Chapter Text
"Nelly Jackson,” Nell froze, only partially at being called Nelly, but mostly because she would recognise that voice anywhere.
She had that voice throw threats at her inside her own head from towns away, it's not something you forgot.
“Of all the little pubs in all the country,”
“Only the one your brother kidnapped my father from,” Nell shot back as she swung around to face Sofia. “Come to finish the job?”
Nell couldn't help but tilt her head curiously when she finally looked at Sofia, not dressed to the nines in her big dresses and fancy hair, but in simple tan breaches and a linen shirt,hair braided somewhat haphazardly (though not nearly as messy as Nell’s).
She carried herself differently, too, less rigid and robotic.
Less of a puppet.
Nell found herself wondering how she had fared out there on the run, no money, no guards, no luxuries.
Nell letting them go had nothing to do with Thomas, had he been standing in front of her right now and not Sofia, Nell wouldn't need Billy’s help to rip his fucking head off.
Letting them go had everything to do with Sofia, who had protected her brother, and cause Nell an immeasurable amount of problems, but to an extent Nell could sympathise and relate to Sofia, she had been second in command to a captain during the war, she knew the kind of ridicule and pressure on women who had any kind of power.
She also understood that women needed power to be something in this world, and Sofia's power came from her statue and money.
Nell jumped slightly when Billy appeared, snapping his fingers in her face, snapping her out of it in time for the tailend of Sofia's sentence.
“- re estranged.”
Nell wracked her brain to think of anything she had passively heard but came up with nothing.
“Hold on,” Nell turned to sit backwards on her chair, gangly arms hanging over it, holding a finger up to Sofia. She noted Sofia’s reaction; an amused eyebrow raise, had this been a few years prior she probably would have had her hands around Nell’s throat by now. “I know you ain't tellin' me after all the shit we went through you don't talk to him. 'Cause gonna be a real kick in the teeth.”
“You weren't listening?” There was a joviality behind the words, like Sofia was being playful with her.
“I'm not used to seein’ ya in commoner clothes.”
“That bad?” Sofia glanced down at herself.
“That ain't what I said.” Nell said, eyeing Sofia for a second, noting how she didn't seem as tense as Nell remembered, not as highly strung and angry.
They had both lost a father, Sofia in arguably worse circumstances; watching him being shot by her own brother.
“Can I get you a drink?”
Nell's eyebrows raised in surprise at the offer, her head running with what she could possibly be up to.
“What is she playing at?” Billy muttered into her ear.
“I dunno,” Nell whispered, Sofia tilting her head curiously.
“You don't know?”
“You wanna buy me a drink in my own pub?” Nell said.
“I will even tip well.”
Nell wasn't sure if it was a good or bad idea, but she was curious so she shrugged, motioning to the table she had been nursing her drink at, waiting for Roxy and George to come down stairs. “Alright then.”
Nell caught Charles’ eye at the bar and held up two fingers (he only really worked behind there when they weren't on the road, the pub was only really a home base for them to touch down at every few months), he nodded immediately and began pouring their drinks.
“Shouldn’ you be on the run or somethin’?”
“I was pardoned,”
“You were-” Nell frowned, blinked then shook her head. “How the hell did you manage that?”
“I handed him in,” Sofia stared over Nell's shoulder as she spoke, her eyes far away and guarded.
“Why?”
“I was afraid before, I thought my status and money are what made me powerful but being on the run gave me a lot of time to think, and a lot of opportunities to prove to myself how strong I am without all of that.” Sofia shrugged, giving Charles a little nod when he placed the drinks down in front of her.
“That's Sofia,” he said to Nell, like she hadn't been sitting talking to her for a few minutes.
Like Sofia could hear him.
“I'm aware, yeah.” Nell rolled her eyes.
“And your having a drink with her,” he added, Nell sighing.
“Actually, she's payin’, so add it to a tab for her.”
Charles looked between the two of them, like he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it, and, honestly, Nell wasn't sure she could either.
“Okay,” Charles nodded, turning and briskly walking away.
“I had time to think; about all of it.”
“Yeah,” Nell arched an eyebrow. “And what'd you cook up, Wilmot?”
“That I'm sorry,”
Nell was starting to feel like she had whiplash, so she closed her eyes to process that, yes, this interaction was actually happening.
“I'm sorry about your father, and that I didn't stop Thomas from terrorising the town, and that I didn't tell them right away he did it.” Sofia sighed. “That I let you go through all of the shit you did, when it was preventable.”
“What the fuck do you want?” Nell scowled at her, because there was an angle here, there was always an angle, especially with the likes of Sofia and her lot. “You want me to, what? Vouch for’im? Get your brother off, ‘cause I ain't doin’ that.”
“I don't want anything,”
“Oh, bullshit.” Nell scoffed, throwing her hand up before letting it fall heavy onto the table. “There's always something with you lot.”
