Chapter3
1063 Words
Nova gasped awake, her chest heaving as if she had been drowning. The ceiling above her was wooden, low, and painted with age. Not her room. Not her bed. The scent of burning herbs filled the air, thick enough to choke her.
She pushed herself up and froze. Her arms were slimmer, pale, delicate….not hers. Her hands trembled as she lifted them to her face. Her fingers brushed against smooth skin, a sharp nose, and lips that were not her own.
“No… no, this isn’t real…”
The floor caught her eye. A shaft of sunlight spilled across the boards, and in that golden reflection she saw herself…or rather, someone else. Black hair tumbled over thin shoulders, her waist impossibly small, her eyes large and shining. Beautiful. Terrifying. Wrong.
“My lady?”
A voice startled her. She whipped her head around. A maid stood by the doorway, wringing her hands, eyes wide with fear.
“Who are you? Where am I?” Nova’s voice cracked. “Tell me! What is this place?”
The maid’s face went pale. “My lady… you don’t remember?”
Nova pressed a hand to her temple. The only things clear in her mind were flashes…her father’s warm laugh, Enid’s scream, the cold steel of a sword piercing her stomach. She shook her head violently. “I don’t know who you’re calling ‘my lady." I’m Nova. I want my father. I want…” Her voice broke.
The maid hurried forward, kneeling beside her bed. “My lady, you mustn’t speak like that. If your aunt hears, she’ll say,” She swallowed hard. “She’ll think you’ve gone mad.”
“Aunt?” Nova’s brows furrowed. “I don’t have an aunt.”
The maid paused, tears welling up in her eyes. “You… you are Lady Natalie. You've been living with your aunt for many years. I'm Amelia, your maid. Please, tell me you remember me even a little.”
Natalie. The name echoed in Nova's mind like an unfamiliar tune. She looked at Amelia, trying to understand what she was saying, but it felt wrong. Her body didn’t feel like hers. Her name wasn’t hers. Nothing belonged to her.
“I don’t know who you are,” Nova’s voice shook. “I don’t recognize this place. I don’t even know this body!” She stood up too fast, and her legs trembled beneath her.
Amelia reached out to steady her, but Nova pulled away sharply.
“My lady, please calm down! If your aunt or sister sees you like this…”
Nova narrowed her eyes. “Sister? What sister?”
Amelia froze, panic flickering across her face. Her hands clutched her apron as though she could wring courage from the cloth. “Your sister… she’s cruel. She makes you sleep outside when you displease her. She.” Amelia stopped, glancing at the door as though expecting someone to appear. “Please, my lady, you must not let her find you wandering. In two days, you’ll be leaving this house, and if she senses weakness now”
But Nova hardly heard her. The words blurred, her mind stuck on the image Amelia painted…another girl, living under torment, forced to endure humiliation. And now Nova was in her body.
Her breath came fast, ragged. She stumbled toward the small mirror set on a stand near the window. It wasn’t like the full mirrors she knew…only large enough to see her face.
She leaned over it, and the reflection glared back at a stranger’s face, flawless and haunting. Shiny black hair, smooth pale skin, sharp nose, lips tinted naturally red. Her waist…she pressed her hands against it. So tiny compared to her old body. She looked like a porcelain doll. Perfect.
A sob clawed up her throat. She had wished so many times to be beautiful, to be thin, to be admired. Now here it was. And she hated it. Hated that it wasn’t really her.
“Why me?” she whispered. “Why this body?”
Amelia stepped closer. “My lady… you’ve suffered a lot. But you’ve endured. You always endure. Please, don’t let them break you now.”
Nova turned, her tears burning hot on her cheeks. “I’m not Natalie. I don’t want this life.”
“You must,” Amelia said, her voice trembling but firm. “Because it is the only life you have left.”
The words struck like a blade. Nova staggered back, shaking her head. “No… no, I need to see for myself. I need to see where I am, who these people are.”
Amelia gasped. “My lady, you can’t! If your sister finds out”
But Nova pushed past her. The wooden door creaked open, and she stumbled into the narrow hallway. Her heart thundered in her chest. The walls were plain, lit by torches instead of lamps. The air smelled of smoke and damp stone.
Servants passed by, bowing quickly but whispering behind their hands. She caught fragments: “useless girl,” “always a burden,” “the aunt should’ve abandoned her.”
Her fists clenched. Every word cut like glass.
At the end of the hall, she spotted a stairway leading downward. Her breath hitched. She didn’t know where it would take her, but staying hidden wasn’t an option. She needed answers.
“My lady, wait!” Amelia’s voice followed her, pleading. “You’ll be punished! Please, don’t go!”
Nova paused only for a second. Then she took the first step. The wood groaned under her weight.
Her heart pounded. Her mind screamed to stop. But her legs kept moving, down, deeper into a world she didn’t know.
At the bottom of the stairs, she froze. Two voices drifted from a nearby room. The women’s voices, sharp and dripping with disdain.
“She’s weak. If the king even looks at her, it’ll be a miracle.”
“Let him take her. She’s of no use to us here.”
Nova’s stomach knotted. Her nails dug into her palms as she pressed against the wall, listening.
Her aunt. Her sister. Talking about her.
The door let out a creaky sound, and footsteps rang out. Nova felt her breath hitch. She stepped back, a wave of panic swelling in her throat.
And then…
A shadow fell across the hall. Someone was coming.
- Writer
