I awoke to the sound of a loud knocking at the main door of my house. I groaned and rolled over, my eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the darkness, a faint hint of moonlight pouring through the windows, which barely illuminated the room. I lay there for a few minutes before there was another set of knocking, this time even louder and with more force. With another groan, I rolled out of bed, the mattress creaking as I stand. I rubbed the sleep away from my tired eyes, and drug myself to the door, wondering why my mother hadn't answered the door yet. As soon as I reached for the handle, it burst open, and in charged a group of cloaked men, all brandishing the symbol of the Night Hawk guild. My eyes widened, but before I could process anything, I was shoved to the ground, landing roughly on my butt. One of the men grabbed my wrist with excessive force, and shoved my chest backwards onto the floor as he and a few more men restrained me.
"Where is she?" One of the more burly appearing men spoke with a gruff tone of voice.
"Who?" I asked, meekly. I had no clue why these men from the most esteemed guild would show up to my home, nor did I know who they wanted.
"Yvonne Sulcan! Where is she?" The man raised his voice, a hint of anger and annoyance resonating within his tone.
I couldn't form any words. There were none. What had my mother done to invoke the Night Hawk guild?
Apparently the guild members didn't appreciate my lack of an answer, which led to the man grabbing me by tge collar of my nightgown and pulling me up to my feet forcefully.
"I will not repeat myself. Where is she?" The man raised his voice once more, and I could feel small droplets of his saliva splashing onto my face, and his breath reaked, which I could only assume the stench was amplified due to the rotting tooth in the front of his mouth.
"I don't know! She was here when I went to bed!" I managed to squeak out, closing my eyes tightly.
"Useless. Take her to the guild's dungeon until Yvonne shows up, or until the runt decides to speak up." The man shook his head, shoving me towards the other cloaked men, which made me flinch. I was defenseless as the clearly toned figures grabbed my arms, hardly expending any energy as they drug me out of my home. As much as I struggled, I couldn't break free from their grasps.
After what felt like a century, I was shoved to the hard, cold floor of a cell in the dungeon. I didn't bother screaming. The horrid stench of old blood, previously rotten bodies which used to reside in the neighboring cells, and mold all hit my nose, provoking nausea and making me gag. I forced the rising bile down as I glared at my captors. I once looked up to them, but now? I despised them. They didn't even bother to explain why they had detained me, nor did they elaborate on why my mother was now a wanted criminal.
The men who had thrown me into the cell spared me no words nor explanation as they locked the cell door and left, paying no mind to me as I remained on the floor.
All that I had been reduced to at that point is a prisoner, or maybe a hostage. My dignity and reputation all gone in that moment.
Little did I know that my luck would only grow worse in the coming weeks.