Althea Veyr had the kind of beauty that did not ask to be loved. It asked to be acknowledged. Selene understood that before she even sat down. Eden's mother occupied the head of the table without effort, as though the chair had been designed around her spine. Ivory dress, white hair pulled back, slender hands, pale eyes. Not old in the fragile sense. Ancient in the dangerous sense.
— Eden has told me very little about you, Althea said.
— He has that quality with a lot of subjects. A faint movement crossed Althea's mouth.
— You answer quickly.
— It's often useful when you don't know the rules.
— Rules rarely prevent mistakes. They merely allow us to name them more accurately. Selene sat in the place indicated by the butler. Eden took the one to her left. She noticed. Not across from her. Not at the head. To her left. Maybe it meant nothing. At Ashfall, nothing had yet had the politeness to be merely nothing. Dinner began without announcement. A dark soup, almost red, served in black bowls. The scent of berries still floated in the air, but here it was covered by something else: fresh roses, too many of them, arranged at the center of the table. Selene looked at the flowers.
— Do you like roses? Althea asked.
— Not when they look as if they've been summoned. Eden lowered his eyes to his plate. Not a laugh. Almost. Althea smiled wider. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02— Eden did not tell me you were amusing.
— He told you very little about me.
— Touch. The conversation looked worldly. It was not. Every sentence searched for a grip. Every silence checked who was breathing too loudly. Selene had already dined with rich people, pretentious editors, influencers who talked about authenticity as if it were a content strategy. She had never dined with a woman who seemed capable of turning a compliment into an autopsy report.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Your book is about falling, Althea said.
— Among other things.
— Not all falls deserve to be told. Selene held her gaze.
— The ones people hide usually do. Althea set down her spoon. The gesture was tiny. The room heard it.
— You have great faith in stories, Mademoiselle Moreau.
— No. In what they reveal despite themselves.
— That is more interesting. Eden remained silent. That silence was not cowardly. It was monitored. Selene was beginning to understand that the dynamic between them was not simply that of a rich son and a cold mother. It was older than that. More constructed. Eden, who seemed to occupy every room elsewhere, rationed each movement here. Not out of simple fear. Out of a habit of war. Althea turned toward him.
— You are not eating.
— I'm not hungry.
— You are never hungry when you want to look harder than your body. Selene felt the sentence like a hand placed on an old scar. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Eden did not answer. She understood then a first rule of Ashfall: Althea did not shout. She did not need to. She knew where to touch. The conversation resumed around Karol House, the launch, the candles, the readers, the market for immersive experiences. Althea knew too many things for someone pretending to discover the project.
— Your community likes waiting, she said.
— Very much.
— Waiting makes people docile.
— Or demanding.
— You prefer to believe that?
— I prefer to verify it. Althea inclined her head.
— Eden often attracts women who think they can test the bite before deciding whether the dog is dangerous. The sentence should have embarrassed someone. Instead, it stripped the room bare. Selene set down her glass.
— I don't test bites. I look at who is holding the leash. The silence was immediate. Eden turned his head toward her. So did Althea. For the first time, Eden's mother no longer smiled. Then she said:
— Very good. Two words. A provisional verdict. Selene felt she had just won something. Not a point. A more dangerous kind of attention.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `After dinner, Eden walked her to her room. Not Althea. Not the staff. Him. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Selene did not yet know whether that was protection or another way of guiding her. She decided not to choose too quickly. The first-floor corridor was more intimate than the ground floor. Fewer portraits, more doors. Thick rugs swallowed their footsteps. Tall windows looked out over the garden, where the rain made the hedges and statues shine.
— Your mother is adorable, Selene said.
— You are a bad liar.
— No. A very good one. I just lie badly when I want people to know it.
— Subtle difference.
— You like subtleties when they suit you. Eden stopped in front of a door.
— Your room. Selene looked at the handle.
— Does it lock from the inside?
— Yes.
— Do you have the key?
— No. She stared at him.
— Very fast answer.
— Predictable question.
— And if I don't believe you? He took a small key ring from his pocket, removed an old key, and held it out to her.
— Only key. Have the lock changed tomorrow if you want. Or tonight. The gesture unsettled her more than it should have. Because it was correct. Because a man like Eden probably knew that correctness, placed at the right moment, could become more disturbing than a threat. She took the key.
— Are you always this prepared to appear reasonable?
— I am rarely reasonable. That's why I prepare evidence to the contrary. Another sentence too good for comfort. She opened the door.
