COF 1: The Fairy Legacy

4 | Commons (II)

A girl screamed. Clothes shuffled. Merchants cursed in their varied dialects. Oops.

"The fairies are taking over! Run!" someone shrieked.

The Traders' Square erupted in chaos. Commons dressed in their dusty garbs ran south. Merchants shut their carts and spurred their creatures. Shopkeepers who owned the estates yelled at the fleeing people that it's all sham.

June pulled her into a corner and proceeded to run down the narrower road. Small, backdoors littered the wall. This must be a back alley or something.

"Heathens went that way!" a shrill feminine voice reached Xanthy's ears. She whirled back to find at least five Civil Guards running on foot, bearing down on the same road she took.

"We have got company," Xanthy hissed to June. He responded with a click of his tongue.

The road sloped downward and a corner edged into view. It opened both ways. A spell slammed into a glass window where Xanthy had just passed by. Someone inside screamed. Glass crinkled against the cobbled road.

"Stop!" a Civil Guard yelled at them again. "Stop in the name of the Queen!"

Xanthy rolled her eyes. As if she'd do that.

June yanked her east and paused. The road smoothed into a large compound with at least three high buildings inside. Blocking a clear way through was a line of Commons bearing bowls and spoons. What now?

Xanthy glanced behind her. The Civil Guards rounded the corner. They won't be able to make it the other way, then.

June must have thought of the same thing because he cursed. He took one look at her and nodded. Together, they ran down the road and clashed into the orderly line.

"Hey! I was here first!" a girl complained when Xanthy pushed past her. Xanthy didn't even bother apologizing.

Thankfully, there were three lines and each seemed to be gearing for a steaming pot of stew. Xanthy and June picked their way towards the last line and fell into the last place.

From the corner of her eyes, Xanthy watched the Civil Guards stop in front of the line and scan the surroundings. Xanthy wished she was a shard fairy who could change her face. She flattened her hair at the side of her face when a hand closed around her wrist.

"Got you, witch," a Civil Guard grinned down at her. Xanthy's throat cinched. She clawed at her captor's hand but he held fast. The gold casted insignia by the Guard's chest glinted against the sunlight.

June's hand squeezed hers. He was being restrained, too.

"You have a problem with my servants, sir?" a calm but stern voice came from the front of the line. Xanthy whirled to see a middle-aged woman in thin braids stepping towards them. The line had long moved forward.

The woman pried Xanthy and June's hands off the Civil Guards' grip. "I cannot even send my own across the city now?" she ranted. She pushed Xanthy behind her. Xanthy squeezed June's hand as her mouth dried up.

The Civil Guards looked confused. One man with a beard scratched his head. "But we got a report that these two came from the Disfavoreds, snuck aboard a merchant caravan, and wreaked havoc in the Square."

"Psh," the woman waved her hand once. "You got the wrong pair, officer. Those fools went that way."

The Civil Guards glanced at the direction the woman pointed to. Then, the man with the beard nodded. "Alright," his voice was a deep baritone. "Sorry to bother you."

"It is just another day in our lives, officer," the woman smiled warmly. She looked like someone's grandmother. "I hope that you catch these heathens."

The Guards nodded as one and disappeared down the road.

Xanthy's tongue unlatched from the roof of her mouth. "Th—"

"Mess call tomorrow is at the first hour," a blazing frown replaced the woman's smile. "Do not be late."

Before Xanthy could speak, the woman pushed past her and disappeared into the sprawling estate. Xanthy and June exchanged glances. What, now?