Kaerith's feet slapped wetly against the slick floor, leaving a muddy footprint behind her, blood and grime peeling from her shredded soles. The air here felt like damp rot, with suffocating microorganisms clinging to her skin.
They led her far beneath Murnokh, past the ironbound doors and stairwells slippery with moss...past walls where old nails still held the bits of shackles... past lamp niches that barely brightened the gloomy room.
They arrived at the Wound Maidens' Quarters, a chamber carved from raw stone with a ring of women surrounding it. They were slaves and lower-class hollows.
Their faces were grey, their hair was lanky and matted, and none of them spoke.
Dark streaks smeared over the Quarters' walls, and the only source of lighting came from a fire pit—low, sickly gre
