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Chapter 33: Nightfall

last update publish date: 2026-06-20 15:30:23

MAYA'S POV

The balcony faced the forest.

I had discovered it on my second night, a small iron-railing platform off the sitting room that I hadn't noticed during the day. The door was heavy, the lock stiff, but I had wrestled it open and stepped out into the cold and found myself looking at something I hadn't known I needed.

Trees. Endless trees, stretching toward the mountains in waves of dark green and black. The half moon hung above them, silver and incomplete, casting just enough light to ou
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