Genevieve felt her heartbeat quicken in her throat. She lay on the cold, damp cave floor, tightly bound by rough ropes that cut into her skin. She glanced to her right and left, seeing the two shadows beside her, Quer and Moland, also in the same predicament. They pretended to be unconscious, waiting for the opportunity to free themselves from their captors who had brought them here.
"Young lady, how long must we pretend to be unconscious?" Quer asked in a hushed voice to avoid detection.
"Patience, let's observe these people first," Genevieve replied to Quer in a soft voice.
In front of them, a fat, bearded old man spoke arrogantly to a group of robbers surrounding him. He was the boss of the band of thieves that had been terrorizing many towns around this forest. He held a gleaming wooden box in his hand, as if displaying his treasure.
