Bodies brushed past Izrina, all of them with unfamiliar scents. Some mint, others dust. A little mix of liquor and rose. Her senses caught it all, though it felt to Izrina like everything and everyone was moving too fast and her world was spinning.
People had died. The King had ordered without second thoughts. And yet the room remained like nothing gore had occurred.
Was this what the world had become? Life no longer meant anything. People lived their days out as if their actions didn't have consequences to follow. Was there no fear of judgement anymore?
"Move out of my way!" someone barked, shoving Izrina to the side.
Izrina lunged forward, but she didn't fall, it was after she caught her balance. She realized she had been walking aimlessly after the king left with other doves.
Out of all the things that confused Izrina, the officials' silence after a member of their council died in front of them toppled it. Next was the king choosing the lady beside her and not her.
Izrina had seen it, that the king was never going to let her be. He'd approached her in front of people. And even teased her.
"He must really be ill." In the head. Izrina thought. They had to leave Zephyrus. The people weren't normal. They lacked humanity, and everything about them was confusing and chaotic, beginning with their King.
Realizing she had wandered off, Izrina scanned the hallway for an exit. Her luck tonight had to be the best since last two days.
"A dove!"
A voice shrilled, grating, like chalk dragging over a board.
"Oi, aren't you among Lady Feyrne's debauched foxes?"
Izrina was yet to notice the man was referring to her. She peeked through the first door she had seen but noticed three people speaking in hushed tones. One of them turned to look at Izrina, his brows arched not with annoyance but curiosity. When the other two followed his eyes. The young man pretended to fall.
"Are you okay?" someone inside with him asked.
That was when Izrina noticed that the man was standing with the help of two sticks. The man had a disability. She slowly backed away from the room, feeling sorry for the young man. Turning around to leave, Izrina met face to face with a sweaty official.
"Found you!"
His ale-fresh breath oozed with no mercy into Izrina's nose, and she recoiled.
"Thought we were playing the little mouse and cat game." He grinned lecherously, sticking out his tongue over his full lips. "I was going to have fun chasing you all night."
Izrina was yet to recover from the man's stale breath before she got attacked with his hands all over her hair.
"Feyrne knows how to pick them....young and freshly plucked." The man grinned, leaning closer to sniff the girl.
Izrina raised her shoulder, pushing the man with force. "Stay away from me, before I get the guards!" she blurted out.
The official took two steps back, his eyes filled with confusion. He scanned the girl's face and her body. "The guards..." he darted his eyes, afraid he had provoked a member of the royal family.
Izrina squeezed her palm tightly. She had shouted that, forgetting she wasn't a princess anymore. She moved her hand up to tuck her hair behind her ear, and her bell tingled.
"I will pretend as if nothing happened here. Goodnight, my lord." Izrina continued in her act. At least it had scared the man, and he still looked shocked. Before he would have realized she was lying, Izrina would be long gone. So she thought. With a small bow, the young girl turned to leave.
"You know," The royal minister chuckled, "You almost had me fooled with that act....what noble lady wear the bell of a fallen woman calling for her patrons to take her?"
Izrina covered the bell with her palm, squeezing her eyes shut. She knew it was time to bolt.
Maybe if Izrina had been born with longer legs, she would have covered a distance before the man yanked her hair with the merciless force of someone who wanted her bald.
"Come here you tricky dirty thing." He slammed her back against the wall. Moving his hands all over her body.
Izrina screamed, she kicked the man with force. Her fingers dug into his skin. She fought with everything left in her, including her last will to live.
"That's it, show me how rough you can be, dirty fox."
Izrina's attempt to fight back entertained the man even more, that he moved his lips all over her bare skin and each time he laughed about it.
"Let go of me!" Izrina cried, trying to elbow the man's stomach, but she was subdued. And it scared her. To think that she couldn't fight back the way she wanted.
Izrina resorted to the last idea that came into her mind. First she tipped her toes, so she was almost same height as the man. Then, she moved her head back and with her last strength she knocked it against the man's head.
"Fucking bitch!" The man screamed, staggering back with one hand on his head. When he raised his face, he felt something warm on his lips.
Izrina widened her eyes.
"Blood!" Both of them cried at the same time.
"I'm going to kill you." The man cursed, aiming to punch Izrina's face.
"Look behind you." Someone tapped the man's shoulder.
Seething with anger, the man turned with same energy. "Who is-"
The basin that landed on his face echoed twice and more, folding on one side.
"I will ki-" The man's eyes rolled back before he passed out sprawled on Spinola's feet.
Spinola stepped over the man to go cradle Izrina in her arms. "My darling...my baby."
Izrina's knees gave way when she found safety. She found herself holding Spinola very tight.
"He was going to...he was going to...." She tried to explain herself.
Spinola rocked the girl gently. "Shh...not anymore...he won't...you did very well." The woman reassured, afraid of what would have happened if she had even been a second later.
Earlier, Spinola had waited patiently for the king to leave after he had picked the girls he wanted. The woman planned to cause a ruckus if the king took Izrina. When it didn't happen, Spinola followed Izrina, but an official who asked to be served stopped her.
Which was why Spinola had almost arrived too late. She was glad she was here now. And that marks their point. They needed to leave Zephyrus. The princess wasn't safe in.
"Is he dead?" Izrina asked, rubbing her sore forehead.
Spinola smiled. "I'd prefer he were...." the man snorted, deep in sleep. "The fool is sleeping."
Izrina nodded before getting up on her feet. She reached for Spinola's hand, helping the woman stand up.
"We need to get him away from here." Spinola dragged the man's legs. When Izrina tried to help, she stopped her. "Grab my slippers and follow me."
Izrina gathered the woman's slippers, trotting behind her. She looked around the place, afraid that they were going to get caught.
"Worthless garbage, laying his hands on a princess." Spinola dragged the man with a tired grunt. "If it were in Ziadne....his head would be rolling. Karissa would have him killed without mercy."
Izrina found herself smiling, she hugged her slippers she was holding. Missing her mother came in different waves, this night....she was smiling with the ghost memory of her ghost instead of grieving.