Sofia
SOFIA
AGE 15
The next day, the prince woke and saw the village girl sitting beneath his tree. He attacked her, sweeping down and snapping at her fingers. Even as he drew blood, she didn’t move, voice calm as she told him to take the bread she had brought. She told him that she saw that he was hungry. It was her voice, full of compassion, that finally made the prince surrender.
-The Raven Prince by Emilio Laurn
S ofia was in a horrible mood and she hated herself for it. But she hadn’t seen Gabriel in three days and had heard nothing from him either. She’d eventually given in and asked Jorge about him that morning. The stables head had only grunted at her to get out and leave him be.
Even without answers, she was a few minutes late to work and the chief commander was all too happy to point this out as he threw a stack of papers down for her to work on. He left a few minutes later, stating he had business at the prison, and left her alone to wallow in her misery.
She worked quickly, her handwriting probably messier than it should have been, and a small voice in the back of her mind told her that the chief commander might end up forcing her to rewrite the tables and letters, but she didn’t care. She was too distracted to focus.
She finished the pages shortly after lunch and was all too happy to stack her work on the chief commander’s desk and sidle over to the bookshelf along the wall. As usual, she was careful when she plucked out a book to read. She never touched the books with a clean layer of dust on them, too aware her fingerprints might give her away. The room was only ever open long enough for her to slip in and out as she picked a book. And she only ever grabbed one when she knew the chief commander’s schedule had him out of the manor for the entire day.
Mina didn’t even know about the shelf behind the wall. The stories she told the girl had expanded over time as she learned more, but she never dared tell her where she was getting her ideas from. Not even Gabriel knew the books she was reading came from behind the secret shelf, too afraid of letting him in on a secret even the chief commander was keeping—knowledge that could be a death sentence. The thoughts passed through her mind every day she opened up the small room and stepped inside, but they never stopped her.
She sidestepped the stack of books that was in the middle of floor as she crept into the hidden room, always a mouse waiting for the trap to fall.
“?”
The book she’d been holding fell from her hands with a resounding thump that had her choking on the air in her throat. She whipped around to see Mina standing at the threshold of the secret room, eyes wide as she peeked past the bookshelf to where stood, pale and shaking.
“What?” ’s mouth was dry, her voice a soft rasp. She grabbed the book she had dropped and shoved Mina out of the room, eyes flitting around, as if the chief commander might pop out at any moment with a cry of triumph. But the office door was closed and they were alone.
“What is that?” Mina said, ducking around her to look back at the small room.
In turn, ignored her question and grabbed her arm, pulling her back. She’d grown over the last cycle, but she was still a few inches shorter than , frame like a bird. Despite her petite size, the girl put up a fight, not quite allowing herself to be removed from the room.
“You’re early!” hissed.
“I saw the Master leaving with the general earlier. I knew he wasn’t here.”
“That doesn’t matter, I told you to never come before two.” It was cruel to yell at the girl, but it felt better to distract from ’s own blame in being caught. “What are you doing here?”
She pulled at the girl’s thin arm again, and this time Mina turned. Her eyes were still wide and her lip was folded between her teeth. That wasn’t what drew ’s attention, though. It was the cut across her cheek and the swelling already beginning along her eye. Her nearly translucent skin was a deep red along her temple. It would be a nasty bruise by tomorrow.
“What happened?” She felt like Mina’s mother as she tipped the girl’s head forward, inspecting the damage in the light of the office lanterns.
“I got a few hits in.” She said it with such pride had to bite back her smile.
“Why are you getting into fights?”
“I was defending you.”
’s stomach twisted, unsure if she was angry at Mina for getting hurt or whoever had taken a fist to her face. “I don’t need you defending me.”
“You didn’t hear what they were saying about you!”
“Exactly,” said, leading Mina over to the desk to sit. She kneeled in front of the girl. “I don’t care what they say when I’m not around. Gossiping about something doesn’t make it true. But what are real are these cuts.”
She pressed a finger close to the cut on Mina’s cheek. It had stopped bleeding, but the skin was still jagged and red around the edges.
“You should clean this with some water and soap. And you’re going to tell me who did this to you, so I can make sure you got enough hits in to make them regret it.”
Mina gave her a look that said she was very much not planning on giving up names. poked at the cut on her cheek with narrowed eyes, but didn’t argue. For now.
“There’s a washbasin two rooms down. I’m going to go get a wet towel and you are not going to move.” pushed the bookshelf to the secret room back against the wall until it clicked closed. She paused at the office door, listening for anyone on the other side before she rushed out and down the hall.
