Chapter 7

Elvanya's Pov

The beast let Senna go and pushed her off his lap. She fell hard onto the cold stone floor, he laughed again. The others were still laughing too. The noise was horrible.

Senna got up fast. She didn’t cry or look at the beast. She didn’t look at anyone, she just walked out of the hall quickly. The wine she spilled stayed red on the table, like blood.

I stood frozen for a moment longer. The King still held his silver cup, his hand shaking a little now. His face was like stone, the laughter died down slowly. The King didn’t say a word. He just looked at the table.

I hurried to clean the spilled wine with a rag. I worked fast and didn’t look at the beast who grabbed Senna. I didn’t look at the King either, i wiped until the red was gone.

The feast ended late. I followed the other human servants out to the kitchen.

Senna was there, sitting on a wooden bench. She was shaking and very pale. Her arm was bruised where the beast had grabbed her. It was already turning blue and purple.

Cordelia came in with a tight face and went straight to Senna.

“You’re alive,” Cordelia said like it wasn’t a question.

“Yes,” Senna whispered.

“Did you fight him?”

“No. I tried to get off, I didn’t hit him,” Senna said softly.

“Good,” Cordelia said, looking relieved.

“If you had scratched him, you’d be dead. Understand that, Elvanya?”

Cordelia looked sharply at me. I nodded.

“This is the rule. The first rule. When a beast touches you, you endure it. You take it. You don’t cry or scream, you don’t hit back. You don’t say no, you just wait until they’re done. If you resist, you show weakness.

They hate weakness. Resistance means instant death. Understand the rule of power?”

“Yes. Endure it,” I said.

“We are not people to them. We are property. They do whatever they want. If they want to break your arm, they will break it. You don’t complain or fight back, you survive the act. That’s the only way to live to the next day.”

Cordelia said it like a lesson. A terrible lesson she learned too many times.

“You saw the King stop Jaxian. That was a game, a show of power. He only saved you because he wanted to remind Jaxian who’s boss. You’re not safe because he likes you. You’re safe because he can use or break you when he wants.”

Senna stood slowly and went to the sink to put cold water on her bruised arm. She didn’t say anything.

I watched her. Her eyes were empty and broken, not anger, no sadness, only emptiness. It was like her soul left and only moving flesh remained.

Cordelia saw me watching Senna.

“Look at her, Elvanya,” she said.

“That’s what survival looks like. She’s invisible now, she learned it. You must learn it too. You’ll last longer than the rest if you become nothing.”

Cordelia left with a harsh sigh.

I went to Senna but didn’t know what to say. Her empty eyes made my stomach turn.

“Does it hurt much, Senna?” I asked.

She looked at me without blinking. “It doesn’t matter if it hurts. I’m alive and I’ll walk tomorrow. That’s all that matters, pain is temporary, death is forever.”

“But the King stopped Jaxian earlier when he grabbed me. He ordered him to let me go.”

Senna’s lips barely moved. “The King has his own rules and plans. Maybe he wants to break you himself, maybe he wants to use you. Maybe he only reminded Jaxian who’s King.

Don’t believe his kindness, it’s a trap. He’s a monster. They’re all monsters. The King is the biggest and the worst. He knows how to break a person like no one else.”

I looked around the kitchen. The other servants were cleaning but didn’t look at me or Senna. They all looked the same, empty eyes, slow movements, broken. They had learned the rule of endurance. They had become invisible. They accepted their lives were not their own.

I realized something terrible. If I stayed here, I’d become like Senna, like all of them, a walking shell. I did not want my mind to go blank. I had to find another way, not just endure, but stay alive inside and whole.

I went to the servant quarters. Mira was already lying down.

I sat on my straw mattress and pulled the blanket over me.

"It was bad today" I whispered not wanting to break the silence but needing to speak. "Jaxian grabbed Senna at the table. The King stopped him."

Mira turned her head slowly to face me. "It’s always bad. You must learn to be invisible Elvanya, that is the only protection you have here. The King's stopping Jaxian means nothing for you. It means everything for Jaxian."

"What does that mean? Cordelia said that too. What does invisible really mean to them"

"It means you’re furniture. A ghost. You are less important than the stones in the floor. You move through the halls and no one sees you. They forget you are there because you make no sound and you cause no trouble. They forget you are human. If they forget, they can’t hurt you, they only hurt what they notice."

"But the beast grabbed Senna even though she was invisible. She was quiet"

"Senna made a mistake. She walked too close to his chair, she was serving wine and the smell of the wine made him notice her hand. They notice wine, they notice food. You have to be perfect like a machine. A machine does not spill or talk or shake, you must be errorless."

Mira sat up a little her eyes wide and serious in the dark. "The only humans who last ten years or more learn this.

They become so quiet and quick and perfect they become part of the wall. They live because the beasts forget they are there. If the King notices you, you’re already failing. His notice is dangerous.

It is the start of the end. He noticed you twice today speaking to you and then saving you from Jaxian. You must make him forget your name and your face. You must work until your bones ache and he thinks of you as nothing but a broom that moves by itself."

"I have to be a ghost" I said.

"Yes. A very quiet ghost. You must learn to hate his eyes more than you hate the thought of dying. You must hide from his eyes, you must hide your silver hair under a rag. You must hide your face. You must hide everything that makes you stand out."

I closed my eyes and thought about the King’s silver eyes. He watched me all day, when I cleared the tray, when Jaxian grabbed me. He was always watching.

I knew Mira was right. My only defense was to disappear, to become air, to be nobody.

I had to be faster, quieter, perfect. I had to win his game.

I didn’t sleep. I lay there practicing being empty, silent, and quick. I planned how I would move tomorrow.

*******

The next day came. I focused on being a machine. I followed Senna, copying her moves exactly. I didn’t let my mind wander or look at the beasts. I just worked, quieter and faster than before. I didn’t pause at the King’s chair, I was a fast moving shadow.

The beasts talked, laughed, ate, and drank. They ignored me, being invisible felt safer.

Evening service came again. Another feast. I was tired. My legs ached. My arms hurt from carrying heavy trays. I hadn’t slept in two nights.

I carried a large silver tray with about twenty crystal wine glasses full of dark red wine. The tray was heavy, and the glasses clinked softly with every step.

I walked toward the main table, moving past a large stone pillar. The floor was uneven there, Senna warned me about that stone.

I took a step. My foot caught the uneven stone and I lost balance.

My body tilted, and my tired arms couldn’t hold the tray.

It slipped and at that moment, time slowed down.

The silver tray tipped from my hands and the crystal glasses fell.

I saw the wine splash out. I saw the glasses catch the light and turn over as they dropped toward the black stone floor.

I knew what this meant. It was the one mistake Cordelia warned me about. The crash of glass would be deafening. The wine would stain the floor, a sign that I was clumsy, weak, and not worthy to live.

The loud noise in the hall stopped. The glasses fell toward the floor. I was going to die, i was going to break. The King would watch it. He would watch me die, i squeezed my eyes shut. I waited for the crash, the scream, the pain, the end. I couldn’t move. I just stood there and waited.