23 October, 2010

22: Skirina

[Start from the beginning]

Skirina awoke slowly, her head feeling muggy. She was lying on a hard surface, not her usual pallet, and it took a few moments for her to gather her thoughts. The last thing she remembered was taking a drink from her canteen… she had felt woozy, stumbled a short distance, and then collapsed. Somebody had poisoned her canteen? Yes, that had to be it, and now she had woken up somewhere else.

The shocking realisation brought her fully awake, and she tried to struggle upright. No sooner did she do so than she realised that her hands were bound in front of her, tied together with some thick cord. She had been captured! But how, and by whom?

None of it made any sense. Why would anyone want to imprison her, and how could anyone have possibly drugged her water supply? Nobody else should have had access to it, except possibly the other members of her warren, and they were hardly likely to do such a thing.