THE ASHEN COURT

~~XANDER MORTAIN~~

The girl had refused me outright when I insisted on following.

The Fitting House, she said, was forbidden to outsiders. Especially to me. Anika had only met my eyes across the fractured bond and communicated it’s alright… for now.

Then she was gone.

I did not return to the chambers.

I went back to hunting for an exit.

Four hours later, nothing had changed.

Four hours of walking around halls and corridors that folded into each other like a maze. Every service tunnel I found was either collapsed, locked with bolts I could not force quietly, or watched by those blank-eyed guards who moved in...