I opened my eyes, looking wearily around the cell. The sedation had been kept up for, if I had to guess, weeks. The time had been both infinite and a blur, strange and confusing. They'd stopped though, and I was now beginning to come back to my senses.

There had been points when it stopped, when I began to crawl slowly from the blanket of sleep they'd been forcing on me. I'd tried to sing the poison in my veins away, only for someone to strike me, or gag me, anything to stop me from casting. During those times I'd been forcibly fed and given water, and at one point even cleaned by some other woman.

Keeping someone drugged forever was impossible though, at least with our level of medicine. There had to be a balance between keeping me helpless and not killing me. As each dose of poison had been forced in, my body had slowly been acclimating to it, and in time I would have gained enough resistance that the amount to keep me so disabled would have killed me.

The fever dream had lasted long enough to bring me here though, to transport me to whatever destination they'd had planned out and ready. I supposed that was all they really needed in their minds, to keep me down until they could... I shuddered to think what they wanted. Even worse what they might have done while I was asleep.

In a panic I checked my surroundings, finding nobody else in the room, and no person obviously at the door I hiked my dress up. My mark was still there upon my leg, still glowing, though noticeably it was about a month down from its maximum charge. I'd never experienced this kind of fear before, and suddenly felt very much like any girl who woke up after a wild party somewhere she didn't know. Except this hadn't been some fun night out, but an attack. I laid back and wept quietly, noting, but not caring about the shackle around my right wrist.

I pushed as much mana as I could into the tattoo I'd gotten so many years ago. A safety I'd hoped would never become as important as it felt now. Eventually it refused to accept any more, pushing back, probably a safety measure for situations like this one. In time I fell asleep, letting the darkness wash over me again.

It was light when I woke up. It was also time for me to start looking at my situation. There were no friends here to help me, no family. What did the people who took me want? Who even were they? Where had they taken me? I needed answers to these, and I needed them as quickly as I could get them.

The cell I was held in, for this was surely some kind of prison, was painfully cold. There was a small straw mattress in one corner, on which I currently lay, as well as a basin for water and a chamber pot, lovely. I could see a small window from where I struggled to rise.

I wanted to vomit as I struggled to pull myself up, the last of the drugs wearing off. I was weak, painfully so, like a newborn deer struggling to take its first steps. Eventually I did manage to sit up, using the freezing stone wall as a prop.

I was shackled to the ceiling, a long chain running down from an inset loop to the cuff that was tight around my wrist. I tested that to find it was tight, extremely tight, with no easy way to get it off. It didn't seem enchanted, but the walls to this room definitely were, there was just a feeling about it, and the way my aura seemed to bounce off of them oddly, never quite touching.

The door looked sturdy, wood with iron bands strongly holding it and a small viewing window, now open. I couldn't see anyone out there now, but that didn't mean there were no guards, casters were notoriously difficult to contain, particularly for any amount of time. That was the main reason that we were seldom captured unless we surrendered.

I wanted to see the window first, get a look outside. The guards, whoever they were, would probably make themselves known in time.

I almost fell to the floor as I stood, the whole world lurching just a bit. The chain also made a horrid racket as it slid across the floor. That sound made a face appear instantly in the little window, feminine, but hard.

It took only a few seconds for the door to be opened and a pair guards, all women I happily noted, to make their way inside. Another remained in the hall, keeping an eye. I didn't know who these were, but they were not playing any games.

All three had auras, nothing impressive, but even a weak magic user was still a magic user. Of them the leader, an older blonde with a few wrinkles and scars was the strongest, a cold steel colored mist.

"Sit," she instructed.

"What have you done to me?" I asked as I fell back to the bed.

"I believe that is obvious prisoner," she seemed to take another look at my face, the tear streaks from earlier were likely still there. "Nothing horrid, as of yet. There are rules, you will listen."

I nodded and she continued. "I've been informed, by reliable sources that you are a bard, that specializes in song and dance magic. If you attempt to sing, we will take that as a threat, if this chain begins to move too much." She shook the metal implement, and it loudly clattered. "We will take that as a threat. Understood?"

"Yes, who are you?" I wanted as much information as I could get.

"You do not need to know that. What you do need to know is that if I or my subordinates catch you trying to cast or escape, we will not be pleased little girl. You may think that your situation now is bad, but believe me, it can get so, so much worse." Her eyes darkened as she spoke.

"I understand... will you at least tell me where I am? Whoever you are I'm sure that they'll pay the ransom..." I didn't know if they'd contacted my family, but most people would, they wanted the money a caster would get when sent back to their family, and I had no doubt that they would really want me back home.

She scoffed. "We are not stupid enough to alert the traitor to your location fool. Since it will soon become obvious anyway, there is no reason to hide this from you. You are currently in the custody of His Majesty King Lief, the true king of Bergond."

I paled as she turned and shut the door loudly behind herself. So far as I knew, nobody knew exactly where the fallen prince had run off to, only that he'd taken a lot of his people with him. I also knew that the chances of them trying to sell me back to my own family were hovering stubbornly right at zero. I was on my own, and I really needed to get out of here.

Several weeks earlier

Durin felt his heart thrumming as he read over the report. Just this morning one of his men, Sergeant Ernest, had stumbled through the brand new gate to Linden, ignoring the safety checks, and nearly set off dozens of countermeasures against attack. While the man would need to be chided for his misstep in procedure, he at least had good reason.

Their caravan had been attacked on the way to the gate. Three of his knights, good men, were dead. As for the two casters they were guarding... The two girls had been captured in a fast attack, from the looks of it, their opponents had known the capabilities of at least one of them to a T. It honestly looked like something he'd have done, but these were enemies.

They'd managed to kill five of the attacking men, but failed to capture any of them. Debriefings would need to happen and fast, the damage the loss of those researchers could do could not possibly be understated.

Durin sighed and felt heavy. He'd also need to talk to his old friend Verren. The man would not take this well, not at all. Hopefully they'd have a target at which to vent his fury by the time that meeting happened.