cabin, the one we lived in b

a dull, constant ache, a

Small red welts were alre

ness. It

ity Draught" from hushed whispers of the few townswom

his way to become the undi

id, gained access to a h

cret of how to leave Havenwood, a w

rounded by treacherous mountains, the

ame my desperate

hed back to

than from the moment he s

ances, always telling me, "You'r

amily' s lingering influence – her father was the previ

vitalization" projects would go m

ainst him w

Daisy made

r personal attendant, her servant, she would use her

f reluctance. "My Sar

e calculatio

said, desperate for him to succeed, bel

or a little while, my love

served

with a perverse,

he woods with my bare hands, "for her

t on hot stones freshly pulle

y girl," she' d titter

ching Ethan gain more

Guardian," a step below fu

ck to our cab

on my hands, the

yes filled with what

I' ll be fully in charge. And Daisy w

m. I clung to

ocence" and "frailty" soon

in his mind as "childish pranks" fro

more frequent, "to discus

d from scraps of fabric from my childhood dresses, each square a m

e from our bed. I f

avoiding my eyes when I confronted him.

a bla

heart aching. It wasn' t just a blanket. I

napped, suddenly impatient. "I'm trying to run

he bigger picture with Ethan, a pic

early on, when h

ment, a lung infection that scared us both, he' d w

kids, what little en

edicine, holding me, swear

as that

d, remnants of an old mining clan,

icious of outsiders, o

ing, a hostage to ensure Ethan kept his

, Daisy too, knelt b

gged me

his eyes pleading. "You can handle them.

, had nodded, "Yes, Sarah,

tion, was crucial for his final step to leadership. This all

ised, the same empty words. "Then we can final

elieved in "us," in

th that hostile facti

the "city whore" s

stant, verbal, so

t enough to cripple me forever, but enough to make every step

an outcast if I didn' t compl