While the latrines were all on the same side of the manor, washrooms with basins of water were scattered throughout. The maids brought fresh water twice a day, providing the chief commander and his guests with a place to wash or get a drink. There was a full pitcher of water by the basin and clean towels folded neatly on the shelf. Thinking back on the books she’d read on inflammation and first aid, she wet the tip of the towel and rubbed some soap on it. She also snuck a glass of cold, fresh water, drying the cup and placing it back directly where it had been.
She slipped back into the office a minute later, Mina sitting obediently in ’s chair next to the chief commander’s desk. She kneeled on the soft rug and brought the cloth to Mina’s cheek, ignoring the small girl’s flinch. could tell she was in pain, but she gritted her teeth and bore it as scrubbed the cut.
They both heard the commotion outside the office too late, having just enough time to stand at attention as the door burst open and Chief Commander Harlow and General Ocon came stalking into the office. Fear twisted deep in ’s gut as she took in the splatters of blood across the general’s face and the cold rage painted across the chief commander’s.
His eyes flickered between the two girls and the office around them, looking for something. Whatever he saw seemed to light something in his eyes and he almost smiled.
“You’ve been reading,” the chief commander said, the words sending ice through ’s veins. The cloth dropped from her hand and she began to tremble, the fear coursing through her body in a wave. A soldier stood behind the two officers, hand on his swords as if she posed any threat to these men.
“That’s the one,” the chief commander said, motioning for the soldiers to move. went cold. He wasn’t pointing as her. He was pointing at Mina. “That’s the office maid who’s been reading.”
General Ocon’s lips turned down in a small frown at the chief commander’s words, but he didn’t question it as the soldier moved between them and into the room.
tried to step in front of Mina, blocking the small girl from their views, but the soldier only shoved past her with a sneer. Mina let out a cry of pain as the man none-too-gently picked her up from the chair and twisted her arms behind her. She was cuffed a moment later, as if unbound she could have done anything against the towering solider.
She couldn’t stop herself as she moved to grab the soldier to try and free Mina. The general was quick to intercept, seizing her and twisting her arms behind her. She was useless when faced with the king’s men.
“Should I arrest this one for co-conspiracy?” he asked the chief commander, looking down at with abject disgust.
“I’ll deal with her personally.”
A cold numbness washed over ’s body as Mina was dragged away, General Ocon not letting go of her until Mina had disappeared around the corner and the chief commander had motioned for him to leave. And then she and Chief Commander Harlow were left alone.
“She isn’t…she wasn’t…” said, the words barely coherent.
The chief commander strode forward like a wolf stalking his prey.
“You stupid, thieving, little bitch,” he hissed, spit flying from his mouth as he emphasized each word. “I didn’t want to believe the damned stableboy, but I should have known. You know how many soldiers heard him accuse my very own maid of treason?”
felt her lunch rising up and she folded, trying to breathe. No. She wasn’t even sure the words came out or if they were strangled and caught in her own brain.
Gabriel had betrayed her.
The chief commander grabbed her hair, yanking her neck back and forcing her to look up at him.
“You’re lucky you’re useful, dragon-filth. I’ll save you this one last time. You better make it worth it.”
He didn’t bother with requests or commands, but stood, dragging her along by her hair. They shuffled out of the office and down the back stairs until they were underground, stumbling beneath his grip. She knew the basement existed, but not even the servants were assigned to the floor, cobwebs and dust left to fester here unattended. It was a twisting maze of rooms and halls and wondered how the house could be so large. The chief commander threw her through a door and into a small room with a fire burning in the small hearth. The room was hot, nearly unbearable and she felt herself choking on the air.
“Give me your arm.”
The blood drained from her face as she saw the poker he pulled from the hearth. Not a poker, but a branding iron.
Her body didn’t feel her own and he didn’t wait for her to follow his command, grabbing her wrist and wrenching it forward.
“No one else will hire you. No one else will work with a branded traitor. You will have nowhere else to go. So hear me when I say this. You won’t disobey me again. You won’t embarrass me like that again. The next time, I will kill you personally. You and every family member you have left.”
You’re lucky you’re useful, dragon-filth.
Her nails bit into her free palm as she tried to block out the chief commander’s words. The searing agony that followed did the work for her and in that moment, her brain only knew pain. Any thoughts of Mina or Gabriel or her future washed away as her skin sizzled.