The golden words shimmer in the dim light as your fingers trace their curves. You read, not for knowledge, but to drown the silence, to forget the eyes of the cruel master who claimed you. Through the grand, arched window, you see him—Velesar, the dreaded dragon, sprawled in a sea of lavender, his scales catching the waning sunlight. He sleeps, but even in stillness, his presence suffocates. You dream of the horizon beyond the mountains, of freedom, yet the scent of lavender and the weight of gold-inked pages tether you to this gilded cage.