The first thing Kara noticed, was how much she stood out. Everyone was dressed in red or gold, and she was in an all black cloak. She was beginning to accumulate many stares. She quickly ducked inside a dress shop and purchased a red cloak, similar to her own. The only problem was, you could see her face. She picked one out that draped slightly over her face, so no one would be able to see her eyes or hair unless they ducked down to peer under. When she went to pay the woman who owned the shop said "My child, are you sure you don't want something to show off your beautiful-" she stopped when she ducked down to see Kara's face. "Your not from here are you" she said quietly. All other customers had left. "I'm from the far north" Kara whispered, thinking of a quick lie. "I'm here on buisness....." she let her voice trail off so the woman would understand. The woman quickly nodded and said "I understand. And I didn't hear or see anything. Have a nice day". She tensly gave Kara her cloak, and Kara changed. Now she matched everyone else in the city. Looking down, she saw that her long golden curls trailed down from the cloak. "Can i have a pair of scissors?" Kara said to the woman, looking her in the eye." Certainly" the woman said nervously, reaching under the table and grabbing a pair. Kara went over to a mirror in the back of the store, and removed her hood. She looked at her hair, and decided that it would be best to cut it a few inches below the shoulder. That way no one would be able to tell. She quickly opened the blades and began to cut. When it was all done, she grabbed her hair and threw it in the fire. Her hair now fell 2 1/2 inches below her shoulders, perfecly concealed by the cloak."Thank you for your time" Kara said, and she opened the door and disappeared into the crowd.
There was music being played all around, as people laughed and danced joyously. Kara slipped in and out of the sea of people, not even knowing where her final destination was. She was suddeny stopped when she heard a yell "Clear the streets! The king is coming!". People began to run to either side of the road and Kara felt herself being hauled along with the crowd. "Careful girl, or you'll get run over!" said a woman who was holding her childs hand. Kara was pushed back onto the curb, so she was the front line. "He's going to see me!!" she thought. She desperatly tried to turn and run into the crowd, but the bodies were packed together so tight. There was no room to run. Kara was forced to turn and watch the parade with the rest of the citizens.
Many acts walked through the streets. Fire magicians who could create animals out of their fire, dazzled the crowd. Magicians and circus people followed, performing many tricks. The whole parade was lively and full of magic, and Kara would've enjoyed it if she hadn't been so nervous. Finally, at the end of the performers, came a chariot. It was pulled by 4 black horses, their manes silky and gleaming. The chartios was red and gold, with symbols intricately carbed all over it. The inside was red seats with gold armrests, and inside sat....Kara bent her head down. It was Jace. Sitting in between Erik and Jasper. She snuck a tiny peek back up. His gold crown gleamed on his head, and he waved back to the crowd. He was smiling, but his eyes were full of sadness. They weren't blue and glittering anymore. They were dull and drab. Lifeless. Like the magic had been pulled out, leaving him with nothing. Erik sat on the right of Jace. Unlike his friend, he didin't try to disguise his sadness. He sat there, his mouth pulled down into a frown, and his eyes cast towards the bottom of the chariot. He didn't look up. Jasper was on Jace's left, and he was starting out into the crowd. A vacant look in his deep purple eyes. Like he wasn't all there. Kara didn't look up again. The chariot grew closer and closer, and Kara tried again to squeeze through the crowd and escape. No such luck. She was stuck. The chartiot was now approaching fast, and Kara kept her eyes glued to the ground. She saw the wheels rumble by and she heard Erik say something to Jace, but she couldn't make out what. The wheels stopped. "Oh god no please" Kara thought to herself. The national anthem started playing, and Kara breahted a sign of relief. "Hey what are you doing?" a girl said behind her. "You have to look at the flag". "Right..." Kara muttered, forcing herself to look up. She pointed her face in the direction of the flag, but her eyes were focused on the chariot. She stared at the back of Jace's messy black curls. The anthem seemed to go on forever. When it ended, Kara continued to stare at her 3 friends in the chariot. "I'm so sorry" she whispered. Jasper turned around. Kara gasped as the two made eye contact. When he saw her, his mouth widened into a wide 0 shape. His eyes bugged out of his head. His face went completelty pale. He stood there for a second until Jace and Erik began to notice him. Kara saw Jace say a few words to Jasper, and then he and Erik turned to look where he was looking. "NO" Kara thought to herself. She shoved her way throug the crowd, pushing people over as she went. " I KNEW this was a bad idea!!!" she said to herself as she ran through the crowd. She heard the whistle of a gaurd behind her, blowing feverently. She kept on running.
She heard more whistles blow behind her, and heard people yelling. "Why does shit like this always happen to me????" she yelled in her head. She tripped on a loose cobblestone, skinning her knee, and then got back up to continue running. As she ran, other people tried to grab her for the police chasing her. Kara knocked them off easily. She was just about to turn around to see how many gaurds were chasing her when she broke through the crowd. She tripped on the step from the edge of the street and fell. As she fell, her hood was knocked off of her head revealing her golden curls and green eyes. The whole crowd gasped and a couple people started screaming. Kara heard the sound horses neighing. She looked up. The chariot. Erik had a look of total disbelief on his face, and looked like he was going to either start screaming or crying. Jace had stood up, his gold crown tilted on his head. His eyes were as big as dishes and his mouth was wide open. Jasper had the same look on as before. Kara stared up at them, scared. "Oh god no. Why am I so STUPID" she thought to herself. For a moment, the whole crowd was completely silent. The only sound was the flag, rippling in the wind. Jace didn't move. He had his eyes focused on Kara, and his face remained the same. Complete disbelief. The gaurds had reached her now, and Kara now saw there were 4 of them. They awkwardly made a circle around her, judging by the reaction of the king the shouldn't do anything just yet. Jace blinked, as if coming out of a trance. He closed his mouth and then wobbled, trying to regain balance. Kara stayed on the ground. Not knowing whether to stand up and run, or go up to him. So she stayed put. Erik stood up now. He looked like he had just seen a ghost. And in a way, he had. He opened his mouth and said "Y....OU.....YOU.....NO......YOU....KKKKKKKAAAARRAAAA?". It sounded like complete gibberish. Jace didn't say anything, he still looked too shocked for words. Jasper was the first to move. He hopped out of the chariot and slowly walked towards Kara. "Kara...." he said slowly, walking towards her. "Is this really you". "Yes" Kara breathed, standing up. She felt pain and looked down. Her left hand was bloody from her fall. Jasper stood in front of her, still shocked. "You've been dead for 3 weeks" he whispered, his eyes still huge. In the carriage Jace still hadn't moved. "Your head..." he murmered, still processing what he had just seen. Everyone around watched. Finally, one of the gaurds spoke. "So, I think we'll just leave you to her..." he said slowly. Him and the other 3 gaurds slowly began to walk away, utterly confused. "Come" Jasper said, motioning to the chariot. Kara nodded and followed. When she got in Jace turned to look at her. The shock had begun to wear off on him and he tried to say something, but again, like Erik, it was gibberish. "Youuuu.......fellllll........deaddddd..." his voice trailed off. There was silence again. "Her head!!!!" Erik pointed, his eyes still huge. "It's her!!!". Jace eyes flickered up to Kara's head. He slowly reached out. With the most delicate touch, her touched her cheek. "Your real......." he murmered. The chariot lurched forwards, sending everyone tumbling. The parade began again and the people in the crowd began cheering again. Jace didn't start waving again. He turned at Erik, then at Jasper and then back at Kara. "We need to go home" Jace said, sounding more and more like his normal self. "NOW".
