Chapter 719: The Web She Wove
Victoria smiled.
It was a small thing, barely a curve of her lips, but it was there. She knew there was no way her daughter would rember everything that had happened. Sophia had the tendency to forget things after all. Blocking things from her brain, choosing to forget rather than face things head-on. She had always done it, right from when she was a child.
Victoria had not noticed it at first.
She had just thought sothing was wrong with Sophia, the way she would go quiet after sothing traumatic, her eyes growing distant, her answers becoming vague and uncertain. She would ask a question, and Sophia would stare at her like she was trying to recall sothing that wasn’t quite there. It had been useful in the beginning. A convenient way to keep the girl pliable.
She rembered those early years clearly. The way Sophia would flinch at sudden movents, the way she would curl into herself when she thought no one was watching. Victoria had encouraged it, in her own way. A soft word here, a gentle touch there. Nothing overt. Nothing that could be traced back to her. Just enough to keep the girl uncertain. Just enough to keep her dependent.
It wasn’t until Alaric died, though, that she was certain that Sophia used that as a coping thod.
Victoria had tested Sophia, and Sophia did not rember anything about Alaric nor about his son, whom she had t. She did not rember that she had tried to save Alaric, even going as far as to put his head back together, even if that was a fruitless endeavor.
Victoria’s smile widened.
From the way Sophia spoke, she suspected that her daughter still loved her. Like before. Choosing to cling to her like normal. Yes, she thought to herself. She could use Sophia. There was no doubting that now. They could use her.
Every plan they had would co to pass. They would get Sophia and use her, and she would finally be able to get the gift of visions that should have co to her and not Sophia, who was a weak girl.
The pack in the North would fall, and everything she wished for would finally co to pass.
She softened her voice, layering it with concern.
"Sothing happened, dear child. There was an attack on the pack. I went with the warriors to fight those who had attacked us, but before I could get back, you were gone. Stolen away by so other pack."
She paused, letting the weight of the lie settle.
"They drugged you, I suspect, and injured you too. The marks on your body, they were the ones who did it before taking you away to the North."
The words hung between them. Victoria waited, her heart beating steadily in her chest. She had always been good at this. At shaping truth into sothing more useful. At bending reality until it fit her needs.
Sophia was quiet for a mont. Then she asked,
"Mum, did you say I’m in the North?"
Victoria paused. Her smile faltered.
Had she said that? She replayed her words in her head. She had said North. She had not ant to. The word had slipped out, and it was a mistake she had not planned to make.
She chuckled nervously.
"Did I say you were in the North?"
"Yes," Sophia said. "You said they took to the North."
Victoria laughed again, higher this ti, a thin sound that did not quite reach her eyes.
"Well, um... you are mistaken. I did not say that."
Sophia was quiet for a while.
Then she said,
"Perhaps I was mistaken."
"Yes," Victoria said quickly. "Yes, you were mistaken."
The silence that followed was brief but uncomfortable. Victoria shifted, her bracelets chiming softly against her wrist. She needed to get things back under her control, and so she decided to use the main reason why she had contacted Sophia. Sophia wouldn’t suspect, she was sure of that. She had, after all, made Sophia who she was.
"Sophia dear," she said, her voice warm again, "do you like your hair?"
"What do you an?" Sophia asked, confused.
"Your hair color. The one you have now. Surely you rember when you were younger, how you wanted your hair to be the sa color as mine? You asked to help you change it."
There was a pause.
Then Sophia said,
"That is true. My hair looks like yours now."
Victoria bead.
The lie was working. Sophia was not questioning it. She was accepting it, just like she always had.
"It does," Victoria said. "And since it does, surely you like it, right? You must love the hair color. You would not want to change it back, would you?"
There was another pause.
Longer this ti.
"Why would I not want to change it back?" Sophia asked. "It’s not like there is anything wrong with it. It has been that way for years. It’s not like there was sothing foul used on it. Only dye, after all."
Victoria’s heart skipped a beat.
Only dye.
Sophia had said only dye.
She did not know.
She could not know.
The spell was still holding.
Victoria laughed. It was a bright sound, almost convincing.
"You are right, of course. Only dye."
She felt the connection waver then, like a thread being pulled too tight. The edges of the darkness began to fray. She did not have much ti left.
She spoke quickly.
"I must go, Sophia. But I will co for you."
She paused, choosing her next words carefully.
"Do not change your hair color. How would you be like if you did that? We will be together forever, after all. Mother and daughter. Always."
Sophia did not say anything.
Victoria swallowed. The silence was uncomfortable, but she could not afford to wait. The connection was slipping.
"I will find you," she said.
The connection wavered again, stronger this ti. The darkness trembled, and then it was gone.
Victoria opened her eyes and locked eyes with Selith, who stared at her.
"How was it?" she asked.
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