DAY 52-2: DECK TOWER

Leda spares a sharp survey of the room, noting the petite bed and ivory walls and decor, down to the ceramic floor. Then, she dangles a set of keys before her eyes—the batch she’d swiped from Nia’s pocket without her knowledge.

Attaining them was far too easy, really. Especially considering Nia shamelessly showed her where she placed it.

The corners of Leda’s mouth curve upward.

Talking with Nia truly has been enlightening.

Hunching her torso, Leda extends the swirly key she remembers Nia used into the lock. Despite being unable to see its entirety in the blindspot she’s in, she cranks it anyway. Clicking, it falls and hits the ground. Leda triumphantly pushes open the cage and wriggles right out.

Stretching her limbs have never felt more invigorating.

Exhaling loudly, she situates her palm to her hip. Now, then...

When an enticing, mouth-watering scent wafts into the air, it succeeds in snatching her focus. She lifts the dish’s cover, exposing a pile of juicy meat. Trusting it after everything would be a bit naive on her part. However, Nia’s words are intriguing in their own notion.

As if somehow aware about her stomach pain, she told her to ‘satiate her appetite’, implying eating would somehow solve it. And going off these garments she’s bestowed and how easily it was to steal the keys, Leda can be assured this Nia isn’t as dangerous as ‘Master Rhett.’

That said, taking a bite out of this meat can either instantly kill her or heal her right up.

The avid gambler in her takes the fifty-fifty chance.

She plops a piece of the jerky-esque meat into her mouth. Straightaway, her tongue palate dances.

It’s absolutely delicious.

She scoops up the entire plate at that. Death aside, if this is the last meal she’ll be graced with it’s a risk she has to take.

She needs to remember to ask ‘Rhett’ what exactly this is before she gives him hell for kidnapping and trapping her naked in a cage.

That in mind, Leda ambles towards the doorway and stuffs her cheeks with the delicious delicacy. Balancing the plate in her arm, she rotates the knob, and fortunately, it twists like any other door.

She saunters into the hall.

The floors and walls are cleansed to the point where her reflection can be seen in them; the pillars dusted so they shimmer as well. Even a red carpet lines the floor, leading the way in this extravagant hall.

Leda oohs at every nook and cranny of this palace-like tower, chewing softly as she scours the gigantic metallic suits of armour she passes. They appear to originate from a medieval time period. Frankly, the eeriness of them constitute the idea that they’ll suddenly start moving like in the movies.

Her surroundings since she was little consisted of nothing but darkness, dreary streets, alcohol and rundown establishments. And yet here she is, walking through nothing short of a fairy tale.

She’s always been unlucky. Always in the wrong place at the wrong time. Constantly chased and pelted out of cities for stealing from shopping districts. Witnessing the deaths of the people closest to her over and over again.

There seemed to be no aspect of her life that can be considered fortunate.

She wasn’t born with good looks. Her clothes tend to be in a constant torn state. Her family members are all dead.

Even the fact that she sleeps in alleyways since she can’t afford a proper place to live is able to sum up her life in a nutshell.

That’s why when she tries to discern this all, she can’t.

Where exactly did Rhett bring her?

“Find him!”

The shout momentarily jolts Leda from her daze. She freezes, peering out from around one of the glassless windows into the neighbouring garden. Heavy footfalls thunder through the grass, a copious herd of armoured men fading into the distance.

“Master Rhett made it clear we get him into the tower!”

“That pesky wolf! Why does he always flee?”

Leda flutters her eyelashes. Wolf...? They have wolves running around here too?

Frowning, she cocks her head to the side before stuffing another mouthful of the tasty meat into her mouth. She aims her attention back to the vacant hall ahead and hops up a flight of cobblestone steps that would normally deplete all the stamina she has in her. For some reason, however, the meat she’s eaten makes the journey easier.

Her headache has practically faded, and the pain in her stomach is gone too. The wonders good food can do is indisputable.

She arrives before tall doors at the topmost step. It towers over her, and the design is peculiar. Four faces carrying four distinct symbols. A spade, heart, clover and diamond.

Albeit puzzled, Leda nudges the notion aside. She bumps it open a crack, peering into the grandiose room.

It’s exquisite. The walls are covered in wallpapers, vibrant under the glow of the sun outside. The desk in the centre of the room is covered in books and paperwork, with the nearby bookcase completely empty.

Leda stalks up to the desk, scanning the surfaces of the hardcovers. They’re the familiar alphabet she’s grown up with, but none particularly flow. Y’s beside t’s, b’s beside d’s. It’s almost gibberish.

She flips through one of the books.

Correction: It is gibberish.

Past the outdated black feather and ink accompanying four scrolls on the desk, Leda spots something shimmer at the corner of her eye. The design draws her to what sits there. Setting down the plate and using her ungreased hand, she elevates it for a closer look.

“What a beautiful hourglass...”

There’s a loud sound—an uncountable number of books crashing to the floor.

Leda jerks her head. The man of orange hair she’s been anticipating stands at the threshold of the shelves.

When her eyes fall upon his nose, her one-track mind only draws a blank.

It’s colourful. Vibrant. Identical to a toucan’s.

Awed, she blinks it in regardless of the silence that ensues.

He didn’t have a nose like this yesterday. But it’s definitely him.

Rhett.

“You...” He sputters for words, not stopping to address the books he’s dropped by his feet. He can’t, due to the vast astonishment that consumes him. “How did you get in here? We placed you in a cage—”

“Oh, that? I unlocked it.”

She falls into his cushiony seat, crossing her leg over the other. Then she tosses the jangly keys onto the weathered marble.

“That Nia really was careless. Said she was someone’s assistant but maybe this place should get a new one.”

She casually reaches for another piece of meat to consume. Truthfully, she can’t stop indulging.

The man, however, eventually regains his poise. The scowl he shoots her—unconditional malice and animosity in tow—only summons a snort past her lips. Using her free hand to slip out the oddly shaped revolver from under the masses of paper, she twirls it.

“Now,” she drawls, resting the familiar barrel to the corners of her upturned lips. “You’re the guy from the casino, aren’t you? ‘Master Rhett,’ was it? Care to explain why I’m not dead?”

His growl grows feral. “There’s no way Nia would give you the keys.”

“Of course she wouldn’t.” Leda rolls her eyes. “I’ve lived my entire life pickpocketing or manipulating others for cash in order to stay alive. But you took advantage of drunk ol’ me because you assumed I’m that kind of damned girl to society, right?”

She tilts the barrel toward him, pursing her lips in clear disdain.

“So tell me already. Is this the afterlife or some realistically painted dream? How and why in the world did I of all people survive a bullet through the noggin without being rushed to the ER?” She curls her finger over the trigger, inching it back. “Who the hell are you, Rhett? And what do you want from me?”