Hollow Kingdom / Season 1, Episode 10
Splinters of Decay
Eleanor’s boots scraped against the splintered wood of the east wing corridor, the sound swallowed by the suffocating weight of the air down here, thick with the tang of rot and something sharper, like copper left too long in the damp. Her lantern flickered in her hand, throwing jagged shadows across the walls, where peeling paper curled back like dead skin. Margot was ahead, her silhouette hunched and urgent, one pale hand clawing at the next boarded-up door. The nails groaned as she tugged, her breaths coming in short, ragged bursts. “Stop it, Margot. Just—stop for a damn second,” Eleanor hissed, her voice low but cutting through the stillness. Her palm pressed against the wall for balance, the plaster cold and crumbling beneath her fingers, as if it might give way under the slightest pressure. Her heart thudded, not just from the descent down that cursed staircase, but from the thing she couldn’t name—the thing she’d glimpsed behind the last door Margot had pried open. A shape, or the absence of one, too fleeting to pin down, but enough to make her stomach twist. Margot didn’t turn, didn’t stop. Her fingers dug into the edge of a warped plank, splinters catching under her nails. “You saw it too. Don’t pretend you didn’t. We’re close, El. I can feel it—whatever Father...