Page 32 of Glorious Rivals (The Grandest Game #2)

GIGI

A s it turned out, it took a very long time for even a highly motivated individual to cut through silk bindings with a jagged rock, but there were two kinds of optimists in the world: those who hoped and those who madly persevered.

Gigi was the latter. At long, long last, a small rip gave way to a larger large one, which gave way to a strip of silk fabric falling to the floor. “Huzzah!”

Despite her optimism, Gigi had not thought much past step one of her plan. The obvious step two was to free her ankles, which she did, but as for step three…

Gigi felt her way to the door and tried throwing herself bodily against it a couple of times.

No go. She changed tactics. It took her a full five minutes of crawling around in the dark, searching the wood floor with her hands to find the iron candle holder.

Even without any light, she was ninety-nine percent sure that she could climb the stone stairs if she hugged the wall and took her time. And once she got to the top…

How hard could it possibly be for a highly motivated individual with a hefty metal object to shatter a few windows?