The royal capital was bustling with life as red-blooded servants went about with their daily chores and tasks from the nobles who went about pampering themselves by buying new and expensive clothes and jewelry from all the shops and boutiques that catered to the wealthy nobles who had the money to spend on luxury goods.
Rich ladies carried decorative and elaborate parasols to shield their fair skin from the sun as servants hurried after them weighed down with boxes and bags. The dresses and skirts of the women of the upper classes were of all colors made from silk, velvet, the finest cotton cloth, and trimmed with lace, jewels or ribbons flashed and shined in the afternoon sun.
Carriages were fighting for space in the roads as servants weaved their way through the streets packed with people. Only golden bloods had the luxury of carriages and horses; Red had to rely on their own two feet or maybe an old and shabby wagon pulled by an equally old and run-down mule if they were lucky.
Merchants and shop owners stood outside their stalls or stores or restaurants and advertised the "high quality" and virtues of their products in hopes of attracting some customers with pockets stuffed with money.
"The finest silks in the Kingdom! Fit for the king himself!"
"The highest grade tea leaves you'll ever find!! Buy some now before it's all gone!"
"Meat that came from a tender young pig! Freshly killed! The highest quality roast pork in the kingdom "
"Perfumes! Bracelets! Necklaces! You'll look like a queen in our professionally made jewelry!"
"The most delicious roast chicken in the world! I guarantee it!"
"Makeup for the prettiest ladies!!"
Restaurants were also packed full and offered everything from tomato soup to roast duck to the finest wines and delicacies to their eager and hungry customers. The pleasure houses were also busy as well. Beautiful women in silks and furs were busy entertaining and amusing their customers while music was being played in the background by professionally trained female musicians. Female dancers danced to the music, gracefully and hypnotizing, while some of the men looked on, eyes on the women and their bodies. Beauty shops that sold everything from dresses to cosmetics to jewelry flattered and appealed to the vanity and insecurities of all women and girls of noble origin everywhere in hopes of selling their products.
Beggars sat huddled on the street and begged people to show them a little bit of pity and spare them a bit of money. Pick-pockets and thieves went about practicing their trades while royal guards in their white and gold uniforms patrolled the streets, looking proud and haughty with swords and weapons on them .
The guard dragged Arya through the busy streets of the royal capital and Arya could feel people's eyes all over her as they stared at her in her dirty and ripped green dress, her bare feet, her messy and wild hair and her dirty and disheveled state.
But they soon ignored her and went about their daily tasks. Who cared about a nameless, lowly red girl anyway?
She was probably being arrested for pick-pocketing or stealing.
The guard paid no attention to her and continued to drag her along. Arya nearly tripped several times now and she felt hungry and thirsty. She couldn't remember the last time she ate or drank and the bright afternoon sun was killing her right now. She had tried to run a few times but was unsuccessful and each attempt only resulted in her getting paralyzed by the guard for a few minutes until he freed her. Finally, he was so irritated by her relentless escape attempts that he simply paralyzed her and carried her over his shoulders like she was a sack of potatoes.
After what seemed like an eternity of walking past various cafes, stores, shops, carriages and nobles, the guard stopped in front of a small brick building that looked like it was newly built. A red flag with a golden lion rearing up on its hind legs was hanging at an angle from a flagpole on the side of the building.
Two guards were on duty guarding the wooden door of the building.
One guard was tall, red haired and blue eyed while the other was black-haired and black eyed. They were chatting with each other and neither noticed the arrival of Arya or her fat guard until they were nearly in front of the two guards.
The blond guard looked annoyed and irritated that his conversation was interrupted.
"What do you want, Frederick?"
The blond guard was referring to Arya. Frederick, the fat guard, put on a smug and proud smile as he pointed to Arya and acted as though Arya was some sort of hunting trophy.
"I caught the infamous she-assassin who attempted to assassinate the crown prince!"
The red haired guard nodded and seemed to accept that claim.
"Put her back in her cell and make sure she tries not to escape this time…that was a huge pain in the ass. Man, she's not as scary and intimidating as she looks."
The blonde guard laughed at his friend.
"Of Course not!! Assassin or not, even if she almost did kill his royal highness, she's still a red in the end!! So weak and pathetic to the point that even a weak and low-ranking nobody like little Freddy can take her down!!"
The two laughed at this and Fredrick turned red in the face but he didn't say anything.
