Despite my best attempts to eat, in the end, I had to leave after finishing a few pieces of fruit, half a biscuit, and a glass of manja. Every bite I tried to take past that caused my stomach to knot and bile to rise up at the back of my throat. I’d only spent a brief time in the dining room, but I could feel the muscles in my body straining.

It was time to take a stroll.

“Ah.”

I took a breath as I looked down at the same dress I’d been wearing for a week now. I put a hand to the mess of hair that had become deeply knotted and felt an odor waft past my face. It struck me then that I hadn’t let anyone in my room, let alone allowed them to touch me or my hair.

I’ll bathe first.

In color, the mansion was ever more splendid as I climbed the stairs back to the room I had been staying in. Every step I took made me more aware of myself, more disgusted, more frustrated. Without my senses dulled, I could feel the grime that had built up and the dirt that my encounter had forced under my nails and smeared across my arms and legs.

As I strode closer to the room I had been staying in, there were two maids knocking on the door.

“My lady, can we come in?” She had a sweet voice, it oozed comfort.

“Can we bring you breakfast?” The taller of the two maids sounded even younger.

“I’ve already eaten -how about a bath?”

The two women straightened their backs and turned to face me.

“And I’d like you to prepare a different room. I’d rather not stay there anymore.”

For a second, their eyes widened. Yet, like the three maids earlier and Gristle, they continued on unfazed.

“Yes, my lady. I’ll have the Love of Zorya prepped while you bathe.” The sweet-sounding maid gestured to the other, “Yrua will take you to the adjacent bathing room and I will follow shortly.”

Shortly after, Yrua had seated me on a soft poof close to the ground while she gently applied rose oil into my hair and massaged as many knots as she could. The soothing sound of the tub filling up allowed me to shut down the part of my mind that was screaming for me to flinch away from Yrua’s touch. Soon enough the other maid returned and began placing flower petals and oils in the water. After she came over with a bowl filled to the brim and several dark-colored rags. Hesitantly, as if she was wary of a beast, she untied the laced-up back of my dress and helped slide it off for me. I forced an indifferent expression on my face as I heard the two women take sharp breaths. I hadn’t properly looked at myself in a mirror since I arrived at the Fellan mansion, but in this room with mirrored walls, it was impossible for me not to understand why they would react like that.

As the fabric fell away, the week-old dirt and blood had become black with time. While my chest and torso didn’t have much, there were streaks running from my shoulders to my wrists and from my thighs to my ankles. While even my face had caked-on blood and dirt stemming from my forehead, the truly revolting sight was my neck. A ring of deep yellow-brown bruises wrapped around my skin as if I was wearing a choker. I didn’t need to see the original bruise to know that they had been black after I escaped the Blight. I could still feel the tightness in my muscles when I spoke or took a breath, let alone turned my head.

The only saving grace to my appearance right now was that my Yrua had been working on my hair for several minutes and it was moderately flattened and damp with oil.

As I took in the sight of myself, both women had regained their composure and the sweet-sounding maid -who later introduced herself as Tely, took one of the rags she’d brought over and dipped it in the bowl of water. It was pleasantly warm when she began wiping my body down.

After I climbed into the fragrant water, I sent Yrua and Tely to wait for me in the hall. Then I sat in the bath for what felt like an eternity. The warmth spread to my core and I felt the exhaustion that had been building up in my body ease -just a bit. I let my detangled hair circle me as I stared up at the ceiling, the smell of lilacs and roses filling my head. The steam rolling up from the tub clung to my face.

The steam balled up and fell down from my eyes.

It was the steam.

And the tear-shaped steam caused my body to shake as I curled in on myself, bringing my knees to my face.

Sleep is a funny thing. One second you’re sobbing into your knees, keeping your face as close to the warmth of the water as you can, and the next you are surrounded by darkness, floating in the void of unconsciousness. Sleep claimed me unexpectedly.

When I woke up, I wasn’t submerged in a cold bath, I was sinking into a soft bed covered by a thick comforter. Groggily, I ran my hand along the top of my head only to feel two thick braids trailing. As my eyes ran over the room, I understood why my memories had been thrilled when they heard about the Love of Zorya.

The Red Maiden. A story of the keeper of the Palace of the Sun. A woman of the Dawn. She was one of the many women of the Dawn whose legacy was honored by her family even in the current generation.

The room matched the namesake of the Red Maiden, the walls were a beautiful vermillion with gilded pillars that reflected the candlelight. The bed I was in was spacious, but it barely took up any space in the bedroom. There were several bookcases filled with leatherbound books and golden trinkets, a tufted couch, several padded chairs, and a tea table. On the far side of the room stood a two-tiered desk in front of a wall of cream curtains with golden and red embroidery.

As I reached my arm out to grab the bell that sat on the bedside table, I could feel the satisfying stretch of my stiff muscles. After a single ring, one of the three doors opened and Sylvia walked in holding a golden tray. As she approached the bed, I could see a plate of scones, clotted cream, and jam as well as a teapot.

