My stomach somersaulted as I skirted the chair. The flickering candlelight cast shadows across her gaunt face. My heart seized as I caught sight of her face.
I stared at her gray, sagging skin and sunken eyes. Her slightly parted lips were cracked and pale.
A flood of memories poured through my mind, each fighting for attention. My mind repainted her features, filling in her cheeks, painting her skin with a rosy glow and darkening her hair.
I gazed into her dark eyes. Today, they stared without seeing, blank and lifeless. My mind’s eye conjured a memory of a time long since passed. In it, her eyes blazed with fury, lit by candlelight then, too, as the woman straddled me, speaking a strange language.
My breathing turned ragged as I fought to control my mind. My forehead pinched as I flicked my gaze away from her gaunt form to the white orb outside. Another memory fluttered across the fringes of my mind. The sensation of thick rope being wrapped around me while I stood against an oak tree under a full moon burned through my mind.
Vision upon vision of abusive behavior bombarded me, and tears welled in my eyes. I blinked them away, struggling to regain my composure. My fingers tugged at my purse strings, snapping them in two.
I longed to return to the comfort of Blackmoore Castle, to my husband, my children, and even my wayward brother-in-law, Edwin, who had promised a surprise upon my return to the castle.
I squeezed my eyes closed, picturing their faces, the rooms of the castle, my snow-white horse, and the gardens in spring bloom. I allowed these more recent memories to soothe me as I fought to steady my breathing.
I snapped my eyes open, focusing them on the pitiful creature in front of me, frail of body and feeble of mind. She could not be held responsible.
I licked my lips and stepped closer to the woman. “Hello, Mother.”
