“Leave me alone!” Una cried. And with a strength she had not realized she still possessed, she started running, running across the open land to the city before her, fueled by a fire inside and a keen desire to leave the stranger and her ugly goat far behind. When at last she dared look back, she breathed in relief to see she was not followed.
Her path took her directly to the city gates. She covered her hideous arm as best she could and slipped into the ranks of plentiful commoners. She still felt out of place, for everyone about her was brown and clad in brilliant colors and bangles and scarves. She took shelter behind a great mass of a woman with curly red hair and an enormous voice who kept shouting to those around her in such a thick accent that Una could not hope to understand her. Shielded by such a person, she doubted she would attract much attention. Unless the guards looked close and saw the remnants of silver threads in her tattered clothes, Una could pass for the most innocuous of peasants. But her dragon hand – what could she do with that? Once more she tucked it into the folds of her gown.
“Hey there, young miss!”
It took Una a moment to realize the guard spoke to her. She blinked and pointed to herself, raising her eyebrows in a worried line.
“Yes, you!” the guard barked. “You’re totterin’ like a drunkard! You been samplin’ the wine a’fore the festival?”
Una, who could scarcely understand a word he said, so thick was his accent, tried to shuffle past, hiding her hand, her eyes fixed on the feet of the red-haired woman before her.
“Eh, I asked you a question!” the guard said. He grabbed her right arm sharply as she passed and whirled her about to face him. She gasped in pain as his fingers dug into her skin. She twisted her other arm behind her back, hiding it as best she could. Then she gasped again when she found herself looking into dark eyes very like those eyes so dear to her memory. For an instant she thought her journey over, her beloved found.
That instant passed.
The guard dropped her arm as though burnt and backed away, his eyes widening. He shook his head and growled, “Move ’long, girl. Eh, scat!”
Una ducked her head and scurried into the city.
The streets were crowded, but it was not the sort of crowd caused when people leave their work and shops, lock up, and make for home, as would be usual for that time of day. Una had been out in the city back home enough times to know how the routine should look and feel. Rather, this crowd was a festive one, full of laughing tension edged with joyous frenzy. The people she passed were giddy, as though they had not known happiness in a long time and this new taste of it intoxicated them. They shoved and jostled, but all in fun and good spirits.
It frightened Una. Every time someone bumped into her, they turned with a smile and a bright “Sorry!” on their lips. But when she met their gazes, their lively voices turned to murmurs and they backed away hurriedly. Each time, Una wanted to hide her face, to crawl under a stone and disappear. She lowered her eyes, pulling her hair around her cheeks as a hood, and went on. She kept her left hand tucked under her arm, hoping that no one would see it.
Once a woman ran by with a wild laugh and accidentally pushed Una off the street, into a dark alley. Una, glad for momentary relief from the crowds, leaned her back against the wall and sighed, pressing a hand to her burning chest. “Let it die,” she murmured. “Oh, let it die. I must find him.”
A clatter at the end of the alley caught her attention. She turned and saw a tiny orange kitten, tail high, trotting toward her. “Monster,” she whispered, though she knew it wasn’t her pet. She knelt down, holding out a hand.
The kitten halted. Its ears went back and its tail bristled. It let out a tiny snarl and a hiss, turned, and dashed into the shadows.
Una rose and stepped back into the street. Setting her jaw, she pushed and prodded her way through the crowds, stepping on feet and using her elbows as needed. Everyone seemed to be making their way uphill, so she focused her energies on going that direction too. Somehow, she felt she would find answers there.
Leonard, I’m coming. Wait for me.
In all the babble around her she made out a few words: “The crown prince.” “The Lady of Middlecrescent.” “The crown prince.”
Una felt the flame in her chest flare every time she picked out those words. The crowd became so thick, she thought she would suffocate, and she screamed, “Wait for me!”
People backed away from her in surprise. The crowds parted, and she passed through the last street into the city square at the crest of a low hill.