CHAPTER TEN
Esther felt her eyelids fluttering. Daylight streamed in through them, searing her retinas. She tried to sit up but found her body completely immobile. Panic took hold of her.
“Shh, shh, I’m here,” a voice came from beside her. “It’s okay.”
Memories began to come back to her. She was sick. No, dying. She was in the hospital wing. And Oliver was there! He’d held her hand and told her he was going to cure her.
“Oliver?” she stammered, her heart fluttering.
She forced her eyes open and craned her head toward the voice. But to her disappointment, it wasn’t Oliver sitting beside her. It was Edmund.
She grimaced and let out a heavy, resigned sigh.
“Oliver’s gone,” Edmund said in an icy tone. “He’s run off in your time of need. I’m the one here taking care of you.”
Esther’s th
