ZIELLE
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I am walking past the infirmary when I hear it.
It is a whisper, barely coherent, but it's unmistakable who that voice belonged to. It is Arieth. What is she doing in the infirmary? Is she plotting something new?
I press myself against the cold stone wall, holding my breath, straining to catch her voice.
"Mom, please. I'm not lying! It wasn't just some nightmare I had last night." Arieth's whisper is strained, almost breaking. "Do you really think I'd get a fever from a mere dream?"
Her mother exhales sharply, anger laced with weary frustration. "First, you sneak into the library at some ungodly hour without telling anyone. And now you insist there's a spirit haunting it?" Her voice hardens. "I'll let this slide for now, but don't you dare spread this nonsense to anyone else, the way you just did with me."
