Maya's POV
Everything I never was and never could have been. The words hurt, but they were probably true. I turned away and went back to washing dishes, trying to focus on the mechanical task instead of the conversation in the dining room.
The dinner lasted until nearly midnight. By the time I finished cleaning the kitchen and washing the last plate, I was exhausted and my hands were raw from the harsh soap. All I wanted was to collapse on my thin mattress and sleep until Mrs. Harrow woke us for another day of invisible servitude.
But as I made my way through the castle's corridors, I realized I'd left my cleaning supplies in the main hall. If Mrs. Harrow found them there in the morning, she'd make my life even more miserable than it already was.
I trudged back through the darkened ha
