Chapter 9. The First Contact

Adrianna’s POV

I don’t know how long I sat there crying. Time felt weird in the dark cell; it could have been minutes or hours.

Eventually, the tears stopped. My eyes felt swollen, and my throat hurt. I just lay on the mat staring at nothing.

The stone walls seemed to press in on me. The ceiling felt too low, everything was cold and damp and miserable.

I thought about my mother. She died when I was eight. I barely remembered her face anymore, but I remembered her voice. She used to sing to me at night when I couldn’t sleep.

What would she think if she could see me now? Chained up in a cell waiting to die. Would she be disappointed? Ashamed? Or would she understand that I never had a choice in any of this?

My father never loved me the way he should have. He always seemed distant and cold. Like I was a duty rather than a daughter, maybe that’s why it was easy for Alaric to frame me for his murder. Nobody believed I was innocent because