"What the bloody hell have you done!" Ralph demanded, hissing at Nicholas.

Be brushed his brother aside and went straight to the bed where he deposited Sophia's limp form. She did not even stir.

"Nick, have you gone insane!" Ralph frantically asked, following him to the bed. He was half-dressed, his torso bare, ready to go to bed.

Nicholas threw his brother a wayward glance. "The dog found me," he uttered.

"What?"

"The dog, Aabha," he said, motioning his head to the door. "The one waiting outside the door. Go and fetch her."

"What?"

Nicholas rolled his head with annoyance. "Fetch the bloody dog outside and let her in. Make haste before anyone sees you."

Ralph rushed to the door while Nicholas bent down to shake Sophia awake. "Wake up," he muttered, frowning at her pale face.

"What is going on, Nick?" Ralph asked as he shut the door close, Aabha bounding on the bed where she started to lick on Sophia's face.

"She is waking up," he said, noting Sophia's movement.

His brother grabbed his arm and whirled him to face him. "What the bloody hell is happening!"

Nicholas sighed. "As I have said, brother, I found her after the dog rushed to find me."

"Found her where?"

"In the corridor, being attacked by a man."

Ralph's face contorted in disbelief. "Attacked?"

Sophia moaned from the bed. Aabha whimpered beside her, resting its head on Sophia's chest. Nicholas bent down to shake her to full consciousness and when her eyes fluttered, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But it was merely until her eyes fluttered open and she gasped in terror.

"You're safe," Nicholas could not help but say, bending down to whisper above her.

"Nich—Lord Whiston," she rasped, correcting herself. She looked about the room blindly. "Where am I? How did I—"

"You were attacked in the corridor," Nicholas supplied, straightening to full height.

Having been reminded by her attack earlier, her eyes widened and she attempted to jump out of bed. "Marcus! I have to find Marcus!" she cried out.

"Perhaps you ought to calm down first, Miss Sophia," Ralph said gently beside Nicholas.

Sophia froze when she realized there was another person in the room with them. Her turned ashen at the mention of Ralph's name.

"Very pleased to meet you after more than a year of your attempt to have me killed," Ralph added with derision which Nicholas allowed. He did not take his eyes off her as his brother spoke, reading the invisible signs she was not showing.

He could not bloody hell find anything useful other than her obvious dread and panic over her lover.

Nicholas did his best to remain impassive, yet the look on Sophia's face made his resolve waver slightly. She looked utterly distraught and lost.

Was she acting? Was she not?

"Who was the man who attacked you?" he asked, stopping her when she attempted to step away from the bed.

She shook her head. "I do not know. I do not know. Oh God, we have to find Marcus!" She tried to pull away from his grasp but Nicholas could not let her go. Not when she just regained her consciousness and most definitely while there was something going on that involved Durley.

"Where is the man?" Ralph asked.

"Escaped," Nicholas replied. "I tried to stop him but he seems to know where to escape and I lost him."

"Will you be able to identify him should you see him again?"

He nodded. "Ralph, perhaps you will go and find Durley?"

Sophia swallowed hard as a tear rolled down her cheek. "Please. Please find him."

Ralph and Nicholas shared a look.

Ralph nodded and disappeared from the room to find Durley.

"I wish to—"

"No," Nicholas interjected before she could even finish. "You sit and you answer my questions, Sophia, or I swear to God that you and Durley will have to face the entire League of Founders."

Sophia stiffened before she stiffly nodded and dropped back on the bed.

She appeared to be struggling to keep herself from crying, yet Nicholas could not entirely believe she was not acting.

There was no telling which was true with this woman but he shall try to extract the most he could tonight.

*****

"What is your purpose for coming here?" Nicholas' voice vibrated around the dark room. "What is Osegod and Durley planning?"

Sophia shook her head. "I do not know."

"Do not lie to me, Sophia. Are you telling me that—"

"I do not know! I swear I do not know!"

Silence engulfed the room, the only sound was Aabha's soft growl.

"Do you truly believe I am so naïve as to believe every word you say after what you have done?"

Sophia did not respond. She had no desire to.

It would be pointless to force the truth on someone who had already decided to never believe you.

She needed to find Marcus. She had to be assured that he was safe. Whoever attacked her had escaped as Nicholas claimed and he could very well be still roaming the manor.

She ought to warn Marcus now.

"Would you like to wait for your master then?" Nicholas asked in a voice Sophia could not associate to the lover she loved. The hate he felt toward her reverberated with each word he spoke and it stung more than any of the beatings or molestations she suffered in the past. "Perhaps the two of you can spruce your lies together."

Sophia closed her eyes and prayed that Ralph would return with Marcus. She cared not if her brother would have to face Nicholas. She cared not for anything at the moment but Marcus' safety.

He rushed to talk with Osegod and moments later she was attacked. That could not very well be an unfortunate coincidence.

It was a deliberate attack, one that was meant to thwart Marcus. Osegod was starting to fear for something unknown. Like the good businessman and politician that he was, he wanted reassurance in their case, Sophia was the perfect one.

Should her reputation be revealed to the ton, Marcus' celebrated status would be short-lived and everything he planned beyond Osegod would be fruitless. Osegod was merely the first step to Marcus' plan. They could not fail now.

But it was hard not to find enough resolve when Marcus was nowhere near to reassure here and with Nicholas causing her emotions to run in havoc.

The fact that he was not moving or making noise was not helping either. Sophia tried to focus on her breathing, blocking out Nicholas' strong presence as she prayed for Marcus to come and rescue her from this chamber.

