A short time later, Abrial returned to consciousness.
Painfully, she blinked her eyes open.
Ouch…her head hurt. A lot. She blinked and looked around, frowning from the pain and confusion.
She seemed to be surrounded by fabric walls…the walls of a tent? The strong scent of earth pressed in from all around, thick as fresh rain. The light here was mild and mostly came from what was probably sunlight filtering in through the fabric walls. Bamboo mats lined the ground. Polished wooden cabinets on either side of her.
Abrial raised a hand to rub her head, which was breaking out in a splitting headache.
Or rather, she tried to raise a hand.
To her shock, her arm wouldn't budge an inch! She looked down incredulously to find that she had been restrained to a chair.
But instead of being restrained with rope, she had been bound with vines.
She spluttered in disbelief.
