"Where… am I…"
Aria's voice cracked from the back of her throat as her eyelids began to twitch open. A dull, searing ache pulsed behind her eyes like she'd been unconscious for days. Her mouth was dry. Her limbs were numb. And her throat burned, like she hadn't spoken in hours.
She tried to raise a hand to rub her face. Nothing moved.
Again, harder.
Still... Nothing.
Her eyes snapped open fully.
She was bound.
Aria's breath hitched as she blinked rapidly to clear her vision. It was dark, no, dimly lit, but not in any normal way. The light above her wasn't fluorescent. It was slow, rotating, a violet glow sweeping across the ceiling like a spotlight at an observatory, making the entire space feel surreal, artificial, like she was in a dream.
Her vision steadied.
And then it sank in.
She was strapped to a throne.
Not a chair. A throne. Big. Elegant. Empty of warmth.
