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Hero&039;s left eye was too swollen to open, and her broas crusted with her own blood, but she struggled to s in the hope that she would be able to report them to the authorities: it allowed her to believe she would not die here She was tied to an old wooden fraears froainst the wall so that she was ht than supine, but she could not stand, so the bonds forced all of her weight onto her wrists and ankles The knots were tight enough to hold her firht that after an hour, sensation was deadened in her hands and feet The area where she was confined was sles to the floor;on theh up the wall provided any hint of the day outside, and it was fading as the steep little valley fell into afternoon shadow The shtly le of water provided the kind of sound the ocean could-steady, loud enough to intrude, but not so loud as to overcolass-chimneyed candles sat on the upended barrel near the door, their length half-gone, their glass chimneys already faintly clouded with soot: Hero reckoned she had been dazed for the better part of an hour, and that, in turn, worried her

Light, rapid steps traipsed up the steep, rickety stairs from the floor below, and ashoes mired, her hair disheveled, all but bounced into Hero&039;s improvised cell "Awake at last," she enthused "Well, Madame, and how did you enjoy your nap? You were unconscious for lass and her voice was almost a shriek

"mnot &039;njoy" She was appalled at how stiff her lips were, and how much it hurt to try to ot here, and had a di her along a maze of woodland lanes, and then

"I&039;m sorry to hear that, as I&039;-staff, but there was no other way," said Hyacinthie in a singsong parody of goodit tookyou up here, since you were unconscious It took quite a while to tie you up, too I ought to leave you alone to rest, but I couldn&039;t, not before I reassured myself that you were con that her bonds were untied "Still caught fast But the spider was a woman, Arachne, wasn&039;t she? in the Greek s to re, thin knife from where she had left it "Let me see Veins near the skin are blue My uncle says the blood bears all our secrets, and I still don&039;t know yours I should have more blood to study, as he does" She came to Hero&039;s side and with a playful flick of her wrist, cut off Hero&039;s left ear-lobe, dis Hero&039;s shocked cry with a furious titter "You cannot say you&039;ll miss it, Madame And there is blood now My uncle does not study female blood, but I think it means as much as males&039;, don&039;t you?"

Hero wanted to shout at her, to dee was a er filled her eyes, ainst the swollen tissues She felt the blood run down her neck, the only thing ware, so e can be determined He intends to show that every race, every nation, has its own blood, and that identifies those who share blood" She whisked the knife along Hero&039;s cheek "How bright it is, like a fire in winter"

All Hero could e

"You are so helpless," said Hyacinthie

"Sto&039;!" Hero wralled

"What a foolish woman you are, Mada theto the Comte because no one else will have you, and you cannot see that it is pity, not affection, that keeps hio so he can have someone ill adore him and serve hier Your death will show your devotion to him better than your life"

"don&039;know," Hero hter "The Corown man, who knows the world and will take hty house with no one for company, no friends but his to call upon us, never take s," Hyacinthie said as if daring Hero to contradict her "If Herr Medoc is acceptable to Uncle Wallache, the Comte must be much more so"

"He&039;sold," Hero repeated

This time Hyacinthie did not respond to the jibe "I knoant one from his life" She wiped the knife on her ruined skirt "I wonder how long it will take hiet you?"

"Never," Hero forced herself to say, doing everything she could to enunciate in spite of her split lips and loose teeth

"At least his memories will not require hi He would be revolted, disgusted If you had the misfortune to survive, you would be hideous to look upon, all scared and battered" Hyacinthie giggled "What a tragedy that would be"

Hero felt tears again, and the saoczy&039;s scars; she was asha she wanted to do was reveal any sign of dis woht She did her utmost to speak clearly "What now?" The effort the question de depleted She tried to ather your blood I have a glass jar for it I need to study it, don&039;t you see?" Her laughter was short and terrible "Then you will vanish-just vanish"

"Why"Originally I planned to burn this place down, but I realized it would attract attention, and you ht be rescued before you died, so I reconsidered A fire was too obvious Vanishing has advantages Perhaps your body ash up down-strea-jamb a little way down-stream, it may be a while before you&039;re found, and by then you&039;ll be nothing but bones No one will know they&039;re yours You will be only aa stranger in the area" She scampered over to the"I won&039;t ives you another three hours Don&039;t worry," she said glancing flirtatiously over her shoulder "I&039;ve thought it all through They won&039;t find you here"

"&039;s thiswhatyou didt&039; the-" Hero struggled to speak; she hoped to keep Hyacinthie talking while she tried to think of a way to escape Her father had taught her, on their travels, always to think, never to panic: now his lessons would pay off

"Rosalie, you mean?" She came back to Hero&039;s side "Rosalie vanished, too Uncle Wallache thinks it was Gypsies who took her"

"Youdon&039;?" Hero was feeling quite sick; she tasted bile at the back of her tongue

"No I knohat happened" Hyacinthie did a quick, dancelike turn "She fell down an old well"

Any hope that Hero had that she ht be able to appeal to Hyacinthie&039;s co "When?"

