Cade hit into the woman with so much force that she toppled over and onto her ass. He spun through one heel to say sorry, but the men were close behind. They squeezed through the crowds of people, the gaps so tight that Cade could imagine the popping sound they would make passing through.
He looked to his left. That way was the castle. It was surrounded by gardens and walls. Narrowing his eyes at the grey behemoth of a building he wasn’t sure he could get over the wall around the garden. To his right, the endless mass of bodies continued. He rocked onto his toes and off again as he considered.
He would take his chances with the crowds. Hell, what better way to lose them than in a crowd. His feet skidded on the wet cobblestones as he started to run again. His heart was a free running rabbit and his ears were ringing. Pushing through the market area, he noticed a tall basket of oranges by a large fruit stall. The merchant at the stall was slim but bony and Cade was willing to bet that he wouldn’t be able to stop him from enacting his plan.
Out of time to think, and deciding to give it a go, he grabbed the basket on his way past and tipped the oranges over the path behind him.
The skeletal merchant squawked a protest and grasped for Cade’s jacket as he passed. The man was too slow, and Cade flew on.
Cade threw a look over his shoulder and saw that the men who had been chasing him had been slowed by the mess as the merchant ordered people not to stand on his oranges. This filtered all the people into the middle of the path and blocked his pursuers from advancing.
Still he didn’t slow down. Barrelling on, Cade scanned the area for somewhere to hide. Considering what he had taken, he imagined that the men were going to look for him until their eyes rolled out.
He skidded out of the market and onto the road. The warm breath of a horse puffed into his face as he swivelled to avoid getting hit by it. The sky was dark and threatened more rain.
The road was wide enough for two carts to easily pass by one another and he didn’t like being in the open this long. At the other side of the road was the poorest district in Solan. There were huts but no houses there and most people lived in makeshift tents. There would be nowhere to hide there.
He looked up the road. Houses stood a mile or two away and the castles peak stuck up above the rest of the town. Next to those houses was the guards barracks. Not going there, he thought.
He could hear the voices of the men as they debated which way he had gone. It was then that a cart came up behind him.
“What on earth are you doing?!” The voice was female, and she sounded angry.
Cade spun, clothes rippling in the wind he created. In the drivers’ seat of the cart was a young woman with compost on her face and a modest brown dress. Her eyes were clenched in confusion and her hair pulled sharply back.
Cade didn’t think. He just jumped into the passenger side of the cart, which she had stopped in order to avoid hitting him.
“Hey, are you new to town?” Cade asked her.
She stared in disbelief.
When she didn’t respond Cade smiled sweetly. “Could you please give me a lift? Just up the road a bit?”
The girl opened and closed her mouth a few times before words came to her. “What are you doing?”
Cade scanned her very quickly. She had dirt under her nails and smelt like smoke. She must live in one of the small houses in the outer villages. The ones that are so badly built that the smoke from the fire doesn’t really go up the chimney but out into the rest of the rooms. When someone lived there they had to work in the fields every day. That meant that she was as poor as he was. She must be in town for trade. That meant she was trying to make a living selling her vegetables, but if he knew anything it was that the prices the king charged for food were way to high and what he paid for it, very low.
“Okay I will come clean. I was stealing bread for my sister and me. We only have some carrots left and I didn’t know what else to do. I got caught and now they are chasing me. Please.” Cade cast a hurried look towards the market. He could see the people parting as his pursuers muscled their way through.
The girl followed his gaze then looked into his eyes.
Luckily for Cade, he was a good liar. He didn’t flinch and made his breathing shallower for good measure.
“Fine. But if I were you I would get into the back with the potatoes and cover yourself up.” She motioned to where she meant with her chin.
Cade smiled, put one hand on the back of the cart seat and vaulted into the back. It smelt damp and he coughed when he put his face near the freshly picked vegetables. There were so many bags that it was easy for Cade to slip in among them and stack some on top of himself so as not to be noticed. The cart started to move again, rocking beneath him. there was a shuddering thud as they hit a pot hole.
“Excuse me miss.” Cade knew the voice. He had heard it shouting after him just a few moments ago.
“Yes sir?” The girl asked.
“Have you seen a young thing come this way? A tall boy with dark hair?”
“I can’t say that I have. Why? Is he in some kind of trouble?”
