The Ashes & the Star-Cursed King

I turned around and faced the doorway.

The darkness was u

You don’t want to see what’s inside there, Vincent whispered in my ear. He sounded oddly sad. Ashamed.

No, I thought. You don’t want me to see those things.

For nearly twenty years, I had seen only what Vincent had wanted me to see. I had become only what he wanted me to be. I had forged myself by his hand, by the bounds of the mold he’d poured me into, and never further.

It had been comfortable.

But now, too damned much was relying on me to not venture beyond those walls.

I stepped into the darkness.