Annabeth nervously made a pot of tea for her and Zachariah. How was she suppose to tell him about her past? Would he send her back? That thought alone scared her so bad she almost dropped the kettle. Taking a deep breath she shakily poured the tea into two mugs before turning and placing them on the table with the sugar bowl.
"One or two sugars?"
She looked at Zachariah expectantly waiting for his response. At this point she was prolonging the inevitable, but she just couldn't find the courage to just dive right in.
"I will get my own. Sit down."
His firm voice that usually calmed her and gave her a safe feeling made her nerves jump through the roof. He was cutting off any escape route she had. Sighing, she carefully sat down beside him and added sugar to her tea.
"I hate to press at you but the sooner you get this off your chest the sooner this discussion can end."
To anyone else his comment would have sounded insensitive, but she knew he was trying to comfort her and help her get started.
"I...I'm sorry. I am just terrified about your reaction, I'm even afraid you will send me back there," her trembling voice spoke out.
Zachariah placed his hand on top of hers before taking a deep breath before speaking.
"Normally I would send a betrothed woman back home, but you seem terrified of them. I can't in good conscience put you in any kind of danger."
Annabeth slowly nodded her head while looking at the floor. She closed her eyes and took one deep breath before beginning her descent into the past.
"I guess I need to start off by saying, I was never really wanted. I was an accident is what my mom told me. But when I was fifteen years old a gentleman had come to our home and was speaking with my parents in our living room. From what I overheard my parents were in major debt with this man because of my father not being able to hold down a job. Unfortunately, I got caught snooping and was dragged into the living room by my mother for my punishment. The gentleman took a liking to me and told my parents if they were willing to wed me to his son, he would forget about all the money they owed him. My mother was quick to agree and my father just sat their with his head in his hands, quiet."
She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. This seemed to be where everything just got progressively worse in her life. Afraid that she would see pity in Zachariah's eyes, she kept her head down.
"My mother did everything to prep me. For three years the gentleman paid for my lessons on how to by "high society" as my mother called it. I learned to dance, eat, speak, walk, and so on. My punishments for slipping up during my lessons were...painful but effective reminders to be perfect. Once I turned eighteen I met my betrothed for the first time. I kept hoping he would be nice, or at least nicer than my mother and at first he was. Then one day he tried to catch me alone, and...take advantage of me. When I shoved him off me and told him no, he back handed me and belittled me. After that he had my mother dress me in revealing dresses, and was very open about what he wanted. He even openly hit me in front of my parents, neither of them did a thing about it. One night I finally had enough. I decided that even if I died out in the cold, at least it was away from all of the abuse. That's when you found me."
At this point there were tears streaming down Annabeth's face. Her head hurt from remembering and her heart hurt from the pain her family put her through. She silently prayed that Zachariah would not send her back.
"Oh. My poor Snow," he whispered, "How could they do that to you?"
A soft caress on her cheeks had her lifting her eyes from the floor to meet his. The look he gave her was something she had never seen before, he cared.
"Are you going to send me back?"
Zachariah reached for her and pull her onto his lap and held her close. His warmth allowed her to relax as she buried her face into his neck.
"I could never send you back to such a place," he said. "You are staying here with me."