29. DARIA
Chapter twenty-nine
T his would be the last night I ever spent under this roof. After tomorrow, I’d either be free or dead. Either way, I’d be at peace. The thought of that filled me with a strange serenity, quieting every doubt, every fear.
Svetlana arrived for the second time this evening, her expression carefully neutral as she moved around the room, tidying things that didn’t need tidying. When she finally stopped beside me, she said in a barely audible voice, “The prikazchik will inspect you again tomorrow. Do not put the dress on until after.”
I forced myself to appear bored, indifferent, though my chest tightened.
“The Devil will be watching closely,” she added. “You must be careful.”
I nodded once.
She hesitated, glancing toward the camera in the corner. She couldn’t say more.
Instead, she picked up the hairbrush from the nightstand, perched her hip on the bed next to me, and began pulling the brush through my hair with gentle strokes, like a mother tending to her child. Her fingers swept across the nape of my neck, and she whispered against my ear, “I will be at the party.”
I exhaled, slow and steady.
“I will distract the guards if needed.”
I kept my hands relaxed in my lap.
“If you escape, never come back. If you get caught…” She paused. “I will say I knew nothing.”
I reached up, touching her fingers briefly in silent understanding.
She was risking everything for me.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
For a moment, we simply sat there while she wove her fingers through my hair.
Then she stopped and slowly stood, as if a thousand pounds sat on her shoulders. She gave me a small smile and smoothed the front of her apron. “Get some rest,” she said, her voice cool and detached.
Then she was gone.