Chapter 198 CHAPTER 198
Sarah had stopped counting the hours.
At first she had tried. When her mother had locked her inside the bedroom and ordered the servants not to bring her food or water, Sarah had tried to keep track of time by the dim light that filtered through the narrow window. She had counted the hours of daylight, the long stretches of darkness, the quiet moments when the witch village outside fell silent.
But after the second day, the numbers had begun to blur.
Her throat burned with thirst, and her stomach twisted painfully with hunger. Even the smallest movement made her body feel weak and heavy, as if her strength had slowly drained away and left only a hollow shell behind.
She lay curled on the bed, her cheek pressed against the rough fabric of the blanket. The room smelled stale, the air thick and unmoving. Her lips were dry and cracked, and every swallow scraped painfully down her throat.
For a long time, she had stared at the wooden door, hoping it would open.
But it never did.
Seraphine had made her order very clear.
No food.
No water.
No contact.
Not until Sarah learned obedience.
The sound of the lock turning made Sarah’s eyes snap open.
For a moment she wondered if she had imagined it. Her mind had begun to play tricks on her after so many hours of silence.
But then the door creaked open.
Seraphine stepped inside.
She carried a tray in her hands.
On it sat a glass of milk and two pieces of toasted bread.
The smell of food filled the room instantly.
“Good morning,” Seraphine said pleasantly, as if nothing unusual had happened.
Sarah stared at the tray.
For a second she did not move.
Then the hunger took over.
She pushed herself off the bed with trembling arms and stumbled toward the small table where her mother placed the tray.
The movement made her dizzy. The room tilted slightly around her, but she ignored it.
Her hand shot forward the moment the tray touched the table.
She grabbed the glass of milk first and lifted it to her lips.
The liquid disappeared down her throat in desperate gulps. She barely paused for breath, swallowing so quickly that some of the milk spilled down her chin and onto the front of her dress.
The relief was instant.
Coolness spread through her dry throat, easing the burning sensation that had been tormenting her for hours.
She finished the entire glass in seconds.
Seraphine watched quietly.
“Slow down,” she said calmly. “If you’re still hungry after that, I can bring you more.”
But Sarah was already reaching for the toast.
She tore into the bread with desperate hands, swallowing large pieces without even chewing properly.
Her stomach twisted painfully as the food hit it, but she kept eating.
Hunger had stripped away all dignity.
Seraphine leaned against the wall, her arms folded loosely across her chest as she observed her daughter devour the meal.
“Really, Sarah,” she said mildly. “You’ll make yourself sick.”
Sarah ignored her.
She finished the toast quickly, wiping the last crumbs from the tray with her fingers before licking them clean.
Only after the food was gone did she slowly lift her head.
Her eyes met her mother’s.
There was no gratitude in them.
Only suspicion.
Seraphine sighed softly.
“I suppose you’re wondering why I came.”
Sarah said nothing.
Her fingers still rested on the empty tray as if she feared it might disappear again.
Seraphine walked toward the chair near the table and sat down gracefully.
“I owe you an apology,” she said.
Sarah blinked.
The words sounded strange coming from her mother’s mouth.
Seraphine clasped her hands loosely in her lap.
“Starving you was not something I particularly enjoyed,” she continued calmly. “But it was necessary.”
Sarah’s lips tightened slightly.
Seraphine tilted her head.
“You needed to understand the consequences of disobedience.”
Sarah’s voice came out hoarse from dehydration.
“You locked me in a room without food or water.”
“Yes.”
“And you call that teaching?”
Seraphine’s expression remained patient.
“I call it correction.”
Sarah stared at her.
“You tried to betray me,” Seraphine continued gently. “You attempted to free that boy from the village. You were ready to run away with him.”
Her gaze sharpened slightly.
“That cannot happen again.”
Sarah’s hands clenched on the edge of the table.
Seraphine’s tone remained calm.
