*Summer*

I had thought my heart was naught but shattered shards, but his words breaks it all over again. The pain in my chest makes it difficult to breathe.

“No”. I whisper in horror. “That’s not possible”.

“I had barely stepped into the garden when I was stopped by guards and tied up like a Christmas goose. Then your father emerged from the shadows. I clearly remember his words. They played in my mind a million times. ‘My daughter is done with you.’ I assumed you told him about me, about our plans”. He says.

Each word is a blow that threatens to drop me to my knees. I reach...