It had only been a few hours since Rekema and Muraad had left, but to Mari it felt like an eternity. She stared at the window, thinking time might go by faster if she watched the sun move. She was wrong, but at least the sky was pretty enough to occupy her attention. The sky had just started to turn a bright orange and red when there was a knock on the door. Everything in her froze. She stared at the door from across the room. Another knock. Mari debated whether or not she should crawl under the bed in case they came in. Could she fit?

"Your Highness?" a voice filtered through the door.

Mari sucked in her breath, digging her fingers into the covers on the bed.

"Are you awake?"

Mari edged away from the direction of the voice.

"I have dinner. I'll leave the tray out for whenever you're ready for it," the voice said, "When you're done, just set the tray back out here."

Mari held her breath, straining her ears until the footsteps faded. She waited more, but she couldn't wait forever. She kept on her toes as she crept across the plush fabric covering part of the floor, opening the door slowly. Mari took a moment to look about before seeing the tray waiting for her, on a table just outside the door. She picked it up; her thin arm wobbled a moment before she steadied the tray with her second. She set it down before hurrying to shut the door. She sighed as she sat down, taking a moment to examine the food. It looked strange to her, but her stomach wasn't giving her a chance to refuse. After a hesitant first bite, Mari found herself shoveling it down. She had the vague notion of it making her sick, but she didn't care. She didn't realize just how hungry she was.

It was gone far too soon, but once it was, she set both of the trays back outside, like she was told, as always. She couldn't get back inside the room fast enough, shutting the door quietly, but quickly. Once done, she ran back to her bed to resume waiting.

She continued like that for the next few days. She would sit on the bed, eat an hour after food was brought, resume waiting, go to sleep until the dream that made her sick woke her up, and continue waiting.

Mari had slept two times before she dared to do anything different. One afternoon, she did more than use the window to check the time of day. She slid off the bed and placed her hand on the clear material. It was cold, and she pulled back her hand immediately, but still peered out. All the people, walking in the city; they were so small, so far away.

She stepped closer, seeing a large wall circle the city. A section of it was broken, and it was devoid. She could see people everywhere else except for by the broken section of wall. Mari grunted, grabbing at her head. Images of people running away filled her mind. Cries rang in her ears. Houses around her were broken, destroyed. Were people trapped under them?

She choked on air, burying her head further into her hands. Mari shook her head, stumbling backwards. The images wouldn't fade. People weren't moving. They stayed on the ground with a stillness that made Mari want to move. A scream started to build in her throat. She grabbed at her arms, digging her nails into them. She kept her eyes closed, but felt small drops of blood roll down her arms. It wasn't until her feet tangled underneath her that she realized she had been backing away.

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She grunted and rubbed her head as she sat up. The images started to fade, leaving her head pounding. As she forced herself back onto her feet, Mari kept her eyes away from the window. She crawled onto the bed, not bothering to think about what had just happened. Her head hurt too much. She buried her face into the covers, letting sleep take her.

Over the course of the next few days, Mari explored her new room. She would lie on the floor fabric, running her fingers over it simply because she liked how soft and warm it was. After one of her meals, she started picking at the smooth, bright material that lined the already smooth wooden chairs, finding it to cool to the touch. Not long after that, she gathered her courage one day and pulled open a set of door. She didn't quite expect it to be filled with clothes. Did someone really need all of them? Did they wear different ones for different reasons? All of them were strange to her, but she took a liking to a large white shirt. It might as well have been a dress on her it was so big. It was made of fabric far softer than her normal dress. She found it to be more comfortable to sleep in now that she was prone to waking up in a cold sweat.

It was the seventh morning when Mari forced herself to inspect the dresser. She went through the small boxes, finding more clothes. She didn't quite understand the use of all of them. Some of them seemed to be made to go over a pair of feet, but Mari was not so adventurous as to try them. To her delight, Mari did find more white shirts in one of the boxes. There was one box with many small objects, including the headpiece. Mari figured that when Muraad used her while unconscious he also put it there. She left that box alone, having no desire to go through it like she did with the others. She stood up, taking a breath, and she stared at herself in the reflective piece. Mari wasn't surprised with what she saw. She was well aware of herself and what other people would see when looking at her. While there was much beyond her understanding, she wasn't stupid.

Mari paused. There was one thing she didn't know about herself. She leaned in and widened her eyes. All the Seven had such distinct eye colors; she wanted to know hers. She crawled onto the dresser to see clearly, staring at her eyes to be sure. Gray stared back at her. She felt disappointed. She thought it was a dull and lifeless color. She had hoped her eyes would match Rekema's pink, or Muraad's purple, or even Mallory's blue.

Sitting back down, Mari wondered if gray eyes were a human thing.

She didn't have long to consider it as she felt a pulling on her, and she leapt to her feet. The Seven were coming back! She grabbed the bedpost, trying to steady herself, but was unable to stop herself from rocking on her feet.

The Seven appeared before her. Rekema immediately took control. Mari's mind started to fog over once more. She staggered, unused to the sensation after being without it for the past few days. Rekema had Mari go into the dresser and put on the headpiece. She said to Mari, "We've got work to do, and no time to waste."

Mari was more than relieved and excited to have them back, but the gleam in Rekema's and the others' eyes suddenly made Mari happy to have gray eyes.