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"I was attacked by a beast," herand raspy and desperate; sweat glistened on her face like hot wax "You must kill me, my dear child! You er
"Sissa," Filipa says in hervoice "Please…"
"I believe Mother was killed by one of theht that the fever was only poisoning her s" She turns around "But I believe inthe truth"
Filipa stands there, stunned by Ara , but Aramei soon realizes that Filipa doesn’t believe her Or, also afraid of the superstitions, she doesn’t want to believe her
"I want you to stay away from thisof you He is turning you into so to create a divide between her and her sister, nods once to acknowledge Filipa
But soon after, it would be Viktor himself ould cause Aramei to stay away from him
Chapter 14
Balkan Mountains – Eastern Serbia – Winter 1761
JUST DAYS AFTER THE savage death of Vela, Aramei, bundled in her heaviest winter clothes and boots, sets out alone to ht he came to herand asked that she meet hies with the woods
He told her to corown to enjoy his co to teach her She hopes that on this day he will teach herthe black wolves that Viktor spoke of, those that keep killing the village’s livestock, the ones that killed her horse and left nothing but half of the carcass behind
Aramei tucks her knife down into the front of her coat where it’s hidden well behind the thick fabric Although she trusts Viktor and has no reason not to, she has always at least carried her knife along It gives her a sense of security even if she’s fully aware that he could easily overpower her if he wanted to
She ignores the fact that she has any reason to carry a knife around him at all, makes herself believe it’s just precautionary when truly her heart knows so her
She slips out before Filipa wakes up, but that was always an easy thing to do because Filipa had always been a heavy sleeper and never likes to get out of bed early if she can help it
Thirty id winter air, Ara her in the distance She raises her gloved hand to wave at hihter around the edges of her face, trying to war back Nothing about his face suggests that theirwill be like any of the others and instinctively Aramei’s hand disappears underneath her coat She looks all around her withoutwhat’s caused him to appear so alarmed
He moves to stand in front of her, the thickly-packed snow crunching under his leather boots
"You ency "You cannot stay here"
Aramei shakes her head, perplexed by not only his demeanor, but now his words as well
She takes one step backwards, her eyes darting all around every which way
"Why, Viktor? Why do you say these things?"