*Maddy*
I expected the blows to my body, the rough knuckles raking over my skin until bruises bloomed yellow and purple on my arms and stomach. I expected the bitter words in a language I didn’t understand, and the tight grip on my wrists as I was dragged through wet snow back into the house I’d just escaped.
I wasted so much time. I couldn’t help but beat myself up over it. Had I not run into Princess Ella, I’d be on a train right now traveling far, far away.
Cool night air was replaced by dry, fiery heat, and then it all went black.
For a moment, at least.
I wake to someone shouting, and suddenly, I’m lifted and thrown against the wall, my head banging against the weathered floorboards with a violent smack. Stars fill my vision before faces blur into view. Reginald is standing o
