SLAP!
The sound came before the pain, and the sharp crack deafened her in whatever space they were standing in. Cecilia's head snapped to the side, her cheek blooming with heat and her vision swimming for just a fraction of a second before her senses realigned themselves with sheer will.
She wobbled. Her feet, which had been planted somewhere, on what surface, in what room, she still had not had time to catalogue, skidded against the floor. She almost lost her balance entirely, going down in a heap of confusion and disorientation after being yanked into a new scenario.
But she held herself upright.
The copper taste flooded her mouth. Without a doubt, something inside her cheek had torn.
"Whose child is it?"
Cecilia turned her head slowly.
The woman who had struck her stood close, well within the radius of another blow if she decided to throw one.
