Maude was cozy for the first time in her life. She was curled up in thick, plush blankets, and her back and neck weren’t screaming from sleeping wrong for the first time in what seemed like forever. For once, her feet were too hot, and she had managed to untangle them from the cocoon she’d built around herself.

This bed is the epitome of comfort, she thought. Surely the war must have gone well if my father is treating me this nicely.

She paused, coming a bit more to her senses.

The war...She felt ice grip her insides. Right. The war went very badly. So the only explanation for an incredible bed is that I’m dead.

Her eyes fluttered open. The room was dark, but Maude knew immediately from the sound of the room, that wherever she was, was a place she’d never been to before. The light was dim, but she could tell that the curtains were navy blue and lined with golden edging. The light from outside made the edges sparkle and glimmer while leaving thin streams of warm sunlight on the floor.

Where am I? She wondered. She pinched one of her cheeks, her arm escaping from the roll of blankets. The pinch hurt.

“Ouch,” she said out loud. “Guess I’m still alive.”

She thought back to what she remembered last. She turned onto her back and winced, feeling the pain on her skull where a sword hilt had met it.

Right...I am the sole survivor of the battle.

She winced, thinking about her fallen soldiers. Who would take care of their remains? Who would tell their families that their sons no longer lived?

I wonder what my father will think when I don’t come home...

Maude pulled a string that was loose on one of the blankets. Will he even bat an eye? She wondered. She wasn’t sure how he’d react if he thought she was dead. Half the time her father criticized her and compared her to Callum. The other half of the time he was boasting about being the father to the only sword saint in the empire.

If I died...Would he even shed a tear?

She couldn’t imagine the duke crying. He hadn’t even cried when Maude’s mother passed away. She wasn’t even sure that her father could experience any other emotions than anger.

She shook her head, reminding herself that she could potentially be in a dangerous situation right now. It didn’t matter if anyone thought she was dead or not–she was alive! And she would find a way to survive.

Am I in danger? She heard a little voice in the corner of her mind ask. This bed is more comfortable than the one in the Holloway manor.

She sighed in frustration, and pushed the voice down back into the corner of her mind, where it belonged.

Right now I’m a prisoner, she thought. I’m the only one who survived–her stomach rolled at the thought–and I need to find a way out of here. I need to focus.

It really would be better if I had just pretended to fight and died, another small voice said in her head. At least then I wouldn’t have to potentially deal with the emperor.

She shook her head at herself again. These are later problems to deal with. Right now, I need to assess my situation.

She started to unravel herself from the bedsheets, feeling the cool fall air in the room almost immediately.

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First order of business is some light, she thought, padding her way across the stone bricks of the floor. The cold floor stung her feet a little.

A pair of slippers sure would be nice. She gently opened one of the sets of curtains. She winced at the light difference.

Maude looked around the room, trying to see if any of her belongings were with her.

She noticed that she was dressed in a nightgown, and her military outfit was nowhere to be found, at least in an initial scan of the room. She did see a deep green peasant style dress, though, laying out on one of the fainting couches in the room.

She grimaced. The last thing she wanted to do was feel any ounce of indebted to her captor. But Maude knew she wasn’t about to confront anyone in a nightgown that hid almost nothing, either.

She threw her head back and let out a small groan. Did she have any choice except to put the gown on? If she’d wanted to keep her pride or her dignity, she should have found a way to force her stomach to have held on a bit longer.

Maude strode across the room and inspected the dress. The material was soft, also far softer than she would have ever been given at the Holloway manor, and the dress seemed to be about her size. She also looked it over to see how difficult it would be to put on herself. Though she was used to having to put clothes on herself and had learned how to struggle through and get most of the garments on her body, there were still several designs that she hadn’t figured out how to do on her own.

This particular gown, thankfully, had no such latches and ties. Though it was relatively plain, from a quick inspection, Maude knew this was going to be one of the nicest dresses she’d ever worn.

Maude carefully slipped it on, ensuring that no piece of the dress got caught or snagged on any one part of her body. As her head popped through the head hole, she noticed that there was a pair of fur lined slippers in front of the fainting couch as well.

Her heart panged. She’d never owned fur lined slippers in her entire life. She had never even considered the possibility that she might even be able to own a pair someday. Her step-mother regularly bought them for herself, and they had always looked incredibly warm.

Maude squeezed the bridge of her nose. No matter what she did, she was going to feel indebted to her captor. She had gotten to keep her life, after all.

As she was sliding her feet into the slippers, she couldn’t help but wonder, Why am I being treated to all these nice things if the goal is to kill me?

She felt a spark of hope light up her chest.

No, she corrected herself. No matter how well I’m treated here it doesn’t really matter. There is still a chance they will kill me if I am no use to them. If at all possible, escaping should be my top priority. It is my highest chance of survival.

Maude returned to the window she’d initially opened. She looked out, and noticed the window was overlooking an edge of a large balcony. Maude moved to the second set of curtains and opened them to reveal two glass doors that opened out onto the balcony itself.

She stepped out into the cool Autumn air. There were trees in every which direction. The colors of their leaves were vibrant, orange, yellow, and red, making Maude gasp and hold her hands to her chest.

“What is this?” she asked the wind. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” A breeze gently rustled the trees and created a sound uniquely different to the breeze on the grasslands of the empire.

She’d never seen so many trees in one area in her entire life.

“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.

Laid in front of her was also the manor’s garden. She could see a round gazebo near a glass greenhouse. The gazebo made Maude think of Sara.

How would she react if I died? Maude wondered. She’d at least be sadder than my father, right? Maude felt uncertain. Sara had always been difficult for Maude to read.

She walked closer to the edge of the balcony and looked straight down. She was roughly on the fourth floor of the manor. High enough that if she were to jump and land wrong, her life could potentially be in danger.

She noticed that there were also two guards looking up at her, guarding the path of the garden. Climbing down was an option, but with two guards looking directly at her balcony, if she didn’t time things right, she’d be caught the instant she tried to start climbing.

Maude huffed, and went back inside the room. There was one more route out of the room that she hadn’t checked, but she expected it to be far more secure than the balcony route.

She opened the door that would lead her out into the rest of the manor, and was greeted by the back of a guard.

As expected, Maude thought. Escaping from here is going to be a bitch.

“Ah, Lady Holloway,” the guard who was standing in front of the other door next to the one she’d opened, said. “Glad to see you are finally awake.”

Maude nodded at him, unsure of what to say.

“Duke Rosenberg asked to be notified when you woke. He will likely come see you shortly.”

Maude felt her stomach drop. Not another Duke, she thought.

She nodded at the guard again, and then closed the door.

It didn’t matter that the bed had been comfortable, the gown luxurious, or the slippers fur lined. An enemy duke was bound to be far worse than her father.