Hollow Kingdom / Season 1, Episode 6
Tea and Tension
Eleanor’s fingers tightened around the chipped porcelain handle of the teacup, the faint clink of it against the saucer slicing through the suffocating quiet of the dining room. The air at Ashworth Hall carried the weight of damp wool, a smell that clung to the back of her throat, mixing with the bitter dregs of the tea she hadn’t touched in minutes. Across the table, Margot’s eyes were on her, sharp as flint, her paint-stained fingers drumming an uneven rhythm on the warped oak. Thomas sat at the head, where their father used to reign, his shoulders hunched as if the chair itself pressed down on him. The crystal chandelier above flickered, casting jagged shadows across the walls, and somewhere in the house, a floorboard groaned under a weight that wasn’t theirs. “You don’t believe me,” Margot said, her voice low, almost a hiss, breaking the silence like a stone through glass. “You think I’m mad, don’t you, Eleanor? Always have. The daft little sister with her brushes and her fancies.” Eleanor set the cup down with deliberate care, the porcelain cold against her palm, and forced her gaze to meet Margot’s. Her sister’s face was pale, almost waxen in the dim light, the smudges of charcoal under her eyes making her look half-starved, half-feral. “I didn’t say that,” Eleanor...