The dungeon was dark and damp. Cries of pain and hushed whispers echoed in its depths.
Sienna leaned against the cold stone wall, her raised right hand shackled to it, her head bowed.
After an unknown stretch of time, a torch on the wall cast a long, narrow Shadow beyond the dungeon corridor.
At the sound of footsteps, Sienna lifted her head. Her eyes stared coldly through her disheveled hair at the figure outside her cell.
"How much money do you want?"
A husky, alluring female voice answered, "How did you know we wanted money?"
“You let Su Ni go, which means you knew that stablehand had no money.” Sienna raised her chin. Neither her disheveled state nor her predicament could hide her pride. “Unshackle me, then prepare a room and food. The Waters Family might consider paying you more.”
Clang—
The cell door opened, and the figure stepped inside. Sienna could not make out her face, only the graceful outline traced by the firelight behind her.
The woman crouched before Sienna and took her chin, her tone flippant. “You're that bitch's daughter? You look exactly like her...”
"Don't talk about my mother like that!"
"Look at you. Even when you're angry, you make me want to... bully you."
Sienna knocked the hand away from her face. She realized this was about more than money.
"Who are you?"
"Don't be so cold. I'm a friend of your mother's."
Sienna replied coldly, “She has no friends who would kidnap her daughter.”
“Little Sienna, you wound me...”
Sienna fell silent. The woman before her was not worth one of Annan's fingers.
No matter how she toyed with Sienna, she got no response. Losing interest, the woman stood. "Stay here for now. You'll be able to leave when the time comes."
As the