Sorayah opened her eyes slowly, her head throbbing with pain. A dull, persistent ache radiated from her temples, but despite it, she forced her eyelids apart. As her vision adjusted to the dim light filtering through the treetops above, the memory slammed into her.....how a maid had blown a puff of white powder into her face. The image was vivid now: the shocked gasp that had barely left her lips before everything turned black.
She bolted upright with a gasp, heart pounding, only to realize that her wrists were tightly bound with thick rope. Her mouth had been gagged with a coarse cloth, its edges biting into her skin. She looked around wildly, taking in her surroundings. A dense forest surrounded her, the trees tall and shadowy, their leaves rustling like whispers in the wind. There was no sign of a road, path, or even civilization. She was in the middle of nowhere.
