“Where are they?” Eva changed the subject immediately, upon hearing the mention of her father.
“I can’t tell you that yet, dear.”
“I won’t tell anyone.”
“I know you won’t. I truly do but this is for your own safety, and for the safety of us all. You do understand, don’t you?” she asked, hopefully.
“I guess I do,” Eva tried to smile. “I just don’t know what happened to me. Or how I ended up here.”
She squirmed a little, trying to make herself comfortable in the bed. The cup was still in her hand. The tea smelled strangely soothing. She took a sip and allowed the warmth to wash all over her. Her breathing became softer, even that horrible pulsating feeling in her temples died down a little.
“You fell unconscious,” Amelie explained, “there, on the path. I couldn’t leave you lying there.”
“You brought me here?” Eva asked. “By yourself?”
“Oh, God no!” Amelie giggled. “Sebastian helped me bring you here. Despite what I may look like, I am an old woman. I can’t carry young women such as yourself on my back. And it would make it even worse if I dragged you across that gravel. You’d be in so much pain right now, my dear.”
Eva wanted to tell her that she really was in pain, but it sounded rude, so she decided to be quiet. And besides, she was too focused on hearing that Sebastian had helped her.
“I know you’re in pain,” Amelie continued, to Eva’s shock.
It seemed like almost everyone here knew what she was thinking, and addressed her worries even before she voiced them out loud. She didn’t know whether to like this or fear this.
“But, that’s not why you’re in pain. There is another reason for that.”
At that moment, Eva saw Sebastian standing in the doorway. He was all wet, his hair sliding down his face in tresses.
“Oh, child, come in! You’ll catch your death in that rain!”
Amelie rushed over to him and pulled him inside by the fire, which softly crackled in the corner of the room. Sebastian ruffled his hair a little, then looked over at Eva.
“Hey, sleeping beauty’s awake,” he smiled at her.
“Here,” Amelie pulled a shirt out of her wardrobe, and gave it to Sebastian. “You need to change.”
“I’ll be fine, Amelie, you worry too much,” he rolled his eyes, even though he still had that smile on his face.
“Just put it on,” she urged him.
He sighed, accepting it. In one big swoop, he took off his shirt. Eva could see all of his tattoos for the first time in the soft glow of the fire. There was a raven on his shoulder, a wolf howling at the full Moon on his right forearm, a caged bird, the woods, paw prints, and some writing Eva didn’t understand. He put on the other shirt quickly, then turned to her.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, sitting down next to her on the bed, where Amelie was sitting, a few seconds ago.
“I’m still very dizzy, but that tea Amelie made me helped.”
“Yeah, she can make awesome teas. She knows everything there is to know about herbs and plants.”
“Is that why you’re the gardener?”
“I wanted to stay close to the school. Keep an eye on Rannulf. But, at the same time, I didn’t want him to feel threatened by my presence, so I thought being the gardener would keep us both happy,” she explained.
“Why do you need to keep an eye on him?” Eva wondered.
Amelie looked at Sebastian, then at her.
“It’s a long story, dear,” she told her.
“Tell her,” Sebastian urged her. “There’s no better time than now.”