“Good morning, my lady,” Sylvia’s pink eyes were as indifferent as they were before, “We prepared a light breakfast -will you be eating?”

Placing the bell back on the bedside table, I shifted closer to the edge of the bed, “I’ll sit by the tea-table. What kind of tea did you bring?”

“Rose tea, it’ll go well with the scones and apricot jam.”

I nodded as Sylvia placed the tray down and began arranging my breakfast in front of where I snuggled up on the couch.

“The Dusk?” I looked over at Sylvia pouring me tea as I took a scone with jam and cream.

“Sir Rellar and his remaining knights have settled into the Western Annex-” Sylvia handed me the tea before continuing, “The servants that were traveling with you have also been settled in their quarters.”

“Ah, how many did we bring again?”

“Two personal maids, Yrua and Tely -they informed me they introduced themselves yesterday, a cook, two coachmen, and a footman.”

“Yesterday?” I took a deep drink of tea. Sylvia was right, it was delicious.

“You have been asleep for 26 hours. It’s 8 AM.” Sylvia’s voice was measured, but there was a hint of amusement lining her words.

I whistled lightly, “Is that a record?”

Sylvia’s hand froze as she prepped another scone for me, after a beat she continued, “Once, Count Dawn returned from an expedition outside Fellan and slept for 32 hours.”

“Tch.”

After two more cups of tea and several scones, I leaned back into the soft cushions of the couch, “What has Countess Dawn arranged for me in Fellan?”

To Sylvia’s credit, she had the tact to at least feign sympathy as she began speaking.

“The madam has arranged for you to attend the Fellan Swordsmanship Academy for the first half of every other day. On the off days, you are to take courses at the local Magic Tower for the same amount of time. The days you attend the Academy, your afternoons are supposed to consist of private instruction on history, governance, law, and arithmetic. On days you attend the Tower, your afternoons will consist of etiquette, culture, dancing, and the occasional salon.”

Repressing the growing need to throw something breakable, I locked eyes with my reflection in the teacup, “Has she scheduled any off days?”

“Every fourth set of courses you are to have two days off.”

“When does the Countess expect this to start?”

“She instructed us to begin waking you come the first of the month.” Sylvia paused, her eyes flicking up and then back to me, “There are nine days until the Countess wants you to begin taking lessons.”

“...”

I am…

“...”

Already…

“Exhausted,” I muttered.

Finishing the rest of my tea in a single swig, I sighed, “What were your instructions?”

“While we are not to use force to get you to attend the lectures, the Countess has instructed us to wake you up at dawn and dress you every day. Madam instructed that the consequences of not getting up were to be withheld until it occurs.” Sylvia smiled slightly, “She also instructed that trickery is permitted if it shows results.”

“Horrible.” I stood and moved to the double doors to the side of my bed, Sylvia following behind, “Pick a comfortable outfit for today, lightweight with shoes I can walk in.”

After unfurling my braids and straightening up my hair, Sylvia pulled a lavender dress with cream lace and pale blue embroidery and a pair of Victorian lace-up ankle boots in a deep purple from behind the doors. After I was dressed, I went across the room to the wall of curtains. Pulling them to the side, I could see the gardens below. The flowers were in bloom, filling the greenery with bursts of color in all shades. Unhooking the lock on the frame, I pushed open the window as wide as I could.

“Hmm, Sylvia, how old are you?”

“Nineteen, my lady.”

“Have you tiered up?” I looked over my shoulder at her.

“... Not yet.”

I let a vicious smile fill my face, “Perfect.”

Stepping the two feet up onto the window sill, I gave Sylvia a light wave. Then I stepped into the air.

And I fell.

And I landed.

I frowned slightly as a brief spike of pain hit my knees when my heels hit the ground. Unlike at the main house, beneath the window here was a paved walkway -which meant there was no soft dirt to help absorb the impact.

At least it was only a moment. Maria could never have jumped from twenty feet up.

Looking at the suns hovering above the horizon, I twisted on my heel and headed in the opposite direction. I needed to see the Dusk.

I needed to know what a Blight was.

I needed to know why there was a horde of them so close to Fellan.

I needed to know why Arlen had to die.

I needed to know if it could have been prevented.

I need to know it wasn’t my fault.

Once again, I felt a prick in my heart. An ache that I couldn’t help but acknowledge as regret. So, as I walked, I let two words slip into my mind.

[Shadow Conjuration]

A wispy black fog appeared at the tip of my finger and began folding in on itself. Again and again, the shadow condensed. Before long, a polished black marble hovered just slightly out of reach.

As I reached the West Annex, I stretched the ball of shadow into a cone with a needle point tip.

Maybe this would have helped.

I sighed as I stepped into the knight's quarters.

Or maybe not.