Decisions

Found

Before Soo opened her eyes, she knew that she was no longer at the palace. The damp smell of earth permeated her senses, and she knew that she was in some sort of shelter in the forest. As she slowly awakened, she could feel the throbbing of her head. It was times like these that she wished she had access to modern medication.

Blinking blearily, she finally saw her surroundings. True to her predictions, she was in a rundown cottage of sorts, with walls made of tree trunks lined together. It was small, perhaps only twenty paces in length and fifteen paces wide. As she sat up, she could feel the numbness on the side she had been laying on. Her hands were tied together in front of her body, and there was no source of light aside from the candle in the corner.

She took another closer scan of the space, trying to see if she could find any tools that would help her escape. Although she was alone in the cottage now, there was no sign of when that would change. Thankfully, she could still feel the concealed dagger she always kept on herself in case of emergencies. That meant that they had not searched her body, or touched her other than for transport.

Getting onto her feet slowly, she walked around to get the feeling back into her legs. Eventually, she realized that they had left nothing useful in the cottage. She also tried to open the door, but as expected it was locked from the outside. She could only wait until someone came to her to get any answers. Still, they grossly underestimated her; she quickly pulled out her dagger to cut through her ties. It took some time, but she managed to unbind herself.

She didn't know how long she waited, but the candlestick had nearly burnt out before she noticed light showing through the cracks of the wood. Daylight was dawning, and she tried to see if she could find any clues of what was surrounding her. Eventually, she heard some footsteps approach, and she stationed herself in a corner, facing the door.

She had expected someone to step into the cottage, but the door was only opened slightly for them to slide in a bowl of food, before it was swiftly locked again. She rushed to see if she could recognize who it was through the cracks of the walls, but it was to no avail; they quickly left as they arrived. That evening, more food was slid through the door, in addition to a newly lit candle.

This same schedule occurred the next day as well, and when they left after giving her food in the morning, she assumed that they would stay on this schedule for the time being. Looking once more around the cottage, she tried to find the weakest part of the wall before she started to cut away with her dagger. It was only wood afterall, right? Surely she could cut her way out of the cottage.

Still, it took some time and even then she was only barely through one trunk of the tree. The hours came and went, but she kept trying to cut her way through the walls. She eventually ate what was given to her that morning in between attempts at escaping. When it was dark again, she heard the sound of footsteps again, and she hurriedly hid her dagger and wrapped the ropes around her wrists, sitting with her back against the damage she had exerted on the wall.

The door opened once more, but this time she was able to meet the eyes of her captor. His face was masked, and she did not recognize his eyes. He simply glanced at her before replacing the bowl from this morning with another one. He walked over to the burnt candle and lit it again before moving to exit the cottage.

"Who are you?"

He paused in his steps but remained silent, eyes still looking at her.

"Who has commanded you to do this?"

Again, Soo's question was met with silence. In earnest she tried to elicit any response from the captor for more information.

"If you are doing this out of manipulation, I beg of you to release me. The 4th prince shall demonstrate mercy if you do so."