Shadows of Yesterday

Summary

It was the fifth year of my marriage to the butcher when my young son, Leo, got into trouble with a nobleman from the Capital over a worn-out handkerchief.

I pulled him behind me, kneeling on the cobblestones to plead for mercy.

The carriage curtain remained perfectly still. From within, a young, cold voice sneered.

“You’re begging for him? Who are you to him?”

I lowered my head, my voice barely a whisper. “I am his mother.”

A sudden, deathly silence fell inside the carriage, then erupted into a laugh that was sharp with rage.