Carmine (Completed)

Chapter 23

The wind blew gently with the smell of spices filling my nose. I had no salt to trade for the many fruits and leaves being sold as sustenance. That and I used up the gold.

The ground here was cobbled stone, and the space between each embedded stone was light brown in tone. We stood to the side, in between two sellers, in this dense market.

Five stood unmoving as Janilla came closer to me. 

“Lady Carmine?” she asked. I faced her. She shot a glance back at Five. Her eyes gazed into mine now, but they harbored a tearful inflection to them.  “We should not be in the devil’s place. This is wrong. Come closer to wisdom, I am sure if we go back together and bring this matter before the King, maybe we can get a reprieve.”

To be honest, I was not sure what I should do. I considered all the pain I was feeling now and could care less about how I was helped. 

My fear was absent at the idea of having a witch heal my wounds when he mentioned it. 

Maybe it was because I had been through enough to make a man slit his own throat? What was better? Death or living in fear of death? 

I grabbed the arm length of Janilla’s dress. The fabric was rough, for it tickled against the soft of my palm. I gripped her tight. “Be strong, you do want to know the truth, don’t you?”

Janilla stared intently. Her eyelids fluttered as her head shook. Janilla shook off the spell of my words, for she looked away. “My Lady, there is no truth here. Only lies. I do not trust these men.”

“Janilla.” Tenderness filled my words, so her pain eased. 

She turned to me.

“You did not see what I saw or hear what I heard. Trust me you go back there, I will never see you again.”

“You—” She stopped there. Janilla turned across the street. I followed her eyes and widened mine to see Valor waved at us.

We went over to him and stepped under the low grove of the door. It was a small wooden house. We traversed between the slim wooden planks that served as columns. 

A young girl led us. Ponytails, she had red eyes. She said something to Valor. 

I tried to focus on hearing them, but they kept their voices down. Realization hit me too late that we were going deeper into the earth. 

This center passage led us to a poorly lit room. The candles sat on glossy green saucers in the carved-out portions of the walls. 

That girl walked left, while to my right, this tall woman stood. She had rather wild hair raft with curly bangs traveling down to her shoulder.

Big brass rings lined the side of her ears. Her dress flowed to the low hum of the silence, yet patterned with yellow and red stripes it stamped the quiet atmosphere in its exhilaration. 

She stood at a small table with cushions surrounding it. When she looked at me, a smile came on her face. The color of her eyes strike me. Were those eyes blue now?

I hesitated while Valor cleared his throat. “This is an old friend. San Rosa. This is Carmine the one who needs help.”

The woman shot a glance at Valor. “You need more help than her, Erot will kill you for interfering with her will.”

Valor snorted. “I faced tougher bitches and dogs.”

“Valor, language,” I said.

“Sorry,” Valor replied with a cut of his eyes.

San Rosa sat down and leaned back. Her eyes littered on me. It burned an intense golden-yellow now. Her smile was wider now. “I am sure Carmine’s survival will be a great story to tell. Please all of you sit. You can unwrap your wound, so I may start.”