TATIANA POV
My preparation of the herbs I had gathered filled the room with a weighty silence. Dim light seeped through the windows, casting soft shadows that danced along the walls. Raphael's mother lay on the bed, breathing shallowly and laboriously. I felt, in my heart, the urgency of the moment, knowing I had to save her.
In their squeezing, the crushed herbs sent their potent aroma nostrils wide open. The mixture had to be perfect; it was my only hope to counteract the poison that had found its way into her system. "Tatiana," Raphael said in a whisper as he watched me. "Do you really think that will help her?"
"It has to," I answered, casting a glance toward his mother, pale and weak lying there. "These herbs are quite strong in healing. If we can counteract the effects of the poi
