(Seira's Pov)
The stone walls in the servant quarters feel even tighter and more choking than the broken room I first woke up in when I came here. The cold, hard feeling all around reminds me again and again that this place isn't a home—it's just a cage pretending to be something called duty.
I found out that people call us something—slaves. I don't really know what that means. They say it means we only live to serve our master, Reymar. Is that really the reason I'm alive? Just to serve someone mean and gross like that man? My head starts to hurt just trying to think about it.
It's been a few days since that strange thing happened in the main hall—the moment I somehow floated out of my body—and since then, I've been sleeping in Ara and Vuras' cell. They seem like kind people. I can feel it. Ara always smiles so much, even after everything that's happened, even though we're still in this awful place.
We almost never get good food—or much food at all. I feel so, so hungry all the time, like there's a tiny monster inside my belly, trying to eat me up from the inside.
While lying on my rough mattress next to Ara, I hear footsteps coming closer to our cell. The sound of boots clacking against the stone floor rings through the quarters. It's Nirin. "Here you go. Eat up. Nobody should go without food. But don't tell the Lord I came," he says while blinking one eye and holding a finger to his mouth like a secret.
I try to find enough strength to sit up. That's the most I can do. It takes everything I have not to fall back down again.
Ara sees how hard it is for me to move. She stands up by herself and goes to pick up the food outside our cell door. "Don't worry, Sei. I got it," she says softly, tapping my shoulder.
"I sh-should tell you," I whisper, my voice barely coming out, like my lips are being held shut. Ara looks at me gently, noticing how hard it is for me to say even one word. "Don't push yourself to tell me anything," she says kindly.
I can't speak more. My body gives up, and I let it. I stop trying to say anything at all.
Then, we begin eating the food Nirin gave us, like we haven't seen food in forever. It's special. It really feels like Nirin made it just for us. There's baked chicken breast, soft potatoes with melty cheese on top, some vegetables too, and a white sauce poured over the chicken. It tastes like something magical, one of the best things I've ever eaten—almost like when mommy used to cook for me. It was so good it almost made me cry, thinking of my favorite dish from mommy's kitchen… but still, no tears came.
"This is the best food I've ever had in my whole life!" Ara shouted out with so much excitement, her whole body bouncing up and down, but she whispered so softly so no one could hear us. Vuras giggles a little, just a tiny bit, and it's the first time I've seen him look even a little happy. "It's pretty good," he says, his voice holding a little bit of happiness, like he's not quite sure he believes it but feels it anyway.
Their excitement about the food didn't really make me feel anything. My face stayed still, like a stone, with no expression at all.
When we finished eating the food, we were so tired we just fell asleep right away. The food gave us enough energy to knock us out cold, like we had been running all day and now our bodies just needed to rest.
While I was asleep, I started dreaming. But this dream wasn't like any other. It felt so real, like it was more real than being awake. I'm walking through a huge, empty space, surrounded by beautiful stars and a sky that looks like a whole galaxy. It feels like this is where my soul was made, like this is where I came from. Where am I? What is this place?
Suddenly, bright pictures start appearing in the air in front of me. They show things I've never seen before, places I've never been. It's somewhere far, far away, and nothing like anything in this world. All I see are tall buildings and strange lands I don't understand.
"A place where the stars once sang your name, and the echoes still call to you… Do you remember?"
That same gentle voice whispers to me again. I don't say anything. I just stand there, watching the beautiful things around me, saying nothing. It's like this place is trying to heal me, trying to make me feel better, but it's so far away, like I can never touch it.
The pictures fade, and suddenly I'm alone again in this empty space full of stars. I don't want to be alone. So, I start running, desperate to reach the place I just saw. "S-Stop! Wait!" I scream, but my voice doesn't come out right. It's like I haven't used my voice in a long time, and it feels hard to make it work.
Just when I'm almost there, almost close enough to touch the beautiful place I saw, the stars around me begin to fade too. The sky turns black, and everything disappears. I'm in a huge, empty nothingness. It feels like it lasts forever.
I see myself all alone in that empty, dark space, and it feels like it's taking forever. Then, suddenly, I wake up. My heart is racing, and I'm breathing really fast, like I had just been scared, even though it felt like I had seen a beautiful place. I feel confused.
"What was that just now?" I think to myself, but it feels like it happened for real, like it wasn't just a dream. I cover my face with one hand to wipe away the sweat and squint my other eye, feeling a little bit lost and sad. I don't have time to think about it more though because it's already morning, and I have to get up.
