When Arabella woke the next morning, Iliza was nowhere to be found. For a brief moment, she wondered if the events of the previous night had been nothing more than a strange dream. But she trusted her own senses too much to doubt what she had seen and heard. Though she didn't have any evidence to back her senses now, she felt that she needed to keep tonight's incident in her mind.
Donna, however, had been unusually quiet. When the guards arrived to retrieve her, Donna clutched her arms nervously, her face pale with unease. Arabella could only offer a few words of reassurance, though they did little to soothe the older woman's fear.
"You shouldn't go near him," Donna whispered, voice laced with worry.
Arabella gave her a small, forced smile. "I'll be fine, take care of yourself, Donna."
