DUCHESS REFLECTION
Silk drapes the shadows like a story half-told, violet threads twisting through the fabric, catching the dim glow of a dying fire. Reflections dance where light meets dark, throwing shapes unseen into the room. Night leans heavily on the floor, pressing secrets into the fibers, waiting for dawn to pull them into clarity.
An empress, once the quiet shadow behind the throne, runs her fingers along the edge, recalling letters she never sent. A painter, hands still stained with oil and pigment, studies the dark corners where figures seem to shift at the edge of sight. A daughter kneels, reading the patterns like a script she never learned but understands all the same