“I already got what I wanted,”
“Oh, yeah?”
“For you to listen, and have a drink with me.”
“And, what? You want me to forgive ya? And him?”
“What he did was unforgivable,” Sofia said.
“You didn’ fare much better,” Nell frowned, motioning to Sofia. “You let'im do what he did, you caused just as much damage with your little magic act.”
“I know,” Sofia at least had the decency to look ashamed of herself.
She didn't even attempt to make any excuses.
“You think sayin’ all the right shit makes that better?”
“No,” Sofia shook her head. “No, it doesn't. I don't know if there's anything I can do that would make it better, but I'm going to try.”
Nell narrowed her eyes at Sofia, because she actually found herself believing her.
“I think she's telling the truth,” Billy said as he perched himself on her shoulder.
Nell hummed, because Nell did too.
Nell opened her mouth to speak, just as Roxy and George appeared at the table, both glancing between Nell and Sofia.
“Everything okay?” George, who was almost sixteen now, asked, eyeing Sofia wearily.
“Sure is, Georgie.” Nell smiled at her sisters, motioning for them to sit.
“Is she here to help?” Roxy asked.
That seemed to pique Sofia's interest.
“With what?”
“Nothin’,” Nell answered immediately, giving her sister a warning look.
“No, what?” Sofia pushed. “is it to do with Poynton?”
“No,” Nell said. “There ain't nothin’.”
“You were never a good lier, Nell Jackson.”
“James it trying to take the throne, he's using someone with magic to help him. The queen has asked us to help.” George explained, Nell's head falling into her hands as she spoke.
“You're the reader of the family, George. I know you know what secret means.”
“She could help,”
“Maybe she could teach me how to control mine.” Roxy added.
“You have magic?” The way Sofia asked set the hairs on the back of Nell’s neck on end; it was so tender, wistful almost.
“Okay, stop.” Nell cut in, shaking her head as she sat up straight, draining the rest of her drink. “This ain't happenin’, alright. I've finished the drink, leave.”
“Nell,” Roxy started, but Sofia had already started to stand.
“No, it's fine, I should go.”
“Don't forget to pay,”
Sofia nodded once, looking wounded. “Tell Rasselas I said I'm sorry, will you?”
“It's Amadin,” Nell shot back. “His real name you family stole for him.”
Sofia nodded, seemingly accepting defeat.
Nell avoided her sisters curious gazes, instead staring straight ahead, her jaw tensing and untensing; this was the last thing she needed, she had enough to worry about without added the potential looming thought of Sofia Wilmot, as well as the fact she knew her sister had some sort of magic.
“What was that about? She could help us.”
“I don't trust her,”
“Why?”
“W- you were there for the why, Rox.” Nell frowned at Roxy, and then at George. “Do you trust her?”
“She said she changed, and she apologised.” George shrugged. “What more can she do, really.”
Nell shook her head, scratching the side of her nose as she sniffed. “Nah, I'm not takin’ any risks.”
–
Nell really, really, wished she'd listened to her sisters.
The first fight with James and his handful of men was brutal, she managed to fend them off best she could, forcing them into a tactical retreat.
Billy stayed with her the whole way back to the pub, and at first she hadn't been sure why, but then, just as she crosses the threshold of the dimly lit pub, he left her.
Nell was hit immediately with the white hot, blinding pain down her side and shoulder, the dizziness causing her to stumbled.
She reached out for anything to keep her standing, but instead she was held firm by a set of hands on her shoulders.
“I'm fine, Rox.” Nell muttered with her eyes still screwed shut.
“You don't look fine,” over the thumping pain in her head Nell could barely register the fact that that wasn't Roxy.
She didn't have the energy for this right now.
“Sofia, I need you to leave.” Nell murmured, no bite in her tone as she stumbled away from Sofia, groaning when she bumped into the doorjamb.
Sofia didn't speak, simply grabbing Nell by the shoulders and moving her to sit down on one of the nearby chairs, while Roxy and George ushered the handful to patrons out of the pub.
Nell didn't have it in her to fight it, letting out a long, pained sigh when she was seated.
“Holy shit, that hurts.”
“I heard it didn't go so well,” Sofia said, before turning to Roxy and listing off a few things she needed to patch up Nell.
Nell peeked through one eyes, waiting for Roxy to disappear, and making sure George, Amadin and Charles were elsewhere before speaking, somewhat bluntly and vulnerable, considering who she was speaking to.
“I don't think I can win this one,”
“We can talk about that later,” Sofia reached across the bar in an elegant way that Nell would never be capable of, grabbing the bottle of the strongest rum. “Drink as much of this as you can before we get started.”
