Chapter 23

After hours upon hours of scrubbing I finally got the blood stains out of the sheets. I trod up the hill with the wet sheets in my arms when it starts to rain. Casting my eyes to the sky I let the rain fall freely on my face, washing the tears that I had shed away from my cheeks. As I stare at the rain I hear someone call my name from up ahead.

With my eyes blurry from the rain I look forward and see someone running towards me. Larissa. "Natalia," she says with a bit of exasperation in her voice. "What are you doing out here in the rain?"

I shrug my shoulders as I push past her. The last thing that I need is more friends on my path to self destruction. No. If I am going to seduce Alexander I need to seclude myself as much as possible. I refuse to bring anyone else down with me. But Larissa chases me down anyway.

"You didn't answer me," she says cheerfully as she catches back up with me. "What are you doing out here in the rain?"

"The King needed me to wash these sheets