LOGINElisa…Days passed.Days that dragged on like decades, and it was during that time that I realized why many of them were quiet, while others forced me to remain quiet.It was due to hunger, and the strong sea wind that sometimes swept into the darkness and swallowed away every last drop of energy in our bodies as it tossed lifeless forms left and right in the room.I sat at the same corner of the room where I had been since the first day I was brought in, with my head hanging weakly against the wooden wall.It was the safest place to be, at least.Each time the wind came, I only had to hold on to a hanging chain from the wall until the wind stopped.Once, my hand had slipped from the slimy chain, but was held back from flying to the other end of the room by the young girl who remained close to me.Her weak frame had held on tightly to my hands until the wind subsided, and in between that moment, tears had slipped from her eyes, from the unbearable pain of holding on to me.One woman b
ELISA…Someone was pounding something too loudly beside me.Like a bunch of women beating rice.I tried to tell them to stop, but my mouth would not move, nor would my eyes even open to see who was making all the noise.I slowly moved my body, and the little movement brought my face closer to a smell that made my insides explode with disgust, and my body shook violently with pain.And then I realized.There was really no pounding; it was my own head beating the drums.I tried to convince myself that it was only one of those nightmares that shook me, but when I tried to breathe again, the air refused me.It was thick, sour, clotted with decay and salt, and it scraped my lungs raw as I dragged it in.My chest seized, and my throat tightened with each breath I took.The smell hit me like a blow.It smelled of rot, unwashed human waste, dried up blood, and salt water.And something else beneath it all—something sweet and wrong, like flesh left too long under the sun.And when my body conv
Lucien…“Elisa”My name on her lips had never sounded so strained and weak before.Unless, for the time, I had heard her call for me while I was in the desert.But I had only come back then to find her in the company of another man.I didn’t let the thought of the delivery boy linger in my mind for too long, for fear of what I might do to him if he did anything at all to her.I was on my feet before my mind could catch up, the sheets slipping from my body as I crossed the room in long strides, my bare feet barely registering the cold stone beneath them.“Elisa!” I called, throwing the door open.The corridor beyond my chambers lay dim and still, lit only by the pale glow of the awakening sun outside.For a moment, there was nothing—no sound, no movement.Then I felt a slight shift in my body, and immediately, my eyes adjusted to the darkness, and I saw the path before me through dim red eyes.I hurried towards the staircase that led down to the servant quarters.I should have taken he
Elisa - (Lord Edric’s court…)“So we meet again, my child,” a familiar voice, laden with the thick smell of rich wine and food, filtered through my ear.My body remained weak and unmoving on the icy stone floor beneath me, my eyes still heavily shut.But my body was alert, my ears sharper than my vision, and I was capturing even the slightest whisper.I knew I was far from the manor.Everything smelled different.Not just rich and expensive, but powerful, dangerous, and unfamiliar, far from the familiar scent of rich but empty hallways lined with flowers and old curtains that still breathed life even after many years.It didn’t smell like Lucien.Lucien…I thought to myself, and my chest began a steady pounding inside me.Lucien.“I underestimated your strength from the first day I saw you and your wretched mother in that godforsaken trench.” his voice was close to me - too close- and I from the gentle pull of my hair, I knew he was playing with my hair between his fingers.It repulse
Elisa…Should I read it now, or keep it aside until I was ready to handle whatever truth he claimed was in it?Will I ever be ready for whatever was in the leaves?I stared at it for a while, trying hard to still my hands and just focus.What was this truth?Was Lucien really a murderer?Did he lie to me?But why will he? His eyes were so honest and sincere.‘It does not matter anymore, Elisa, it is too late.’ Lalora whispered again, but remained in the shadows.I ignored what she was saying.It was not making any sense, and most of the time, it vexed me just how much they kept from me and expected me to understand it.I was just a poor daughter of a widowed farmer who did not know anything outside the church hymns and the bible verses.I was only fortunate enough to learn to read and write because of the nuns in the convent who made sure we, the young altar girls and boys, learned under their care.I opened the sheets in my hands and looked with creased brows at the different handwri
ELISA“Rowan,” I whispered through the halls of the manor as I followed the trails of his damp fish scent, even though the light from the lamp he was holding had disappeared.I was careful not to wake Yennefer or attract her attention.I didn’t just want anything to get worse for me than it already was.The shadow of light from the rising sun outside did a little to light my part as I walked down the hallways and towards my chambers.If he had not already left the manor, then he would definitely be waiting in front of my room or somewhere else in the manor where I know he only dared to reach until whatever pulled him to Lucien’s room.He was not supposed to be there - no one was.Where did he get so much confidence to come up there, by the way?“Rowan?” I whispered again as I reached the foot of the stairs.But there was no shadow of him in front of my room.He had never gone into my room, but went ahead to make sure he had not also breached that gap and maybe waited in there for me.