Then I hear boots, the sound of them hitting the floor, getting closer to our quarters. The silence breaks as a group of guards, at least ten of them, come to wake us up. "You filthy animals, wake up! Don't make your master wait!" they yell as they throw buckets of water on us, even on the ones who are already awake. I get soaked all over. Will I have to stay wet like this all day? That's going to be so uncomfortable, isn't it?
The guards started connecting all our chains together as we walked out of our cells, and the tug of the magic collar around my neck hurt so much. It felt like it was choking me, the weight of it pulling me down.
We walked in a line, one after another, down the hallway outside our sleeping cells. Every step felt harder than the last, like the ground was pushing up against me, making it so difficult to move. There were only two guards with us now—one in the front and one in the back. The others had gone away after throwing water on us to wake us up.
When we reached the staircase that led to the main hall, I kept looking around, hoping that somehow I would find some peace, but it never came. As we climbed the stairs, I started breathing faster and faster, and before I knew it, everything went dark. I collapsed, and the world went away.
I suddenly felt like I was floating again, high above my body, watching the guards rush over to where I'd fallen. "Hey! Trash, get up!" One of them shouted, shaking my unconscious body, but I wasn't there anymore. I was somewhere else.
"Bring the other slaves to Reymar in the main hall. I'll take care of this one," the guard said to the other one in the front.
I stayed floating, watching as the other slaves kept walking toward the main hall, while my body was left behind with the guard. It felt like I was floating in a place with no gravity, no weight. For the first time since I got here, everything that had been making my heart heavy seemed to vanish. I felt... love. I felt peace. It was like Mommy was holding me again, wrapping me up in warmth, making everything feel okay.
"My child, to save what you love, you must learn to let go. But beware, for even gods tremble at the cost of love."
That voice. The same soothing voice from before, trying to make me understand, but I didn't understand at all.
But then, little by little, I started to understand. Maybe this voice is something deep inside me, reminding me that I can make it through all this. I wish I could talk to the voice, tell it everything I'm feeling, but it doesn't seem to answer my thoughts.
Suddenly, my mind was pulled back into my body, like I was sucked through the air and wind. A wave of sadness hit me all at once, and I sat up quickly, feeling confused. I looked around, realizing I was somewhere underground. There were candles around, and I was lying on a big, soft bed, but I didn't know where I was.
"Oh good, you're finally awake," I heard a voice say. It was the guard who had stayed behind to watch me. The scary look he had earlier when we were walking in the line was gone now, and he didn't seem as scary anymore. I was so afraid though. What was he going to do to me?
I quickly tried to gather my thoughts and whispered, "W-Where are we? What's going on?"
"I'm sorry for how you've been treated," he said, looking relieved. "I had to keep up a fake appearance, make Reymar think I was just another loyal guard." He looked at me, his face calm now. "You, little one, are special," he said softly, and then added, "I can't stand seeing someone of divinity treated so cruelly."
What does that mean? I'm not special. I'm just a regular girl. I'm nothing but a mistake, a bad person, and there's no point to my life. So why? Why do people keep saying that?
"I'm sorry, where are my manners… My name is Shiu. I work as a mercenary for a group called the Ironheart Legion. I'm pretending to be a loyal guard for the Count. Our goal is to expose Reymar's illegal use of slaves and stop his business for good."
I don't understand what he's saying. This man, Shiu… Is he really here to help me? No. He doesn't care about us. He's just following orders, like everyone else.
"I know you're just a child, and you probably don't understand all of this. But please, be patient. We will succeed," he says, trying to comfort me.
His words don't make me feel better at all. They're just empty promises. I realize now that I can only trust myself to survive. I may only be six, but I feel so much older inside, like I've seen and known things that make me wise beyond my years. Maybe it's time I take matters into my own hands and try to escape.
"What will happen now?" I whisper. Shiu looks at me with sadness in his eyes and says, "I'm sorry, little girl. You'll have to go back to Reymar. He'll probably punish you for being gone for so long. You've been unconscious for quite a while. I have to go back too."
I stare at him, listening to his words, but they pass me by like a breeze, like they don't even matter. "Endure as long as you can," he says.
I'm only six.
But somehow, those words feel like the hardest thing in the world.
He stands up, gives me one last look, and walks out without saying anything else. The candlelight flickers as he leaves.
Now, I'm all alone again. I lie back on the soft bed, but it doesn't feel warm anymore.
I know what's waiting for me when I go back upstairs.
I close my eyes, not to sleep, but to hide from everything for just a little while longer.
Tomorrow, I'll survive. Somehow.
But tonight… I'll pretend the stars are still singing.