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I hoped this led to the bedroom.
I wanted to sleep.
To forget.
To hide.
Running my fingers over the carvings, I pitied the poor people skewered on the ends of spears and swords. Horses jumped over corpses, and flags flew in the distance with the crescent moon and single star of my country.
Bracing myself, I pushed the doors apart and gasped at the splendour before me. The wall to my left was entirely made of an antiquated mirror. Tarnished in the corners and speckled throughout, the murky image refracted the room so it seemed there were two beds, two balconies, two potted palm trees.
The bed could house ten people. The pillows piled high with lace, jewels, and silk. A bronze chaise waited at the foot of the bed while lamps made of blown glass with smoky brown swirls stood sentry at the head on either side.
No bedframe, just rivers of silver blankets and perfectly pressed sheets.
I’d never seen anything so inviting.
My body threatened to drop to the floor before I could experience the relief of falling face first into its cloud-like welcome.
I could sleep for decades.
I could sleep until I died...
Something moved amongst the mountains of pillows.
Something dressed in the same glittery silver as the coverings.
Slowly, a girl sat up.
A stunning girl with dark-brown hair styled in floaty waves over her slim shoulders. Her cheekbones were high and her eyelashes so thick they moved like fans over her intense dark eyes.
I froze.
Without a word, she slithered off my bed. The scarves she wore flowed around her like water. They barely covered her breasts and swayed seductively around her legs as she padded barefoot toward me.
I fisted my cane.
I schooled myself not to move.
As she walked past the mirrored wall, I caught sight of myself.
I didn’t recognise the man staring back.
When I’d been bathed, pampered, and dressed in my suit this morning, I hadn’t been given a mirror. I’d been shaved by my father’s personal groomer and dressed by his personal tailor.
I stared into the haunted eyes of a stranger.
The girl reached me.
She was a lot shorter than me. Shorter than someone I used to know in my past. A girl I’d loved. A girl I—
My eyes snapped shut as I scrubbed all memories of her away.
He hurt me the worst whenever I thought of her.
She was pain.
So, so much pain.
