Under the Roses

32 - A Dreadfully Hard Frost

LORY

Lory had arrived at a very foreign place.

The last time she'd been to Korev had been before the Revolution. She remembered eating honey sticks until her mouth felt thick, riding a horse in a crowded parade, and drowning in silk and lace.

She did not remember a wall around the entire kingdom, a locked iron gate at her back. She'd expected the portal to take her straight to the Korevan palace, but no, she was only just inside the borders. She'd expected to go through some border patrol, too, but there was no one besides her. Strange.

Her heart was still pounding from her run. After she'd grabbed the knife from the strange man back home, she'd run all the way back to the house, taken her packed bag, and hailed a carriage straight to the palace. It had been easy to get into the palace—after all, she was known there. It had been even easier to find the portal room and slip through.

And now here she was. In Korev. Tucked into her bodice was the knife. It was heavy, cold. She didn't know how she might use it, but it was a strangely comforting weight. She adjusted the strap of the bag slung over her shoulder.

She had a way to walk before she even made it to the city, and her feet were already tired by the time she got there. At least she'd put on her walking shoes before leaving.

Lory passed the city sign, which simply read Kalea. The farthest city from the capital. She supposed it made sense—if anyone dangerous was let into the kingdom, they'd have to travel all the way up north to get to the capital.

She looked around, but the streets were empty. There seemed to be no way to get there unless she walked. Hopefully, she'd run into a train station, but she'd heard that railroads in Korev had been cut off when they put up the wall because the railroads were funded by Aense, not Korev itself.

She walked straight ahead, hoping that she was going north. Occasionally, she passed someone sitting on the steps outside a shop, taking a smoke break. Sometimes it was a group, a few young children who watched her curiously as she passed.

It felt like years as she walked. Her hands felt numb and frozen, like ice.

And she was rather sure she was being followed. At one point, she passed a man lurking around a street corner, looking incredibly suspicious. Though who was to say she didn't look suspicious herself, an obvious foreigner?

As Lory continued on her way, the man followed. Maybe it was just coincidence, maybe she was being paranoid, and he just happened to be going the same way as her. But it didn't feel like it.

The man walked right beside her, to her right, so that it felt like she was trapped in the sidewalk, between him and the shops to her left.

She tried not to panic, continuing to walk purposefully, as if she knew what she was doing, where she was going. She sped up a little, and the man followed. She fell back a few paces, and the man followed.

She wondered if she should enter a building, but they all looked so ominous. And they seemed empty anyway. Little white flakes were beginning to coat the ground, and she hugged herself tightly, feeling the knife press against her chest.

Lory didn't want to look directly at the man, so she kept her eyes pointed straight ahead. She wondered when she would see someone else. Maybe a carriage would just show up and whisk her off to the palace. How long would it take to get there, just by walking? How did anyone get around Korev anyway?

After what felt like hours, the man finally spoke. "Hey," he called behind her. She didn't like the tone of his voice. She didn't acknowledge him, looking straight ahead. He tried again, saying something in a language Lory had never heard before.