You Will Be Ransomed

"Why would I go out, akka?" Sri Latha asked gloomily. "Who will rescue me?"

Soukhya smiled though she could not see Sri Latha. “You are still too naive, chelli.” She replied. “You are the daughter of a very powerful man. Otherwise, they wouldn’t put a price on you or keep you in chains. Or let you wear clothes.”

“What!” Sri Latha was shocked by the revelation. “Does that mean, you .......” she couldn’t complete the sentence.

“Yes. I am naked.” Sri Latha gasped closing her mouth with her right palm. “If you are important they let you be dressed. Otherwise, you are stripped off your clothes and your dignity.”

“How do you know so much?”

“Nothing is hidden here. They let prisoners talk. They know the prisoners can’t escape on their own. Besides, they take great pleasure in giving us the news of the outside world to break our morale.” She paused to let that information sink in. “The previous inmate of your cell was also ransomed.”

“Really? Who was she?”