On the run

It feels odd sneaking around my home, dodging guards and servants as I make my way. My black silk bag is beginning to grow heavy on my arm, causing it to ache. Though I manage to avoid being spotted, it seems like hours before I get outside. I half expect the guards to be waiting for me, sure that someone must have spotted me and alerted them. They seem normal, so I quickly cower behind a stack of crates, as the merchant who owns them speaks with an arriving knight.

I spot a wagon nearby, the high quality fabric it carries belongs to mother's favorite fabric shop. I think of mother, how worried she will be and feel a stab of guilt. "I'm sorry." I whisper back at the castle, I just can't stay with thing as they are. I want to be free.

When the coast is clear, I hurry to the wagon and bury myself beneath the smooth fabrics inside. I feel nervous when the driver returns, but he doesn't notice me and climbs up to take the reigns. The horses neigh when he urges them to move, but they comply. Soon we're in town, but my ride doesn't end until he stops out front of his shop and I flee his wagon when he walks inside.

 

I've never been in town alone before, guards always accompanied me on my outings, I can't help but find it strange. I would need to get used to it, as I would likely be alone for quite a while.

Raising my chin, I marched into a nearby jewelry shop and placed a few items down on the counter.

"I would like to sell these, please." I announce, as the woman eyes me curiously.

"May I ask why? They are such lovely pieces." She prods, leaving me to wonder if she thought me a thief. How very rude a thing to think of someone, yet what was I to say?

"My husband bought me new ones and I'm running out of space to keep them all." The lie flows easily from my lips, despite my lack of planning, I chastise myself for not having prepared for such questions. 

The woman smiles, it looks fake like a doll's. "It sounds like you are a lucky woman."

After a few minutes she names a price of 10,000 gold, which was 'common currency', easily enough to buy a nice estate. So I accept it, I just want to get out of here and buy myself some new clothes.

It takes me a while to find a clothing shop, where I feel confident I won't be recognized. When I do, I frown at the obviously peasant attire inside.

"My lady?" The man inside hurries over, he bows lightly, which frightens me. Did he recognize me after all? I calm myself when I realize it's my clothing that has him so taken aback. I can't help but muse that my red, ruby encrusted dress was worth his whole inventory. It saddens me to know it will be my only pretty dress for a while.

"I would like to purchase an outfit suitable for riding, as well as some clothing which would be comfortable for travel." I tell him, as my gaze wanders over the selection, my nose crinkles in distaste.

The man blinks at me when my eyes fall on him, confusion thick in his voice when he asks. "From my shop?"

"Of course. Why else would I be here?" I reply, wishing that he would just get on with it.

"W-well then, I will arrange some choices for you!" He sputters, immediately hurrying off to do so.

I catch my reflection in the mirror as I wait, I still looked like a child despite the fact that I will be considered an adult in just two short months. My cheeks still retain some roundness from childhood, my form was petite and not yet filled out like my sisters’. But my eyes carried a heaviness to them. The grey no longer appears ‘strong as a thunder storm’, like my father used to say. Instead they look tired and perhaps a bit afraid.

Once he's finished I simply pay the hundred gold for it all, I had already wasted too much time finding the place. I could afford no more on choosing what to buy, though any other time I would have spent hours carefully selecting each piece.

I happen upon an auction in the market's center, the sound of hooves upon the cobblestone has me squirming my way through the crowd. One horse sticks out to me, a beautiful white stallion with black socks that match his wild eyes. They call him 'Ghost', when they bring him up for bidding and I waste no time in starting it off. I win him and quickly load his saddlebag with my new clothing, before taking him to purchase food for our journey.

As I walk, I begin to realize that I don’t feel quite so alone anymore, perhaps this was why Virina was always badgering me to get a pet? I frown at my thoughts, annoyed that I’d allowed her to creep into my mind, and pet Ghost’s nose when he nuzzles me.

I find myself stocking up on apples, carrots and sugar cubes. I know the fruit won’t last long, but Ghost had whined at the stand, as though insisting that I buy him treats, and I caved. If he was all I had now than I want him to be happy with me.

Once finished shopping, I feed Ghost an apple, which he quickly snatches from my hand. He finishes and lets out a happy neigh, then I climb up onto his sturdy back. “Let us hope that no goblins, Wolf-Men, or other pursuers will block our path.” I whisper to him, my heart racing as it fully sunk in that I was really doing this, I was really leaving Saffron.

I stroked his fur, second and third thoughts fighting for supremacy as I looked off toward the woods. They stretched out for miles, hundreds if I remembered correctly, thick and dark. People who wandered in were often never seen again, leading to the rumors at court about the fate of those lost in these woods. Most blamed the goblins, though a few thought our Wolf-Men protectors were the true culprits.

I looked around once more and took in a deep breath, then whispered. “Let us be off.”

With a gentle neigh, one I could nearly mistake for a sigh, Ghost trots forward carrying me into the canopy of trees and away from everything and everyone I've ever known. thrill and fear claw at my heart, I could almost feel Saffron growing distant behind me. I urge my steed into a full gallop, fearful that I will lose my courage. Surely nothing out here could be worse than seeing Jarin and my sister together.