“Freeing the boy would have weakened our security. You acted without thinking, and that is exactly why you needed discipline.”
Sarah’s chest rose and fell unevenly.
Seraphine leaned forward slightly.
“You must understand something, my daughter,” she said softly. “Everything I do is for your own good.”
Sarah laughed weakly.
“My own good?”
“Yes.”
Seraphine’s voice softened even more.
“I care for you deeply. You are all I have in this world.”
Sarah looked down at the empty glass in front of her.
Seraphine continued speaking.
“But when you disobey me… when you try to act against the family… you leave me no choice.”
Her eyes darkened slightly.
“You force me to punish you.”
Sarah’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
“So this was my fault?”
Seraphine smiled faintly.
“You pushed me to do it.”
The quiet certainty in her voice made Sarah’s stomach twist again.
Seraphine rose slowly from the chair.
“In the future,” she said gently, “try not to make me angry.”
She reached out and brushed a loose strand of Sarah’s hair away from her face.
“Then we can live peacefully together.”
Sarah flinched slightly at the touch.
Seraphine’s expression softened again.
“You must understand something very important.”
Sarah said nothing.
“You have nowhere else to go.”
Sarah looked up slowly.
Seraphine walked toward the window and looked out at the distant rooftops of the witch village.
“Even if you believe you formed connections in Silverpine,” she said quietly, “those connections were illusions.”
Sarah’s heartbeat quickened.
“The wolves will never accept you again.”
“That’s not true,” Sarah whispered.
Seraphine turned back toward her.
“Oh?”
Sarah’s voice was fragile but firm.
“They trusted me once.”
“Yes,” Seraphine said calmly. “Once.”
She stepped closer.
“But now?”
Her eyes locked onto Sarah’s.
“Now they believe you murdered one of their own.”
Sarah’s head jerked up.
“I didn’t kill anyone!”
“You and I know that,” Seraphine said smoothly.
Sarah’s breathing quickened.
Seraphine’s voice remained gentle.
“But they do not.”
The words fell into the room like stones.
Sarah stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Seraphine walked slowly back toward the table.
“The guards found the boy’s body.”
Sarah’s heart stopped.
“No…”
“They discovered him hanging from a tree in the forest.”
Sarah’s hands began to tremble.
“And the note attached to the branch,” Seraphine continued softly, “made it quite clear who was responsible. It was signed by you, my dear daughter. Your final act of defiance on Silverpine before you left.”
Sarah felt the blood drain from her face.
“You…”
Her voice shook.
“You left that note.”
Seraphine smiled faintly.
“I simply ensured that the truth would reach the right ears.”
“That wasn’t the truth!”
“But it is what they will believe.”
Sarah’s chest tightened painfully.
“You turned me into a murderer.”
Seraphine’s smile faded slightly.
“I turned you into someone who cannot safely return to Silverpine.”
Sarah stared at her mother in horror.
“You destroyed my life.”
Seraphine’s expression hardened slightly.
“I protected you.”
Sarah shook her head slowly.
“You trapped me.”
Seraphine crouched beside her chair.
Her fingers brushed Sarah’s cheek.
“The wolves will hunt you now. They will believe you killed that boy.”
Sarah felt her throat close.
“If you show your face in Silverpine… they will kill you.”
Her mother’s hand rested gently against her shoulder.
“So you see,” Seraphine whispered, “staying here with me is the safest choice.”
Sarah stared at the floor.
The truth settled slowly over her like a suffocating weight.
Her mother had just taken away the last place she could ever run to.
She had turned her into something the wolves would never forgive.
A witch.
A traitor.
A murderer.
Sarah’s stomach twisted as the realization sank in.
When she finally looked up again, fear filled her eyes.
Seraphine smiled gently.
“There,” she said softly. “Now you understand.”
Sarah lowered her head slowly.
And for the first time since her mother had entered the room, she nodded.
Not in agreement to what her mother had said, but to the realization that there was no redemption left for her.