Linda took out the compass and waited for the needle to calm down. The castle was built on the south side, and the smoke smelled from the north. How could she find him? The only remaining tower was not that tall, only twenty meters, while many trees grew even taller. It was possible to walk a hundred steps without noticing anything. But Linda was not a lazy type, she had just explored a small wooded area on the east side of the castle complex.

The villagers regularly carried Hayeh's products and for half a century they had arbitrarily trampled a good path that should start somewhere near the village. Although maybe this village is not the one Helena was talking about. She claimed that there were three villages in this area. Whether Linda liked it or not, she had to go out to people. Here, the mistress of the castle was respected and worshipped, so perhaps nothing bad would be done to Linda.

Linda carefully cleaned the hem of her dress from the thorns and headed for a small hill that brought the smell of smoke with it. At the bottom of the hill, she found a narrow path and followed it. Rounding the hill, she suddenly bumped into a man who was very close. This man was overweight, about fifty years old, and was wearing trousers and a shirt made of coarse cloth, similar to the burlap, familiar to Linda from her world. He stared at Linda in surprise, paying special attention to her knees. When Linda met his gaze, fear came to her, and she almost ran away. But she stopped herself, realizing that an adult man would easily catch up with her.

"I'm looking for a new house, I need help" She began to select words from a well-known dictionary.

The man did not listen to the rest, quickly taking a step forward, Grabbed Linda and, knocking her to the ground, leaned on her. Horror covered Linda, and she began to resist with all her might, but none of her movements were successful. The attempt to scream also failed - the rapist gagged her and even stuffed his tongue into it. Powerful hands dragged the dress and tore the panties that held her lower abdomen together. The blows pierced her with intense pain, repeated over and over again, until it all stopped and she was released.

Tears began to flow from her eyes, and Linda wiped them with her sleeve. At this time, the satisfied man was already pulling up his trousers, turned around and headed back along the path that had brought him here. She tore off the remains of her underpants and ran away from the hill, going into the forest. The tears were flowing non-stop, and she was trembling with disgust. Remembering someone else's nasty tongue in her mouth, Linda stopped and was crippled in convulsions of vomiting. Leaving her breakfast on the moss, she ran on, not thinking about the direction, just to get away from here.

"And all this, what did we secretly dream about with Cooking? God, that's disgusting!" The first coherent thought flashed by when she finally stopped: the strength to escape had run out.

Sitting down on the soft moss, Linda huddled into a ball, hugged her knees and began to cry again. This is how Helena and Gasd found her. Without waiting for instructions, the elderly man lifted the girl in his arms and escorted her to the castle, which, to his surprise, turned out to be very close. Linda was taken not to her room, but to Helena's laboratory and sat on a chair.

"Leave this house!" The mistress ordered the servant menacingly, and then turned to the girl: "I warned you not to pick mushrooms! It's useless to talk to you right now. Take off your clothes, I'll clean you up. You won't leave with the child, but that's no reason to hold a grudge.And then we'll take care of your man! Did you forget everything and get excited? So I'll remind them! Why are you sitting there? So I'll have to do it for you. The gods have sent a student! Well, the bastard took it by force, so why are you suffering so much? Believe me, he will regret being born".

Linda didn't listen to what the old woman was saying to her. Indifference was added to her weakness, and she really wanted to sleep.

"Don't sleep!" Helena said energetically, lifting her head and bringing the cup to her mouth: "Drink it, it will help".

The decoction he drank turned out to taste disgusting and almost tingled his tongue, but almost instantly produced a magical effect. Indifference disappeared, but instead of excruciating pain and despair, there was a desire to find out what the mentor was up to. It got stronger, giving her a boost in strength.

"Can you walk?" Helena asked, putting some stones in her bag: "We need to get to the tower".

"I'll get there" She whispered, her own voice sounding strange, low and hoarse.

When they entered the high tower, Helena bolted the door from the inside and lit torches tied to the walls with matches. It wasn't quite dark yet, but the windows in the tower were covered with stones.

