The light flooding into Mari's eyes made her winced. When she opened them again, she tried to make sense of her surroundings. The stone walls were empty and cracking at the edges, and the light was shining through the singular barred window. She struggled to sit up seeing that her wrists were shackled together. She sat on a straw mattress and looked at the bars in front of her.
"Ah, you're awake," Mari squinted at the figure on the other side of the bars. A young man walked towards the cell with a tray of food. A piece of bread and a bowl of porridge was set on the floor in front of her. Mari looked up at him with narrowed eyes and he smirked, "Go on, you're not chained to the wall," he gestured with his hand for her move. She held his gaze for a moment then stood up. She grimaced when she set her right foot down. The man peered over saying, "Oh yea, you sprained your ankle, so it might still hurt a bit." Not wanting the man to speak anymore, Mari set her foot down and slowly made her way over to the tray. When she crouched down to it, she looked up at the man again. She waved her wrists at him making the chains jiggle, but he shrugged, "Can't help you with that." He said, and he folded his arms over his chest.
Mari grunted then reached for the bread. Perhaps she was just hungry, but her first bite made her stop then proceed to scarf the rest down. She reached for the bowl and held it up to her mouth swallowing the contents without a breath. The man watched with his eyebrows raised. When she had finished, she looked up at the man and asked, "Am I in the manor?"
He looked at her confused for moment before saying, "Yes, this is Fort Stark."
She observed her surrounding again before returning to look up at the man. "A fort?" she repeated.
The man nodded, "Yes, you were chased to the pond by an Ursa. Luckily, Tyra was on duty when she saw you in the water. The lord had to knock you out before we brought you here, but he hit you pretty hard." He leaned against the wall close to the door; Mari stared at him confused again.
"How long was I asleep?" she asked.
"Two days."
"Two days!!" Mari grabbed at the bars of the cell, "It can't be! I-I have to send a letter a-and," the man by the wall held his hand up stopping her thoughts.
"Can't do that, miss," he shrugged, "now that you're here, you can't leave. Not until we figure out who you are."
"…" Mari stared at the man. It could be possible that this man was lying about where she was. He called the building a fort, but she clearly saw an estate and not a citadel when she was riding. His clothes were simple like those of a carpenter or a hunter, but his ears were pierced. If Mari remembered correctly, pierced ears was a sign of a scholar. His earrings were gold and hung small blue stones at the ends of the chains. She continued to examine the man's ears to the point he began to follow her eyes, making him turn away.
Suddenly, the door swung open, surprising the man against the wall. A young woman with fiery hair marched in. "Tyra!" the man pushed himself up off the wall and stood straighter, "don't scare me like that!"
The woman named Tyra raised an eyebrow at him then asked, "why are you still here? You were told to just leave the food and return to the young master." She glanced over at the cell. Mari still knelt over the tray, her eyes watching the conversation closely. The redhead sighed, "Peter, go tell the young master that she's awake. He'll want to question her," she turned back to the man who saluted her.
"Who are you? Why are you keeping me here?" Mari stared at Tyra, who kept a calm, stoic expression. She didn't answer only giving the girl a low glare. A different man appeared at the door and saluted her.
"I've alerted the young master."
"Good," Tyra began to approach the cell and pulled out her keys. Mari backed away from the door as it swung open. She watched as Tyra walked into the cell and stood over her. She placed her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, "Are you gonna keep sitting there gawking or do you want to get out of the cell?"
After hesitating, Mari stood up, ignoring the pain from her ankle. Tyra eyed the girl's appearance then grabbed her by her wrists, pulling her out of the cage. She led her out of the stone room and up a narrow stairwell. Mari had to squint when the woman opened the door at the top of the stairs. When her eyes readjusted, she found herself being led through a much larger hall. The walls were ornate with detailed paneling. Cloaked figures passed them briefly stopping to give a curt bow to Tyra.
"W-Where is this?" Mari was still observing her surroundings, taking in the décor similar to that of a noble's estate. Mari turned to the woman dragging her, "The guy that fed me said that this was Fort Stark, but I've never heard of that name."
Tyra gave her another glance and sighed. She stopped walking and turned to her, "The people of this land call it the Shadow Manor, but to us that live here, it's our fort against the imperial family."
"But it's out in the open. Wouldn't the royal family know that people are here?"
Tyra groaned again, "the fort is in the middle of beast-infested forest. Do you really think the Capital would want to risk their men?" Before Mari could answer, Tyra grabbed her by the wrists again and continued to walk. They entered a room with a tall door and were greeted by a couple of maids.
"Scholar Tyra, greetings," they said in unison. Tyra nodded towards them and pulled Mari in front of them.
"Clean her up. She has an audience with the young master." She unlocked the cuffs around Mari's wrists and ushered her to maids. "I'll come back and bring you to the young master. In the meantime," Tyra gave Mari another cold look, "don't cause trouble." She made her way to the door and closed it shut behind her.