"At the end of sued "I don&039;t think she&039;s still alive, if you&039;re wondering about it" She ca Hero&039;s jaw, leaving a bloody path behind "I haven&039;t broken your nose yet-that&039;s for later My uncle Wallache told " She went back to the"And it&039;s worse than being poked by his thing in all the places he-He used to say he&039;d break mine-my nose-if I didn&039;t let him do-" She stopped abruptly "I was a child then I needed to be taught I needed to show ht eye, trying to decide what Hyacinthiewo, but her behavior was so peculiar, she ain

"I was er then, and there was only me to cater to his needs He told me I was the center of his home" She smirked, but the san He said it would be dangerous to continue and so I did not receive hinored me!" She slashed at Hero&039;s arm and paid no attention to her screams "Once he had Rosalie and Hedda, he couldn&039;t wait to be rid of me Of me! What could I do?" Her knife sliced at Hero&039;s skirt, nicking her shin "He gave me to that old man! ME!"

Hero flinched and claive Hyacinthie the pleasure of hearing her shriek Much ain A dizziness was for at the back of her skull so that every htened, but in a distant sense, as if she atching herself rather than having the experience This could not last, and she knew it, but she deter as it continued

Hyacinthie lit another candle and placed it near Hero "So I can see you better You&039;ve only got the one eye open" She stared toward the , her face dreamy "They say bears used to come here, that they tore down the door Bears or not, the door is gone I et people to believe that bears ate you"

This boded ill for Hero; she looked toward the , blinking to clear the scum of tears and the last bit of blood froled to ask

She put the jar on the floor under Hero "I need some more of your blood, so I will take it, to see how es while you lie here" Hyacinthie wiped the knife again, her eyes glittering as she contein? Not the throat: the throat&039;s too fast The leg roin Uncle Wallache says there are"I don&039;t kno quickly I want you to die I&039;d better decide that first, don&039;t you think?"

"Tha&039; wou&039;be wise," said Hero, knowing Hyacinthie was completely unaware of her sarcas you?" Hyacinthie all but sprung onto her toes "But it is It is very wise You cannot be allowed to have hier I need him, and I canHero&039;s left sleeve, all the way fro the length of her arh I will have hiht shift a little, and realized that Hyacinthie had cut one of the ropes holding her to the gear-housing She tried to pull on the rope, but the long cut was bleeding and it hurt to ain

"Soon the deer will come down to the strea in their flocks, and the coill go holare at Hero "So youto be rescued if you hear steps along the path No one knohere we are No one cares"

"Howcan yoube " Hero asked; what little vision she had was starting to blur, from tears or loss of blood she could not tell

"I know because I planned it to be this way I have left nothing to chance," Hyacinthie declared "I worked it all out I&039;m much cleverer than Uncle Wallache thinks I am I am not a stupid woman, no matter what he believes He should have kept me with hi herself, Hero dragged on the cut rope, and this tiive way, and pain shot into her hand

"I kno to study I kno to do the observations my uncle does I have kept journals of my own, private ones I have recorded all that has transpired at Ravensberg since I came This will sho useful I am, to Uncle Wallache and the Count I know the Co house produced Uncle Wallache&039;s book Uncle Wallache says-" She saw that Hero had freed her hand, and that it was now dangling at her side, bleeding steadily "You want to hurry death along, is that it?"

"No Iwan&039;ou&039;," Hero said, trying to get her arm to work She could feel only weakness and pain in her loose hand, and that frightened her more than Hyacinthie&039;s knife

"In a while," said Hyacinthie at her"You needn&039;t rush We still have plenty of tith she could and jerked against her re jolted against the wall and a board fro that was loud as a thunder-clap in the enclosed space

"Enough of that!" Hyacinthie screeched, and threw herself atop Hero, her knife raised and ready Sheed

Another board fell, and then ca from so off Hero and rushed to the top of the precarious stairs, her face set in a ferocious smile; Hero forced herself to listen intently, to remain as still as she could, until she kneho had coo away"

"Fraulein Hyacinthie! Madame von Scharffensee! Are you here?" The voice was Herr Medoc&039;s "Call out if you can hear us"

Hero heard this and wanted to shout aloud, but she could only make a muffled cry, and wondered if she could be heard at all

"There are stairs Be careful going up thenize "Some of the treads are loose, or rotten"

"Thanks," said Medoc, ascending

Hyacinthie took a position where Medoc would not see her at first; she crouched low, and as his head appeared in the stairwell opening, she launched herself at hi as she raised her arh his shoulder deep into his chest, leaning down hard to drive the point as far into his lung as possible Blood spread down his jacket and he coughed wetly Hyacinthie withdrew the knife and was rewarded with a spurting fountain that struck her face and upper body; she plunged the knife in again, this time into the base of his neck He jerked, blood sprayed froe her fro and sending hi and spas as life left him, and Hyacinthie rose, knife still in hand, face and shoulders encarae plank to serve as a shield against her Thewith the stink of relaxed bowels

"Hyacinthie!" Otto Gutesohnes shouted from the open doorway below "Hyacinthie! Don&039;t!"

"I&039;ll kill you!" she shouted at theinto the mill She struck out with her foot, hit the plank, and sent Wegbruden back down the stairs, not quite falling, but stuh to impact the pillar at the foot of the stairs

"Stay where you are!" Gutesohnes told her "I&039;ll coet you"

"No!" She looked around wildly "Go away! All of you!"

Gutesohnes spoke for all of them "I can&039;t do that, Hyacinthie I have to carry Herr Medoc back to the Schloss"

She screamed and kicked at Medoc&039;s corpse, then oczy, his clothesHero fro "You!" She hesitated, baffled by his presence: none of this hat she had planned "How did you get here?"

"I climbed the outside of the mill," he said calmly as he continued to work on Hero&039;s bonds It had been a hard climb and his shoulder was sore from the effort