Love & Duty

Chapter 30

Sophia woke up the next morning, feeling the softness under her body and the feeling of new bandages on her injuries. A part of her started to panic. The family that took care of her didn't have a bed this soft...

She sprang up into a sitting position, only to be engulfed in strong arms. Her panic was now set.

"Let me go! Let me go!" she screams over and over again, trying to wiggle out of the man's arms.

"Sophia, relax! It's me, Soph." he tries to make her hear him; he repeats the sentence twice before her wiggling stops. She looks at him, her eyes widening. "It's Eric; you're home, you're safe." he tells her again as he holds her face gently, making sure their eyes connect.

"Eric... Am I dreaming?" she asks, tears building up in her eyes.

Her brother didn't waste any time and wiped them away before they fell. "No, this is real. You're here with us. Tyler found you yesterday, don't you remember?" he speaks in the most gentle voice, worried she might still be scared.

"Tyler found me... Yes, I remember." she finally says after thinking back to her memories. "I'm home?" she asks, looking around the room and recognizing her surroundings.

"We are in Greenwind Castle, but I guess you could say you're home." he smiles and rubs his thumb on her left cheek, not wanting to trigger pain on her bruised one.

There was a moment of silence; Eric removed his hands from her face and held her hands. He didn't want to push her to talk or do anything, giving her time and space to register her situation.

"Eric, take a break and get some breakfast." the King walks into the room, trying to get his son off that chair and get some food in his stomach.

Eric refused to do anything but the bare minimum that required him to be away from his sister.

"Dad." was all Sophia said before the King ran to her side.

"Sophia, honey! You woke up. How are you feeling?" he sits next to her and holds her left hand, didn't bother to hide his worried yet relieved expression.

"I'm fine, I guess." she only replies, not knowing what else to say. Scared? She wasn't frightened around her family, but something wasn't calm inside her. In pain? She only felt a few throbs in some places, a pain she could handle.

"Well, soon you will be great, and you will be up and causing trouble all over again." he tries to lighten the mood by making her laugh at her old actions.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to trouble anyone. I... I tried to- "

"Don't apologize, Sophia. This was not your fault, not in the least bit. I know how much you tried to get back to us, to fight and escape. You did amazing just by surviving and not giving up." he brings her closer and hugs her, wary of his strength to not hurt her injured side.

"I'm so proud of you; you are so strong." he rubs circles on her back.

Being in her father's firm and warm embrace and hearing his encouraging words broke the wall she unconsciously put up. Her emotions burst out, and she let her tears fall down her face. Clinging onto his shirt and burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"It was so scary! I didn't know what to do. Everything I tried failed. I couldn't bring myself to go to the extreme to get free; I was scared of the pain. But the things I went through were so much more painful in different ways. I was so close to giving up!" she confesses the feelings she felt while being captured.

She wanted to be strong and come out unbothered, but she could not ignore what she experienced.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry we took so long. But you are safe now; you survived, and you made it out on your own. Don't forget that you kept fighting and escaped by your own strength." King Winston caresses her hair, calming her down.