Surprisingly, no one commented on Hanina's absence during the dinner. It was felt, sure, but no one felt the need to bring it up. Other than that, dinner was pretty basic. Even a little boring, which gave me ample time to search the hall for Ishka. Yet no matter how hard I looked over the dining hall, the blue-haired girl was nowhere to be seen. 

All throughout dinner, I thought about Hanina and Ishka. It couldn't be a coincidence that they were both gone right now. After an hour of talking and eating, we were finally dismissed from the table. But instead of going straight to my bed, I made a pit stop. 

I knocked on the door. No response. I knocked again. Nothing, again. Cautiously, I cracked open the door. The interior was as messy as it always was, yet there was no sign of its usual occupant. I dug through the room desperately, but there was no clue to be found. 

Next, I tried the training room. I put my hands in the sink. Hanina was usually here to do this for me, but I remembered the password by now. I opened my mouth to say the magic words and... and nothing. Shit, why didn't I think of this? I couldn't talk on my own. No voice, no magic password. I paced up and down the bathroom, trying to figure out what I could do. I could wait until someone else came in or out, but I had no idea when that would be and it would look suspicious if I just walked around the bathroom without actually using it. 

Panic was beginning to set in. Were Hanina and Ishka discovered conspiring against Mistress? Did that mean they were being tortured or worse, killed? Surely I would have heard if that had happened. 

Maybe they just left you, a small, pitiful part of my mind said. They realized you would only jeopardize their escape. What can you do for them, anyway? You're just a useless little girl. 

I stopped. It couldn't be true. I didn't want it to be true. But maybe... No, I wouldn't believe that. But where else could they be? The manor was large enough that it would be unfeasible to search the entire place, so I could only search likely places. 

An idea struck me. I burst out of the bathroom, causing a slave mopping the floor nearby to jump in shock. I ignored her. Without actually running, I made my way to the seamstresses.

I'd never interacted with the seamstresses much. They mostly just kept themselves secluded inside their workshops, eager to avoid the degenerate manor around them. When they were out and about, they were easily distinguished by the lace chokers and elegant yet sultry attire they had made for themselves. They had an air of superiority about them like they were better than anyone else in the manor. Some received revenge 'pranks', but getting caught sabotaging a seamstress was a big no-no. Anything that hampered their efficiency was worth a punishment. 

I opened the door to one of the workshops. Unlike Hanina, the common seamstresses all worked together in communal workshops. Somehow, despite the hubbub of activity, everything was neatly organized. Girls scampered around the room, sewing together fine cloths as quick as they could. 

A few of them looked up and stopped what they were doing when I came in. One girl sat separate from the others. The rest went to her every now and then for some reason. In short, she looked like the one who knew stuff. 

I speed-walked over to her, but she was so buried in her work that she didn't even notice me until I tapped her on the shoulder. 

''Hmmm? What is it?" She asked absentmindedly. 

"Do you know where Hanina might be?" 

The girl turned around, her gaze pinched in a scowl until she got a good look at me. Instantly, her disposition switched from tired and upset to happy and friendly.

"You're Cali, right? Nice to meet you! I'm Brula!" She stuck at her hand. Hesitantly, I shook. The girl looked small, so I was surprised when her iron grip nearly crushed my hand. I winced in pain.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you!" I wasn't sure if she was being serious or sarcastic. 

"I'm fine," I said while shaking my hand that was definitely not fine. "Anyway, do you know where Hanina might be? I'm looking for her." 

Brula scoffed. "Why would you want to find her? She's so mean." Some of the other seamstresses nodded along. 

"I just need to find her really quickly." 

I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible. The seamstresses had never rubbed me the right way, a sentiment Hanina shared. 

Brula tapped her chin in thought. "Girls, do any of you know where Hanina is? 

She got a mix of "No" and "Why should I care?" from the crowd. 

She spun back to me. "Sorry, none of us know anything about her. But if you ask me, you'd be happier if you separated from her. In fact, why don't I be your friend? I'd be a much better friend than Hanina!"

I chuckled uncomfortably. "Thanks, but I need to find Hanina right now."

Brula groaned. "Ugh, fine. If you ever reconsider, come back later. alright?" 

"Sure thing," I said with no intention of ever seeing her again. 

Once I was finally out of the room, I bit my nails in worry. Where was she?

"Cali!" 

I perked up. I recognized that voice! 

Penny crashed into me with a hug. "It's been so long since we talked to each other!"

I hugged her back just as tightly. I hid my smile in her orange hair. Penny always managed to make things seem better. 

Eventually, Penny pulled away. 

"Why are you still out?" Penny asked. "You're usually sleeping right now." 

"I'm trying to find Hanina and Ishka. I haven't seen them since before dinner." 

Penny thought for a second before her face lit up. 