"There's no need to summon bright spirits here" She explained to Linda, although Linda hadn't asked her to: "During the ritual, they will be released and leave".

Linda nodded, understanding the importance of the situation. She was ready for any challenges that might arise in this mysterious tower. Helena was confident in her power abilities and knew that she would have to do anything to protect them from the evil that could awaken in this place.

They moved up the narrow stairs, each step reminding them that they were responsible for their actions. Helena stared intently at the walls, as if expecting them to open at any moment and swallow them up.

As they climbed higher and higher, the tension in the air became denser. Linda felt her heart beating faster and her skin was covered in cold sweat. She knew that they would have to go through many trials before they would find the one they had come for.

Finally, they reached the top of the tower, where the most important part of the ritual was waiting. Helena took a deep breath and began to chant the ancient spells that were supposed to summon their target. Linda stood there, feeling the magic fill the air around them. And suddenly, a strange light appeared in the room, their goal was in front of them.

In the light of the torches on the floor of the tower, a complex polygonal figure Made up of stones embedded in the floor became visible.

"Lean against the wall" Helena advised: "It's much easier this way. There are no chairs here. Somehow I don't want to stay here for a long time. It's okay, I'll do it quickly. Now I will lay out the sogr stones, and the ritual can begin. Imagine the face of your abuser! It's okay that you're so lucky! What a failure with this miller. He's a real brute. He sent his wife to the next world, and now he wanders around and looks at the village beauties. And they are only happy: a drop of income and those who want to use it are enough. If you don't believe it, then you shouldn't. You weren't ready, and you brought him together by yourself. And that's how it all turned out. And he's also glad that he doesn't have to go anywhere and pay. If he had caught you at the mill, he would also have allowed his son. Get used to the fact that silushka rules everywhere, including in your world, no matter what you've been told. You need to become strong. Then the bastards will bow down to you, as they do to me. If the miller had found out that you were my pupil and a noble lady, he would never have done such a thing, most likely, he would even have brought you to the castle. But his ignorance is unimportant to us, and for his suffering now he will receive his reward through the ritual".

With these words, Helena quickly took out the stones she had brought from her bag and placed them in the tops of the figures. When she was done, she hurried to the wall and began the ritual. The old woman did not dance, did not sing spells in a sad voice and did not light candles, but just stood silently with her eyes closed. First, a transparent blue fire ignited by the stones themselves, and then this fire quickly spread along the lines of the figure until the entire pattern on the floor of the tower shone.

"It's time!" Helena said, opening her eyes: "Come!"

Before the teacher's scream, there was no one in the tower except the two of them. However, now a huge lizard appeared, covered with shiny scales reflecting the red light of the torches. The monster carefully examined the figure, sat down on its hind legs and looked at Helena as if asking a question. Despite the fact that Linda did not hear the mentor's conversation, it seemed to her that she was talking with fear. When the conversation ended, the lizard nodded affirmatively and looked at the girl with understanding.

"Get him out of the figure!" Helena ordered: "Don't be afraid, he won't hurt you".

The girl walked on fluttering legs to the Scarecrow's head, which towered above the floor at the level of her height. The lizard tilted its head to the side and grinned, revealing triangular teeth the size of a kitchen knife. Linda looked into his large green eyes with a vertical pupil and fixed gaze. The fear disappeared, and in its place came a feeling of confidence. Linda resolutely stepped into the figure and gently slid her hand over the smooth warm scales on the lizard's neck. A long pink tongue protruded from the half-open mouth, which licked the girl's hair. Leaving the confines of the figure, the Scarecrow turned towards them and suddenly disappeared.

"So, good luck. I'm grateful to fate" Helena said, brushing the sweat from her forehead: "I don't have the power to order people like him, I just have to ask for help in return for something. Although I had something to offer him, he refused the payment. This rarely happens: he somehow snuggled up to me and offered friendship, without any reward. But if I were you, I wouldn't be in a hurry to agree. If you become his friend, you can call him for help, but such friendship has a downside. If he needs your help, you can't refuse, but he will find you in any of the worlds".

