Chapter 17 CHAPTER 17
The way he said there were many.
That thought alone made my stomach turn, a cold unease spreading through me as I slowly lifted my gaze and looked around the chamber again. It no longer felt like just a room. It felt like a small piece of something much larger, something I didn’t understand and had no control over.
And I was trapped inside it.
I wrapped my arms around myself, the warmth of the dress doing little to ease the cold that had settled beneath my skin. My ribs ached with the movement, a dull reminder of how weak I still was, how unprepared I truly was for anything that might be waiting beyond that door.
I needed to get out.
The thought came stronger this time, clearer, cutting through the fear with something more solid. I couldn’t stay here, not in this room, not in this place, not surrounded by things I didn’t understand and couldn’t fight.
But as quickly as the thought came, reality followed.
I wasn’t ready.
My jaw tightened as I forced myself to take a slow breath, trying to steady my thoughts, trying to push past the panic long enough to think clearly. If I tried to run now, I wouldn’t make it far. My body wouldn’t allow it, and even if it did, I had no idea what I would be running into.
There were things here that would not hesitate.
His words lingered, unwelcome but impossible to ignore.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to accept what I didn’t want to.
If I was going to escape, I had to do it right.
I had to be stronger.
I had to be ready.
Slowly, I lowered my arms, my hands still trembling slightly as my eyes drifted toward the balcony again. The drop remained just as impossible as before, the height enough to kill me before anything else could, but that didn’t stop my mind from searching, from trying to find something I might have missed.
There had to be a way.
There always was.
“I just need time,” I whispered under my breath, the words quiet but steady, something to hold onto in the middle of everything that felt out of control.
Time to heal.
Time to think.
Time to understand this place just enough to survive it.
Because there was no future where I stayed locked in this chamber for the rest of my life, and there was no version of me that would ever accept being a prisoner.
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A few days had gone by, though I had no real way of knowing how many. Time moved strangely here, slipping past without anything solid to hold onto, until the only way I could measure it was by the routine that had settled into place. I was still in the room, still locked in, still waking up to the same stone walls and falling asleep to the same silence, but everything else had begun to change in ways I hadn’t expected.
The servant creature came three times a day, always at the exact same times, so precise that I had started to expect it before it even arrived. Morning, midday, and evening. It never missed, never lingered, and never spoke. It would enter quietly, do what it came to do, and leave just as quickly, the door locking behind it each time like a reminder that nothing about this was temporary.
I still couldn’t tell what it was. There was nothing about it that gave anything away, nothing that made it feel entirely male or female, except for the ,dress. It simply existed within this place as if it belonged here in a way I never could. Small, thin, slightly hunched, its movements were always careful and controlled, like it had learned long ago how to move without drawing attention to itself.
At first, I stayed away from it, watching from a distance, unsure of what it might do if I got too close. But as the days passed and nothing changed, that sharp edge of fear began to dull slightly. Not into trust, never that, but into something quieter. Something closer to familiarity.
Each time it came, the chamber changed a little more. The broken furniture that had once been scattered across the floor was removed piece by piece until nothing remained. The dust that had coated every surface disappeared, wiped away until the details beneath it began to show. The wood of the furniture took on a soft shine, the carvings along the edges clearer now, no longer hidden beneath neglect. Even the bed had been remade countless times, the furs brushed and straightened until it no longer looked abandoned, but lived in.
Cared for.
I stood near the balcony, my hand resting lightly against the cold stone as I looked back over the room. It was… beautiful, in a quiet, forgotten way. The faded blue and gold along the walls caught the light now, and for a moment, it was easy to imagine what this place must have looked like before it became what it was now.
Before I became part of it.
The door opened behind me with a soft creak, and I turned slowly, already knowing what I would see. The servant stepped inside, just as it always did, carrying a tray toward the table without a sound. Its movements were steady, familiar now, predictable in a way that almost made it feel safe.
Almost.
I watched it more closely this time, my gaze following every movement as it set the tray down and began to tidy what little was left to tidy.
“You come at the same time every day,” I said, my voice calm, testing.
It paused, only for a second, but I saw it.
That was enough.
“That means you understand me,” I continued, pushing away from the balcony and taking a slow step toward it. My ribs still ached, but not enough to stop me. Not anymore.
The creature didn’t answer. It adjusted the tray slightly, as if my words meant nothing, but its hands had tightened just enough for me to notice.
“You do hear me,” I said more quietly now, my eyes narrowing slightly as I studied it. “You just don’t speak.” It stilled, completely.
The air between us shifted, something tense and unseen settling into the space as I took another slow step forward. For a moment, I thought I might have been right, that maybe this time it would be different, that maybe I could get something out of it.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me,” I said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
I moved closer.
Too close.
The change was instant.
Its head snapped toward me, far too fast, and whatever softness I thought I had seen before vanished completely. Its mouth opened in a way that didn’t look natural, stretching wider than it should have as rows of small, jagged teeth revealed themselves, sharp and thin like razor blades catching the dim light. A low, warning sound slipped from it, quiet but enough to send a chill through me.
I froze.