Chapter 5

Elvanya's Pov

We worked all day, and Senna showed me every hall, every secret back stair, and all the rules I needed to know. We cleaned the east corridor and dusted the big stone statues, which were scary because they looked like wolves howling at the moon.

Later, we went to the High Priest’s library. It was packed with old books, but Eldric wasn’t there, so we quickly left the water and walked away. Senna told me the High Priest always watches things carefully; she said he knew secrets and she didn’t like being near his rooms because he was quiet and quiet meant something bad.

Senna didn’t talk much during the day. When she did, it was only about the rules, how to walk, how to stand, and where to hide if a beast happened to come by. She warned me that the King’s sister, Lira, was unpredictable; she might be kind one day but could hurt you the next.

When the sun finally went down, Senna told me we were done for the day, and we went back to the laundry room. She gave me a small metal bowl.

“Dinner. Eat it fast, get some sleep. We start again before dawn,” she said.

The food was thin soup, it tasted like water and salt but I ate it all because I was hungry. I finished quickly and even licked my spoon clean, feeling a little ashamed, but hunger was stronger than pride.

After that, Senna led me to the servant quarters, deep in the basement, down many dark stone stairs where the air was cold and damp. The place smelled like old stone and rot like poverty and fear.

We stopped at a heavy wooden door that looked just like the one from the night before the door where they left me with the other girls.

Senna opened the door, revealing a small room with stone walls and a stone floor. Six thin straw mattresses were laid on the floor.

Five girls were already inside, sitting or lying down. As we entered, all of them looked up with tired, empty eyes. They didn’t move their faces, they looked like ghosts.

“This is your room, Elvanya,” Senna said, pointing to the last mattress by the door. “Be quiet. Don’t talk after lights out, if you wake the King’s beasts with noise, you will be dead. All of you will be dead.” She said the last part loud so that every girl could hear, it was both a warning and a threat.

The girls didn’t move or say a word. They only watched me, they didn’t say hello or offer anything. They were just surviving.

Senna left the room, and the door shut heavily behind her. The loud click of the lock felt final, we were locked in. I was trapped.

I walked over to the empty mattress, put my little bowl down, and sat on the hard straw. It was scratchy and thin and didn’t give me any warmth.

I looked around at the girls. They all looked scared, no one spoke. It was completely silent except for slow breathing, and the fear of six girls felt heavy in the air.

One girl, sitting across the room, looked at me and gave me a tiny, nervous smile. She had soft brown hair.

She stood up slowly and walked over to me, holding a thin gray wool blanket that looked old.

“You must be cold,” she whispered.

“A little,” I whispered back.

“Take this. The straw is hard, and the nights are very long down here.” She handed me the blanket, which was soft and warmer than the cold air. It felt good in my hands, it was the first kind thing anyone had done for me since I left home.

“Thank you,” I said. “That’s kind. I’m grateful.”

“I’m Mira.”

I remembered her, she was the woman from the pantry who gave me the cleaning rag tip.

“I’m Elvanya.”

She sat on the floor next to my mattress and kept her voice very low.

“You’re the new one for the King’s Hall. The one he bought.”

“Yes. I started today.”

“The High Hall, that’s bad, very bad.” She moved her hands in her lap and looked down. “Cordelia said you were alone with him and talked to him, and she was very angry.”

“Yes. He told me to clean, he told me to get wine. He asked my name, he didn’t let me leave.”

Mira shook her head slowly. “The King usually doesn’t talk to humans. He doesn’t see us, he just uses us. If he looks at you, that means something. He’s looking too close, when a beast looks too close, it’s never good.”

“He didn’t hurt me,” I said, trying to convince myself this was good.

“He didn’t hurt you today,” Mira fixed me. “That’s the best we get, a day without pain, a day we survive but he’s watching you. They all watch the new ones.”

“Why do you say that? He is the King and can do anything. Why does he wait?” I needed to understand how he thought.

Mira looked up at the ceiling. “He’s cruel. He likes breaking spirits, watching fear grow is a sport for him. Most girls who go up there don’t last six months. That’s the longest time, they die fast or get hurt badly and sent to the stables. The beasts are cruel, but the King is the worst. He’s cold and heartless, he’s the Alpha. Everyone fears him, we’re nothing. Less than dirt.”

“How long have you been here, Mira?”

“Eight months.” She looked at her hands. “I’m lucky. I work in the pantry, it’s safe. Sometimes it’s warm, i don’t see the King much, only the King’s sister sometimes and the Gamma Jaxian. The cooks are mostly human, it’s dirty work, but better than the High Hall, it's less dangerous.”

“Jaxian, the Gamma,” I whispered. “Do you know a girl named Lily?”

Mira looked around fast, her eyes darting over the sleeping girls. She leaned in close. “Shh, no names. We don’t talk about those who are gone. It’s too dangerous. If you’re caught asking about a girl taken by a high beast, they might think you’re planning something. They might think you’re a rebel spy.”

“Is she safe?” I asked again. I needed to know something about Lily.

“If a high beast claimed her, she’s used. Don’t think about her, you must only think about yourself, you must survive. We can’t help them, we can barely help ourselves. We have to focus on the next breath.”

“Do you think I’ll last six months?” I asked.

Mira looked at my silver hair and face. “You’re quiet, you listen. You look pale and weak, maybe that’s why he didn’t hurt you. He thinks you’ll break fast, you have to be strong inside. Don’t let him see you breaking, or he’ll enjoy it. You have to be granite.”

She stood. “You should sleep now. We need strength for tomorrow, work starts early. We can’t afford to be tired, tired humans make mistakes, and mistakes mean death here.”

She went to her mattress and lay down. The room fell silent again, the fear making it so.

I lay down on the straw and pulled the thin blanket over me. It didn’t do much against the cold. The stone floor was hard beneath me, and the room felt like a cold stone box. I curled up small.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

But I could not.

Hours passed. It was the middle of the night, the darkest time. I heard nothing but the slow, even breathing of the girls asleep around me. I was the only one awake. I listened to the stillness.

Then I heard something from the corridor.

Very quiet, very slow footsteps.

They were heavy, not the light steps of a human servant, but the heavy steps of a beast, a big beast. The sound was solid on the stone floor.

I held my breath. The footsteps came closer to our door and then stopped right outside. I could feel the cold, sharp air even through the stone. A sudden dread filled me.

I was terrified but didn’t move. I listened, i waited and didn’t even dare breathe.

There was a tiny crack in the door, a line of darkness where the wood didn’t meet the frame exactly. I rolled over slowly and moved my head just a little. I had to see. I had to know who was there, I was risking everything to look, but I couldn’t stop.

I put my eye to the crack.

The corridor was dark, the torches were out, and only faint light came from somewhere far away.

I saw a figure move past.

Tall, very tall, broad shoulder and Ash-black hair.

It was the King Kael.

He walked slowly, pacing. He wore black pants but no shirt. I could see his wide back. He looked powerful, walking like he owned the dark, like he was part of it.

As he passed the crack, I saw his profile. He looked straight ahead, his face hard. Angry or worried, I couldn’t tell. He looked lost, even though he was the King.

And then I saw his eyes.

In the total darkness of the corridor, his eyes were glowing.