Her breath caught in her throat at his words. The figure towered over her, shrouded in darkness, the barrier shimmering behind him like a physical echo, shifting and changing, casting a haunting light over the both of them. She could feel nothing but fear as she gazed up at the monster's face, his eyes refusing to look into hers.
The King.
He said nothing as he stared down at the ground, his head bowed slightly, and he let out the deepest of sighs, as though he were about to cross a line he'd rather not. Instinctively, she jumped back as he threw his arm out to the side, a crimson trident materializing in his hand, his robe flying back from the movement. The King closed his eyes... and struck.
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Her stomach was somewhat satisfied by those candies she'd found earlier, but it wouldn't be enough to satiate her hunger. Her stomach was rumbling, and sweets were far from filling.
The purple walls around her seemed new; freshly molded bricks of magenta, free from age and grime, not a crack in the stone, yet... nobody was around to be seen. Somebody had to have built this place, right? Yet no soul could be found no matter where she looked. She could have sworn she heard whispering just earlier but all she'd seen was a lone rock sitting in the hall, guarding a wall of spikes. Too intimidating for her to bother investigating.
Now she'd made her way out of the endless violet halls, winding her way through a large gate into what seemed to be a city, high walls extending into the air to nearly touch the ceiling of the cavern up above, where rocks sparkled like stars, gleaming dully, stalactites hanging down, some threatening to touch the tops of some taller buildings.
Even in this city, she was unable to find a single being, wandering her way through the empty streets, even finding what looked to be a half-eaten apple lying on the ground.
It was eerie, and she could feel eyes on her. Where were they? Out of sight, at the edge of her sight. Hiding. From her?
"H-Hello?" her frail voice called out- to only echo off the walls and fade into the distance, becoming the only response.
The street led her through the city, and eventually, to another gate, this one much larger than the first, made of wood. She peered through the wooden beams that made up its structure, staring beyond at what seemed to be a castle far in the distance. A red glow appeared to hang in the air as well, and she wondered what that could be.
Casting one last glance behind her, she started to crawl through the holes in the gate, before she did a double-take. She could have sworn she'd just seen another pair of eyes staring back at her. Eyes filled with conflict, but now they were gone.
Gulping, she decided to leave this creepy place alone and crawled through the gate, her destination now in mind.
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"STOP THAT KID!"
She dove underneath a horse-drawn cart, mud splattering about her as she held up the loaf of bread to prevent it from being dirtied too much. Before she could be grabbed, she scrambled her way out from under the cart and to the other side, taking off at a sprint past several onlookers as the baker charged after her, shaking his fist and screaming himself hoarse.
She was safe the moment she scaled the small wall into another alley, and slid to the ground, immediately plunging her teeth into the bread, savoring the exploding flavors that would have otherwise been bland to anyone else.
This was her life, had been for a long time, stealing scraps like this half-eaten loaf just to keep her belly full. Her mother had died giving birth to her, and her father had recently passed, claimed by some disease. What it was she didn't know the name of, all she knew was that he was gone, and she had no one left to care for her.