Nell did just that, and allowed Sofia to work on bandaging up Nell’s wounds, and it wasn't until she got to dealing with her arms that Sofia noticed how bloodsoaked linen shirt.
“Oi,” Nell argued weakly when Sofia pulled her shirt up, there was zero fight in Nell at all, she could feel herself starting to become a little lightheaded.
“Gosh,” Sofia muttered, and had Nell had any energy she would have ribbed Sofia a little. “If you have any clean linen and vinegar bring that too.”
“What the fuck would you need vinegar for?”
Sofia pressed her shirt into her side, causing Nell to cry out in pain.
“Fuck you,”
A little smile pulled on her lips at the growl from Nell, her eyes lifting to look at her, and Nell could only scowl back, sweat beading on her face mixing with the crusted blood and dirt there, her lips pulled back in a sneer.
“I didn't do this to you, I'm just trying to help.”
If Nell was mad before, once Sofia drenched the linen in vinegar and wrapped the gaping wound down Nell’s side, Nell was seething.
Sofia managed to get her upstairs with a little help from Charles, settling down on the mattress with a pained groan, and by the time she got comfortable the anger had faded, replaced by a numb throbbing over there entire body that had Nell forgetting Sofia was even there.
She was in and out of consciousness for most of the day and onto the night, taking swigs of rum every time she was conscious, though she wasn't coherent enough to piece together that Sofia had been there most of the time.
“Fuck me,” she groaned into what she thought was an empty room.
“Have more of this,” a bottle of rum appeared in front of her, and Nell took it, taking a few large gulps.
“Why are you still here?”
“The rest of them were exhausted, and someone had to make sure you didn't die.”
Nell snorted, “You think some guy with sparkly hands can kill me.”
“Judging by the state you're in right now, I'd say yes.”
“I'm not going to die, you can leave.”
“Are you going to make me, Nelly Jackson?”
Nell could do nothing but glare at the smug look on Sofia's face. “What is your issue with me, Wilmot?”
“Issue?”
“Yeah,” Nell waved her hand weakly. “You were gunnin’ to see me dead, now you won't leave me be.”
“I was having a drink when you came in half dead,” Sofia shot back.
“In my pub, after hearing how awful the fight went.”
“They retreated,” Sofia said. “That's not a defeat.”
“It's not a win, either.”
“Next time will be,”
Nell looked away then, out the window into the darkness, the stars barely visible due to the dimmed lamp in the corner of the room. “Didn' you hear me downstairs.”
“I heard it, I just don't believe it.”
“You weren't there, you didn't see how strong he was.”
“I will be in next time,”
Nell believed her.
Nell had believed almost everything Sofia had told me since she strolled back into her life.
“Be honest with me,”
Sofia nodded. “I will.”
“Why?” Nell winced when she pushed herself up to sit, Sofia's head tilting questioningly. “Why'd you really defend him?”
“Like I said, I thought status and money was everything. But being out there, fighting to survive.” Sofia sighed, then shrugged. “I can see why no one likes those with money. I realised how exhausting, how restricting that kind of environment is, especially for a woman.”
Nell won't lie, if this was an act, Sofia had her entirely fooled.
“I watched him after he did it, and he smiled. You looked more devastated that my father was dead than my brother did. He didn't learn his lesson, he would have done it again.” Sofia explained. “I couldn't let him do it again, he devastated so many lives, made three children orphans. A lot of life altering things that those people didn't deserve.”
“No, they didn't.”
“And you,” Sofia looked at her. “You're good, and you didn't deserve any of what was happening to you.”
Nell regarded her for a little bit, Sofia tilting her chin nervously.
“So I took him to the local magistrate, and left.”
“I believe ya,” Nell said with a little nod. “It real pisses me off but I believe ya.”
“I don't want you dead anymore, Nell. So let me help.”
“Just you and me, alright?” Nell bartered. “I can't risk any of them. And my sister's magic is out of the question.”
“Of course,”
“Not right now, though.” Nell grinned weakly at her. “I'm kinda fucked.”
“Kinda fucked is an understatement,” Sofia laughed softly.
Nell let out a little laugh. “Bad words just don't sound as punchy in that accent.”
“Alright,” Sofia laughed at the gently teasing, getting up from the chair. “I'm going to go get you food, I feel like I should tell you to behave.”
“I'm always well behaved, ms Sofia.”
“Trouble just finds you, I'm sure.”
“That's exactly it, yeah.”
Sofia laughed, rolling her eyes as she turned, and Nell couldn't help by notice the fondness in the gesture.
“Thanks,” Nell said just as Sofia had wrapped a hand aro
und the door handle. “For lookin’ after me, cheers.”
“You won't be thanking me when I need to change that dressing.” she said before dipping out of the room.
Nell knew in her gut that this was only going to cause problems, allowing Sofia into her inner circle, but she didn't anticipate what kind of trouble it would be.