The room was immense. Low bed, white sheets, black curtains, desk facing the window, unlit fireplace, bookcase, adjoining bathroom. On the desk, a Berries candle. Closed. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Selene stepped inside.
— You put the same one here.
— You are still at the entrance. She turned around. He had remained in the corridor. Not one foot in the room. That detail weighed more than the candle.
— You're not coming in?
— You haven't invited me. The sentence could have been a performance. It did not sound that way. Not entirely. Silence settled between them like a third presence. Selene felt the fatigue of the road, the dinner, Althea's eyes, Eden's irritating pull, the whole house around her. All of it blended into a tension that would have been simple in a book and much less so in real life. She stayed near the door.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Are you waiting for me to do it?
— Invite me?
— Yes.
— No.
— Lie?
— Not this time. He looked at her without lowering his eyes.
— I'm waiting to see whether you'll close the door. That answer pleased her. It annoyed her for exactly the same reason.
— And if I close it?
— I leave.
— And if I leave it open?
— I stay in the corridor until the conversation is over.
— Very chivalrous.
— No. Careful.
— For me?
— For both of us.
Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Selene thought of Maelys telling her this was how heroines died. Maybe. But heroines also die when they confuse every door with a trap and stop seeing the ones they can choose to open. She left the door open. No more than that. Not an invitation. A threshold.
— Your mother talked about dogs, she said.
— She likes reducing people to functions.
— And you?
— I'm trying to stop.
— Since when? He paused briefly.
— Since it killed someone. The sentence entered the room. Irina. Even without the name, Selene felt it. She did not push. Not this time.
— I'm going to close it soon, she said.
— All right.
— But not yet. He nodded. They stayed there, she in the room, he in the corridor, with an open door between them like something fragile and almost more intimate than touch. Then Eden said:
— There is one rule my mother won't tell you.
— Only one?
— The first one that matters. Selene waited.
— At Ashfall, never follow a scent without asking who placed it there. She looked at the candle on the desk. Berries. Closed.
— Even mine?
— Especially yours. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Page 5
When Selene finally closed the door, she remained still for a long time. Not from fear. From listening. She waited for Eden's footsteps to move away. They came. Slow. Then disappeared. She locked the door. The click of the lock did her more good than she wanted to admit. The room was beautiful. Too beautiful. Everything seemed chosen to make her want to write: a wide desk, soft lamp, deep armchair, window open to the black garden, silence dense enough to lay sentences into. She set her bag on the bed and took out her computer. Then her phone. Message from Maelys. Still alive? Type 1 for yes, 2 for “he's beautiful but suspicious,” 3 for “his mother is the final boss.” Selene replied: 123. Maelys: I hate when you confirm my instincts. Selene smiled. Then she took a photo of the room, but not of the view, not the bed, not the luxurious details. Of the locked door. She sent it. Maelys answered: Good. That, I like. Selene put down the phone and opened her manuscript. The cursor blinked inside the current chapter. She tried to write. Nothing. It was not lack of inspiration. It was too much. Ashfall existed too loudly. The house, Eden, Althea, the candles, the rain, the sentence about scents. Everything wanted to enter the text at once. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Instead, she opened her black notebook. Wrote: Berries: entrance. Invitation that already knows it will be regretted. Then: Roses: target? To verify. She stopped. Why target? The word had arrived without her looking for it. Maybe because of the flowers on the table. Maybe because of Althea's gaze. Maybe because her brain, unlike her ambition, still had a survival instinct.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `In the corridor, very far away, a door closed. Selene lifted her head. Then nothing. She slept badly. Not enough to rest. Too much to stay lucid. The house entered her dreams in pieces: the gate, the roses, Eden's eyes, Althea's voice, Irina's portrait, the Berries candle closed on the desk. In the dream, she opened it and found inside not wax, but a tiny red key. She woke before dawn. The rain had stopped. The room was blue with morning. For one second, she did not know where she was. Then Ashfall returned. With its silence. With its locked door. With the very faint scent of berries, still there despite the closed candle. Selene sat up.
— No, she murmured. She got up and went to the desk. The candle had not moved. The box was closed. And yet the scent was sharper than it had been the night before. She inspected the desk, the drawers, the lamp. Nothing. Then she saw the window. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Slightly open. She was certain she had closed it. Almost certain.
