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attention. She turned toward the noise and almost stumbled at the unexpected sight. She brought a hand to her mouth and backed against the wall, unable to leave. There was a woman and a man hugging in the darkness of one of the small rooms. Marie kept her body at an angle, confident they couldn’t see her, busy as they were kissing. She was horrified the woman wasn’t struggling to free herself from the man’s clutches. Instead, she leaned against him, gluing her body to his.
    A hand gently tapped on her shoulder and Marie turned to face Verena, who brought a finger to her lips and shot Marie a warning look. “Let’s get out of here,” Verena whispered in her ear and took her by the elbow.
    Marie stepped back and turned to face the hallway when the couple moved. The woman’s head was under the light for a moment. A glimpse of deep red. “But, it’s—”
    “Don’t say it.” Verena pulled her away.
    Marie freed herself from Verena’s grip but followed her. I can’t believe Carnia is a man lover. She turned at the last moment and saw the man looking at her. A flash of green eyes. Grant? After an impatient tug from Verena, she unfroze. They were back into the main room in no time. Marie’s heart was beating as if she had run a marathon. She felt dizzy and her mind kept playing the scene she had witnessed, making it impossible for her to concentrate on what Verena was saying.
    “You aren’t going to say anything to anybody. Do you understand?” Verena shook Marie with both hands on her shoulders. “Are you listening to me?”
    “Yes, I’m not to say anything to any living soul.” Marie looked at Verena, but didn’t see her. “Why?”
    “Because I say so.” Verena accompanied her to the door and out of the Apothecary. They ascended the dark staircase fast, not speaking a word.
    “Carnia—” Marie started, unable to let the argument go without an explanation. She needed to talk about it.
    “Carnia nothing.” Verena led them back to the courtyard, her voice betraying how upset she was.
    “But don’t we have to report her to Madame Lana?” Marie couldn’t help but look back at the dark archway, but nobody came after them.
    “Carnia’s dead if you report her. Do you understand?” Verena stopped several steps away from the gazebo and kept her voice low. Applause drowned out her voice.
    “Dead?” Marie looked at the crowd cheering for an encore.
    “Worse than dead. If Madame Lana gets wind of it, Carnia will be sent to a waste plant.” Verena’s eyes were imploring Marie and she felt horrible.
    “A waste plant?” She couldn’t believe her ears.
    “Yes, she would become a wasted woman.”
    Marie felt sick at the mere idea of condemning someone to that fate. Women sent to waste plants were called wasted , marked with serial numbers on their arms like the men, and forced to live away from civilization. They lost contact with the rest of the world and died there, forgotten. Even their families gave them up for dead once sentenced to serve in a waste plant. “I won’t say anything.”
    Verena nodded at her words.
    “What are you doing there? Come here!” Cina called them from under the gazebo, bright eyes and a big smile on her face. “You missed the best already. Come on.”
    “Don’t worry,” Marie said to Verena and then went to join the rest of the crowd.
    Cina and Laila moved out of the way to make space for the two of them and Marie resigned herself to stay until the very end of the night, although the only desire she had was to climb four flights of stairs and jump in her bed. She laughed, gasped, and cried with everybody else, but her mind wasn’t there. Verena kept sending her glances, but Marie couldn’t meet her eyes.
    Once back in her room, Marie undressed facing the wall, avoiding Verena. She wanted to ask if those kinds of things happened often at Redfarm and if she knew of anybody who’d been caught and sent to a waste plant. But she didn’t. Somehow, just asking seemed