“He is trouble.” The man grumbled. Cade listened to their footsteps receding from the cart and heard one of them toss a “Good day miss” over his shoulder to the girl. The cart started to move again.
It would be nice to stay in here for a while, Cade thought. It was warm and he was tired. But the smell would drive him insane and he was pretty sure that there was dirt in his eye.
When the girl pulled to the side of the road, after about ten minutes, and yanked the bags off him, he had one eye closed , rubbing at it to try and get rid of the pain from the dirt.
“Alright,” She motioned with her hand towards the open road. “out you get.”
Cade climbed out and looked around. She had brought him up to just in front of the docks. People were carrying boxes of goods about with their spirit animals following them.
Cade got lost in watching a large black wolf, who was trailing behind a man. Its body was all muscle but its eyes were foggy. He thought about Thor and felt jealousy clawing at his mind.
“Whats the matter with you now?” The girl asked, hands on hips.
Cade swallowed hard. “Nothing. Thanks for your help.”
He turned to leave but the girl called after him. Spinning around again, Cade saw that she held three potatoes out to him. They were covered in filth and one of them had a growth starting on the end.
It was a strange sensory experience to smell fish everywhere but to be looking at three dirty vegetables.
Cade shook his head. “What’s that for?”
“I hear it goes well with carrots.” The girl smiled sweetly at him and Cade felt something twist in his gut. He couldn’t take those.
He waved a hand at her. “It’s okay. We have enough to do us for…”
She didn’t let him finish. “Take them. I don’t need these three. It will give me peace of mind.” She poured the three potatoes from where they were resting in her arms into his.
Cade took them, surprised at the weight. “Right thanks.”
“Now go,” She ordered. “Before those men find you.”
***
Freya was in love with the dress. It was long and lilac with lace over the top part that would cover her breasts. The material was soft and easy to run your fingers over, with no lumps or blips in the sewing. It held the top of her figure but wasn’t too tight around her hips.
She twisted her body about while looking in the full-length mirror. Behind her, Rowan was gathering up clothes from the floor. His arms were full, and he had to stack the ones he lifted on top of the pile.
The light from outside was dull so there were candles lit and placed around the room. There was enough space for another bed between the bed and where Freya stood and the floor there was covered in clothes she had been trying on.
“I think this is the one.” She spun around and smiled at Rowan.
He stopped his cleaning up and gave her a quick glance. “Oh yes, its very nice your highness.”
Freya did another spin and admired the dress in the mirror again. “My dad is gone. You don’t need to call me that.”
Rowan nodded, then dropped some of the clothes.
“Rowan,” She stood and waited for him to look at her again.
He took the clothes and brought them to his basket that rested by the door. Dropping them in, he put his hands behind his back and stood straight. “Yes?”
“please call me Freya.” He didn’t respond but Freya felt sure she was getting through to him. It was annoying because this had never been a problem before. He had always thought of her as more of a friend than a royal. When she turned eight-teen and was told she could pick her own personal servant her dad had been shocked when she had turned down all the female maids he brought to her and requested Rowan. He was against the idea but she was not going to back down and so Rowan got to leave the kitchen and come and hang out with her all the time. It should have been perfect. It would be. If she could just get him to stop calling her your highness.
“What do you think?” She asked.
Rowan had started working again, straightening the covers on the bed. “It’s lovely.”
Sighing, Freya looked at the table beside the mirror. It was a wooden thigh height thing with three drawers. On top of it rested the crown. It was silver with six diamonds on it, three either side of the ruby in the middle. The gems were of a decent size, but the crown was still delicate, make to look like the branches of a bramble bush painted silver and bent into the shape of a crown. It wasn’t heavy to anyone but Freya who was expected to wear it tomorrow.
“Freya?” Rowan had come up to her without her noticing. She had been totally absorbed in thinking about the crown.
“Huh?” She looked over her shoulder at him.
His face was thin and long. His eyes were close together creased at the sides with worry.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t know I guess I forgot for a minute what this dress was for.” She stroked the front of the dress. Her skin made no noise against the silk.
“I think you will make a great queen, your highness.” Rowan moved from her side. “I will be back, but I have to go and get water to do the floors.”
She could see him in the mirror and nodded. When he was gone, she focused on the crown again.
The gems glistened in the candle light, the never blinking eyes of the royal crown of Brecastell.
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