C8 A Serpent's Sympathy

(POV: Isabela Montoya)

The echo of Quino's retreating footsteps faded, leaving me suspended in the heavy, opulent silence of the corridor. Alone. Utterly, devastatingly alone. Papa’s cold dismissal, Quino’s calculated abandonment – the reality of my situation pressed in on me, suffocating as the stale, overly perfumed air of the estate. They wouldn't help me