Release(81)

“You’re in Winfield,” said Aunt Tildy. “What are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I have to get out,” said Ariana. “If you believe me, can’t you tell my parents that—”

“They don’t listen to anything I say, and you know it.”

The door to the gray room opened again, and a dour nurse in a gray uniform trundled inside, holding the paper cup containing Ariana’s pills.

Aunt Tildy was on her feet in a second. “Oh, is that my niece’s medication?”

The nurse looked a little confused. “Yes.”

Aunt Tildy strode over to the nurse and put her hand over the top of the paper cup. “Could I give it to her, just this once? I do so want to do anything I can to make sure she starts feeling better soon.”

The nurse looked even more confused. “Er...I suppose so. But I will need to witness it. Sometimes patients here don’t want to take their meds, even though that’s what’s good for them.”

“Of course,” said Aunt Tildy, tugging the paper cup out of the nurse’s hands.

Both the nurse and Aunt Tildy came over to her bed. Ariana watched as Aunt Tildy tipped the cup of pills into her hand. Aunt Tildy held her closed fist, containing the pills, up to Ariana’s mouth, but she only mimed releasing her fingers. None of the pills actually went into Ariana’s mouth.

Aunt Tildy was a genius!

The nurse handed Ariana a glass of water and made sure Ariana swallowed.

Ariana noticed Aunt Tildy’s hand duck into her purse, where she was no doubt depositing the pills.

“Open,” said the nurse.

Obediently, Ariana opened her mouth and allowed the nurse to look under her tongue to make sure she’d actually swallowed the pills.

Satisfied, the nurse thanked Aunt Tildy for helping and then left the room.

After the door closed behind him, Ariana said, “Thank you so much. The pills make me foggy and confused.”

Aunt Tildy shrugged. “Well, it’s the least I could do, since they’re treating you like you’re crazy when you’re not. I’ve been in Winfield before, you know. When I refused every suitor that tried to marry me because I didn’t want to get married, they sent me here. They said it was abnormal for a woman not to want to get married.” She squared her shoulders. “Abnormal it might be, but that doesn’t mean I’m mentally ill.”

Ariana reached over and hugged her aunt. “No, it does not.”

“I wish there was more I could do,” said Aunt Tildy, squeezing her. “I’d help you any way I could.”

“You mean that?” Ariana asked, pulling away from the embrace.

* * *

The Duke of Tramet had arrived on the planet Risciter that morning, spurred to action by the strange things he was reading on the nets. There was hope after all. It might not be true that Keirth was really a crazed murderer. Apparently, the woman he’d been with, Miss Gilit, had made a scene at a dinner party, claiming that Risciter, not Keirth, had killed all those women, and that Keirth had protected her from the monster.

Tramet knew he shouldn’t get false hope. The accepted public opinion was that the girl had been through some terrible trauma and couldn’t possibly be trusted to know what had happened. There were experts weighing in on the likelihood of victims beginning to sympathize with their kidnappers, citing cases throughout history where this very thing had happened. According to anyone who mattered, Miss Gilit needed the therapy she was getting at Winfield, and Keirth Transman needed his neck snapped, which was scheduled to happen as soon as the prince could get there to watch it.

But Tramet wanted to believe in Keirth’s goodness so badly. He didn’t want to think that this boy he’d been searching for was really a bad man. Deep inside, Tramet always hoped to find a man of courage and bravery who’d lived through the tragedy of his life and come out stronger. The story Miss Gilit told about him echoed Tramet’s deepest desires. Even though he cautioned himself that it was probably unfounded, he had to know for himself.

He’d decided that he’d go to speak to Miss Gilit himself. He’d listen to her story, and if he thought that she wasn’t crazy, then he’d take action. Because it might not be too late to save Keirth Transman’s life.





Chapter Seventeen

Ariana was feeling quite alert. The drugs had worn off. She was, however, afflicted with an acute case of boredom. She’d positioned herself on the far wall, several feet down from the door to the gray room, and she’d dragged the chair that Aunt Tildy had been sitting on over with her. At first she’d stood behind the chair, but as hours began to drag by, she’d sat in it. She’d sat in this chair for what seemed like a few millennia, going over and over her plan, looking for weaknesses.