The damp chill of the stone cell seeped into Barbara's bones, a constant reminder of her solitude. Days had blended into a monotonous stretch of despair, each marked only by the infrequent clatter of guards outside her door and the distant echoes of laughter from the royal courts above. She had long since lost track of time, counting the hours not by sunlight but by the shadows that flickered along the cold stone walls, stretching and receding like the ebbing tide of her hope.
Every morning, she awoke with a fleeting sense of optimism, believing that today might bring Kristie—her friend, the one she expected to come and rescue her. But as the sun dipped below the horizon each evening, that glimmer of hope would dim, leaving behind only the sharp pang of betrayal. The silence of her cell was deafening, and the weight of abandonment pressed heavily upon her chest.
