MASKS [Jon Snow]

ONE • BOY

CHAPTER ONE

•••

i hate you
and then i love you
it's like i want to throw
you off a cliff
and then rush to the bottom
to catch you

•••

   LILIANA Waters awoke with a start, sitting up so fast that she almost bashed heads with the burly man hovering over her.

   "Look at that, eh! The little mans awake!" The man roared clapping his large, oaf-like hand on her shoulder almost pushing her over.

"Where the hell am I?" She blurted, carefully observing her surroundings. Out of habit she let her shoulder length hair fall over her face to disguise her identity a bit more. She was sat on the back of a slow moving cart, every so now and then it would lurch upwards as it rode over the uneasy path.

The cart was loaded with supplies, which had been covered with a piece of tarp that flapped in the cool winter breeze. She was surrounded by men of all ages, staring quite rudely down at her as she sat up. She eyed the four men warily before looking past them to see where she was. Trailing behind the cart were several men and young boys, who all perked up as she rose from the cart.

The forest was dense and overgrown, not giving her much of an idea where she was. Sighing in annoyance she turned back to the four men surrounding her.

"I will only ask once more." She reached for her dagger hidden in her vest, pulling it out and getting into a fighting stance. "Where in the seven hells am I?" She hissed.

"Calm down laddie," The brawny man chuckled, waving a gloved hand at her. "You're on your way to become a man of the Nights Watch."

"Great duty and whatever." A small man next to her snarled, his hooded cloak was drawn close around him, shielding his eyes from view. Yet something about how he spoke made the girl afraid of what his glare would be like. "It's all a load of baloney." He continued. "It's not honour, it's just a bunch of losers and idiots prancing around in capes."

"How the hell did I get here?" She still had her blade out, ready to attack. "I think imma leave now 'cause as much as this has been fun, this shit show ain't worth sticking around for."

"Hold on a second boy, you won't get far, you know." A third man who was to the left of her grabbed her shoulders, pushing her back to the floor of the cart. "This ain't something you can just up and leave about." He spoke with I slight slur, not from intoxication she decided, most likely an accent of some sort.

"You must have done something wrong for the Nights Watch to pinch you." The larger man queried, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs.

It all came flooding back to her. The merchant, the bread, the man dressed in all black.

He was short and stubby, probably an easy target, she thought. He wouldn't be able to run after her as well, which was an added bonus.

It had been a three days since she had eaten anything and she was starving. She hated stealing, after all her mother had brought her up to be better than that. But when it came down to it she would rather steal than starve.

As inconspicuously as possible she crept out of the alley way and sauntered over to a perfume stall, pretending to take interest in the lime and saffron perfume that was on sale when actually she had her eye on the large loaf of bread, balanced on the edge of the stall next to it. It was just waiting to be taken, really, who would leave it in such a precarious position if they didn't want it to be stolen?