Page 16 of Broken Princess

“Why would we do that?”

“I don’t know. To mock me. Or as a joke, maybe?”

“Why would we want to mock you?” she asked.

“I really don’t know.”

“I… I don’t understand,” she said, slowly shaking her head. “Have we said or done something wrong?”

The others looked just as alarmed as Eva as they turned their gazes to me, awaiting my response.

“I’m sorry, I just….” I stopped short and took a deep breath before speaking up again. “Are you actually being serious? None of you have ever heard of Washington?”

“No,” they all said in unison.

“And you don’t know what I mean when I say country? Or government?”

“No.”

I lowered my voice. “Where do you think we are right now?”

“We’re home,” Eva said, lips turning up in a faint smile.

“Yes, but where is home?” I asked, sweeping a hand around the room. “Where exactly is this house located?”

Her face went blank again. “It’s just… here.”

I sighed with exasperation. This was like extracting teeth.

Another girl tentatively patted my hand. “I’m so sorry if we’ve offended you, Willow. We’re very happy to see a new face, and we wouldn’t dream of upsetting you on purpose.”

I gave her a tight smile. “Thank you,” I said. “I’m not trying to upset you either. I’m just trying to understand what’s happening here. Where did you all come from?”

“Right here. This is our home.”

“I mean before you were brought to the mansion. Where was your home before that?”

“Nowhere. We’ve all been here since we were babies,” Eva said, brows knitting.

A sudden coldness hit at my core. This place was starting to make a sick, twisted kind of sense to me now.

“So you were raised here?” I asked, narrowing my eyes. “Every single one of you?”

“That’s right.”

“Who raised you?”

“The masters and mistresses who come here. They help us and teach us everything we need to know, and when they aren’t here, the guards take care of us. Aren’t we lucky?”

The others nodded fervently as she spoke, and I swallowed hard. Holy shit. They all genuinely believed they were lucky to be here.

I leaned forward. “If you’ve lived here for so long, you must know your way around pretty well, right?” I said slowly.

Everyone nodded.

“Would any of you be able to tell me how to get out of here?” I asked.

Eva frowned. “Why would you want to do that?”