, and worried what the horrible man had said to spook Johanna. She'd never seen the woman so distraught; she was the strong, mature, knowledgeable friend Harriet grew up with, reverent and cautious, but bold and to the point. This being beside her... wasn't the regular Johanna.
Her silence bothered Harriet a tad, but she wouldn't force her to speak if it bruised her too much.
Bruise. The word brought memories to Harriet; another round of dreadful images concerning her father. Hadn't he raised a hand on Johanna more than once? Hadn't he hit many of his employees when they did anything that displeased him? Surely he hadn't threatened to harm Johanna again. How could he? A thick set of bars must have separated them at the jail, and guards would never allow him to spit out cruelties like that. But perhaps Johanna's memories plagued her more than she let on; perhaps he affected her more than she'd anticipated.
Whatever her reasons, Johanna spent the journey between sleeping, glimpsing out the window, and weeping whenever she thought Harriet was asleep.
They arrived at the manor in the early morning of January the twenty-seventh, while the sky was still obscure and sparkling with stars. Johanna barely said a word as she sauntered to her quarters. Harriet winced to watch her stumble on, her tail between her legs, her head hanging down as if bricks rested atop it. But what could she do?