"What would someone like me need?" Helena asked.

"How should I know? They are intelligent and speak their own language. If you accept friendship, you will be able to communicate with him, as well as with me. He may have various services. Have you seen his claws? He can tear a knight in armor to pieces. But what if he needs to do a delicate job? Not here, where everything is not too complicated, but in his world? So think carefully. I can let you see what he's seeing now, but I don't recommend it. You should not look at something that can offend you greatly. I can say that the miller will suffer for a long time and terribly. I asked him not to touch his son. He didn't do anything wrong, and people need a mill. So, what have you decided?"

"I won't look at it, and if he offers friendship, I'll accept it" Linda replied.

The lizard suddenly returned to the tower, nodded casually to Linda and looked at her, cocked his head to one side.

"How can I tell him that I am grateful and will not remain in debt?" The girl asked Helena.

"Just say it. Just turn to him and look him straight in the eye. He'll understand" Helena replied.

"I thank you and accept your friendship!" Linda, who had been assigned to the Scarecrow, said: "If you need help, come. Although I can't do anything yet".

His voice sounded in her mind: "Don't worry, my little friend, you still have everything ahead of you, but I don't need your help yet. I am very pleased with the name you have come up with for me. Please use it when I need help. Your mentor will tell you how to do it. She's not happy with your decision, but know that I'll try my best to make sure you don't regret it".

The Scarecrow deftly jumped into the contour and disappeared. The torches had long since burned out, and then the figure itself went out, shrouding everything in darkness.

"Come on, I'll take you to your room" Helena said: "Soon the effect of the decoction will pass and you will feel sick. It would be better if you were sleeping at this time. If it's hard for you to sleep, I'll help you. Lean on my arm and let's go. I'll pick up the stones tomorrow".

The tutor's help was not needed, because Lady Linda had barely touched her head to the pillow when her indifference and fatigue seized her again, and the girl sank into a deep sleep, similar to a faint. She went to bed much earlier than usual, so she woke up early and lay for a long time, remembering everything that had happened. But she didn't have any worries, and she felt disgusted only when she began to recall what had happened in detail. Deciding that it was pointless to rekindle a fresh wound, the girl went to the toilet and washed her face. When she returned, Helena intercepted her.

"Look in on me" She opened the door: "Since you can't sleep, tell me why you went to the mill yesterday. Sit on my bed, I haven't gone to bed yet anyway".

"It's not my fault" Linda began to justify herself: "I usually quickly picked mushrooms in my clearing next to the castle and did not go far. But then a deer drove up and ate all my mushrooms, and even stained them!"

"So I tore up your natural mushrooms... well, go on" Helena laughed ironically.

"Got it. I was breathing so hard from my mouth that I didn't want to return with an empty basket, so I decided to make a little compass detour, and then return back. But I came across a she-wolf with cubs, and they chased me all the way out of the forest. And then I found a miller on the road and tried to ask him for help..."

"I see. While you were collecting a phrase from your limited vocabulary, he had already become a ball and was not listening to your attempts to attract his attention. Right?"

"Yes, that's right".

"There are conclusions from this. Clothes, which, of course, may seem comfortable, should be forgotten. It is better not to provoke men with your appearance. Our strong halves will never get used to half-naked girls, as you allow yourself to walk. I wouldn't even blame the miller if you weren't my student, but some simpleton. And until you learn to talk, you shouldn't mess with people. Besides talking, there are rules of communication that you don't know anything about. We will study all this. Otherwise, despite your appearance and outfits, anyone will see that you do not belong to the nobility, and we treat impostors very strictly. Collect mushrooms near the castle, and if you don't want to share with the moose, take a crossbow from Gasd and kill him. He will teach you how to use this weapon. All noblewomen should be able to use it, especially if they are from Kivana. And remember for the future, if you get lost near the castle, sit and wait for help, I will definitely come. We're connected, and I can only find you, of course, if you don't run too far away. That's how I found you yesterday. Finally, I want to say that I will start studying with you, even if you don't speak the Kain language yet. You already have a very transparent body, and yesterday is another reason. Get ready! Is there anything else?"

