I try not to miss you, I try to let you go, but in the end, you're always on my mind. -
Anonymous
The sudden and deafening noise compared to the previous silence left an awful ringing in my ears that had my head spinning. The carriage moved with a slow sluggish pace, somehow moving far smoother than it had on the dirt path even though the road was made of rocky stone instead of the slightly smooth yet dirty road of before. On either side of the carriage, the streets were bustling. As if we had suddenly stepped into a marketplace instead of the entrance of the city port. Maybe now would be a good time to break away from the carriage. Or not. My eyes widened as the carriage was swarmed by feet, thousands of voices shouting one above the other, chaos rippling like a tide through the streets. And yet. The carriage kept on moving. Forcing the vendors to jog and run by the carriage some begging for more goods and others trying to sell theirs. I bit my lip, how the heck am I supposed to escape now? I frowned. Inhaling deeply before digging into the magic energy that clung to my skin, hoping that intent could change the shape my magic takes. I watched as a small wind kicked up below me before I pushed the wind to go in an arc around the carriage just slightly. Letting go of the structure and rolling out and onto my feet just as the wind made all those surrounding the carriage trip and fall. Pulling my hood over my head and moving swiftly out of the way and into the crowded marketplace. It was huge. Millions of stalls were scattered all across the streets, situated against shops that had big colorful signs that advertised their products. Odd stuff sometimes sticks out like a sore thumb amongst everything. Like an eyeball of a creature that kept on swiveling this way and that within its gooey jar, almost as if it could actually still see. Or the odd-looking fur that stuck out more than the eye had. I froze a split second when my eye caught my reflection, moving just slightly closer to get a better look. One eye was clear butterscotch gold, my hair completely white, yet I was so filthy that my hair seemed almost brown with the occasional crimson strand. I definitely need a bath. My left eye was covered in bandages and I looked almost like a 17-year-old if not for the fact that I was so short. About 5'2. I grimaced and moved quickly on. But slowed down to listen to the crowds. After all how else am I supposed to gather information without seeming suspicious? There's just one problem with all of this, I wasn't sure if I was important enough to be mentioned. There could be a thousand Caspians as well and I didn't want to go in circles but I'd do it if meant getting any leads on what was going on. My ears caught the tail end of two old ladies gossiping near a booth with old books that had been marked as: If you could read it it's yours. I walked over and leaned far enough away not to seem suspicious. Maybe these two had an idea of what was happening.
"-Lidia would be perfect for the poor prince. Too bad he only likes her and only witches can change another person's gender." One of the ladies sighed sounding distinctly forlorn. I frowned, so the lady wanted to give her daughter or grandchild to the prince? I groaned mentally, why was I still listening to this?
"Ugh, the young consort of the prince had long been confirmed dead. Why the King insists on not marrying the prince to someone who is still alive, no one knows. And quite frankly I want to hit the damned boy on his head for his idiocy. " I scowled then. Freakin old ladies and their meddling.
"Hey! The price is only grieving." The other lady said, the one who spoke before sniffed.
"For nearly seven years." I huffed. Meany. I blinked as a young woman with bright golden hair and a puffy dress stomped her way over towards the two old ladies obviously pissed, her arms were loaded over with stacks of paper. Three men followed in a more sedate pace behind her, their faces set in impassive resignment.
" Don't insult my older brother you old hag!" The lady shouted loud enough to attract everyone's attention, I grinned slightly in amusement watching as everyone quickly minded their business as the three armed men glanced around them with glares on their faces. The old lady bristled but bowed her head.
"Princess Lisa, I hadn't known you had come to visit our humble lands." She said. I smothered a snort and silently glared at the old lady.
"I came because my older brother had decided to visit Port Sacré Lasheir, apparently there was a sighting of Lady Arian near here a few years back." The young woman said. I sighed. The old lady had stiffened in shock.
" But Lady Lisa, Lady O had been foretold by the seers as dead. Surely you had heard?" The old hag said. The lady tensed her chocolate brown eyes going wide before tearing up quickly. Oh no. I watched as she turned and hurried away the stacks of paper or rather parchments she had held flying around her in her effort to leave. The three men followed her quickly after sending deathly glares at the old lady.
"That, Miss was truly despicable," I told the lady the strange language leaving my tongue easily, with just a slight accent as I grabbed a parchment and left. Unfolding the parchment only to blink at the image of two kids, of all things greeting me. The girl on one side was the girl that had died last night but was so painfully young. A bitter feeling settled in my stomach as my eyes caught the picture of my younger self, one eye was green and the other butterscotch gold, but my hair was black and short, instead of the flowing mane it was now. Two names with Noble titles and all were written neatly below:
Heiress Arian of the house of The Sun. Age 10 when kidnapped. 17 now.
Heir Caspian of the House of Moon-Storm. Age 11 when kidnapped. 18 now.
I inhaled deeply. Crumbling the paper in anger. Who kidnaps children for torture? Sure there were perverts who'd kidnap and use children but....they were at least given the mercy of an early death instead of having to suffer through years of never-ending pain. I hadn't personally experienced it but the evidence was there on my body. I blinked away tears and shook my head, more information was needed. No time for grieving.
"-the adventures guild?" What?
"Down that way, the big building to the left. Have a good day." I watched as a shop owner pointed down the street to the right, to a young man with a sword strapped to his back. There were a few others with him who looked like they had just gone through hell and back. Now that I'm looking, I scanned the crowd, frowning, there were many with weapons strapped to their bodies. Why hadn't I noticed this sooner? Perhaps monsters are a thing like seers are and therefore there must be adventurer guilds that have a rewarding system to encourage those who could fight to do so.