The night was unnervingly quiet. The palace walls, usually filled with the faint sounds of scurrying servants and muffled whispers, were now hushed in a foreboding silence. Moxie lay in bed, staring up at the dark ceiling, her thoughts swirling around Liora and the looming figure of the emperor.
She couldn't sleep. Not tonight. Not after what had happened. As the hours dragged on, Moxie felt a growing sense of resolve. She needed to do something, anything, to protect the others from meeting a fate similar to Liora's. She couldn't sit idly by and wait for her turn in this twisted game.
Slowly, Moxie rose from her bed, careful not to make a sound. She crept across the cold floor, her eyes adjusting to the darkness as she slipped out of the dormitory. The hallway stretched out before her, an endless tunnel of shadows. Her heart pounded in her chest, but she pushed down the fear. This was no time for second thoughts.
Her mind kept replaying the conversation she had overheard in the kitchen earlier that day. The whispers about a hidden place within the palace, a room filled with secrets that the warden kept under lock and key. If she could just find it, maybe she could learn something—anything—that could help them.
Moxie made her way through the labyrinth of hallways, ducking behind pillars whenever the faint sound of footsteps approached. The air was cool, almost chilling, and each breath she took felt like a gust of wind against her skin. Finally, she reached the corridor where the whispers had indicated the secret room lay hidden.
"Here goes nothing," she muttered to herself, peering around the corner. Her eyes locked onto a door at the far end of the hall, guarded by thick wooden panels and a heavy iron lock. It didn't look like much, just another door in the endless sea of identical corridors, but Moxie had a gut feeling this was the place.
She approached the door, pressing her ear against the wood. Silence. Taking a deep breath, Moxie reached out, her fingers brushing against the cold iron of the handle. It was locked, of course, but she had come prepared. Pulling a thin wire from her pocket—a tool she had swiped from the kitchen a few days ago—she set to work on the lock.
Minutes passed like hours as she fumbled with the wire, her nerves fraying with each failed attempt. Finally, there was a faint click. The lock gave way. Moxie glanced over her shoulder, her heart pounding as she slowly pushed the door open and slipped inside.
The room was pitch black, the air thick with the scent of dust and old parchment. Moxie felt along the wall until her fingers brushed against the stub of a candle. She pulled out a match from her pocket and struck it, the tiny flame illuminating the room in a dim, flickering glow.
Her eyes widened as the light revealed rows of shelves, lined with scrolls and books. This was a library of secrets, a place where knowledge that the emperor didn't want the world to see was stored away. Moxie's gaze swept over the shelves, searching for anything that might give her a clue on how to fight back.
One scroll, in particular, caught her eye. It was bound with a deep red ribbon, different from the others. She grabbed it and carefully unrolled it on a nearby table. The words were written in an old script, but she could just make out their meaning.
"...the emperor's law: to divide and control, to separate the strong from the weak…" Moxie read aloud, her voice trembling. The scroll detailed how the girls were sorted, manipulated, and broken down to serve the emperor's will. It outlined the warden's role in enforcing these cruel laws, and, most importantly, it mentioned the emperor's hidden fears of a potential rebellion from within.
Moxie's heart raced. This was the information they needed. If the girls knew that the emperor feared them—feared their strength, their unity—they could use that knowledge to their advantage. A plan began to form in her mind, a risky, dangerous plan that could either set them free or seal their fate.
Suddenly, a noise from outside the room made her freeze. Footsteps echoed down the hall, growing louder by the second. Moxie's breath caught in her throat as she quickly rolled the scroll back up, stuffing it into her cloak. She snuffed out the candle and slipped behind one of the shelves, her heart pounding.
The door creaked open, and a beam of light spilled into the room. Moxie held her breath, pressing herself against the cold stone wall as the warden stepped inside. Her eyes scanned the room, suspicion etched on her face.
"Who's there?" the warden called out, her voice slicing through the silence. Moxie's fingers dug into the rough wall, her mind racing for a way to escape. The warden took a few steps further into the room, her eyes narrowing as she glanced around.
Moxie knew she couldn't stay hidden for long. Her eyes darted toward the open door, calculating the distance. It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, she pushed off the wall and darted toward the door, her movements swift and silent.
The warden spun around, her eyes widening. "Stop!" she yelled, lunging forward, but Moxie was faster. She slipped through the door and sprinted down the corridor, her feet barely making a sound on the stone floor.
She didn't stop running until she reached the safety of the dormitory, slamming the door shut behind her. Her chest heaved with exertion, and she doubled over, clutching the scroll tightly against her chest. She had done it. She had found the key to their resistance.
Moxie glanced around the room at the sleeping forms of the other girls, her resolve hardening. Tomorrow, she would tell them what she had found. Tomorrow, they would start to plan. The emperor feared them, and that fear was their weapon.
As she climbed back into bed, Moxie's mind raced with the possibilities. This was just the beginning. They had been pawns in the emperor's game for far too long, and now it was time to turn the tables.
The warden might have caught a glimpse of her tonight, but that didn't matter. Moxie wasn't going to stop. The emperor had underestimated them, and he would soon learn the cost of his arrogance.
With the scroll safely tucked under her pillow, Moxie closed her eyes, a flicker of determination sparking within her. The warden had made her move, but now it was Moxie's turn. The game was changing, and she would make sure they were the ones to rewrite the rules.