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“Oh!” Before she could complete her thoughts, two hands shoved against her shoulder blades from behind and she tumbled forward.

Ruth clasped onto the railing, about to turn to see the face of her assailant when she felt a kick in her side causing her to lose her grip.

“No!” She screamed as her entire body spun. The painted ceiling of the great hall appeared above her and vanished as she tumbled down the stairs, somersaulting toward the bottom. She landed on the marbled floor with a thud, the force of her fall so hard she gasped for breath.

“Lady Ruth!” Charlotte’s terrified voice called out from up above. Ruth could not answer. She lay on the floor, staring up as the room spun around her.

The last thing she saw was the maid’s feet racing down the stairs and then her kind, pale face was above her.

“Please, do not move. I’ll fetch help, I’ll get Lord Ro….”

The words faded as Ruth no longer heard anything. Her vision grew hazy as she was then plunged into complete darkness.

Chapter 26

She stood in the garden, surrounded by the flowers in bloom, and smiled as the sun kissed her face with its early morning rays. Ruth bent over gently taking a peony by the stem and inhaling the sweet scent.

She rose, frowning. Peonies did not bloom so late in the summer, did they? The ones at home never did. As she stood, pondering this, a bee buzzed around her head.

She shook her head to discourage it, but another soon joined it and together the two bees buzzed and danced around her head. The noise was only increased when another and another followed and soon, Ruth found herself standing amidst a storm of bees, flying around her head as though she were the flower that would feed them.

They will sting in a moment, I know it.

She stood still, arms at her side, and looked down on herself. Oddly, she wore no shoes, her bare feet were standing in the grass without anything covering them. She curled her toes, interested at seeing them out here, uncovered when the buzzing grew so loud, she could hardly stand it.

Her hands flew to her ears. It was then she noticed the strange bump on her head, just on the back. Gingerly, she ran the tips of her fingers over it. A sharp pain forced the buzzing to the background and filled her senses.

“Oh!” She groaned.

“Is she waking?” A voice asked from somewhere far away.

“Let me through,” said another. Neither voice was familiar and yet, not completely alien either. Ruth could not make sense of anything at all.

“Ruth, can you open your eyes? Please? Open them, darling.”

This voice she knew. Papa. When had he arrived in the garden? She forced open her eyes. Her father’s face swam into view above her; beside him that of the physician whose name she could not recall.

“Ruth?”

“Kenneth…” She breathed his name rather than spoke it, so confused and exhausted was she. She saw him with his eyes narrowed, lines of worry carved into his handsome face.

The buzzing in her head increased and within moments found an even less pleasant companion. Just as Kenneth reached her bed and sat beside her, the room started to spin and dance all around her.

A groan escaped her as her hand traveled to the spot she’d felt in her dream. It was there, a large bump on the back of her head.

How did I come to have it? Why am I here? I do not understand. I…

It did no good. Between the incessant buzzing and the spinning of the room, she could not remain awake and keep her eyes open. She closed them once more and turned away from the voices, longing to return to the garden in her dream, for at least there, everything stood still.

“My lord, she cannot continue to sleep. She must stay awake so we can observe her. She has been asleep almost an entire day,” the physician’s voice drifted to her ear.

“Ruth, did you hear? Can you stay awake? Please?” Kenneth pleaded with her, but it was already too late.

* * *

Ruth slept for what seemed like hours and when she woke again, it was dark in her chamber. She was alone. Or so she thought. When she opened her eyes, she saw a figure in the corner.

She attempted to sit up, but a searing pain shot through her body once more. Then, a cough followed, shaking her body. At once, her throat constricted.