Chapter 6
The man laughed briefly at her sharp reaction and released her. Then he caught Hill as she tried to pull away, forcing her to face him.
“No matter how much you struggle, reality doesn’t change.”
His firm fingers brushed the cheek where damp hair clung.
“How much more despair will it take before you finally become obedient, my Hill?”
* * *
Quite a long time had passed since she’d been captured again and locked away.
Before, she’d at least been allowed to walk outside. Not anymore. Hill couldn’t take a single step beyond her room.
The days blurred together, impossible to measure properly. She counted them roughly by the light that came in, but had no idea how accurate that was.
She wanted to ask the attendants something or anything but everyone who entered her room was deaf and mute. Conversations that left a trace, like writing, were something she herself refused, and so time slipped by endlessly.
If only she knew where this place was…
Hill didn’t even know where she was being held.
It had to be somewhere within the palace. The First Palace? The Second? Or perhaps the most remote, the Seventh? There was almost no sign of activity outside, which made her suspect the Sixth or Seventh.
But then again, if she considered that this might be a trap as well, she lost confidence in even that guess.
That madman might have chosen a location no one would ever expect. It might not even be one of the seven palaces at all.
In any case, it must have been about a month since she’d been brought here. During that time, Hill had done what she could from inside the room to observe the outside. What she’d learned amounted to this:
First, someone was always on guard outside, but they seemed to leave their post once at noon and once at night.
Second, the door was always locked. A deaf and mute woman entered three or four times a day to attend to her needs. Aside from those moments and when the man himself came and went, the door stayed shut.
Third, judging by the way light came in, the window seemed to face directly outside or very close to it.
The times the mute woman visited never overlapped with the guard’s shift, so the first two points weren’t much help.
But the third was different. If her guess was right, escaping through the window could put her outside almost immediately.
The window was just over two hand-spans wide and tall. It wouldn’t be easy, but it wasn’t impossible either.
Whenever she thought that, unease welled up inside her: Isn’t it strange that he’d leave an escape route somewhere so obvious? What if this, too, was part of his scheme? What would he do this time to break her will?
But even so, she couldn’t just give up.
She remembered Aill—smiling through tears, clutching the man’s arm.
She couldn’t betray her sister’s last wish, the one that had demanded she run even at the cost of her life and love. As long as she lived, she had to keep trying to escape him. Even if she failed again and again, even if she tasted humiliation each time.
Still… the last escape had been half a success.
Even if he’d let her go through willful negligence, forcing her all the way to the border couldn’t have been part of his original plan. Thinking that way gave her a sliver of hope.
He isn’t a god. She can do this.
Through the hole you left behind in your arrogance, I’ll escape one day. Boldly, right before your eyes. That will be the best revenge, and the greatest comfort for my dead sister’s soul.
Sharpening that resolve once more, Hill closed her eyes.
3. The Knocking Sound
Several more days passed.
Hill fell asleep at dawn after another night of relentless s*x, then woke late. Faint birdsong drifted in through the window. One of the reasons she believed the window truly faced the outside. Occasionally hearing sounds of nature reinforced that suspicion.
She rose unsteadily and leaned against the wall beneath the window. Closing her eyes, she listened, searching for any other sounds. The day seemed overcast. Little light came in, and the air felt damp. It might rain at any moment.
Rumble—crash!
Sure enough, less than an hour later, rain began to pour. The sound of it reached her faintly inside the room. With her eyes still closed, Hill pictured the rainy scene outside, then stood up. Being confined didn’t mean she could afford to waste her time.
She tidied the room, looking for anything that might be of use. She ate the porridge that had been brought in, then prayed for her sister. Even if her sister lost her life at the tyrant’s hands, her soul might rest in a bright and beautiful paradise.
Thinking of her sister softened her heart again. In a heavy mood, Hill paced the room, then, out of habit, leaned back against the window wall.
Tap. Tap.
The sound of rain striking the ground and the walls came faintly. She listened with her eyes closed.
Tap, tap-tap.
Louder than before.
A few seconds later, Hill’s eyes flew open and she jumped to her feet, clutching her chest as she fought for breath. After hesitating, she pressed her ear to the wall. Beyond the chill of the stone, the sound was clearer now.
Tap. Tap-tap-tap.
The sound of knuckles knocking against the wall.
Just in case—she tapped the wall once in response.
How much time passed, stretched thin by her nerves? At last, mingled with the rain, a voice reached her. Very soft, very low.
“—Is anyone there?”
It was the first voice she’d heard in a month.
Hill almost answered without thinking.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.