The chamber was vast and silent, the kind of silence that pressed upon the ears until even a breath felt too loud. The canopy of the bed stretched above Lissa like the vault of a cathedral, its velvet curtains heavy with embroidered sigils of the Evandale line. Candles flickered in tall wrought stands, their flames bending as if whispering secrets to the stone walls. Beyond the window, the moon poured a pale light upon the courtyard, turning the flagstones silver and the shadows into pools of ink.
Lissa lay sprawled on the bed, her arms stretched like a marionette abandoned after a play. The mattress sank beneath her, softer than any she had ever known. Yet the comfort did not reach her chest; her thoughts were sharp thorns pricking through every layer of silk. She stared upward, the painted ceiling blurring as questions gnawed at her mind.
"How did I even come to be here?" she whispered to no one, her voice fragile in the cavernous room.
