Chapter 41: Forty one

As if Tanya knew that she would be able to convince Kyra to check out the pack with her, she already has guards and a few carriages ready for them.

Kyra halted in front of the most beautiful carriage that was held open for them to climb in, “You were really sure that I would go with you?” She’s never agreed to do anything with Tanya before.

“Not really. I just had hopes that you’ll not be able to resist the offer of leaving the four walls of the palace and going out to see the pack. My guess was correct.” Tanya laughed lightly as she placed her hand on one of the guard’s outstretched palm and climbed on to the carriage.

Kyra followed after Tanya inside the carriage and sat opposite her, “Thanks for inviting me out.”

Tanya smiled, all teeth as she rubbed her plan together in glee, “Get ready to see anything and everything and also taste all of the local foods that Anton’s palace can’t offer you.”

Kyra loved the good food she ate at Anton’s palace. She really appreciated it but some local food won’t be cooked there. This was her only opportunity to eat them and also try out new things.

Kyra moved to the end of her seat and reached out to open the window immediately the carriage began to move away from the palace. She put her face close to the window so that she could stare out because she did not want to miss anything. The window was small but she thought that it was enough for her to see everything.

Kyra thought wrong because two hours into the journey, Kyra immediately began to regret why she even bothered to leave her room to check out the lack with Tanya. She felt stupid.

The carriage was going too fast and everything was almost a blur and she was thrown countless times from her seat that she had to stiffen up and hold the chairs to keep herself in it.

Tanya was having no problem whatsoever with the speed of the carriage and she even looked excited.

When Kyra tried talking her into telling the riders to slow down, she brushed her complaints aside. Tanya told her that it was fun and reminded her there was no difference between this and riding a horse since that was Kyra’s suggestion in the first place anyway.

Kyra tried to explain that it was different, a horse won’t throw her off her seat and she would be the one controlling its pace. Tanya still brushed it off.

Kyra held her seat with a bitter feeling in her chest as they continued the journey.

“Aren’t we there yet?” Kyra asked for the umptheenth time. She had no idea where they were going anyways but just knew that it was going to be where the commoners stayed and their local market. Just how far was it from the palace?

“I’ve told you already, Anton’s palace is way bigger than your father’s. The local market is very far from the palace and will take time but it’s worth it. You’ll understand when we get there.” Tanya yelled over the sounds of the galloping horses and the noises the carriages were making. “It’s very far and that’s why I asked them to go fast.”

Kyra nodded, the same things she has been doing whenever he asked this question and Tanya gave her the same response. There was nothing else she could do except nod because she could not stop the carriage  and asked that she be taken to the palace. Kyra just hoped that they would get there quickly enough and the torture would end.

Her plans about seeing the capital before they got to the local market were ruined so she sat back and waited to see how the remaining part of the pack was.

Kyra could finally breathe when the carriage slowed down and when she stared out, she did not need to be told why. They’ve gotten to the local market. It took them another two hours. She just knew that it would be nighttime by the time they got home.

Kyra could hear the noises. See people bustling about and trying to sell their items to people. It was almost the same as the market in her father’s pack but this one was more developed and very neat.

Everyone had their stall, no one was hawking or standing by the roadside. She liked the place immediately but she knew she wouldn't be able to always visit because it was very far from the capital and Anton’s palace.

Kyra was glad to leave the confines of the carriage and stretched her body to loosen her sore muscles as soon as her feet touched the ground.

Tanya chuckled in amusement as she watched Kyra’s action, “That was just a little journey. I thought you said you are a great rider.”

“Horse riding is different from sitting in a carriage and allowing another person to take you to your destination.”

Tanya cocked her head to the side as if

Pondering on what Kyra just said, “Hm, I think you are right. With you as the rider you will be able to control the pace of the horse and slow down when you want to.”

“Exactly,” Kyra agreed.

“Well, we couldn’t use the horses and I’m a bad rider. Horses don’t like me even though I love them. I only ride when I need to take a little stroll in the mountains.”

Kyra was looking around with bright eyes as she half listened to Tanya talk about how poor her horse riding skill was. She was already thinking of things she would buy but then, her heart fell when she remembered that she was in another man’s land, she was sold and taken away from her father’s pack without anything; she had no money to buy anything.

“Where do you think we should start from? We could buy different things and…” Tanya has stopped talking about her poor riding skill to talk about what they would do now that they were at the market but she trailed off as she stared into the distance.

Kyra was going to also tell Tanya that she was free to buy whatever she wanted and she would just tag along. No way was she going to take anything from Tanya.

If Anton was offering to give her anything, she would accept it because he was her owner whether she liked to admit it or not and he would never allow her to reject anything from him. They would end up having a little argument where he would still come up the winner. In the end she would be forced to accept it.

Kyra did not have the opportunity to say anything because people began to scream loudly and run helter scatter, trying to take covers while the rest tried to pack the items they were selling and to close their shop.

Kyra looked surprised and tried to figure out what was going on. She turned to ask Tanya but saw that the other woman was frozen and had her eyes wide open and was staring straight ahead.

Kyra followed her eyes and hers also widened as she saw a group of riders heading in their direction without slowing down.

They did not look like the locals and their horses were too majestic to be owned by the locals. Only problem with them was their  clothes and appearance.

They were putting on torn clothes that looked like rags and they looked dirty like it’s been a long time since they had a nice bath.

Kyra stood in shock as the riders came upon her. Just before she got trampled by the hooves of these horses, she caught a whiff of their smell.

They were rogues!