Fredrick pushed past the two guards and carried the still fully paralyzed Arya past the wooden door and past a wooden door that opened up to reveal a long twisting and winding staircase that led deeper and deeper below the surface. The torches that lit up the dark stairway casted and threw long and creepy shadows across the walls and floors. As they moved deeper and deeper down the prison, Arya could hear voices of the prisoners, some sounded delirious and deranged while others sounded more sane and coherent, the shouts and screams as the guards tortured and abused the prisoners.
They reached the bottom of the staircase and the guard carried Arya through the hallway. Ary lifted up her head and her eyes raced left and right, taking in what would unfortunately be her new home for some time now.
The entire hallway on both sides was lined with jail cells where the very much starved and abused prisoners were locked up. Men,women and children of all ages were imprisoned here and some looked like they had been imprisoned for many years while others looked like they had been imprisoned just recently. Prisoners sat curled up into corners of their cells, some curled up in a fetus position on the floor of their cell while muttering to themselves and crying, some were gripping the bars of the jail cells, shaking the bars violently and screaming to be released. Some prisoners just sat there blank eyed and eerily quiet as they started at the walls of the cells. Arya tried to ignore what was surrounding her: the violence, the fear, the despair, the rage and the sadness.
She also saw guards, men and women of noble families who swore their lives to the royal family, who trained from childhood to hone and sharpen their abilities to the maximum. They were all looking at her with cold and nasty eyes. Cold, harsh, and even a few disgusted looks as well.
Arya wanted to scream that she didn't kill anybody, that she wasn't a murderer. But her mouth wouldn't open up and she could only beg and plead with them inside of her head.
She kept her head down and looked down at the floor the entire time but she couldn't block out the noises and screams she was hearing.
The guard stopped at an empty cell at the end of the block. He casually lifted her off his shoulder and dumped her onto the ground before he took out a set of iron keys, opened up the door, removed Arya's leg chains and untied her hands, freed her body, before he roughly shoved her into the cell and the door was slammed shut and locked behind her with a sharp and crisp click. Her body was set free and she could move once again now.
The cell was small but clean and tidy. The walls and floors were made from stone and there was a small, rectangular window to let in sunlight but the window was too small and out of reach for her. There was a pile of straw in a corner that was her bed but the cell was bare and empty otherwise.
Arya just stood there for some time before she collapsed onto the pile of straw as if it was a plush feather bed. Her mind was racing and she felt exhausted.
She was scared, hungry and confused and didn't know what was going on.
They accused her of attempting to kill the crown prince.
They mentioned something about a brown-haired female assassin who killed some prince she didn't know.
Was this how she was going to die?
Accused of a crime she didn't commit and sentenced to death when she was innocent?
Arya curled up onto the bed of straw. She was still a bit wet from her near death experience in the river but her clothes were almost dried now but Arya longed for a nice warm bath and a new set of clothes.
She almost laughed. Here she was locked up in a prison cell awaiting what could be her possible death sentence for a crime she never committed and all she wanted was a nice warm bath and to change out of her dirty clothes.
She survived those monsters and that raging river only to still be condemned to die?
She wanted to curse and scream at whoever ran the universe for putting her through all this trauma and misery.
Someone banged against the bars of her cell. She snapped her head towards the sound. Unlike the guards, he did not carry a set of keys with him or a weapon nor did he look to be a high ranking guard. His plain black uniform marked him as a red or perhaps some low-ranking gold. Perhaps he was a servant to one of the many golds who made up the ranks of the royal guard.
Arya looked up and saw that he was holding a tray of something in his free hand. He knelt down and opened up a food slot before shoving the tray into her cell. Arya saw that the metal tray held a dirty-looking chipped plate with pieces of bread and some dried meat with a tin cup half way filled with water.
Arya was so hungry and thirsty that she snatched up the food. She wolfed down the pieces of bread that tasted heavenly and the meat was exquisite. She drank all the water in one gulp.
The guard stood up to leave but then turned back to look at Arya with what looked like pity.
"Eat up, girlie. I'm afraid that that could be your last meal. The king is out for blood after his oldest son was left a weak cripple without a single drop of power in him after the failed assassination attempt. I'm afraid you will be the target of his rage. I don't know what would happen to you but they say that you will be brought before the king himself for trial. I'm sorry I can't do anything to save you from this fate but know that deep down I think you are innocent. You don't look like a ruthless killer to me. You look like an innocent little girl who's scared and confused. I say this as a fellow red blood, girl, I know very well you have no choice or voice in anything that they do. You have already been declared guilty in their eyes and they will not listen to your words or your voice. "
The guard turned and left quickly as if he didn't want to be in Arya's presence any longer.
Arya smiled sadly. At least one person thought she was innocent. Even if that man couldn't save her from her fate, at least he gave her on