Lia opened her eyes in the dim room, reaching towards the nightstand, but she knocked over a vase. She flinched at the sound, then took a deep breath.
She leaned forward, whispering to herself:
"Left. Three steps. Then the wall. "She counted steps, morizing the room in secret, practicing.
A soft bell rang once in the room, from sowhere to her left.
Lia flinched, her head turning the wrong way at first before she sharply corrected herself.
Too late.
"You turned right... When the bell was on your left," said a calm voice from the shadows.
Lia’s throat tightened. "Kesha?"
Kesha stepped into view—or at least into the faint line of light cast by the hallway crack. She held up the small silver bell, letting it dangle from one hand.
"You didn’t follow the sound," she said flatly. "You followed the echo."
Lia sat up straighter, heart pounding. "That’s not true! I just— It was faint. That’s all."
You sound panicked," Kesha noted, calm as ever.
She moved closer, her voice cool. "And today, when you were reaching for the cup? You placed your hand exactly one inch beside it. Every single ti. You tried to thank when I first entered but accidentally spoke to Mozrael. I have to say, you thought fast then, almost tricking ."
"Kesha, stop—"
"When you received the glass, you pretended to look forward because you weren’t sure where it would be presented from, then you dropped it where you thought the table was. You also didn’t know how to bandage Aramith’s head, or where to even bandage. You did that by feel. Apart from that you didn’t see your father when he ca to speak to you, but they alol thought you were looking over his shoulder. How about when Aramith hit—"
"I said stop!" Lia’s voice cracked, panic bubbling to the surface.
"You can’t see clearly, can you?"
Lia stiffened.Kesha stepped out from the shadows, arms folded.
"You’ve been glancing around like you can see everything. But you never really look at anyone. I have—"
"You can’t tell anyone. Please. I-I’m trying to manage it. I just need more ti. If they knew... they’d worry, and I don’t want that. They’ve been through enough—"
"You’ve been through worse."
The silence was loud.
Kesha went back and quietly closed the door. She stood at the foot of the bed, to Lia’s left side, the bell in her hand was quiet now, and her expression was unreadable.
"I gave them the antidote way before they used it. I told them to act fast. But they hesitated. They waited, and now... this is what it’s cost you."
Lia’s eyes brimd with tears she couldn’t hide. "It’s not their fault. They were just—"
"Afraid, skeptical, not trusting." Kesha’s voice was laced with restrained anger. "Fear wastes ti. And ti cost you your vision."
Lia didn’t respond. Her hands were trembling now.
Kesha sighed and set the bell on the nightstand, crouching to pick up the broken pieces of the vase. "It’s not going to get better. The damage is done. Your eyes won’t heal with rest or dicine."
Lia lowered her head. The tears fell, quiet and constant.
"But," Kesha continued, kneeling beside the bed, "you’ll learn to sense everything around you. Like I do. Maybe even better."
Lia blinked. "You...?"
"I’ll teach you. Privately. No one will know you’re blind. Not unless you want them to."
The words were gentle, but firm. Kesha didn’t offer comfort. She offered strength.
Lia looked down at her hands, then slowly turned toward where she thought Kesha’s voice ca from.
"...Why are you helping ?" she whispered.
Kesha paused, then quietly moved to stand before Lia.
"Because," Kesha said softly, "I know what it’s like to carry sothing too heavy alone."
Then, she lowered her voice so more.
"And because you’re the second person here I feel drawn to, naturally."
Lia didn’t know what to say. But her next breath didn’t shake as much.
For the first ti since she woke up... she didn’t feel entirely helpless, and didn’t need to carry that burden alone.
Kesha swept the broken pieces into her palm, each shard clicking like teeth, then offered to help Lia get on her bed.
Lia sat quietly, the tears on her cheeks slowly drying in the cool night air. Kesha hadn’t moved yet. She stayed kneeling at the bedside, watching.
Or maybe studying.
Lia hated that she didn’t know for sure.
"...You’re really not going to tell anyone?" she asked again, voice barely above a whisper.
