Aria wasn't surprised when, just moments later, the door to her room creaked open again.
But this time, there was no tension in her shoulders, no fear crawling up her spine—because she instantly knew who it was. The way the door was shut softly. The faint, near-silent steps that followed were careful and measured, but familiar.
Rymora.
Aria turned her head slightly to confirm it, and sure enough, her maid stood there in the doorway, her expression morphing into one of stunned disbelief the second her eyes landed on Aria.
It wasn't just the chains attached to the iron cuffs clasped around Aria's wrist and bound to the wall behind her.
