LIORA’S POV
Most of the girls had stopped convulsing. Their breathing was still labored, their faces pale with shock and pain, but the immediate crisis seemed to be passing.
I knelt beside Myra, gently squeezing her hand. “Stay with me. The worst is over. Just keep breathing.”
Myra’s eyes fluttered, struggling to focus on my face. “You… were right.”
“Don’t talk. Save your strength.”
The head physician approached, a tall man with gray hair streaking his temples and intelligent eyes. He surveyed the room, taking in the girls lying on the floor with milk-stained lips and charcoal paste around their mouths.
“Who administered first aid?” he asked.
“I did,” I said, standing.
He looked me up and down, taking in my blood-stained dress and dirty hands. “You saved their lives. Another five m