Kesha stood slowly. "I already told you. I don’t care about their emotions. I care about you surviving this. Because I’m the only one who can save you."
She picked up the silver bell from the nightstand, examining it.
"Tomorrow," she added, "we start small. I’ll help you map out this room. Every sound, texture, and distance. You’ll walk it without needing eyes. You’ll own it."
Lia felt a jab in her heart. She was sure Kesha didn’t realize when she used the word walk
She wiped her face with her sleeve, trying not to sniffle. "You talk like... like you’ve done this before."
Kesha didn’t answer imdiately. Then carefully explained.
"I had to learn how to read people who lied. To survive in places where no one would tell the truth. You learn to listen for the shift in soone’s breathing. The difference between footsteps full of guilt... and the ones that want to hurt you."
Lia stared down at her lap. "That sounds lonely."
Kesha gave a small shrug. "It was."
Silence fell again, but this one wasn’t heavy. Just still. Like the air between two stars drifting close enough to finally feel one another’s warmth.
"I—" Lia started, but paused, her grip on the bedsheets tightening. She could feel Kesha’s gaze- she was sure of it.
"I wish I could see their faces again." She finally spoke what was heaviest in her heart, and the tears ca out again. Kesha got onto the bed, gently holding her hand.
Lia spoke again with trembling lips. "I was stuck in a nightmare where I couldn’t move and all was darkness. I could hear their voices, but...I never could wake up."
Lia turned to where she thought Kesha’s face was, and Kesha carefully moved her head to face Lia. "Do you know darkness can be felt? It’s very thick and cold. When I woke up, I could see everything blurred, and I thought my vision would clear, but a few hours later, I couldn’t see anything. I feared I was going back into that nightmare, but this was different— This was real."
"That...must have been hard to process," Kesha tried to console.
Lia smiled at Kesha. "Mozrael was right. You’re not really a bad person."
"No, I’m not," Kesha confird.
Lia lowered her voice. "Today was very difficult for . I wondered what kind of expression Mozrael and Aramith had, but their faces were blank. Father’s and mother’s too. I think—" The words were in her throat, but she was finding it difficult to say them, finding it difficult to confirm them. She let out a sigh as more quiet tears dropped from her eyes.
"I’ve forgotten what they look like. All I know now is their voices. And you...I’ve never even seen you before, so I can never try."
Kesha was silent. Of all the puzzles she’d dissected in her life... this one—blindness—felt the cruelest. So blindness could be cured, but Lia’s was different. The worms had eaten away at parts of her eyes internally.
She had a thought on how to restore Lia’s vision, but it was a dangerous thod that could make things worse, so she could not give her false hope like that.
The thod was all a theory she had, and she needed to experint on it before she could apply it, for if she did it without certain results, the backlash could be too much to recover from.
"Don’t worry too much about it, Lia." Her voice was gentle.
Lia smiled properly this ti. "Thank you, this is the first ti you’ve ntioned my na since we t."
"Well, I have to recognize the sister who will bless my marriage with her brother."
This made Lia laugh. "No, I like you, but I still won’t approve. You’re not coming into our family and stealing Aramith away from and Mozrael like that."
"You’ll change your mind." Kesha chuckled.
"Well, we’ll see about that in due ti."
They sat in silence awhile, then Kesha breathed through her nose. Today was a long day, and we both need rest.— Kesha rose to her feet, then turned toward the door.
She paused, hand on the fra. "One last thing."
Lia looked up—her eyes slightly off, not quite eting her.
"Don’t pretend in front of again," Kesha said, not unkindly. "I don’t like liars. Even sweet ones."
Lia gave a weak, embarrassed smile. "I’ll try." She had hope and trust in Kesha now. She had to quickly learn before she found herself in situations where she needed sight.
Kesha stepped out into the hall but added quietly, just before the door clicked shut:
"...Sleep easy, Blind Princess. Tomorrow, you’ll learn to see."
But Kesha couldn’t help but be intrigued...the girl was the playful and cheerful type. She never expected that she’ll be the type to try to shoulder such a burden alone.
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