"I spent my childhood sleeping in stables. I ate moldy bread and wore rags. No one cared when I was hurt. No one cared when I cried. Why should I care that your life is now difficult?"
William flinched as if struck.
He had not expected such bitterness, such raw, unbridled anger from the sister he had once dismissed as quiet and unimportant.
"I did not know. I did not understand what they did to you at Bennington. I never asked."
"Of course you didn't." Hannah snapped.
"No one ever does. I was just the shadow. The unwanted one. That is what I was to Bennington. That is what I almost remained."
She paused, her chest tight with old emotion.
Ren pressed gently against her neck, a silent comfort, the only creature who had ever chosen her without hesitation.
You are not shadow here.
Ren's voice was soft in her mind.
You are with me.
The words calmed her slightly, but the ice in her gaze did not melt.
William's face fell, and he looked truly remorseful.