"Fret not, Sophia, I am not touching you if that is what you are afraid of," Nicholas snapped when she flinched at the feel of his hand on her arm. He gently moved it to the side, let it go and did the same thing with the other before he took her chin with two fingers to turn her head from side to side.

Sophia belatedly realized that he was checking her for injuries and her tears flowed before she could stop them.

"Stop crying," he said, lifting his touch away. "I might start to take pity."

Where had she gone wrong? Of course, she could dig countless of answers, but as she thought of her time with Nicholas, of the many nights she spent in his arms, of his stories and jests, of how he showed and taught her things, Sophia could not help but question why this had to happen to her.

Did it have to be so difficult? If she were white, if she was one of the other women in Rock'oles, would she have turned her back on her brother to accept Nicholas when he promised to take her for his wife? Would she have believed him in full if she was not colored and he could dress her in pretty gowns and flaunt her in front of everyone? If so, would she be judged less for being a woman of Rock'oles?

Her thoughts were erupted by Ralph's sudden entrance.

"I cannot find him," Ralph uttered.

Sophia's heart froze in her chest. "No, he must be elsewhere. He came out to find Lord Ransford—"

"His chamber is empty. There are a few articles of clothing, but his bags are gone. It seems he left Theobald in haste."

Her blood drained from her face and the ringing in her ears started. "No! Please! He did plan to leave, but he promised to come back for me. Something must have gone wrong. We must find him—"

"Why was he meeting with Ransford?" Nicholas asked, his voice etched with annoyance.

"I do not know. He does not tell me anything," she said in a half-lie.

"He has left Theobald, Miss Sophia," Ralph added.

Sophia shook her head.

"He left," said Ralph.

"He left you," Nicholas added. Sophia saw Ralph's silhouette form punch Nicholas' arm but she hardly recognized the meaning of the gesture.

"He will come for me. He promised to go back and—"

"He left, Sophia. His things are not in his chamber."

"So is his carriage," Ralph added.

Sophia's breathing became heavier. Something happened to Marcus. "No, that cannot be. Something happened to him!"

"He abandoned you for the wolves to prey on and saved himself, Sophia," Nicholas snapped and it was the first time Sophia wanted to punch him in the face. It was the first she felt she wanted to hurt him as much as she was hurting that very moment.

She wiped her tears and stuck up her chin in the air. "I want to go back to Rock'oles at this very moment," she said, her voice shaking. She had no one else to go to but Mr. Mast. The man was the closest man Marcus trusted. He would know what to do.

Aabha jumped beside her at the mention of Rock'oles.

A long silence followed.

It was Ralph who spoke, "I believe that is the best course of action to take at the moment. I will alert the Guards of this incident for whether or not it is true that Durley left on his own volition, we still cannot discount Miss Sophia's claims."

Sophia's eyes stung with tears as she croaked, "Thank you."

"That is how I repay the kindness you and your master bestowed upon me and my fellow guards, Miss Sophia," was the man's cold reply before he turned. "I will have one of my fellow Guards take you back to Rock'oles immediately."

"I will take her home," said Nicholas. To answer the obvious unspoken question from both his brother and Sophia, he added, "You may not take it upon yourself to avenge what happened to your fellow Guards, Ralph, but we cannot say the same for the others."

Sophia was already shaking her head. No, she could not spend more time with Nicholas when she had so much to think about.

"Very well, I will inform Mother that you have been called to Whiston for an urgent matter."

"Irrigation," said Nicholas.

"What?"

"Tell her I am having irrigation problems. You know mother will inquire details." Nicholas' shadowed form turned to her and he added, "Dare not say no, Sophia, for I shall suffer the ride back to Rock'oles as well."

*****

"What are you planning, Nick?" Ralph hissed as they waited for Sophia to emerge from her chamber. "Take her to Rock'oles yourself? Are you bloody insane? You and I both know you have another motive. What are you planning?"

Nicholas allowed a small smile on his lips. "Something very legal for a man like me, but quite criminal for a Guard to do."

"What in bloody tarnation, Nick—"

Nicholas gave his brother a heavy pat on the back. "Do not question an older brother, Ralph. Family rule."

"Since bloody when?"

"Since I was born and learned more about life in the course of four years before you came to this world."

Ralph gaped at him in disbelief.

"All you have to do is fulfill your Guardly duties, brother. Do not bother with what I do to a potential asset."

"You cannot seriously be thinking—"

Nicholas slapped his shoulder and went to enter Sophia's bedchamber.

They ought to rush before she changed her mind and decided to find a different mode of transport.

*****

Sophia was perfect still inside the carriage, her mind racing to many thoughts. Where was Marcus? Did he truly leave? Or did something worse happen?

She could take the former. She could trust that he would go back to her and explain his disappearance. What was making her panic was the latter.

Oh God, what if something happened?

Nicholas settled inside the carriage without a word and knocked on the roof. The carriage started to move and roll away from Theobald.

Sophia had the sudden urge to yell for the carriage to stop. What if Marcus was still there? What if he was dying somewhere in the manor?

"Fret not, the Theobald is being thoroughly searched for any sign of your lover," Nicholas said when Sophia started to restlessly caress Aabha who was sitting on the floor of the carriage.

"And as to your dog, you will have to be apart from her for a while."

"Aabha has always been with me. She is coming home with me."

"Ah, but she will have a very specific room for herself at home."

Sophia began to frown. "Whatever do you mean, my lord?"

She could picture his sneer as he said, "Have I ever said I am taking you home to Rock'oles? I meant Whiston, Sophia."