[Insert Creative Title Here]

Esther

Esther winced. After she had been captured, the soldiers roughly threw her into a cell, her body crashing against the stone-cold floor. Her arms ached. She looked around, grimacing at the acrid smell of bloody and sweaty bodies permeating through all pores of the dungeon, when suddenly, a wearisome figure caught her eye.

The man in the cell opposite to Esther's leered at her, reaching an arm through the bars. "What's a little girl like you doing in a big dungeon like this?" he asked condescendingly.

Reluctant to make an enemy, Esther looked away, enraging the man. "Hey! I asked you a question," he shouted, a nasty scowl on his face.

Esther ignored him, trying to think of a way to escape the dungeon using the surroundings she had noticed. Unfortunately for her, though the king's dungeon was foul-smelling and dirty, it was also well-funded. The architects had worked hard to make sure nobody could get in or out without permission. The few windows looked more like tunnels, separated by bars every few feet, and the dungeon was situated deep underground,

Well, I'll be here a while.

Lost in thought, Esther almost didn't notice when a man walked in. He was tall and large, a thin scar running from his temple to chin.

Hmm, Esther thought, finding him familiar. After a moment, she recognized him as Sir Lawrence, the personal guard of Queen Isabella, a mighty warrior likely to start fights over trivial things.

His eyes landed on each of the people imprisoned inside the dungeon, assessing each of them. As he looked at each of the prisoners, his gaze was returned by glares equally as intense.

At last, looking at the last cell in on the block, Sir Lawrence looked at Esther. Trying to appear vulnerable and meek, Esther looked away. She noticed him squinting at her as he passed her by, and trying to avoid drawing attention to herself, she looked down at the floor and twiddled her thumbs.

After a moment, he passed by and exited the dungeon.