Outside, the garden was still. On the windowsill, a red rose. One single rose. Placed there without water, without thorns. Selene did not touch it. She took her phone, photographed the flower, the window, the lock on the door. Then she called Eden. He answered on the second ring.
— Yes. His voice was awake. Of course.
— Did someone enter my room? Silence. Very short. Too short.
— No.
— Bad answer if you don't know.
— No one should have been able to enter.
— There. More alarming, but more honest. She heard movement on his end.
— Don't touch anything.
— Already done.
— You touched it?
— No. I already decided not to touch anything. Keep up. A breath. Almost a laugh. Then nothing.
— I'm coming, he said.
— Eden.
— Yes? She looked at the rose. The word from her notebook returned. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02Target.
— Knock before you enter. He answered without hesitation:
— Always.
` }, { kind: "body", html: `— Wrong direction. He frowned.
— What?
— You are not responsible for every door someone else opens. You are responsible for what you do now. The silence changed. Eden looked at her as if she had just handed him back a disassembled weapon.
— And what do I do now?
— You change the window. You identify the blind spots. You tell me what this rose means in your mother's language. And you do not turn my room into a bunker without asking me.
— All right.
— You really love that word when it helps you avoid arguing.
— No. I love it when you're right. She would have liked not to like that answer. Partial failure. He took out his phone and sent several messages. Meanwhile, Selene took her black notebook and added: Roses: confirmed target. Marking. Reaching without entering. Eden read over her shoulder.
— You're taking notes?
— I'm an author.
— You're being threatened.
— Both can be true. He stayed silent. As if that sentence already irritated him. Then he said:
— There is an archive about Ashfall's symbols. Selene turned toward him.
— When were you planning to tell me?
— When I had decided whether you should see it. She slowly set the notebook down.
— Bad answer number two.
— Yes. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02— You learn quickly.
— Not quickly enough. He passed a hand over the back of his neck. The first truly tired gesture she had seen from him.
— I'll take you there after the window is secured.
— No.
— No?
— You take me there now. Someone else can secure the window. I am not going to wait obediently in the room where someone left a rose. Eden stared at her.
— Very bad idea.
— You should start a list. It's getting long. He looked as if he were about to refuse. Then he looked at the rose, the window, the chain she had installed, the notebook.
— Very well.
— Without enthusiasm.
— Without lying. She took her phone, her notebook, and the Berries box. Eden looked at the box.
— Why are you taking it?
— Because if scents are a language, I would rather come with my dictionary. This time, he truly smiled. Brief. Involuntary. Then they left the room, leaving the rose behind them, alone on the windowsill, red as a warning that had managed to enter without opening the door.
— Wrong direction. He frowned.
— What?
— You are not responsible for every door someone else opens. You are responsible for what you do now. The silence changed. Eden looked at her as if she had just handed him back a disassembled weapon.
— And what do I do now?
— You change the window. You identify the blind spots. You tell me what this rose means in your mother's language. And you do not turn my room into a bunker without asking me.
— All right.
— You really love that word when it helps you avoid arguing.
— No. I love it when you're right. She would have liked not to like that answer. Partial failure. He took out his phone and sent several messages. Meanwhile, Selene took her black notebook and added: Roses: confirmed target. Marking. Reaching without entering. Eden read over her shoulder.
— You're taking notes?
— I'm an author.
— You're being threatened.
— Both can be true. He stayed silent. As if that sentence already irritated him. Then he said:
— There is an archive about Ashfall's symbols. Selene turned toward him.
— When were you planning to tell me?
— When I had decided whether you should see it. She slowly set the notebook down.
— Bad answer number two.
— Yes. Ashfall - English Translation - Part 02— You learn quickly.
— Not quickly enough. He passed a hand over the back of his neck. The first truly tired gesture she had seen from him.
— I'll take you there after the window is secured.
— No.
— No?
— You take me there now. Someone else can secure the window. I am not going to wait obediently in the room where someone left a rose. Eden stared at her.
— Very bad idea.
— You should start a list. It's getting long. He looked as if he were about to refuse. Then he looked at the rose, the window, the chain she had installed, the notebook.
— Very well.
— Without enthusiasm.
— Without lying. She took her phone, her notebook, and the Berries box. Eden looked at the box.
— Why are you taking it?
— Because if scents are a language, I would rather come with my dictionary. This time, he truly smiled. Brief. Involuntary. Then they left the room, leaving the rose behind them, alone on the windowsill, red as a warning that had managed to enter without opening the door.
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