บท 62: Touching stories

The heavy wooden doors closed behind Esteria with a soft thud, leaving her alone in the dimly lit room with two women who stood by the far wall. Their eyes were fixed on her, their expressions unreadable but laden with suspicion and curiosity. The thick stone walls of the castle muted the distant noises of the world beyond—the shifting of guards in the hallway, the clattering of armor and boots fading as they took their posts outside.

Esteria hesitated for a moment, feeling the weight of their gazes before stepping further into the room. She could sense the tension in the air, the weight of something unspoken. The air was cool and damp, the faint smell of earth and stone lingering in the room. The walls, draped with ancient tapestries, depicted dark scenes of wars long past, thunderous skies, and beings of immense power. A shiver ran down her spine, not from the cold, but from the realization that this place—this castle, this realm—was now her home.