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Alex was back in her rooms. It had been hard to leave Olivia and she had cried through most of the night, not sure at many points how she had been able to keep walking. By the time the sun had risen, however, it had found her dry eyed and sure of her decision. She had to go back, she was knew that.

Getting into the castle wasn't difficult and she had barely gave it any thought. She stole a skirt from a washing line and used it to hide her leather breeches. No one thought a blond haired woman suspicious and she was able to walk through the gate without a second glance and through the corridors to what she learned had become her brother's rooms, close to her own in fact. Her father had hidden his shock well as could be expected and had quickly joined in with her lies about the kitchen. He hadn't said a word to her as he had led her by the arm to her quarters. He'd told her that they would speak later before leaving. He had locked the door behind him.

That, however, was hours ago and now Alex had become restless. Her quarters were not particularly large and had not changed since she was baby. There were two rooms, both with stone fireplaces, connected by an open arch way in the middle. The larger room contained a wooden table and chairs in one corner, a metal tub in the other for washing and three comfortable chairs arranged in front of the fire. The second room, only accessed through the first held a large four poster bed, wardrobe and a dressing table of sorts, with a long mirror attached above it.

Alex had walked between the rooms seeing that nothing had been changed or moved since she had last left it. It was as if the months with Olivia had never happened and she knew that for her own sake she had to pretend that they never had.

She had given up on her father returning that night and had already dressed for bed in a long white nightgown. She was sat brushing her hair in front of her mirror when she heard the door open.

'Alexandra.' She turned and saw her father standing in the arch way. He had changed since dinner and was now dressed in woollen breeches and a loose shirt.

'Father,' she replied, 'I wasn't expecting you so late.'

'But we have things to discuss.' He was smiling but it wasn't reaching his eyes and Alex knew from previous experiences that that look didn't bode well.

'Yes we do.' She said turning back to the mirror, watching as he walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders.

'Alex,' he said his voice and face softening so that she felt the tension in the room fall, 'what happened?'

She had practiced her story all the time she was walking back to the castle and so now barely had to think when she started to reel it off. 'I was questioning Benson when I went back to my quarters to fetch some scissors- mine are more delicate than the ones in the dungeon- and by the time I got back to the courtyard the alarm had been sounded. I rode after her but somewhere in the forest I was ambushed by the rest of them, they were all waiting. They found out I'm a woman and after that they couldn't kill me- they're weak father. They kept me blindfolded most of the time and even when I wasn't I only saw more trees. They didn't know what to do with me, so just dragged me along.' Alex never looked away from her father's eyes in the mirror as she spoke but his face gave nothing away. 'Yesterday I saw William on the road, they made me hide while he rode past, but I knew it was him and I knew that I had to get back. Seeing him gave me the strength to break free and I ran back here as fast as I could.' Even to Alex the story sounded weak but she hoped that simply having her back would be enough for her father.

His face didn't change but his hands moved from her shoulders and up into her hair. Before Alex could question why he had slammed her head down into the table. She tried to rise but he wouldn't let go of her head and she ended up bent over the table with his body pressing into her back.

Although skinny the Sheriff was strong and for all her struggling Alex couldn't stand straight. He lifted her head again only to slam it back into the table and black spots started dancing behind her eyes. He had only been this angry with her once before and that time she had been beaten bloody so Alex felt panic beginning to rise in her chest.

'You're lying to me!' he growled in her ear, breath hot on the side of her face.

'No… no I swear…father!'

He laughed then and picked up her head again but this time instead of the table he drove it into the mirror. Alex felt the glass shatter around her and a stinging pain in her forehead as it cut deep. He pressed her back into the table, her cheeks crunching against the shards as blood ran into her eye. The black spots had now become permanent features of her sight and for the first time in the struggle her arms went limp. He used her momentary daze to pull her hands behind her back and tie them with the belt he had removed from his waist. They were both panting and she could feel every rib as he leant over her again.

'You're a lying bitch! You were seen Alexandra!' he screamed in her ear, watching her flinch from the noise. She didn't understand, who had seen what. How could he know she was lying?

'Wait…stop' she gasped trying in vain to get up and blink the blood from her face.

'The drunk Alex. You fell over him remember.' Alex felt her blood run cold. 'You helped the Benson whore escape and then ran off into the forest to join her. You fucking betrayed me!' he ended in a scream. Alex was now struggling to breathe against the panic in her chest and the weight of the body on top of her. She didn't know what to do, how to tell her father she hadn't done exactly what he just said.

'You're going to tell me everything' he panted

'No…'

'Yes!' he slammed her head for the fourth time and the fight was well and truly gone from her body. She felt as if she was swimming and the words that once sounded so loud in her ear now sounded so far away.

'You're going to tell me where the camps are, how many of them there are, how many weapons.' Alex groaned in pain and despair. 'You're going to get over your sick fucking perversion.' Her eyes betrayed her confusion. 'Oh you think I didn't know about that? You think I didn't see how you looked at her?' Alex tried to shake her head but he was having none of it, a wild look in his eyes. 'You're going to learn what a woman should be, you're going to learn that a woman should obey and Alex…' he shook her slightly to make sure she was paying enough attention. 'Alex it's up to you how hard you make those lessons.'

He finally stepped away from her and walked from her quarters, locking the door behind him. She felt herself slip to the floor, her hands still tied behind her back. For a few moments she just sat there gasping for breath before the tears started to fall, mingling with the blood dripping off her cheeks. She didn't know what to do, what had just happened. She knew what her father did to those who betrayed him but surely he wouldn't do that to her. He loved her. He loved her? She let herself sink to the floor, resting her head against the wood as that question played on a loop in her mind. He loved her? He loved her?