Alexia
The scorching sun made my now loose hair stick to my back. The salty sweat mixed with the dust from the road turned my feet a beige, Russian color.
And the dress that looked like it was made of flour sacks, something that slaves probably wore, was a little torn at the edges because of branches that had also scratched my legs, as well as the bruise from the thick branch I'd hit my leg on.
Even in Torrem I never looked that bad, in fact my appearance was always impeccable, I didn't wear jewelry and my dresses weren't high society, I had a standard.
My hair was in a hairstyle that never changed, a bun and a brooch with the coat of arms of the royal family. My face was devoid of any make-up, my nails were always clean and well-cut, I didn't wear any accessories because they could get in the way when I was doing something, but I still considered myself to be well-dressed. Being the queen's maid, my clothes weren't as inferior as most of the servants in the castle, which seemed to cause a bit of envy, as living near the kings and the princess had caused a divide between me and them, who didn't know what I was going through, but judged me, so I didn't have any friends.
"I want water," I complained, but no one seemed to hear me. I looked into the bottle of one of them and he turned his face towards me, damn them.
I was lost in time and how far I had walked, but after hours in the sun walking I felt too weak to continue.
Dizzy and overcome by fatigue, I fell to the ground, everything was spinning, my vision was just a black blur.
"Hey!" I felt light slaps on my face.
Carlos' voice came out, saying:
"Give her some water"
I felt hands behind my neck lifting my body a little, I opened my eyes, the sun blurred my vision and then the liquid running down my throat, hands and wrists were wet.
"Damn it, stay awake Alexia," said Carlos.
I looked at him struggling not to black out and gradually I felt myself regaining consciousness, he gave me more water and I held the bottle with both hands pouring the liquid down my throat, coughing.
"Go slowly, your throat is too dry," he said and I sat up, looking at him angrily. It took me almost dying to get some water "Is that better?"
I looked at him angrily.
"Better? I'll never get better with you!"
"Don't worry, we're getting there, you'll be better or worse off with King Octavian," he said, reminding me that I would soon be in Zaim's castle facing the man who had done horrible things to Esmeralda, things that had led to her death and a near-war, I could only imagine horrible things about Octavian, which made me even more nervous.
We reached a tavern where they dragged me inside, without untying my hands I was still being pulled by a rope, some people looked at me.
Pity? Yes, they were sorry.
"What can I get you?" asked the waitress as she approached, the exaggerated cleavage of her breasts could be seen for miles.
"Beer"
She nodded and looked at me.
"And for the girl?"
Carlos looked at me.
"Bring a portion of food" he turned and continued "She needs strength or we won't make it to the castle by the end of the afternoon"
The waitress nodded and left, I was still standing looking at everything around me, I had only heard about taverns and it seemed to be a more exclusive place for men, my eyes stopped on a man in the corner who was staring at me.
The way he looked at me made me feel ashamed, I looked away embarrassed and saw out of the corner of my eye that he came towards me, stopped in front of the table and said:
"Whose slave is that?"
"Mine," joked one of the men with a smile on his lips. Do you want her?"
"Yes, I do!" He looked at me and devoured me with his eyes, I looked away into the corner, I already hated him just for the vulgar way he looked at me.
"How much will you pay for it?"
"What?" I looked at him and then at the man "I'm not for sale!"
"She talks a lot for a slave, but it's all right, I'll educate her properly" he grinned mischievously and threw a bag of money on the table, they attacked it by opening it and his eyes lit up when he saw the silver coins.
"Sold!"
The man grabbed my arm roughly and I tugged uselessly.
"Let the girl go, she's not for sale!"
"Carlos, don't be crazy, look how much money!" said the man almost whispering to him, and he smiled nervously at the man holding my arm.
"I've already told you, the girl isn't for sale, she's Zaim's property, so I won't ask you again, let go of her arm!"
"Property of Zaïm?" The man laughed mockingly.
"Yes, King Octavian's"
The man's smile faded and he quickly let go of my arm, finally noticing the armor with Zaim's coat of arms on it and lowering his head in despair.
"I'm sorry! Please don't tell the king I didn't know about the girl"
I frowned as I watched the man walk away from the tavern, he looked scared and hadn't even taken his money with him.
Apparently the king instilled fear in his people.
"He didn't even take his money," said one of the men greedily taking the coins.
"Hey, let's split it!" said another of them, but Carlos didn't seem excited, he stared at the man seriously, disapproving of his attitude.
"You're disgusting!" I said, wrinkling my face, and Carlos got up from his chair, approached me and stood just a centimeter from my face, but I didn't look away from him, because if his intention was to intimidate me, I wasn't going to give in.
"I would have sold you, but do I really think you're more valuable than silver coins?"
"I told you, I'm not worth anything"
"Do you know why I defend you against the boys? Because I was the only one who saw you smooching that dragon, something no woman has ever seen before and I don't understand why you are, witch? An ordinary woman or are you really the first woman to connect with a dragon?"
I looked at him quietly, not expecting his words.
"I'm an ordinary woman"
"I don't believe it, but if you keep insisting on it maybe I won't be so nice, maybe I'll go back to being disgusting like my friends" He said in a warning tone, a declared threat making me shut up and swallow my own saliva, the waitress arrived with the food and the beers, he turned around saying "Sit, eat and be quiet until we get to the castle!"