"I need to get my basket and knife. I left them near the wolf hole".

"Can you find a place?"

"Yes, I remember the direction and about how much has been passed. There should be a noticeable ally there".

"After breakfast, recommend a trip with a crossbow to your companion. A wolf with cubs is a dangerous animal. You're lucky she was just driven away, she could have hurt you".

"I had a stick!"

"Don't joke. If she wanted to, she could kill you even with a hunting spear. Go and come back to the laboratory in half an hour to drink the decoction".

"And she also said that the watch was useless!" Linda muttered as she entered her room, and Helena's laughter could clearly be heard in her head: "You need to put all your efforts into learning this language. I have no place in my head!"

When they finished breakfast, Linda and the former servant went to get a basket and a knife, and quickly found everything they needed. The wolf did not appear, and the puppies were also not heard. Maybe she took them away from a place where there were people. On the way back, they entered a clearing with mushrooms and filled a basket. Apparently, the moose was late today or felt uncomfortable and went to another place to eat, but there were a lot of mushrooms again.

As soon as they returned, the deliverymen from the nearest village and from the mill came. It turns out that not just a path leads to the castle, but a real road, where peasant carts normally moved out. The men brought three times as much food as usual, brought it to the castle and, bowing low, left without taking payment. The miller's son brought the flour, threw everything into the castle and at the end warmly embraced Helena.

"Please, madam!" An adult man cried: "I do not know what father did to you, but I swear that I am not to blame!"

"Get up!" The hostess ordered: "Your father was to blame, and you should not know what exactly. You don't have any complaints, otherwise you wouldn't be standing here. Goodbye".

"You see" She said to Linda: "This is human nature. If you don't touch them, they forget everything very quickly, especially good things. But if you remind me about yourself... although I've done a lot of good things for them. Not because of them, of course, I just wanted the neighbors to remember. They did, but not for long. I have to refresh my memory from time to time. Fortunately, they brought a lot of milk and sour cream. I missed dairy products, although they are harmful at my age. Why are you surprised? That's the way it is. Milk is food for children. In adulthood, it does more harm than good, but for me... but sometimes you want to".

"But it will spoil quickly!"

"There is magic that preserves food and scares away rats and mice. This is a household detail that is available to all magicians, but I did not mention it in our conversation".

"And who was the man who was carrying bags and then hit his head on the floor?"

"This is the son of that scoundrel who made you a woman".

"What?! As a woman?!"

"What don't you understand? After losing her virginity, a girl becomes a woman. Is that the case with you, no?"

"I don't know. We often call young women girls".

"Okay, let's end this conversation. You shouldn't be thinking about that right now".

"And when will we start studying?"

"Starting tomorrow, you will take the tinctures that I prepare for you. Before purifying your spiritual essence, you need to purify your body. You will drink and sit for two days without meat. And I wouldn't go into the woods".

"Why not in the forest?"

"Because it's inconvenient to clean the intestines in the forest".

"And after this cleaning?"

"After her, the time of magic will come. There is an opportunity to become a magician without much effort. If I had the time, I would choose this path, but alas, I don't have it. Therefore, we will go the other way, which is fast but hard. You will have to remember and relive all the bad moments from your life, starting from birth, and it is very difficult. But you will be fully prepared in three decades of training".

Over the next two days, Linda focused on memorizing words and making repeated toilet visits. She didn't want food at all, and she could barely swallow only a small portion of porridge. Besides, she could only study for half a day. After lunch, she experienced the unloading effect of the drug, which eliminated all infusions from the body to improve memory, and traditional training brought almost no benefit. Moreover, Linda was tormented by a feeling of well-being that was so bad that it couldn't be worse.

"It's completely normal" Helena replied when she heard Linda complaining about a headache: "You have too much stuff that accumulates in different parts of your body, especially in the intestines, liver and places with fat accumulation. Now all these things enter the bloodstream, hence the pain. Don't worry, it will pass soon".

