They were in a town,similar to her village but with better looking conditions. As the carriage pulled along,people who planned to stare a little while,spent even longer staring with her as the cause of interest.
She stared back at the people who wondered what she was a damsel like her doing at the back of a vegetable carriage.
The stares of the people suddenly made her become self conscious,she was still wearing her vintage gown and her hair was still packed in a tone that made her look like a princess in a ball,even though it was now a little rough.
The number of people staring only seemed to increase as the carriage rolled by,making her feel increasingly uncomfortable.
She thought of returning under the tarp but she couldn't stand the feeling of being roasted alive. She couldn't jump off and run either,run whereto.
The man steering the carriage paused to take a food break,leading his carriage to the front of an inn. He was about to walk into the inn when he saw the gazes of the people fixed on the back of his carriage and they were muttering something.
He trailed their line of sight,walking towards the back of his carriage, wondering what they were gazing upon or if they were thieves.
When he saw the cause for their staring,his eyes widened with surprise. He had not a clue that he was conveying a living soul.
Regia looked at him and smiled meekly, with as much sweetness as she could afford. The man looked at her and stroke his chin in thought.
He had no idea who she was,where or when she boarded his carriage or where she was headed to,if she was heading anywhere at all. She looked familiar but he just couldn't pinpoint where he had seen her from before.
He turned to face the onlookers and they looked away when he did and began their business.
He turned to face Regia who was already climbing out of the carriage,planning to run. He caught her hand before she could go any farther.
"Not so fast young lady,you're coming with me", he said,giving her a serious look. She wanted to protest but seeing that the man's countenance held nothing offensive, she decided to follow him,she had not much options in her bag anyway.
She followed the man as he lead her into the inn,looking around as she entered. The inn was of a fairly large size and very lively with the sound of laughter,chuckling and small talks bouncing off the walls.
He walked straight to the innkeeper's counter and yelled," Lettie,guess who's back".
A round woman who looked to be of medium height counter,offering a wide smile as she spotted the man, telling Regia that he had been here before.
"George,how nice of you to drop by and you brought a visitor,how lovely", she said,briefly turning to face Regia before returning her gaze to the man,
" so tell me,is she for me or you because a beaut like this can earn us well",she said,eyeing Regia with a sinister glint in her eyes.
Regia didn't understand what she meant,but with what she said and the way the woman looked at her,the first possible guess would be that it would not be good.
The man smiled at the woman's comment and turned to face Regia who kept her gaze low on noticing the man's shift of gaze.
Regia didn't know why she couldn't shake off the feeling that she had just skipped from bad to worse.
"Where did you find this one this time?",the woman asked leaning against the counter,amuse written all over her face.
" Well let's just say this one found me",he replied and the woman let out a very loud chuckle.
The woman then wiped off an imaginary tear from her eye.
"Okay, like the rest she must be starving,so you want some food dear",the woman asked but she kept quiet and continued to stare at her.
" Oh my,did you pick up another dumb one ",she stated before calling out behind her.
" Mara,bring some food for Mr George over here and prepare one for your new friend".
Regia looked at her and back at the man that escorted her into the inn,not understanding what she meant by new friend.
A tall,slender girl with light blonde hair came out carrying a tray in her hands. She moved over to a table and the man let go of her hand and followed her.
She stared at the man as he left her but the woman dragged back her attention to her.
"And you,your food us in there,wait for Mara to lead you in,eat and wait for me", she said and turned to smile at a man who arrived right on cue.
The tall,slender lady returned with the tray and turned to face her before continuing her walk into the back of the inn.
Regia looked back to face the man that she had followed and at the woman at the counter,who now had more rugged looking men to tend to.
The girl,that was asked to escort her,who she now knew as Mara, looked at her once and continued walking into the back of the inn, not even sparing her a second glance.
Regia felt a sinking feeling rise in the pit of her stomach. She was now stuck at a crossroad, not knowing where to turn.
Fate had to smile upon her in is cruelty, and she didn't know what she did exactly. The first blow blow it dealt her was the murder of the Duke, and now, she was going into a path that she didn't even know if she was going to return from.
She lifted her gaze again to the retracting back of the girl. At this juncture,she didn't have a choice and as though her body knew so,it began to move in the direction Mara was going.
She followed her to the back of the inn,counting each step,knowing that each step was one into her new destiny.
Mara stepped out of the kitchen and began walking silently into the back of the inn, the sinking feeling still emphasizing its presence.
They continued walking down the dark and silent path. The path slowly became dark as they went along, the fear tried to subdue beginning a grip on her.
Reality began to stare at her with its cold, hard glare. Her pace then became slower as they went down another corner,it was very dark and the only source of light was the sparing candles that were lit on the wall.
She then wondered how an inn that looked so small from outside could have this many paths and corners.
Mara then suddenly came to a halt making Regia try to get her composure so as not to bump into her. She turned to face the wall, putting a hand in a flap in her gown.
Regia watched as she removed a key that resembled a door knob and inserted it into the wall. She screwed it in and twisted the knob to reveal a door.
She pushed the door open and faced Regia, stretching her hand towards the hidden room. A jolt of electricity slivered down Regia's spine when the girl's expressionless gaze met hers. There was something about Mara that made her scared to disobey her silent command.
With gentle steps,she slowly entered the room,now feeling like a lamb willingly led to the slaughter. She paused midway to look around the dimly lit room and she saw mats spread on the floor.