Giving the woman a potion to forget just became a void option. If Rhylan found out about it, he had every reason to return and finish the job. And if she could see the Fear Gorta, what else could she see?
She stared at me quietly, analysing my gestures and deciding on whether I was telling the truth.
“Look,” I continued, “I know it must be strange for you to find me here, I assure you I mean no harm to you. The first time we met, I was just trying to help.”
“What are you doing here, anyway? The forest is supposed to be uninhabited,” she puckered her lips, pleased with herself, knowing fully well I needed a good explanation.
“No one knows I am here,” I admitted.
“And why are you here?”
The best lie is to tell the truth, I remembered. “To care for the forest.”
“As in, the plants?” she questioned.
“Yes,” I nodded.
“Are you a biologist or something?” she enquired in disbelief.
Or something. “I am.”
“The guards don’t know you are here?” she continued her interrogation. I stored this information for later. There were guards patrolling the district. Of course, someone had to care for the woman. They must have used the southern routes to reach her, but it added another point on the list of things we had to keep hidden from.
“They do not know I am here. I did not enter the forest the usual way,” I admitted, since I hadn’t found a good enough explanation about my presence in the woods.
“So you snuck inside basically,” she reprimanded.
I chuckled. “I did.”
“Where do you live? And where is your equipment?”
This woman would make a fine tutor. She ambushed me with ten questions in less than a minute.
“My equipment is at home. The one I am using during my stay here. I will tell you where I live only if you do the same.” I had no intention of doing so and hoped she wouldn’t either.
“I won’t tell you that!” she immediately answered.
“In that case, expect the same privacy from me.” I struggled to keep in a smile at the small victory.
“And what do you want?” she pushed.
“I want to conduct my experiments in peace and undisturbed. I am assuming you want the same?” I asked, careful to plant the idea in her head.
“As a matter of fact, I do,” she crossed her arms again. Her eyes widened as soon as the words made their way out. Pure instinct had forced her to utter them, just as I planned. She had uttered them only to spite me, and there they gave her no turning back.
“Then we agree. I will not disturb your presence in the woods as long as you respect my privacy and do not tell anyone I'm here.”
She thought about the proposal, and before she had a chance to reply, I added, “I am conducting many experiments that will help the forest regrow and regain health, I promise it is for the good. I could not come here through the normal ways, so I had to take matters into my own hands.”
After a long minute, she nodded. “Okay.”
I smiled in thanks.
Chapter Nine
By the time I arrived home, night wrapped the woods in a tight purple embrace. I didn’t have time to settle and analyse what had happened, because as soon as I entered, the laptop started buzzing; a sharp dinging slipped through the stillness of the mansion. I ran towards it and saw the screen inundating with notifications, they had been accumulating for hours. I popped the browser open and clicked on the tiny icon with a rainbow camera background.
@Cressidaofficial: Hey sexy
