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“Light shines from the castle!” Alina stopped brushing her long blonde hair to cast a doubtful expression at her elderly cabin mate. There hadn’t been light coming from Castle Sanguine’s dismal windows for decades. Alina had grown up in the village of Lyrisa, one of many that dotted the mountainous region known as Relicium, and she couldn’t remember a single night where anything but shadows and darkness came from the castle. It stood like a bleak sentinel, halfway up the mountain that overlooked the village and the rest of the valley; its far side perched on the seemingly precarious edge of a cliff that dropped sharply into the sea. Constructed entirely of dark grey granite, it had long ago been overrun by vines that crept like tendrils of some unknown evil, clinging to the walls on all sides. Rumors, legends, and ghost stories abounded as to why the castle stood abandoned, but no living villager, from the aristocrats to the servants, knew the truth. None had ever dared to enter it unless summoned by a Gatekeeper to perform some sort of repair or other task important to the preservation of the structure and its surrounding grounds. There wasn’t even living memory of a member of the Sanguine family visiting the castle, let alone the village. It was known however, that there were at least three Sanguine Lords and from somewhere, Ankara escort far from the village, they were still exacting taxes on the people. Still ruling. Every harvest, a team of men all clad in black clothes and shining silver armor would descend on the village and take the portion from each household that was owed for the year. It was a frightful ordeal for most people and a dreaded time of the year for all. So, it was with great trepidation that Alina realized the truth of old Corina’s words as she peered into the night for herself. Indeed light shown from the castle’s myriad windows giving the impression that some hulking stone beast watched them with hungry eyes from the shadows. It took everything in her to stifle a gasp at the sight and she couldn’t stop her heart’s relentless thundering. Nothing about the light bode well for them. It was like living near the base of a volcano and seeing the first meager puffs of smoke for the first time in ages. It was harrowing. A renewed sense of dread crept into Alina’s soul. Not the usual dread that was a nearly constant companion, but something altogether different. Something richer, denser. Darker. “Perhaps a Gatekeeper has come to inspect the old place for needed improvements?” Corina’s frail voice asked, its brittle notes tinged with Ankara escort bayan a hope that neither of them truly felt. Gatekeepers usually came in secret, cloaked in mystery. The villagers usually knew of their arrival only once they’d been long gone. Only those who were summoned to the castle to make the necessary improvements actually saw the Gatekeepers and even then their minds were wiped clean of any memory of their physical appearance. Not once had a Gatekeeper come and made such a bold gesture to announce their arrival. No, this was something new. And new to most of the people of Lyrisa was almost never a good thing. Alina shook her head. “I don’t think so, Mi Corina,” she said with a weary sigh. Her body was exhausted from yet another long day working on the estate of one of Relicium’s wealthiest families. The Antonovs, whose patriarch, Grigori Antonov was a Knight of the Highest Order, were the most powerful family in Lyrisa. In the absence of the Sanguines they ruled the village with an iron fist, exacting their own taxes and enforcing their own laws. Alina was a maidservant in their house and her mistress, Grigori’s only daughter, was little better than a slave driver. Yulia Antonov with her shining black hair and eyes of midnight blue was nigh irresistible to most males. Escort Ankara But her dark eyes reflected a black soul. As ugly on the inside as she was beautiful on the outside and for some reason she hated Alina with a passion that bordered on pathological obsession. Alina didn’t know what she’d done to incur Yulia’s wrath and suspected that her mistress’ hatred was natural born, having nothing to do with any action, deed, or intent on her part. No, since they were children – Yulia was but two years older than Alina – Yulia had been hell-bent on torturing her. Alina suspected that her weary body wanted nothing more than to lie down and sleep until dawn, but her sharp mind was now fixed on the puzzle of the castle’s newfound light. She sat down on the windowsill and gently patted Corina’s shoulder. “Go to sleep, Corina. I will watch for signs of trouble.” The old woman, who had been as a mother to her, wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “You need sleep just as much as I do, Piccola. Cease this foolishness and come to bed.” Bed? Alina cast a glance at the small cot that the two of them shared. It was nearly falling apart, riddled with shards of wood that threatened splinters at every angle. She couldn’t help but to think of the opulent and over-sized bed that nearly filled Yulia’s bedchamber. And it was just for her, not shared with another soul. At length, Alina shook her head. “I couldn’t sleep if I wanted to, Corina. Dreams beckon me with mysterious things I do not wish to encounter. I fear that seeing the light from the castle will only make things worse for me.” Corina’s expression was one of worry.
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