Prologue
Added 2025-08-07 22:20:48 +0000 UTCI sat on my bed, watching a maid whose name I didn’t know as she placed a peculiar combination of food and a cup of tepid tea on my tray.
Has it been weeks or months since that day in the clearing? It was hard to keep track of time when every day looked the same, framed by this same window, this same room…
As I looked into her stifled expression, a tightness gripped my chest. The maid bowed and smiled at me. Her lips parted, but not even a whisper reached my ears. Not far behind her, I noticed a bird chirping on the windowsill, and yet its throat produced no song.
I couldn't hear the rustle of the curtains as the wind blew by.
I couldn't hear the clanking of my spoon as I placed it down on the plate.
I couldn't hear…
I can't hear, and I don't think I ever will again.
I always liked hearing the birds sing during breakfast. Ela used to say they were the gods' messengers… And yet this was taken from me.
I turned to the maid to ask for some sugar, but as my lips parted, only a muted whisper escaped… And her smile turned sour, her eyes sharpened, and wrinkles formed on the ridge of her nose. I knew this expression. I’d grown accustomed to it.
Disgust.
They all look at me that way.
I stopped my attempts there and, instead, quietly sipped on the bitter cup of tea, barely resisting the urge to spit it out.
This is my life now.
My quiet life.
I looked out the window again, just as I had that morning, running wildly down the halls…
