"Let me go! Let me GO!"
Soyeon's voice echoed through the stone corridors as the guards dragged her deeper into the palace complex. Her feet scraped against the ground, and her injured shoulder screaming with every jolt.
The Ministry of Justice lay just right up ahead, a building of dark wood and iron, where traitors were questioned and confessions extracted through methods Soyeon didn't want to imagine.
Behind her, she heard the soft rustle of silk.
The Empress Dowager followed right behind them, her purple robes flowing like poisoned water.
They reached a cell at the end of a long corridor. The guards threw open the heavy wooden door and shoved Soyeon inside. She stumbled, fell hard on her hands and knees on the cold stone floor.
"Wait!" She scrambled to turn around. "Please, you have to listen!"
The door slammed shut.
But through the small barred window, the Empress Dowager's face appeared. Her smile was cruel, drawn like a bowstring, and evil in a way meant to intimidate.
