Vaile

Aislinn III

     Aislinn huddled in a corner of the market, trying to stay inconspicuous. It wasn't easy. Besides the fact that she was wearing clothes that cost about as much as some of these people made in a year, she had absolutely no idea where to go and was traveling alone.

     "What's this?" growled a deep voice from behind her. A hand shot out and grabbed her arm. "Jewelry. Looks like somebody doesn't belong here, boys. Naughty, naughty..."

     Aislinn didn't want to turn around. Especially not while hearing a chorus of menacing chuckles. Why had she left home? "What do you want?"

     "What do you want?" the man repeated, his voice high pitched and obsequious-sounding. The laughter grew louder. "Well, you see, princess, people just like your mummy and daddy are the ones responsible for our current sit-oo-ay-shun. A sit-oo-ay-shun that could be changed by just the fancy stuff you've got in that hair of yours."

     Aislinn knew very well how much her ornaments were worth. She had brought them to feed herself, without considering who else might think the same was true for themselves. What could she do?

     "Here," she sighed, pulling the gold comb out of her hair and tossing it over her shoulder. There was a quick scrambling as the men went after it.

     "That was a really stupid thing to do."

     Aislinn jumped. Just when she had resigned herself to the fact that random strangers could approach her from behind and talk to her, this young woman spoke up in front. "I-I know, but what could I do? They would have hurt me if I hadn't done something."

     The woman grunted, unimpressed. "You could have fought back."

     "Do I look like I'm used to fighting? Why do you care, anyway?"

     The stranger extended a long, strong hand. "You remind me of me, four years ago. I moved to this city with my little brother after my husband died in the Outskirts War. I'm Zoe Preif. If you want a place to start, you can stay the night at my boarding house."

      Aislinn considered it. This was probably not a good idea--another attempted robbery, perhaps. But something told her to trust this girl.

      "Which way is it?"