They are not prisoners. That’s the cruel joke. The door at the base of the Tower is never locked. Any girl may leave at any time.
Because the Tower whispers secrets to those who stay: how to catch a falling star, how to weave time into rope, how to look at a storm and say kneel . Each level grants a new sense, a new weight. By the fifth floor, a girl can taste lies on the wind. By the sixth, she can remember tomorrow. Girls of The Tower
But the seventh floor? No girl has ever described it. Those who ascend return with eyes like novas and a terrible, gentle smile. They take up their posts in silence. They watch the horizon. They are not prisoners
They arrive as girls. They become something else. Any girl may leave at any time
None ever do.