Outside, a cloud moved away from the sun, and light burst in through a partially open curtain. The moment it touched her skin, Eluvie felt a burst of joy and energy. She abandoned the mirror and went closer to the window. With another fearful glance at the door, she pulled the curtains open and basked in the sunlight. Every moment she stood in it was paradise. Her worries retreated to the back of her mind, still present but not overwhelming. The tendril she had left in Lady Mirab's room felt less distant. She even sensed it growing, lengthening until she was worried that it would grow too large for the wall it hid behind, break apart the stone, and expose her secret.

  She panicked for a moment, but her newfound knowledge saved her. The sun's energy replenished her own, and it would increase the mass of her body, but the stretching was merely an instinctive reaction of hers, like extending one's arms while yawning. She could prevent herself from doing it. And so she did. Her body - both parts - continued to drink in the energy from the sun. The tendril gained enough mass that it was technically no longer a tendril, but it did not stretch further. When she allowed it to expand, it would fill an entire room, but it would not do so without her permission.

  She stood in the sunlight for a long time. They were clearly committed to this ruse of theirs if they actually allowed her sunlight. Her previous room had received no direct sunlight. She had never known why; perhaps a particularly large tree had been in the way. But if they allowed her this now, then they either had very little fear of her or very much confidence in their ruse. That knowledge dampened Eluvie's mood again. All the sunlight in the world wouldn't help her if she could not escape.

  Eventually, the pleasure she gained from the sunlight ceased, and she knew that she was at full strength. She felt as rested as if she had slept all night. In fact, sleeping would be impossible now. Her mind was clearer as well. Fear had rendered her immobile before. It was still present and still strong, but nowhere near as overpowering. And the growth of tendrils had given her an idea.

  She returned to her base form, and if she had possessed a mouth, she would have gasped. Instead, she only thanked the creator that her stupidity had not brought disaster. She covered the entire room: every inch of the floor, all of the furniture, almost every part of the wall, and the entire ceiling, all covered by her shimmering golden form. And that had not been enough. She was folded over herself, like a cloth could be folded, forming several layers that reached a height about half the height of the room. And she knew that she could be larger if she let herself stretch out.

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  She marveled for a moment, wondering at what kind of creature she was, thinking of the branches she had seen at the top of the sky. How large must they be if she could see them from so far below? How large could she be if she hadn't been caged all her life? And what was a body like this meant for?

  The next moment, she cursed her stupidity and returned to the task at hand. She needed to make another tendril. The first attempt had been an accident, and her transformation had so stunned her that she no longer knew if she could even make a tendril. But she calmed herself, picked a spot, and tried to break it off. It came off easily and painlessly. And when she attempted to switch her awareness to it, the transfer happened with no resistance.

  Relieved, she transformed back into human form but left the tendril as it was. The room looked little worse for wear. A lamp had fallen on its side, but the rest of the furnishings were only slightly displaced. That made no sense until she picked up the tendril. It yielded to her easily, curling into a ball when she grasped it in her hand. It was lighter than a piece of thread. She sensed that it could be large enough to cover the ground if she let it stretch, but that bulk made no appearance in its weight. It was no wonder that the weight of her entire form had only managed to knock over one lamp.

  She took a deep breath and put the tendril back on the ground. The next experiment would either prove her plan or destroy it. She started to send a prayer to the creator, paused, and then considered whether to do it. She considered it for so long that she began to feel silly. Then, she recalled all that she had been through, and her indecision turned to anger. She had come this far by herself. Why would he involve himself now?

  She returned her awareness to the new tendril. As soon as that was done, her other body flopped to the ground. Beyond confirming that it was still intact, she ignored it. Then, she commanded the new tendril to form into a copy of her body.

  It worked. She stood in a second body identical to the first, while her first body remained motionless on the ground. A final, real burst of joy and relief filled her. The plan was not perfect, but it was good.

  The palace fell quiet sometime after midnight. Eluvie's attendants had since retired, only the guards at her door remained. Tendril number two had spent all day traveling through the walls until it reached Amu's bedroom, a tiny space on the first floor. From there, it had watched the doctor go about his nightly routine. When alone, he was surprisingly morose. His forehead was almost constantly creased. He mumbled unintelligible words to himself and sighed more often than she - the prisoner. When watching him grew tedious, Eluvie went over her plan. She had tested and refined it until she had an answer for every imagined flaw. They were not perfect answers, but she had convinced herself that the plan would not end with her worse off.