The next day I made my way to the isolated hallways to check on the rooms. Tynan had told me no one lived there since long but I remembered seeing 𝘢𝘯𝘥 hearing those ladies. The room looked organized enough to know someone regularly visits; or lives there. What if some criminals or traitors used it as shelter? Did no one in the palace know of the use of this place? When I saw the room grow closer, my steps became lighter and I did my best to completely conceal myself in the shadowy hallway. Just as I was about to peek through the window, I heard loud shuffling noises and nearly jumped when the door opened. I moved back to get a better look at who came out. It was the same old lady who had opened the door for me the day I had arrived. My eyes flew open as she walked in that concerning posture of hers, her grey hair falling forward messily. She was the housekeeper of the palace. For a minute I thought she was looking straight at me, but she just walked past without stopping. I sighed in relief and stayed in that hidden position for as long as I could. Finally moving, I peeked in through the window and saw no one. The room was unlit and I had heard the lady lock it. I moved towards the door, studying its lock. Unlike all the other components of the whole building, the lock looked new and promising. I tried a few lock picking techniques but none of them seemed to work. Frustrated, I tapped my feet on the floor impatiently. Without wasting anymore time, I made my way to the left.
Just like yesterday, I found the black door in the hallways. I grabbed a flame torch from the wall and opened it again. To my utter surprise, it was locked. I put the torch aside and tried to open it again. The previous day it had opened easily, without any creaks or force. Had someone locked it? I nodded in answer to myself. This meant the building was in constant and active use.
Feeling miserable about my failure, I made my way back. Suddenly, passing through the old room, I heard someone knock. I looked and saw two ladies standing in front. I quickly moved to the side, breathing heavily. "Password?" Laughed the old housekeeper from inside the room. She was back. I was glad to have left early. One of the ladies whispered lightly, sounding like she was giggling. She had a huge body, with hair loss and a gap between her teeth. Her voice was high and excited. The other moved too, without making sound. She wore a bodice twice her size, barely hanging on; with her face veiled completely. She looked tall and slim; and mute. She flashed a paper toward the glass on the door. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥.
The old lady let them in. I tried peeking through the window but was scared to be spotted by any of them. The ladies inside didn't talk much, just shuffling through pages of a book and sighing irritably upon not finding whatever they ought to look for. They had a goal, but didn't seem to be getting close to achieving it. 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥.
Before sunset, I hurried back into the palace through quick and secluded routes with the help of my copy of Tynan's map. I had heard someone's presence in the garden and didn't want to come off as suspicious. When I entered my room, my steps froze. Sitting there was Tynan, with Zoya practically throwing herself on him. I was so mad at both of them that it didn't affect me. I just collapsed on my bed. Tynan got up quickly, "Asra, I came looking for you. Where have you been all day?"
I just shrugged and heard nothing else as sleep laid its blanket over me. When I woke up, my body was stiff and my legs still hung from my bed. I had drooled over my blanket and when I got up, my knees wobbled. I felt feverish. Then I remembered I had forgotten to eat. Even more anger bubbled inside me. It was Tynan and his dirty friends that made me exhausted. I couldn't stand them. And in all this hatred I had no time for myself. Tynan had changed, and it was time I did too. The last we talked about something other than apologies and spying was back at the palace; and that seemed like years ago. I went outside, trying not to let my hunger make me more livid. I fumbled the map in my hands, trying to look for the kitchen.
"What are you doing here?" I turned around to see Ignis standing at the back of the hallway. His huge body towered over me as he sauntered close, eyebrows raised. "You've been acting so weird. Interests me. Tynan was looking for you like crazy yesterday. Stupid him, you seem to be aiming way higher. A prince? Cozbi's husband? Tsk tsk."
"Mind. Your. Own. Business," I uttered, glowering at him.
"What? If? I? Don't?" He said, coming closer until there was mere air between us.
I pushed him aside. "I'm here for food. Leave me alone."
"Me too," He said, countering my movements. "Which is why I can't leave you alone." He leered at me.
I decided to just run back to my room. Before I could, Ignis grabbed my arm and pulled me back. At that instant I almost took out my dagger, almost. But then I didn't. I just dropped my hands and stopped struggling. Ignis stopped too, confused. Then, I pulled out my weakest and most basic move. I bit his arm with great force. His hard biceps tore open under my teeth and I felt blood leak. I spat it at his face as he yowled in pain. "You'll regret this." He hissed. Before running I whispered, "Go tell your friends you couldn't handle your horniness and decided to assault me. And 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 you got bit. Let's see who regrets it later."
I felt like puking as the metallic taste of Ignis' blood lasted on my tongue while I ran. I licked my shirt to get rid of it and kept running. I couldn't show my skills to them just yet. I wanted to come off as weak and naive. Or if I didn't, I was afraid I'd not stop. I came in my room, panting. I covered my mouth as to not wake Zoya up and went inside the bathroom to clean up.