"Ishka's that selkie, right?" 

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

Penny giggled. "The one with black skin and blue hair."

I nodded. 

"That's great! I saw them a little while ago in the library." 

There's a library here? That was news to me. And it was especially confusing because neither Hanina nor Ishka really struck me as the booky types. 

"I can lead you there if you want,” Penny offered. I nodded.

Penny, being the ever-friendly and bubbly companion, tried to keep the conversation up as we went along. "Did you really not know Ishka was a selkie?"

"I'll be honest, I don't even know what a selkie is."

"Oh! You must not have had them back in your world. Selkies turn into sea creatures when they get in the water, but when they're on the surface they take the shape of a human, but retain the same color as their animal form! Isn't it fascinating?"

"That is pretty cool. Do you know what Ishka turns into?"

Penny shook her head. "I don't know that much about the sea. Plus, I've never seen her in the water. In fact, Mistress takes care to keep her away from any water, so I bet it's scary."

I made a mental note of that. I wasn't sure if it would ever be useful, but it could surely come in handy at some point. 

"Isn't it amazing how you can hardly tell the difference between night and day in the manor?" Penny abruptly asked.

As always, maintenance slaves worked around the manor, keeping everything immaculately clean even when it seemed it couldn't get cleaner. The red torches dotting the manor remained the same brightness forever, and the lack of windows prevented any clue based on sunlight. Sure there were strange magic clocks, but those were only in bedrooms and select private rooms. The world outside was irrelevant. It had no effect on the inside. It was that strange thought, that I couldn't see it, couldn't feel it, couldn't hear it or smell it or taste it, so did it really even exist? 

It was an illusion, I knew. Mistress and her wives traveled to and from the outside. Plus, all the slaves in the manor had to come from somewhere. But we were now so isolated from anything beyond the manor that the outside was perfectly unattainable. 

"I'd say it's more disturbing than amazing," I replied. 

"It's not that bad! You can still tell the time from the clocks - you've learned how to read those by now, right? - and eventually, you'll recognize the different shifts of maintenance slaves. And there's lunch and dinner, so the only real issue is figuring out when the night becomes morning, but you really just have to watch for when Amaya comes back to the manor." Penny's rapid-fire speaking prevented me from absorbing most of what she said, but I noticed that last statement about Amaya. And so did Penny, if the widening of her eyes were any indication. 

"Um, I-," Penny glanced around nervously. "Could you maybe... not mention that bit about Amaya, please?" She pleaded.

"Sure. But you're gonna have to tell me more about where exactly she's coming back from," I said.

"Alright. Let's just get somewhere quieter then."

Penny remained uncannily silent after that, and her eyes never left her fidgeting hands. I felt a little bad for her. She had no doubt just spilled the beans on something, and I would not want to be on Amaya's bad side. Any more than I already was, of course.

It wasn't long before we reached what I assumed to be the library. There was no door, only a bead curtain which provided a glance into a large room filled with shelves of books. 

There were practically no slaves here, so Penny stopped me right before the bead curtain. 

"So about Amaya...," 

I nodded, signaling her to keep going. 

Penny took a deep breath and said, "Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone, but Amaya has a secret passage in her room that leads outside. She often uses it to go hunting until the end of the night. Obviously, it could be really bad if people found out, so could you please keep quiet about it?"

I only had one question. "Does Mistress know about it?" 

The orange-haired girl bit her lip. "Not exactly... She knows Amaya goes out some nights, but she just thinks it's some shadow magic stuff." 

This was big. A secret passage that Mistress didn't know about. For bonus points, it led directly outside. The only downfall was that it was in Amaya's room. 

"I know you can't lie to Mistress, but could you please try to avoid telling her about it? I don't want Amaya to get in trouble," Penny practically begged me. 

While it would be vindicating to see Amaya get in trouble with Mistress, that was in no way worth giving what might be the best exit plan so far. 

"I won't, don't worry. Her secret's safe in my hands."

"Oh thank you!" Penny cried and hugged me tightly. I might have been imagining it, but I swear I felt tears on my neck. 

Is she always this emotional? 

I awkwardly patted her back until she pulled away. 

"Thank you so much. Anyway, let's go find your friends. I've got all night, since Amaya's out hunting with her new pet."

A new pet? I hadn't seen any pets in the manor for the entire time I'd been there. Well, there was that time Amaya turned a girl into a wolf, but that was a different story. 

Penny read my confusion. "Remember that fire-breathing goose I mentioned Amaya wanting? Mistress actually brought one back from her trip. Can you believe it?!" 

We both laughed outside the library entrance together. Once all our giggles were out, we stepped into the library.

The library had appeared simple from the outside, but being inside revealed how complex it actually was. We would need some insane good luck to randomly find Hanina or Ishka in here.