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I stared at Cedric, then looked back at her. “No.”

“All right.” She settled back in her chair. “How about the woman who was here earlier? Do you know who she is?”

“She looks like my mum.”

“Looks like her,” Mireya repeated. “As opposed to… what?”

I shrugged.

“Can you tell me where you were born?”

“Steventon, Hampshire.”

“Where is that exactly? What nation?”

“England. The United Kingdom. In Europe.”

She stayed quiet after that, so I took the chance to ask my own questions.

“Where are we? Where is this house?” I gestured around the room. “What country is this?”

“You are in Kharith, Elowen,” Cedric said.

Kharith? God, why couldn’t I have been better at geography?

“What country—” I stopped, remembering how Mireya put it. “What nation is it in?”

“Kharith is the capital of Azhara,” Cedric said.

“Azhara,” I whispered, searching my memory for anything even remotely familiar. “Never heard of it.”

“I’ve never heard of England, the United Kingdom or Europe,” he said.

I stared at him. “Have you heard of Shakespeare? Or Harry Potter?”

The men looked at one another before Cedric answered. “No, we have not.”

“What about football? You know… soccer?”

He shook his head, and I frowned. I was running out of sensible explanations.

“Elowen,” Mireya said, bringing my attention back to her. “Do you remember anything about this household? Anything at all?”

I started to answer, but she raised a hand.

“Apart from waking here today.”

“I’ve never seen this place in my life.”

The doors opened before she could ask another question, and Eleanor walked in with Ivy and Nora behind her. Relief hit me so hard my chest hurt. My sisters were here, and they seemed okay, and nothing else mattered.

But then they came closer, and I saw them properly. Tears gathered in my eyes, and a deep sob tore through me.

“Oh, Elowen. Mother told us you’re not well,” Ivy said. “What is it? Do you have a fever?”

Nora lowered herself to her knees beside me, and another sob escaped me. I lowered my face to my knees and held my legs tighter. I didn’t need to look at them again to know.

These girls were definitely not my sisters.