Darkness stirred awake to the sound of muffled breathing around her. The room was still dim, a pale thread of dawn seeping through the single crack in the shutters. She shifted carefully on her mat, the rough cloth pressing against her cheek, and let her eyes wander over the shapes of the nine others sharing the room.
They were close—too close for comfort, their bodies nearly touching, blankets overlapping in the crowded space. Yet nothing had happened. No hands had wandered, no voices had risen in cruelty. Only the sour scent of sweat and damp straw lingered heavy in the air.
For the first time since entering this place, she felt her shoulders relax.
They were not criminals, nor villains waiting to pounce. They were simply people, as poor and cornered by circumstance as she was. A man coughed into his sleeve, thin and hollow-eyed. A young woman clutched her child against her chest, both of them wrapped in a single tattered blanket. An older worker lay flat on his back, still wearing his boots, exhausted beyond care.
Darkness let her breath escape slowly. They're not here because they want to be. None of us are. We all came here because we had no better choice.
She pressed a hand against her chest, where her heart beat steady beneath worn armor. The smell was unpleasant, the air stifling, but she realized the danger she had imagined was not here. Only hardship. Only survival.
She sat up, brushing her tangled hair behind her shoulders, and looked down at her pouch. Thirty-one bronzes. A pitiful sum, but it was hers. She thought of the blade she longed for, the strength she wanted, the freedom that coin could buy.
Her lips curved into the faintest smile. If they can endure this, so can I. But I will not stop here. I will work harder. I will climb out of this life, one coin at a time.
Rising quietly, she adjusted her armor and tightened her belt. She would leave before the others woke, before the stench and the coughing filled the air again. She would hunt, train, scrape every copper she could. And when night fell again, she would return—not defeated, but one step closer to the life she sought.
As she stepped into the cold morning air, Darkness felt lighter. The inn had not broken her spirit. It had sharpened it.