Galya's eyes widened, and a flush crept up her cheeks. "No, no, I didn't mean it like that!" she stammered, her gaze darting away. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure, though the redness lingered. "What I meant was... You survived on your own for a long time, which speaks to your resilience. Anyway, I'm staying with Ume to make sure she's safe, but you are here now, so can I trust you to take care of her? I need to get back to my adventurer party. Tomorrow night, the Knights will attack the main cave where the spider stays to kill it. This will make mining possible again, so you could go back to work, too."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She had no shame, telling us to go back to being slaves. I said that to Ume after making sure Galya had left the room.
Ume put her tiny finger on my mouth. "Be careful what you say. It is not safe. And she works for the King's company. She's staying with me to make sure I don't run. We are the King's property, after all.
There's no way I can get back to being a slave. I'm getting out of here right now." I got up and opened the door. I was surprised to see two men standing guard. "Hi, kid. What do you think you're doing? Get back to the room. Galya told us to keep you safe."
It looks like you are stuck here.
I told you
I need to think, give me a moment
I paced in tight circles, jaw clenched, fingers tapping against my thigh without even realizing it. My thoughts wouldn't line up. I kept glancing at the window. Maybe we can jump from the window, then look back at the floor, but the floor looks far away from here. We are on the third floor. After all, I started rubbing the back of my neck. Then my hand moved to my hair, tugging at it like I could pull the thoughts into order if I just tried hard enough. My steps were getting shorter, quicker, no rhythm, just movement. The room felt smaller by the second. I didn't say it out loud, but the words ran through my head on a loop: This isn't going to work. No matter how I turned it over, I couldn't see a way out.
Then she whispered in my ear
Will you sit down already? You're making me dizzy.
I must've looked insane, pacing like a caged animal, sorry, but I couldn't stop thinking about what she'd said.
Do not be, you made me very happy
Getting you dizzy makes you happy
No, I thought I lost you back then, but seeing you move around like that reminds me you're still with me. Come sit with me, Leo
Remember being a slave, why I want to remember that
No, then Ume grabbed a piece of paper and a charcoal pencil and wrote, We are not from here.
I hold up the paper and say to myself Wait, how can I read this? I've never seen words like this, and yet I can read them
She gave me a charcoal pencil. She wants me to write, but I can not, or maybe I can, so I wrote on paper.
If we are not, then where are we from
Then she took back the paper and wrote on it
"Eastern Empire."
A sharp pain shot through my head. I pressed my hand against it, It felt like something inside me had been pulled out, leaving a strange, empty feeling in my chest. I pressed my hand to my heart. Something was gone. I didn't know what it was, but the feeling hit hard, like I'd lost part of myself.
The pain was getting worse I could barely breathe. Everything around me felt too bright, too loud.
"Leo?"
The voice was close. Soft. Worried.
"Leo!"
I tried to lift my head to say something, but everything tilted sideways. My arms felt heavy. The room started to spin, and before I could speak, the world slipped away.
Then nothing. Just darkness.
I woke up late that morning. Galya was already in the room, talking quietly.
"How was your night?" I began, still groggy.
Before I could finish, Galya cut me off. "Get ready, Ricardo. From Silver Quill Press is here. He wants to interview a brave miner who's faced the spiders and lived to tell the tale."
She turned to leave, but I sat up quickly. "Wait—can we come with you tonight? To fight the spiders?"
She paused in the doorway, then looked over her shoulder. "That depends on how the interview goes."
Galya added, more seriously than usual, "Be careful what you say to him. If you mess up, it won't end well. We care about our public image."
I quickly moved to wake up Ume. She was deeply asleep, her breathing steady and slow. "Ume, wake up," I whispered urgently. "We need to go. The guards at the door are gone. It's our chance."
She didn't stir.
I tried again, shaking her gently. Still nothing. Maybe I'd have better luck waking up Nea. Who was I kidding? They were both in a deep sleep, and time was slipping away.
After a few more failed attempts, I leaned over to shake Ume once more. Finally, she groggily opened her eyes and sat up, looking confused at first, then realizing what I meant. She rubbed her eyes, muttering, "What's going on?"
"Nea's still asleep," I whispered, looking toward her. "We need to move now before we lose the opportunity."
I shifted closer to Nea, gently nudging her. As I tried to wake her, my hand brushed too close to her chest.
Nea's eyes snapped open, and she looked at me, a flicker of something mischievous in her gaze. I froze, realizing my mistake.
"That's one way to wake me up," she murmured, her voice heavy with a mix of surprise and something else, something I wasn't sure I was ready to deal with.
I stepped back, heart racing, but before I could apologize, Ume stood up and whispered, "We need to move. Now."
The door opened, and a man stepped in, Tall, broad-shouldered, with sun-warmed skin and dark wind-swept hair. His hazel eyes scanned the room, sharp and playful, as though he was already writing our story in his mind. And then he smiled.
"Hello, brave young man," he said, extending a hand. "I'm Ricardo, from Silver Quill Press."
I shook his hand, trying to mask the tension still running through me. "I'm…leo, huh?" I cleared my throat, trying to steady my voice. "So, can you tell me about the spiders, and what happened in the cave?"
I hesitated but then began to recount everything—how the knights had rescued us, how the guild had taken care of us afterward. As I spoke, I noticed Ume stiffen slightly at some of the details I shared, but she didn't interrupt.
I told him about the others trapped in the cave and my plan to rescue them with the help of the knights and the adventurers. Ricardo listened carefully, nodding, his gaze never leaving me.