Hours ago.
---
Viola's entire body burned. The pain had no single origin anymore, it had consumed everything, spreading from her skin down into her bones, her organs, the very marrow of her. It was as though hot water had been poured over her from the inside out, searing her alive with the torment of the wolfsbane coursing through her veins.
She tried to move. Even the smallest twitch of her fingers sent a fresh wave of agony crashing through her, and she bit down on the inside of her cheek to keep from crying out. There was no one to hear her anyway.
Would death bring relief from this? she wondered. But even death seemed unwilling to take her, just as living had refused to be kind to her. Every person she had ever believed cared for her had turned away. And she lay here, burning, unable to even lift her own hand.
