Siv just stares at the mirror. Her eyes are fixated on her dark pools and her mind is frozen. There is a scary silence filling her room and her head. Not a single thought to break it.
"Why?" She hears herself ask. She blinks away a few tears and straightens her back.
'Why does it have to be this complicated? Why?'
She studies her reflection and recognizes the curves she has hated for years, the dull eyes that she avoided in the bathroom mirror every day, the thirty six year-old average-looking woman that she thought she left back in Budapest.
'Did Siv's body have an expiration date?'
"Ha, totally something that would be real just for my shitty luck." She laughs sarcastically.
'Or maybe it was a Cinderella type of thing, and the magic wore off?'
"Well, prince charming didn't even want the one with the magic..." She stops herself from finishing that thought.
She shakes her head and sighs. This is not the time to be depressed about things.
'I can't stay here. If they find me, I'm screwed.'
Siv tries to organize her thoughts. She tries to make a mental list of things she needs to do. Thankfully it was the middle of the night, so most of the people in the palace are asleep.
"First things first, clothes." Siv walks to her closet and eyes the dresses in there.
She tries a few dresses that seem a bit too big for Siv's tiny waist, but unfortunately, nothing fits.
'Fuck my life. This is like trying clothes at H&M all over again.'
Siv throws the last dress to the floor in frustration.
"Well, I can't really walk out of here naked." Siv searches in her closet a bit more and finds a long brown cape. It looks big enough to fit, she puts it on top of her night gown. "This will do."
She grabs her rapier and a pouch to put all the topaz she can find in it, in addition to her expensive jewelry. She has no idea about prices because since she got here, she never had to pay for things herself.
'I guess I will find out soon enough.'
Siv paces in her room, trying to think of anything else she needs to do. She will probably have to get Veda later. She is not sure what they would do to her since she is her servant. Maybe in a few days after everything calms down. Tove would be fine though, Bjarte wouldn't let anything happen to her.
"The duchess." She remembers.
'It would be nice to still have her support after... or if I ever get Siv's body back. Even though I have no idea how mad she would be after she finds out that I just ran away.'
Siv still writes her a letter, just in case. She tiptoes out of her room, and slides the letter under the duchess' bedroom door. Then, she slowly makes her way out of the villa. She sneaks around the garden, trying to remember the path to the secret passage Gary had shown her. As she gets closer to one of the side entrances to the palace, she hears footsteps. She halts.
'It would be a disaster to run into one of the patrollers, right now.'
But instead of one of the guards, Siv sees Veda walking in the dim lights of the garden.
'At this time? What is she doing…'
A feeling of dread settles in her gut. She starts following her. Veda makes her way while occasionally looking back to make sure nobody is following her. Fortunately, Siv is hiding well so she can't see her. When the maid stops, Siv feels like a bucket of ice water has been poured on her.
"Did you do it?"
"Of course, Your Grace. I gave her the potion pretending it was a tonic."
"Great work, here is your payment." Siv's knees give in and she falls back to the ground. "Remember the plan, you know what you have to do next."
"Yes,Your Grace." Veda bows before the two part ways.
'No fucking way, no, no. Veda…'
Siv sits there for a while, just staring blankly. A chill runs through her body, partly because of her light clothing, but mostly because of her realization. She feels something in her heart, something she has not felt in a very long time. She feels all hope slip away, and finally she feels her heart harden. She needs to protect herself, she can't get hurt by others anymore. Just like Colby said, she can't trust anyone. She probably cannot even trust him fully. But he is the only one who knows everything about her, and can help her through this.
She finally comes back to her senses, she pushes to her feet, and sneaks back to her original path. With determination, she slowly edges closer to the room where the passage is. She enters and immediately opens the secret door. Siv doesn't waste any time descending the stairs, picking up one of the torches, and taking fast steps through the tunnel.
She only sighs in relief when she finds herself out in the woods. It is quite dark, so she decides to take the torch with her. She walks through the trees that look extremely different from the day she came with Gary. They look like there are monsters hidden in every shadow, ready to jump at her at any moment. She gulps and keeps her hand on her sword.
'Can I still ask Gary for help? Damn it. I wasn't even sure he would help me as Siv, I doubt he would help a stranger.'
Siv halts realizing that she has no idea where to go from here. She has no idea where Bluevale is, or how to get there.
"Ugh, I should have gotten a map or something." She decides to stop by Gary's friend's tavern. She'll ask about him and if she can't find him, she'll just have to hire someone to take her there. "Yes, that sounds like a good plan." She prays that she finds it open, she has no idea when bars close in this world. Hopefully they don't close.
'Hopefully, I'll get to Colby in time.'