[Isolde]
I sat stiffly in the back seat, both hands resting on my lap, fingers clenched so tightly my knuckles had gone white. The awkwardness of it made my shoulders ache, but I couldn't seem to relax them.
The driver had already navigated us down from the mountains surrounding the estate. Both younger women had been absorbed in their phones the entire time, thumbs scrolling nonstop as their screens glowed in the dim interior of the car.
I'd kept my focus on the window, watching the landscape blur past and the trees giving way to smaller roads—anything to distract myself from Camilla's presence in the front seat.
Until she decided to speak.
"You should enjoy this, Isolde," she said without looking back at me, her tone conversational. Pleasant, even. "The experience of riding in a Ben
