He slid down the wall like a rag doll, his head lolling lifelessly. His eyes were shut tight, and a shocking trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, a gruesome streak against his pale face.
He had lost consciousness completely, slumped motionless in the corner.
The young woman didn't even glance at the crumpled figure in the distant corner. She simply turned and continued down the silent stone corridor. Her steps were feather-light, the hem of her pure black dress making almost no sound, as if she were a part of the castle's shadows herself.
Torchlight from the corridor walls flickered across her, but it failed to illuminate the deep pools of her black eyes.
Finally, she stopped before the heavy oak door of the study.
Without hesitation, she raised a hand and knocked three times, her knuckles rapping lightly on the wood.
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
The sound sent faint echoes down the empty corridor.
