In shadowed paths where silence weeps,
And fear in every heartbeat sleeps,
A light unseen may rise anew,
To burn the dark and claim its due.
---
Somewhere in Country R, Elizabeth walked amidst the thick mist of the early morning crowd. Her black cloak fluttered around her, concealing the stark whiteness of her hair, though it couldn't conceal the exhaustion etched into her pale face. The last few weeks had been merciless. After her identity was revealed to Thomas's household, coupled with the strange and inexplicable events surrounding her, she had withdrawn from them entirely. Solitude, she decided, was safer than friendship—or worse, trust.