On the third day, Linda was no longer given tinctures, and by lunch she felt almost normal, although her weight had dropped by three kilograms.

"You've already learned five hundred words" Helena said, handing Linda a loaded new batch of words on the balloon: "The same amount more and we will move on to making proposals, and you will finish the rest later. Today you will only study until lunch. Lunch will be rescheduled for you at a later time. If you feel like it, you can eat after our classes. Sometimes people get sick when they purify their spiritual essence, but I don't need it in the lab".

On this day, Linda was born again. As usual, it all started with taking another decoction. Then Wanda plunged her into something like a dream. At first, Linda was in a cozy warm cave. She did not feel her body, she only knew that it existed. Gradually, the walls of the cave began to come closer and push her somewhere, causing vague alarm. When the force squeezed and she began to move in a narrow passage under the influence of tremors, anxiety turned to panic.

She tried to free herself, but she couldn't even open her eyes. Gradually, the pressure became so strong that it took her breath away. A moment later, harsh light penetrated through her closed eyelids, and her body gained such weight that it deprived him of freedom of movement. Besides, it was terribly cold all around. It was so bad and scary that she couldn't help but scream. And then it all ended abruptly. Linda sat down on a chair, tightly wrapped in sheets.

"Why is this, Master?" She asked.

"So that you wouldn't hurt yourself or any of us" Helena explained: "You fought so hard that it would be impossible for us to hold you back. I'll unwind it now. That's all for today. Do you want to eat? If not, then go study a little and go to bed early. We'll continue tomorrow".

The whole next day was devoted to a lot of small grudges. Either the food was not given on time, or they left her in a wet bed, and she began to freeze, or, for some reason, they stopped responding to her screams. The grievances were minor, but there were a lot of them. Then she was allowed to crawl, and bruises appeared immediately. They were not strong, but she cried tirelessly, trying to attract attention to herself. And then the teeth began to cut, and Helena decided to interrupt the session.

"That's enough for today" She said: "You need to at least eat a little and go to bed early. The process will continue during sleep".

Linda slept a lot, falling asleep at five or six o'clock in the evening and waking up at the usual time. She didn't understand how she could overcome her fear by reliving it, but she trusted Helena completely. When she had learned the first thousand words, sentence writing classes began in the morning. There were few rules, and Helena tried to teach as a rule by examples.

Linda was already in a lot of trouble in the afternoon classes. At first, teeth erupted, and then problems with the tummy began. Soon she caught a serious cold and even had to call an ambulance. The girl's life seemed to be an incessant stream of troubles and upsets. After a week of such activities, Linda lost a lot of weight, and Helena decided that a break was needed.

"Look at you!" She objected when Linda tried to object to her: "You don't eat well, and it affects your appearance. Haya can't look at you anymore without crying. Take a break, gain some weight, and at this time do exercises with words. And then we'll continue".

The rest lasted five days. The girl practically regained her lost weight and already easily communicated with the servants, only sometimes making mistakes in composing phrases. She wanted to continue learning the language, but she wanted more. Linda did not want to relive her past sufferings, but she realized that it was necessary to immerse herself in magic and achieve power. She asked Helena to continue her studies, and the mentor, after examining her, agreed, but on condition that Linda would eat normally.

"If you don't eat" Helena said, you'll either have to take a break again or drink a decoction for your appetite. We don't have much time, but a decoction... it will certainly give you an appetite, but it is not particularly tasty in itself, even compared to my other medicines".

Linda promised that she would eat well. But it turned out to be much easier to promise than to fulfill. She was older now, and her grievances were getting more serious. The girl had closed her eyes to the past, but now she was shrinking again from pain and fear when her mother punished her for losing money, and at the same time cut with scissors. That was the first time her father got angry with her.

"Don't you understand what you've done?!" The father shouted at the mother: "The child climbed into the box and cut three tens, and she is only five years old! Explain and punish if you see fit. But hitting a girl is a disgrace and an indicator of your weakness. Do you want her soul and body to be abused forever?"

