to the castle, the warmth o

its windows tinted with blood-red glass that allowed no true light to pass through. The ver

er silently through the maze of corridors.

missing a face, candles that never melted, doorways

they re

orth

tall, rusted door. "Your

ow. "Isn't this t

of humor. "It's the only one tha

the iron hinges groaning as th

shed, half-forgotten. Velvet curtains hung in tatters. A grand four-poster bed sat beneath

pped forw

ir held a smell of something ancient an

eyes landed o

-framed, it shimmered faintly even in the dark. She caught her refl

ng in it wa

y before she c

-

k stirred t

he door opened-

light behind him. He was still dressed in black, still unreadable. But here, alone

Peach asked,

them," he repl

u decided to visit my chambe

across the disrepair of the North Wing as if it offend

aid. "Before they stopp

ged at the corner of h

ped. There's

something behind his cold gaze-fatigue. Not the kind born from phys

r signed you away," he said fla

, stepping toward h

close now-

t change, but the room felt

is for peace,

stle feel like a war a

e told her

dine in the Great Hall tomorrow. I exp

riate," she ca

oorway. "Something

he hall, leaving the scent of col

-

d long after he left, fingers c

North Wing didn't

elt

ed back at the mirror...

he wa