It went without saying that Aleksandra Belikova was shocked to wake in a castle. She was not a person who frequented any buildings at all, much less a castle. But there she lay, half naked and covered in silk sheets, squinting at the sliver of light hitting her face from the window in the corner of the room. The light made her head throb, and her limbs felt heavy as she sat up and covered her bare chest with her arms. Everything still felt hazy, which reminded her that she’d been drugged.
How humiliating, she thought, recalling the events leading up to her capture. She’d been riding for the coast of Noxus, hoping to catch the last of the trade ships back to Ardany. Her horse was skittish and she’d been in a foul mood, and hadn’t seen the ambush coming. Normally, three poorly trained men with shoddy weapons would pose no problem for her, but her unpreparedness combined with their determination had been her downfall. She had killed one of them, at least. She could vaguely recall the occasional boot in her stomach whenever they came to feed her, but nothing beyond that.
She turned her attention to more pressing matters. Her inconvenient nudity, for starters. She was bare-chested and wearing some thin silken undergarments, which would certainly not do. She swung her legs out of bed and stood. As her left foot touched the cold marble floor, she felt a sharp, familiar sting in her heel. She pulled up her foot to look, despite already knowing what was there. Inked crudely into her heel was the word SLAVE. She let her foot drop with an irritated sigh. Anyone one else would have been horrified to discover they’d been marked as someone else’s property, but she’d learned long ago that someone or something always owned her, whether they were aware of it or not. Her past, the thrill of the fight, and slavers, of course. She’d been marked for slavery once before, but she’d escaped after one of the slavers foolishly untied her for a meal. She’d gotten a much larger tattoo to cover the slave mark, a pattern of swirling flames that covered her foot and crept up onto her thigh. Maybe she’d get creeping vines if she escaped again.
She chose not to dwell on who else might own her. Though the morning was warm, being half naked didn’t seem any more appealing. She spotted a man’s shirt lying on the floor, so she scooped it up and pulled it on. Then she began to explore her surroundings. She went to the window first, knowing she’d glean the most information by looking outside. She drew back the curtains, letting the sunlight in and blinding herself in the process. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times, letting herself get used to the light. Finally, she took her first look. The castle itself was made of standard grey stone, with endless windows and a massive wall surrounding it. She could see a town spread out over the rolling hills at the base of the wall, and in the distance there were purple-grey mountains, mostly just blurs on the horizon. So, still Noxus. She'd been in the royal castle twice before on contracts, but she didn't recognize which wing she was in. No matter. She'd figure it out and escape in due time.