Enid was still huddled in her corner, silent tears tracing fresh paths down her cheeks, when the heavy oak door swung inward without a sound. A woman, an actual lady dressed in a severe but well-made dull black gown, entered pushing a polished wooden trolley. She was middle-aged, pleasantly plump, and she wore a gentle, welcoming smile on her face. Enid sniffled, hastily wiping at her tears with the back of her hand even though they refused to stop pouring. The lady's smile faltered immediately, shifting into an expression of deep concern. She stopped the trolley in front of Enid and knelt, her skirts pooling around her.
"Did the Lord do anything to you?" she asked, her voice soft and hushed, as if there was anything she could possibly do if Enid's answer was positive.
Enid gave a small, negative shake of her head, unable to form words.
The lady's shoulders relaxed slightly. "Then it must be because you are in a strange place," she said, her smile returning as she stood and began to dish food onto a delicate porcelain plate from the array of covered silver dishes on the trolley. The aromas of roasted meat, herbs, and warm bread filled the air, making Enid's stomach clench with a sudden, painful hunger. "Don't worry, my dear. Everyone here is very sweet and friendly."
"Are… are there other humans here?" Enid asked, her voice small and hopeful.
The lady's cheerful demeanor didn't waver. "No, I am the only human here. Every other person is the Lord's shadow guard," she said, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "But they are very sweet too." She handed the heaping plate to Enid.
Enid looked at the food, then at the woman, her expression clouded with uncertainty. The lady urged her on with a sweet, encouraging smile. Finally, Enid took the plate. She took a tiny, cautious bite, as if testing for poison, then another. The tank opened. She began to wolf the food down, her manners forgotten in the face of her first real meal in weeks.
The lady watched her with a look of profound pity, her eyes soft. "I am Sarah, and I will be your personal maid," she introduced herself.
Enid almost choked on her food. Personal maid? The words echoed in her mind. What was going on? Was there no immediate death for her, as she had feared? Or was this a prolonged gentler form of torture? Sarah placed a crystal cup of cool water by her side, and Enid gulped it down gratefully.
Sarah continued tidying the room as Enid ate. "What about you? I heard you are the powerful witch that wiped out Gultra," she said conversationally.
Enid paused, her fork hovering mid-air. She looked up at Sarah, her grey eyes instantly filling with fresh, watery despair. "I don't know what they are talking about. I did nothing."
Sarah's smile didn't break, but it became a little fixed, a little placating. "I know, I know," she said, but the words lacked the ring of true belief. It was the tone one used to humor a child telling a fantastical story.
Silence reigned for a while, broken only by the clink of Enid's fork and the soft rustle of Sarah straightening the velvet drapes. Finally, her hunger sated enough to allow for coherent thought, Enid spoke again, her voice timid. "That man from earlier… The scary man with silver hair…"
She didn't even need to complete her sentence. Sarah turned, her face instantly transforming with a look of pure reverence. "That's the Lord of the Castle. This Castle. The Eastern Castle. Lord Ezra Razakel."
Enid's blood ran cold. The fork slipped from her numb fingers and clattered onto the fine porcelain plate. "I am in the Eastern Castle?" she whispered, the name itself feeling like a curse on her lips.
Sarah's head bobbed with a vigorous, positive nod. "Oh, yes, dear!"
Enid felt the world tilt. She must have slipped into a dream after leaving the settlement office and had yet to wake up. What in God's name was happening? Didn't that mean her incomprehensible buyer was the Lord? Everyone knew the story, a tale whispered not just in the cities surrounding the steep but in every city beyond. The sky had turned a sickly, bruised purple that year. There had been a cataclysmic power break out in the worlds beyond that of humans, and the very atmosphere on their side had curdled. Demons had begun to migrate en masse, and this broken balance had caused the evolved animals. Until Ezra appeared. He had terrified the demons that had fled here; they claimed he was the one who had caused the cataclysm in their world and for that, he had been banished here. He had simply claimed the Eastern part of the steep cities, and out of sheer, pants-wetting fear, the humans had made him Lord of the Eastern Castle. He had a very pressing and dangerous aura but he harmed no human, unless of course they crossed his boundaries but none of those demons had the opportunity to go back. It was said he took life from them and remade them into his shadow servants, the deadliest beings to ever walk the land. As for Ezra himself, he was a specter, a myth, hardly ever seen except on matters demanding the highest, most terrifying attention. Even a baby born in the steep city was taught to fear the name Ezra and to never, ever approach the Eastern Castle.
"Don't look so scared," Sarah chirped, misreading her stunned horror for simple anxiety. "The Lord is actually kind."
Enid's frightful expression remained frozen. She would be the world's greatest fool to believe that. The man had almost killed her minutes ago simply because she was crying.
"Well, come on now," Sarah said, brushing aside the dark mood. "Eat up."
Once Enid had finished, Sarah led her through an adjoining door into a lavish bathing chamber. Steam rose from a sunken tub already filled with water. Sarah helped her out of the threadbare rag and into the blissfully hot water, working patiently to detangle the nest of her long black hair with sweet-smelling oils. She scrubbed away two weeks of grime and fear until Enid's skin was pink and clear.
Afterward, Sarah helped her into a new gown of soft, luxurious crimson silk. It flowed around her, the fabric whispering against her clean skin. Sarah led her to a full-length mirror.
Standing before it, Sarah could hardly believe it was the same girl from an hour ago. Clean, her silky black hair falling in a sleek cascade over her shoulders, the elegant gown accentuating her slight frame, Enid was naturally, breathtakingly beautiful. Her large doe grey eyes, now clear of grime, were wide and luminous. Her skin was pale and flawless, and her plump pink lips parted in awe slightly. She looked every ounce the sweet and innocent girl she claimed to be, and the crimson silk made her ethereal beauty somehow more profound, more mesmerizing.
"You are so beautiful," Sarah said, her voice catching with sudden, unexpected emotion.
But all Enid could feel as she stared at the stranger in the glass was a deep, profound discomfort. The gown was exquisite, the girl reflected was lovely, but it was a costume. This polished, pristine creature was not her. She felt like a prized animal being groomed for a show, and the uncertainty of what came next was more terrifying than any dark cell.