Poisoned Lips

3: Azalea

Ignore weird stuff

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“Be discreet, be polite, be brief.”

This was what Freyja’s mother instructed her to do if she came in contact with people. 

She had left the middle of the forest and traveled to the other end. Perched on a tree, she observed the way the women dressed. Most of them wore light-colored dresses like the girls she observed yesterday. Some had shawls, others had cloaks while she had dark green trousers and a brown sweater. To blend in with the women and not get caught, she needed to be discreet.

Somehow, she needed to cross the village without getting arrested. The Guards would surely be looking for her, making this task way more difficult than it should be. Her duffel bag contained nothing that could be of help.

She clumsily attached her duffel bag to a tree branch and climbed down. She paced around the small tree, thinking of how she could steal a dress without getting caught. Droplets of water touched her skin.

“Thank you, Skies!” Freyja exclaimed. Her mother’s voice echoed in her ears.

“Rain rain, 
Go away,
Come again 
another day
My little Freyja 
Wants to play…”

The downpour slowly but surely became heavier. Under the rain, the water washed over her skin so strongly that it felt like being in the flow of a river. The water was cool and refreshing. The sky was a light-colored gray with the absence of clouds.

Everyone ran with their heads bent, Freyja included. The people were looking for shelter, hoping not to fall sick because they knew they wouldn’t be able to treat themselves. When she passed by the small clothing stall, she stretched her arms and swiped the first dress that she touched while the stall owner was struggling to pack up everything.

She hid the dress in her cloak and ran back to the side of the forest. Making sure there was no one around, she slipped on the oversized dress, put on her face mask and her cloak then messily tied her hair into a half-top knot. the tree provided her somewhat of a shelter.

The map to Lydia’s place was delicately folded in her palms. She memorized the directions but held onto the map. She decided to leave the book and her duffel bag on a random tree just in case she got captured. They couldn’t have the last thing her mother gave her. 

The rain was still pouring heavily but Freyja enjoyed it. The normal hard ground was nothing but mud. The streets were empty, making her journey easier than expected. 

That feeling didn’t last long because a guard spotted her. 

“HEY LADY! COME WITH ME!” He yelled over the sound of the rain.

Whether it was fear or cold, she shivered. She turned in the opposite direction and ran, taking random turns.

“Come back!” 

She scoffed. She would never understand people. Did he think asking her to come back would make her listen to him?

She stopped for a moment and turned around. He was still following her. Small houses were lined by her sides, most of them were red while the others were white. She opened the door of a random house and ran in.

Her boots left a trail of mud as she crossed their living room with clattering teeth. She should have kept her sweater.

“Mommy!”

“Just what I needed,” Freyja groaned. She dashed out through the door opposite her and entered a small garden. A bearded man stood up from his chair with a cutlass in his left hand.