“Good morning! It’s time to rise and have a look at yourself!” A strange, upbeat voice caused her to upright herself with amazing speed. She looked around frantically trying to get her bearings and identify the source of the voice. The source turned out to be a tall and quite beautiful woman, standing in the doorway of the large room. The furniture and decorations appeared to be made from the most expensive of materials and wood. The sheets were silk, and the mattress made of some amazing material which was soft beyond anything she had ever felt before.

“I suppose it all must seem worrying, but I assure you, you are quite safe…” The woman approached the bed and pulled out a small chair from under it. “I’m Elistin… But call me Elly… What’s your name? No, don’t answer that… I’ll simply call you Firran for now.”

The girl, now named as Firran nodded. She tried to move and shift, but her body remained in place, only her middle and index fingers on her left hand even wanted to respond. Her face felt unbalanced, as if something was weighing her down on her left side. Any further attempts to shift, caused her chest and belly to sting.

“Please don’t move too much. To say the least, you’ve got some broken bones…”

She tried a few more futile attempts at moving, before resigning.

“Good… I’ll tell you a little about what my staff has done… I mended most of your broken ribs, fingers and your legs… Your skin is, permanently disfigured in places as it was too badly burnt to restore… Um, what else… Right. Your captors shattered part of your jaw… We pieced it together, mostly, but we had to fill the gaps with amber… We also sowed your mouth shut while it heals.”

The revelations caused her no real concern. What was more interesting was why she had been saved. It was clear to her, Elistin was the voice of her savior. She had saved her from the torture. A hint of relief began to sweep over her, and the feelings towards her savior was rekindled.

“You’ll be fine soon… We’ll loosen the threads when necessary, when you heal up properly, I’ll talk to you again… But please. Remember this.” Ellistin moved her surprisingly soft and lithe hand onto her own, fingering Firran’s broken digits gently. “I was threatened… If you don’t do as my lords demands... They will kill me… Will you swear allegiance to me? So, that I may appease their ire?”

She managed to incline her head just enough to make a barely visible nod. Her response was met with a gentle smile and some tears welling up in the corners of Ellistin’s eyes.

“Thank you… I was right to place my faith in you… You are truly a wonderful child.”

Ellistin stood up and left the room. Her words still echoed inside of Firran’s mind. To be praised, and offered words of affection… She could think of nothing that would equal those words in value.