I remember there being a lot of light when they finally ripped off the top of the cargo crate that had been my prison for the length of the journey across the sea. I had pinched my eyes together and tried to cover my face with my hands, but the shackles were too heavy for me to move after the malnourishment my body had suffered from the days in the crate.
My crate was only big enough for me to lay across with the tips of my toes touching the other side, wide enough to roll on my side but that was all the movement the space allowed.
So when the men pulled the nails from the beaten wood of the coffin-like prison, my body was sore and limp. One man relieved me of the shackles, only to replace them with binds of rope. I was carried to a trailer that attached to an intimidating vehicle that showed wealth and power. I must have passed out because I woke encased in a glass prism that was being carted into a beautiful castle. I pressed my hands up against the glass as I soaked in all the beautiful woodwork, stained glass, hardwood floors, and the high arched ceiling.
My view turned dark and ominous when the men turned me down a long dimly lit hallway and into a large wooden door That's lock clanked and hinges squealed as it swung open.