"Oh, the last of the money, Frank" The mother quietly spilled, Completely terrified of what she had done: "And it's a whole week before the salary. How are we going to live now? And the fact that she spent it, so they won't take it from the savings bank".

"Don't worry, we'll take it" The father intervened decisively: "And then we'll give it back. We should have a good reward, so we'll manage somehow. And just try to hit it so hard once! Do you believe that our ancestors were fools who beat Rusk's children? It was painful, but safe. And you - with your hand with all your might!"

After the incident, Linda was afraid of her mother for two weeks, but then everything was well forgotten. Then there was kindergarten and a feud with one boy, who either for some reason did not like her, or, on the contrary, showed attention in such a strange style. And the last test, after which her mother transferred her to another group, was the story of the doll. There were few toys in the kindergarten, and the teachers did not mind when the children brought their own.

The father gave the girl a small doll, which she fell in love with at first sight. Linda spent her time playing with it so enchantingly that she barely agreed to give the toy to a friend. And this scoundrel took advantage of the moment, tore the doll out of her hands and tore off her head. When Linda woke up from this nightmare, she was terrified, covered in tears.

"You will be comforted that you are so deeply rooted" Helena told her: "It will help to clear up, but it will be difficult to survive all this in the future".

She didn't have any big problems at school until the fourth grade. She studied well, and the teachers did not find fault, and she had a normal relationship with her classmates. But in the fourth grade, she fell in love. Now, of course, she could think about that love with a smile, but then there was no laughing matter. Everything was serious With the torment, jealousy and tears that she hid under her pillow. And this feeling ended as suddenly as it began.

Linda accidentally intercepted a conversation between the subject of her passion and his friends, who were discussing women. She felt ashamed and angry when she saw her cheeks turn red, and decided that she would never fall in love with such guys. However, a year later, her father was killed. When Linda's frustration gripped her again, Helena was forced to resort to her medications to help her cope at least somehow.

Even when Linda woke up once again and realized that all this was in the past, she continued to sob uncontrollably and refuse food. They were forced to take a break again. Helena was frowning, but she didn't say anything. But today she went into Linda's bedroom, hugged her, hugged her and for the first time began to calm her out loud, saying kind words that the girl felt through the pain.

"I've lost my whole family too" She said, kissing Linda on the forehead: "And I perfectly understand what it's like to be alone. But worrying and regretting is not the solution. Look who you've become like! Understand that you get rid of the old pain, but at the same time you bring on yourself a new one that needs to be experienced again. And what will it lead to? We're wasting time that I don't have enough of, and you're also undermining your health. Body and soul are one. By torturing your soul, you weaken your body as well, which will definitely lead to diseases".

In the end, Linda managed to overcome the blues and survive the grief she had already experienced. The sessions continued. The last stage of her life was filled with troubles related to the home drinking of her mother and stepfather. It was unpleasant for her to go through all this, but to her surprise, the memories turned out to be poorly affected.

After being shocked for some time by her stepfather's murder, she felt strangely satisfied. Running away from the she-wolf and meeting with the miller, she did not manage to completely clear herself of past injuries. As Helena had warned, she had to immerse herself again in the emotions associated with her father's death, which she had already experienced before.

"Thank the gods we're done!" Helena summed it up: "And you already know our language quite well. Before we do magic, you should rest and eat a little. But in order not to waste time, I will teach you everything that a young noblewoman needs to know and be able to do. First, we will deal with etiquette, heraldry and finances. Then I'll give you some dancing lessons, and Hasd will teach you how to handle a dagger and a crossbow. All this needs to be studied quickly, so you can't do without a decoction. And don't be embarrassed, you should be used to it by now. Later we will give the money to the headman to buy you a horse. You don't know how to ride, do you? I thought so, because there weren't any horses on your street, only carts".

"And when will we start practicing magic?" She asked.

"We'll do magic in ten days" Helena replied.

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