Maria.
The sun was already beginning to set when I finally stepped out of my room.
The golden light filtered faintly through the tall windows along the corridor, casting long shadows across the stone floor. The warmth of it barely touched me.
I hadn't planned to leave.
I had told myself I would stay inside. That it was safer that way and easier.
Avoid everyone.
Avoid the whispers that trailed behind me whenever I walked through the courtyard.
Avoid the stares that followed me like I was no longer just a person, but a prize. A symbol. Something already half-won, half-owned, as if my name had been placed on a board beside someone else's victory.
But the walls had started closing in on me.
The silence in my room had grown too loud. My thoughts are too restless. Every creak of the building had begun to sound like judgment.
So I walked.
