Sorry for such a late update! To make up for it, this chapter is slightly longer than usual.

Love to all my beautiful readers and keep being amazing!

Ana xxx

*****

The first thing that hits me is the smell of herbs and spices arousing from the room. The second thing that hits me is how dark the room is. The third thing that hits me is the slam of the door as Faith pulls it to a close.

"There," she says, as though satisfied.

Without giving her any warning, I try and bolt for the door but she darts in front of me, blocking my exit. The blood and adrenaline is rushing through me like another pulse.

"Move," I say, close to tears. I wish I could sound more confident than I feel. "Please. Just move."

"Ru," she says and I notice her voice is gentler. It wants to soothe but it's not working. "Ru. You don't know how dangerous it is out there—"

"Just let me out! Please!"

"Where will you go?" her voice is now more stern than it was before. Her face tightens and she looks haughty. "You escaped from the tower and now you have nowhere else to go!"

And that's when the fourth thing hits me. This Faith knows too much. She knows more about me than I know about myself. If I leg it now, she'll be on my trail in no time.

She continues at my silence. "What happened to your Mother, Ru? She's stopped coming to see me."

I pounce on her second sentence to avoid the first one. "She came to see you?"

Faith nods a tight, curt nod. "Is she OK? Did something happen to her?"

I won't let my memory drift back to the horrible scenes and the horrible feelings because it's all too much. It's better to keep them locked away like how she locked me away. It's better to hide them than to show them to the light.

"Ru." She takes a step towards me but I advance back, hitting the edge of something. My hands grip around it and it feels like a wooden table.

"I don't want to talk about it," I murmur.

She clicks her tongue between her teeth like a horse. "OK. I get it. You don't want to talk about it."

Now she looks around the room, spots an empty lamp on the shelf to the side and strolls over to it. I watch the entire time as she lights a candle, causing a speck of light to gleam in the darkness.

"Ru, get me the other lamp over there."

It's my first instinct to reach over for the lamp because all these years I've been an innocent little good girl who always listens and always does what she's asked. My hand grips round the handle tightly as I pass it over to her.

She lights a few more lamps, after requesting me to trot around the room and find them for her, directed by her steps. I guess that's a way for adding a goof strike for both of us because she's getting lamps, I'm finding my way round the place and we're both gaining a little trust.

Once the room has lamps glowing from all corners and crooks and crannies, I finally get a sense of what it actually looks like.

In the centre there's a big wooden table and strewed across that are small green leaves and stalks and powder carefully tucked into plastic pouches.

"Herbs," Faith says, following my eyes. "Every kind."

I continue looking round and then discover two doorways leading off to separate rooms. One for Faith and one for guests. I wonder if I'll ever end up sleeping in that guest bed.

There are shelves as tall as the ceiling crammed with books about herbs and healing and potions and poultices. My hand skims the spines in awe as I peer at the titles.

When I turn back round, Faith seems busy sorting the different bags into different piles.

"Ru," she murmurs, obviously concentrating. "Can you help me?"

I move forward and she explains I have to sort every bag into leaves, stalks or powder. I spend the next few minutes checking the contents of each bag and then carefully laying them out on different spaces on the table. Soon those minutes stretch into hours and then Faith eventually tells me to stop. My brain feels tired from all the work.

"Sleep," she says, placing a hand on the bag to stop me from moving it to the correct pile. "I'll finish that off later. C'mon. Off to bed."

I obediently follow her into the guest room, which is just an ordinary room—nothing special. It's warm though and that's due to the small fireplace with crackling flames. The smell of burning wood makes me even sleepier.

"Goodnight," Faith has definitely noticed my tiredness. "I'll see you in the morning."

I murmur goodnight back and listen as she gently shuts the door, leaving a lamp on the side of my bed. I can hear the scrape of the stool as she goes back to finishing the job I started. The rustle of bags is quiet but still audible.

I pick up my sheets and lay them down near the fire so they can warm up while I get ready. Then strip down and rake my fingers through my hair. Mother told me to brush my hair one hundred times every night otherwise it 'wouldn't do its magic'. I'm not sure if that's still applicable now it's lost its usual shine and hangs like dead arms around my shoulders.

When the sheets are ready, I pick them back up, slide the cover over the fire and then blow the lantern out. The room is engulfed into pure darkness.

I can hear Faith's words again. Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning. They seem to comfort me.