Chapter 7 What i heard

Elara's POV

I didn't sleep much that first night, which I suppose I should have expected. The bed was soft, but the room was cold. The empty fireplace offered nothing to keep out the chill settling over the castle. I lay there wide awake in the dark, listening to a palace that made almost no sound at all, which was somehow worse than if it had been loud.

Ashenvale's palace always had noise somewhere. Even at night, a guard's heavy boots on stone, a servant moving through the halls, the distant murmur of the kitchens starting their work before dawn. Ravencrest had none of that. It was the kind of silence that felt deliberate.

Around midnight, unable to lie still any longer, I got up and wrapped myself in one of the thick robes from the wardrobe.

I told myself I only meant to look out the window again, to watch the dead gardens a while longer and nothing more.

But my feet carried me straight toward the door instead. Before I had fully decided whether to go out or to sit back down, I was stepping into the dark corridor, candle in hand, the icy stone floor biting right through my slippers.

As I walked through the corridor, everything was silent and dark. When I got to east part of the corridor near the second door, I heard a sound, a crackling sound like objects breaking.

I tried going closer to listen to what was there, but then I stopped.

I heard chairs falling to the floor, tables hitting the wall, bottles crashing, and mirrors shattering. I heard noises like someone violently smashing items inside.

Then came the sound. An animalistic sound, a horrible sound, like someone in agonizing pain, someone being tormented, feeling miserable and crying for help.

It came rushing together all at once, repeating itself again and again.

On the third time, I searched up and down the corridor, but I saw no one. No one was outside.

No guards, no maids. I was completely alone in the dark corridor.

Then I heard a body banging against the door. At first, it was slow, but then it began to increase. Soon, whatever was inside was pounding against the wood aggressively, accompanied by those same howls and cries of intense, tormented agony.

Right then, I was scared to death. I didn't know whether to go in, or open the door, or just stand completely still.

Then I remembered Jessica's words. I remembered the other maid's warning. They had told me that no matter what happened, I shouldn't be down here, and I must never open that door.

Immediately after I heard a second cry and another violent bang against the wood, I turned and ran back to my room. I slammed the door shut, locked it tight, and sat on my bed with my heart pounding.

My heart was palpitating as if it would leap right out of my chest.

I wondered, what was that? Who was that? Were they killing somebody in there? Was it an animal, or was it the prince himself? To all those questions, I had no answers.

I didn't sleep for the rest of the night. I sat there in the dark staring at the door, half terrified that whatever was inside that room might break through and come down to my wing.

Somewhere outside my window, a sudden gust of wind picked up out of nowhere, rattling the glass pane hard enough to make me flinch.

I sat upright with my chest heaving, wondering distantly whether that strange, heavy burst of wind had come from the sky or from the palace itself, because it was so strangely heavy.

By the time the first grey light of morning crept through the curtains, I still hadn't closed my eyes once. I forced myself off the bed and dressed slowly, giving my hands time to steady.

I went over to the vanity and sat down in front of the tall mirror. When the young maid slipped into the room carrying a pitcher of warm water, she took one look at my pale, shaken face reflected in the glass and went entirely quiet.

"Good morning, my lady. You are up early, and your eyes are swollen," she whispered, her voice trembling as she set the pitcher down on the washstand.

"Good morning," I said, my voice barely steady.

"What is your name again?"

"Mira," she replied softly.

She dipped a soft cloth into the basin of warm water, wrung it out gently, and stood behind my chair to place the damp warmth against the back of my tense neck to relax. She kept her eyes lowered, using her free hand to help thread the dress laces on my sleeves. Her hands were cold and shaking so badly that she could barely hold the ribbons.

"Did you rest well?" she asked quietly, trying to keep her tone polite.

"Not at all," I replied, watching her face closely in the tall mirror. "The palace is terrifying at night."

Mira's fingers stilled on my sleeve, and in the glass, I saw pure terror wash over her features. Her breath caught in her throat, her eyes widening in horror as she met my gaze through the mirror.

"It is just the wind, my lady," she stammered, her voice cracking as she tried to pull herself together. "Old castles make strange noises when the cold sets in."

"That wasn't the wind," I said softly, turning my head to look at her directly. "I went down that corridor."

The damp cloth slipped from her hands, landing heavily on the floor.

"You went down there?" Mira whispered, her face going completely ghost-white. "My lady, no. Please tell me you didn't."

"I heard tables hitting walls, glass shattering, and something howling in pain," I said, my chest tightening as I recalled the memory.

"And then I heard something body-slam right against the door. I barely made it back to my room."

Mira dropped to her knees, scrambling to pick up the cloth with hands that were trembling uncontrollably. When she looked up at me from the floor, her eyes were swimming with genuine, desperate fear.

"I am begging you, Lady Elara, do not ever go down there again," she pleaded, her whisper frantic and barely audible. "Whatever you hear, stay in your room and lock your door. You got lucky last night, but if you go back down that hall, it will not go smoothly next time. It might not go smoothly at all."

I stared at her, the gravity of her warning sinking deep into my chest. Before I could ask who or what was inside that room, Mira quickly stood up, smoothing down her apron and stepping back.

"I must finish dressing you quickly, my lady," she said, her tone suddenly hurried as she wiped her hands. "In half an hour, you are expected downstairs. You will be having breakfast with the Dowager Queen."