It took me a moment to understand what was going on. Memories.
These were my memories.
Strictly speaking, this was an accurate picture of how Mother and I were treated by every single person in that mansion without exception. Humiliated daily, verbally and to some extent even physically abused and locked away.
The silence was ear piercing and I could inevitably feel the heat rising unspeakably in my cheeks. He was intentionally shaming Mother, obvious to everyone, by completely ignoring her.
"My child! I just found out!", the Duke cried suddenly, standing in front of me without notice and clasping my hands in his clearly larger ones. They disappeared entirely into his, while it took me another moment to understand.
Apparently I drifted off in thought longer than I had initially imagined.
It took another moment to let his words sink in. Only after a few seconds did I allow myself to respond at all, but no sound left my lips. A second later I closed my mouth again. There was nothing I had to say to my counterpart.
»Her hands trembled and cramped in the fabric of her clothes, as if she were trying to find a hold in them.
Was she afraid, or was she angry?«
"Don't touch me,", I managed to choke out. That was all I was capable of at that moment.
However, the astonished look on my counterpart's face, which even settled on my bed, testified to the fact that he did not understand.
"Don't touch me!", I now shouted much louder and yanked my hands out of his grip to pull on my legs in parallel, which were under the heavy blanket. Hastily I tried to stand up completely next, while only incidentally noticing how some things on the nightstand went to the floor, however I didn't care at all.
On wobbly legs I moved towards the door, only not falling as I braced myself against the wooden facade of the wall, while the servants immediately stepped aside as I approached them.
As if chased, I rushed as fast as I could down the cold hallway, ignoring the sharp stabs with each step that coursed through my bare skin.Again and again I bumped into objects such as a table on which dishes stood and that I had almost swept from their place when I tried to hold on to them.
Again and again I bumped into objects such as a table on which dishes stood and that I had almost swept from their place when I tried to hold on to them.
It could not be.
It was not supposed to be.
In front of the ironically now anticipated door, I didn't even stop, but threw my entire weight against the door, which fortunately opened immediately.
However, I lost my balance and stumbled more into the room than I ran. At the same time, the strength in my legs left me, but I didn't care. I simply dropped to the floor and crawled the remaining half meter I wanted to.
The carpet was no longer here. Just the bare wooden floor that radiated a leaden cold. There was no longer any sign of the cruel things that had happened here. The things that mother was driven to do because there was no other option.
Why?
"Inés."
I didn't even look for a moment in the direction from which the voice was heard, but scanned the entire room once. It seemed like a simple storage room, already forgotten many years ago and no longer used.
»"I'm sorry I couldn't protect you, Kalea."«
It had not been her fault.
»"I am responsible for your suffering. Do you hate me?"«
Never. Never.
»"Your mommy will always love you. More than anyone else in the world."«
Please stop crying.
»"We'll always be together, my love."«
Where are you?
A touch on my shoulder made me cringe painfully as I pushed the hand away more than harshly after the first moment of shock.
"Don't touch me.", I immediately hissed after realizing that it was the Duke who dared to touch me.
"Go away.", I tried to control myself again, however, in fact, only a pair of green, deeply distressed eyes were looking at me. He didn't move a step, while the staff behind him had also remained as if they were frozen.
"Get out!", I now yelled at the top of my lungs, as sheer rage swept over me.
That they actually dared to set their feet in this room!