Amelia stared, transfixed, at the man standing in front of her. The man she didn’t know. She was suddenly terrified, yet couldn’t bring herself to look away from his eyes. He compelled her to stay where she was and not to call out. She felt him in her mind, a forceful, dominating presence that made her shiver. A part of her mind shrieked as he eyed her with greed and possessiveness, his desire evident. In her mind’s eye, the man flickered between two forms. He alternated between a kindly-looking older man, to a young, handsome, yet cruel-looking man. The young one looked at her as if he owned her already. In a small part of her mind, she recognised that he already did.
Amelia knew that Healer Bates was nearby. She tried to turn to speak to the woman that she had trusted her whole life, ye
