Gisella would be lying to herself if she didn’t think it was all a bit too much to be moving around as much as they did especially with all of this equipment and the number of them. But Malota, the matron of her dancing troupe, insisted they spread their act as far and wide as possible.

The woman’s eyes were alight with wonder as she stared up at the tall and open gate that stood before them now. It was an archway of sorts and no walls stood on either side of it and Gisella supposed it was only just a decorative prop.

But it was gorgeous indeed. The hard stone was carved with drawings of all sorts of animals, some she had seen before and some that were foreign to her, and depictions of the various flora she had been witness to as they made their way towards the inner city.

They had been travelling southward ever since her and her troupe had set foot into the neighbouring kingdom of their previous destination and headed straight to the grand city of Farrador.

She had heard wonders of this particular capital city, both good and bad, and of all the majesty it held. This city was the home of the royal Farradorian Court, and was ruled by the oldest and most revered bloodline within the kingdoms.

“Are you alright?” Roseia asked as she came up to stand next to her friend. Gisella only gave a small smile and a nod of affirmation.

Gisella had always dreamed of performing in all sorts of places, the kingdom of Farrador being one of them. It was her first biggest step on becoming the greatest dancer in history.

She was broken from her musings when a gentle hand was laid at the base of her back, Gisella’s attention turned to her mother at her side as the older woman smiled at her and moved forward to talk with Malota.

Once inside the city, Gisella remembers thinking that it was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Unlike the hard, cold stone cities that were hosted by the other kingdoms, Farrador was built around massive trees and around what seemed to be a small mountain.

Instead of chopping down or removing the flora that had grown here, it seemed that the city was built around it instead. It was a perfect balance of human and nature’s constructions. The city streets themselves were lined with merchants and traders.

Their stalls sat beneath the vast open shade of the brightly coloured leaves of the trees, hues of yellows and oranges cast a warm glow on the cobblestoned streets and bathed the way in a golden light.

Gisella shut her eyes to the soft breeze that blew in from the westward opening of the city and she heard the ruffling of branches and leaves.

“Silks! Get your silks here! Fairly prices and good quality!” She snapped her eyes open to the sound of the trader yelling over all the rest. To her right, a man in brightly coloured clothing was waving his hand over at her and she walked forward without a second thought.

She listened intently to the man’s words as he explained his collection to her. The silks were from all different regions from within the kingdom. Some were dark in colour as a winter’s day and the others brightly coloured and vibrant as if they belonged to summer’s light.

Her attention was caught by a deep shade of purple silk and she moved to grab it from where it rested.

“Ah, you like that one, yes? It is of a deep wine colour, no? One half of the pair of Farradorian colours.” The man told her as he crossed his arms and smiled proudly down at the silk in her hands.

“It’s beautiful,” Gisella complimented as she felt the smooth silk in her hands and ran it over the wrist of her skin, “What is the other colour?”

She watched as the man pulled out a deep blue from the side of his collection and coupled it together on her arm. Gisella’s eyes were alight as she smiled down at the pair of colours at her wrist and twirled them around her wrist.

It would be a beautiful set of colours to dance in. Gisella turned around to find Roseia, her closest friend and only one part of her troupe companions, but when she looked around she could not find any hint of where her group had been.

Turning her body slightly to try and get a better look, she gasped when a large hand slammed down onto her wrist and grabbed her tightly. Before she knew it her body was being pulled roughly over the array of the silks.

“Thief!” The man yelled in front of her face suddenly and she felt her face pale.

What? No! She wasn’t a thief!

“Sir, you have my intentions mistaken—“ She tried to release the sharp and harsh grip the man had on her arm but he was too strong, whether it was the anxiety of having his precious silks stolen that gave him that strength she didn’t know.

He refused to let her go as he called out again and fear rose in Gisella’s mind about what would happen if the guards showed up.

“I’ll have you locked away for the rest of your life!” Gisella’s fear quickly turned real as the man ranted and raved about punishing her himself before the authorities showed up and once again she tried to loosen the bruising grip the man had on her.

Gisella felt her face as it began to turn pale and her heartbeat began pumping harder and faster in her chest. She tried to look around for her mother or any of the troupe members but they were nowhere to be found.

Just as she was beginning to lose hope and the man began dragging her off somewhere she didn’t know a large, pale hand shot out from behind her.

Gisella felt the hard press of a chest against her back and a gasp escaped her as she felt someone’s hand come to rest on her side. The touch at her waist steadied her as the other intruding hand released the grip the man had on her own arm.

She watched as the shop owner hissed at the pain and strength with which he was grabbed, and Gisella noted a golden bracelet around the pale hand that helped her. It was gone before she could see anything else, and, on instinct, she found herself turning around quickly.

The strange man’s grip on her side loosened as she turned around and bumped into him, causing them both to stumble for a second.

Gisella's hands fell forward to brace herself and she fell the hard muscles beneath expensive fabrics. The stranger’s bare hands came out to steady her at her wrists and Gisella immediately noted the cold feeling of it on her skin.

The contact made her eyes go wide and a jolt of something unfamiliar and yet, at the same time comforting, shot through her.

“Are you alright?” God, even his voice was soothing. It was a soft timber as he kept his voice low enough so that only she heard his voice. He asked her the question directly into her ear and the skin there prickled at the feeling of his breath fanning it.

She nodded her head dumbly at first; her eyes wide and her grip still clutching his fabrics as they stared at each other for a moment longer.

The bottom half of his face showcased high cheekbones and thick lips, while the top, although somewhat covered by a hood, she could see black eyes staring down at her from underneath choppy black hair.

Their connection was cut short by the loud and boisterous voice of the vendor owner, who Gisella noted was moving from behind his stall and quickly approaching him. When Gisella turned to run away his grip on her tightened.

“Please let me go,” She heard herself whisper to the man and she knew her eyes must have looked wide and begging. “I didn’t do it, please.”

Gisella watched as the handsome stranger’s own eyes widened at the sound of her voice before he looked behind her at the man rushing towards them and then at the woman beneath his field of vision.

He nodded slowly once, more to himself than anything, and slowly released his grip from the beautiful woman in front of him.

Before she took her turn to flee Gisella noted the way the handsome stranger didn’t seem to take his eyes off of her as he bent down and retrieved a few red vials he had dropped. It was gone before she could see anything else, and she was gone before he opened his mouth again.

Gisella ran away as fast as she could, leaving both the screaming shopkeeper and the handsome stranger behind her.