_Screech!
The faint creak of glass echoed through the dark chamber as her nails dragged across the windowpane.
A shrill, almost metallic sound, soft at first, then sharper, like a whisper turning into a scream.
She leaned against the cold surface, her breath fogging the glass before fading away.
The light outside barely reached her, filtered through layers of frost and dust that clung to the window.
Beyond it, snow fell quietly over the garden, flakes tumbling like slow-moving stars.
Servants and knights stood beneath the pale glow of lanterns, laughing and enjoying.
Their muffled voices reached faintly through the glass, full of warmth that didn't belong inside that room.
Her reflection in the window looked half-ghost, half-girl, eyes hollow, lips pale, hair tangled across her shoulders.
The tattered hem of her dress brushed against the marble floor, leaving faint trails of dirt where she had walked.
