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Word Count - 356
If She Knew The Truth
Shame overcomes her when she finds herself staring at Helga for a moment too long. Rowena is a happily married woman, she shouldn't be staring at another, and certainly not a woman.
She cannot help herself though.
Helga is everything Rowena is not. She's caring and concerned with the health and wellbeing of those around her. She'd sociable and kind. She's easy with a smile or a laugh or a sweet word.
Rowena is cold and stern and is more interested in learning then she is in people.
Most people irritate her.
Except, when Helga is around, Rowena cannot focus on learning. She can't read the words in her books, or concentrate long enough to perfect a spell. Her focus moves immediately to the woman that has been her colleague and friend.
Helga is a distraction that Rowena cannot afford.
So she secludes herself from all but her husband. He is worried about her, and she knows that he has spoken to Helga, Salazar and Godric about her sudden wish for solitude.
Only Helena figures it out.
"I see the way you look at her, Mother," she says quietly, her voice little more than a whisper.
When Rowena looks at her daughter, she sees a conniving smirk on her beautiful young face.
"I'm going to tell them all, and then what will you do? They'll all hate you."
Rowena banishes her daughter before she can tell a soul of Rowena's shame. She forces her away from the castle she was born in, and she sends the Baron after her with an order to kill the young woman if it looks as though Helena will attempt to return.
When her fellow teachers, and her husband ask after Helena, Rowena affects a heartbroken look to her face and forces a tear to fall.
"She's run away," she told them all sadly. "Stolen my diadem and run. I always knew she coveted it but to do this… my own daughter."
Helga hugs her tightly, and murmurs soft comforting words.
Rowena soaks up the contact and tries not to think about what Helga would think if she knew the truth.
Written for;
Showtime - 19. Shame
Amber's Attic - Helga Rowena