Chapter 10. A Rose Amongst Thorns

Aria’s hands burned.

Even with the leather gloves that were thrust on her by Lily, she had still suffered many scratches on her arms.

The blood was sticky, too sticky.

It was thick and by the time she had reached the courtyard, it had already dried. The dried blood clung to the crevices of the stone floor. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that the blood actually belonged there.

Aria’s fingers were raw as she continued scrubbing, her breathing was rough, her body drenched with sweat. She glanced up and frowned when she saw that the sun was almost setting.

She must have been scrubbing for longer than she realized.

Her knees throbbed with pain from all the hours that she had spent kneeling and crawling on the hard stone floor. But she didn’t complain, she didn’t even have anyone to complain to.

Ever since Lily had led her to the courtyard to clean, she had not seen anyone.

“I need to go faster.” she muttered under her bre