Lady Of Starlight

chapter 3

Alina grinned down at the newly placed watch that loosely hung on her slim, delecate wrist. She had taken it off the-now cold -dead body of the guard pinned to the ground back at the overhang. She had to admit, it was quite beautiful. It had a leather strap with a white face glossed in Roman numerals. She chucked to herself and re-adjusted her tunic, which she also stole from the guard. It didn't fit very well, it was made to fit around his strong build, not a slim, curved figure. It kept slipping down her narrow shoulders and there was too much space that it made her feel quite vulnerable. Although the space might be a blessing as the leather  would soon start to get hot with the basking sun, this way she could air it out. She was glad the tunic covered her shredded stomach, the ugly cuts that now decorated the area around her belly button. She also patted the hilt of the sword the had pulled from the suckers spine. The blood still stained the thin iron blade.
Alina still walked on her tip toes. The pain was near unbearable, she knew that she had to get somewhere fast and have someone tend to her wounds.
She glanced down at her new watch, her dead watch. It was 5am. She had two hours until the town market opened, although she had no money to spend.
Alina decided to follow the course of the river and see where it took her, after all, that was the only bet she had.

Alina had been walking for about an hour when she started to hear the rustle and bustle of people. She must be close to the town. As Alina continued on she realised the river was getting slower, as if walking beside her now,guiding her. The trees seemed to be more spaced out, less and less of them appeared around her like she was walking away from a crowd. The ground was now gritty and rough, not the soft grass she had taken for granted a while back. Her toes ached from walking on them for about two miles, sometimes walking on her full foot but quickly deciding against it as she felt the twigs and stones burrow deeper under her skin like little creatures hiding. There was no longer a trail of blood following her, staining the ground, as her feet were now caked in dirt, stopping the blood from oozing but raising the risk of infection. She hoped she didn't loose her feet because of this.
Alina followed the river around the bend, hopping over the vast amount of rocks until she was greeted with a giant gate within an even bigger wall that seemed to go on for miles. The river flowed under the bridge and beyond the wall. She guessed that was the enterance to the town.
When she scanned the iron gate that blocked her way of getting in, she noticed the two guards. She'd seen enough of them for one day. She felt that the whole kingdom was overly guarded.
"Right, time to test your socialising skills," she muttered to herself as she headed in the direction of the path leading to the gate.
When Alina was in view of the guards she settled herself onto her feet. She winced at the pain. She felt like she was standing on a pile of nails and waiting for them to slowly sink though her soles and back out the top. Alina stepped onto the bridge and gave the guards a over-enthusiastic smile as she wobbled and stumbled towards them looking as if she desperately needed the toilet. Her over sized tunic also hung off her too small frame, her hair was matted and covered in filth and blood and she was bare foot. She must look absolutely insane.
"Hello gentlemen," she chirped as she placed her hands on her hips and grinned. Her tunic sleeve slipped off her shoulder. She subtly pulled it back up, not breaking eye contact.
The guards looked at each other and then slowly tuned back towards her.
"Who are you?" The one to her right asked. He looked more inviting than the burly one to her left that was currently looking her up and down rather rudely.
"Ah, my name is Alina," she replied as she shuddered under the mans intent state.
The men stared at her feet, then her bare legs spotted with bruises and scrapes, then her tunic and then finally her eyes.
Alina looked down at herself and felt her throat close slightly. She tried to swallow the lump.
The burly guard grunted and said, "Where have you come from?"
Alina contemplated for a minute, trying to come up with a believeable answer. She glanced at the swords hilt that caught her eye in the suns glow.
"I'm a guard." It came off more as a question.
The guards glanced at each other and the kinder looking one stepped forward.
"What is your business here?" He asked.
Alina took a deep breath, buying her time to think.
"I work at the castle, I was on nightshift in the prison when the sun came up and the prisoners escaped. It wasn't pretty but some never got out. I'm here to continue my duty and find out more on what happened to the Moon and the stars and report back to the castles messengers and hopefully  find some of the escapees."
Alina panted, shocked at how fluent the story came out. She may have even convinced herself.
The guards looked her up and down again.
"Where are your shoes?" The burly one asked.
"As I said, it wasn't pretty," she explained."I also need to seek medical attention while I'm here."
The burly mans partner looked at him and nodded briefly.
"Very well, if you go to the market and find a man named Ajax he can fix you up." His lip lifted for a slight moment. Something she did not expect from him but from the nicer guard. The smaller one stepped over to the lever that perched at the side of the bridge. He pulled it and the iron gate started to rise slowly, a screech coming from it. Alina cringed at the sound and looked at the guard pulling the lever.
Once the gate had almost risen to her height she ducked under it and gave a nod and a wave at the two men as she wandered into the town ahead.

The town was nice in a way. Alina hadn't seen a town in years, the last one she could recall had a three teared fountain surrounded by black flowers with white speckles flecked on them. She only remembered it in such detail because she thought about that memory a lot. She dreamed of those flowers and how they looked like the night sky, stars dotting around the velvety petals. Alina wasn't sure if it was a memory or a dream, but the thought of it being a memory gave her peace, to know that at some point in her life, she was somewhere calm and beautiful.
Alina tip toed along the cobblestone street, the ground somewhat nice under her feet. The cobblestones were so smooth she didn't complain as much as she hobbled along them.
Carts and horses past by her,trailing along pink and purple and white flowers, or wheat or fresh fruit and vegetables. The people here didn't wear much colour and if they did it was very full, as if the colour had been washed out. The woman wore bonnets and the men wore hats or nothing on their heads. The women wore brown skirts with a matching top and aprons. The men wore baggy pants and laples. The people looked dirty but clean at the same time.
The houses looked rather worn down, some tiles missing or a splintered door here and there.
Alina walked around another cart and spotted a man setting up a stall on a corner. The man was old and had wirey grey hair that lined the circumstance of his leathery looking head. His eyes were heavily hooded as he looked up from his box of fruit on the floor. He gave her a toothless grin.
"Hello," he greeted.
Alina smiled back. "Hello, I'm looking for a man by the name of Ajax?" She said. The man looked her up and down,taking in her bruised skin.
"He is down that way, he has a small tent by the river, you'll know him when you see him." The man said. Alina nodded her thanks and carried on down the path to the river. 
She passed a lot of shabby stalls and was handed a free sample of some garlic bread. Alina took small, slow bites, savoring the taste. Alina hadn't eaten in over half a day and she was starting to feel quite faint at her lack of energy.
She had killed someone. Shoved a sword right into his neck. Rubbed a lit torch in another one's face. That was what fuled her hunger. Alina noticed more and more stalls appearing along the narrow street, the smells wafted around her, food, sweat, perfumes. It was a little over whelming, especially in this heat with the sun scorching the back of her neck and legs.
After two blocks of more stalls the buildings suddenly came to an abrupt stop and opened up to a field of tents. There was a few set up along the river bank so Alina made her way over. As she approached the few people busying about outside their tents stopped to look at her as silence fell around them. Alina stood tall as she came to a halt.
"In looking for Ajax," she called.
The people looked to their neighbors and murmured among them.
A large,beefy, tanned arm came out of a tent and pulled the flap back to reveal a tall muscular bald man with tattoos from head to toe.
"What do you want?"

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