I threw the diadem in a gap in a hollow tree. It didn’t work for me. It never had.

He’d been following me for hours – quietly at first, like a dog tracks a rabbit. Then he lost patience, grew tired of the chase and I heard him crashing through the forest, branches snapping underfoot. My own legs were heavy and aching, and I knew I couldn’t keep running. I’d been running too long. 

The baron emerged from amongst the trees, pale eyed and breathless.

“Helena.” (x)