The young girl had never seen the true beauty of her own kingdom before.
The dull descriptions and scare information given to her were no match to what she gazed upon. There was noise everywhere. Which she did not notice before due to her earlier predicament. People were swamped in every area her eyes glazed over, pressed up against walls or rushing past people along the sidewalk or peeking their heads out of the horse-drawn carriages they were riding in. Everywhere she looked it was like she was seeing her family. Everyone looked so similar yet so different.
One woman had her eyes. A little boy had her freckled face. A boy her age had the same hair as her. An old woman had her skin. And everyone was at peace. She could feel it in the air. She felt out of place from all the people who wore frilly clothes and shoes that made satisfying clicking noises on the stone ground, while she definitely looked very mysterious.
The mixed sounds of people conversing as well as the 'neighs' from horses and their hooves against the ground as they walked by gave Kazimiera a new perspective of sound.
Kazimiera started to walk forward, her eyes scanning everything in front of her, unlike everyone else, who's eyes remained forward. The quick-paced movement of people trying to get where they need to be so early in the morning was exhilarating.
While the morning sun's golden flames were beginning to lick the tips of buildings and the sweet smelling morning dew began to thaw, as well as heat rising into the air from the street vender's stoves while they prepped their colorful and aromatic ingredients for their future customers, Kazimiera wished she could stay here and experience everything just this one street corner has to offer, but she was brought back when she heard a train whistle blow again.
A new kind of urgency was thrust upon her and she started to walk slightly faster. The closer she got towards the entrance to the train station the more she was being squeezed and pushed and trampled by people. But still her smile grew. She must've looked silly saying "Disculpe," rather politely while smiling with her whole mouth when others shoved people out of their way without a second thought.
Kazimiera jumped in surprise when she felt a sudden burst of steam shoot into the air to the right of her head. She stopped in her tracks and looked over to see a vendor cooking something on his stove while it sizzled angrily. A delicious smelling something. It had an assortment of bright colored vegetables and sauces that was wrapped in a tortilla. Kazimiera's mouth watered as she watched the vendor drizzle on top more sauce and sprinkle a purple spice blend on top.
"Cuatro pecas." The vendor spoke sluggishly as he handed her the tortilla wrapped meal.
"What?" Kazimiera asked.
"Cuatro pecas. Or would you rather stand here all freaking day?" he answered clearly, annoyed.
"Oh, um, here." Slightly confused, Kazimiera dug into her satchel with one hand and fished out two gold coins and dropped them into his outstretched palm. "Thank you a thousand fold sir."
The vendor simply nodded his head without looking up, already making more of whatever it is he's making.
Kazimiera bit into her colorful snack and at that moment realized how hungry she was. The mixed textures and flavors danced on her tongue. She barely allowed herself time to chew before she bit into it again and again, chewing slowly with her eyes closed. She probably hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday.
The train whistle. It goes off for the third time. Kazimiera gasped and hurriedly shoved her snack into her mouth for one last bite before breaking into another sprint holding onto her satchel with one hand and her snack with the other. Kazimiera, trying to be more like a Shovonyan citizen started shoving past people but her royal manners got the best of her and immediately apologized to every single person she ran into. She almost stopped completely to check to see if an old lady she ran into was alright, but she pushed forward. The slight guilt stirring in her stomach.
Kazimiera looked up to the sky at the clock tower as her only source of direction. The more she ran the more she craned her neck to see it. After fifteen years of staring out of her bedroom window, wishing she could be closer, she could happily tell herself she had made it.
Kazimiera stopped. So what happens next? Does she just walk in?
She slowly continued to walk forward, hoping to not to seem as nervous as she was.
Once she was closer to people she slowed her walk and even swing her arm at her side in an attempt to seem more casual. Eyes forward, like she noticed with the other Shovonyan citizens. Kazimiera was just about to walk up the steps when she heard someone yell.
"iEspere! Senor, stop where you are!"
Kazimiera looked up and saw a Shovonyan guard running towards her.
"I must have you know that your pants are uncuffed." The guard said with a serious expression on his face.
Kamila blinked in surprise and almost laughed out loud. "What?"
"Didn't your father raise you right silly boy? It's a sign of respect to cuff your pants during a time when foreign royals visit Shovonya, unless you don't care for the country of Kellick and his majesty the king?"
Kazimiera never hearing of this strange tradition of her own people. "Oh yes sorry sir, these pants just un-cuff themselves sometimes." She bent over and cuffed her pants in front of the guard while cursing at herself for such a foolish lie.
When Kazimiera finished and stood up the guard huffed, "Alright now off you go, don't make this mistake again."
Kazimiera, head spinning, quickly marched up the steps forgetting about her causal gait she originally intended.
She marched toward the line at the ticket stand which she cut to the front of. The stand was directly next to the train tracks which Kazimiera didn't have enough time to marvel at because the woman behind the ticket stand was trying to get her attention.
"Where to?" The clearly bored middle-aged woman asked. She had a gray bob haircut and the corners of her mouth permanently turned down.
"Fugativa, Zhahri please." Kazimiera responded, already digging through her satchel for money.
"Here." The woman responded in her monotone voice, trading her the magenta and gold colored ticket for a handful of pecas.
"Thanks!" Kazimiera responded with a bright smile. She could almost feel her heart grow bigger.
The wait for the train to arrive was probably one of the most anxious and joyful five minutes of her life. She finished up the last few bites of her snack, already missing it while she reflected on her adventures that she had experienced to get to this point which made her excited for more, plus she was almost out of Shovonya. She would finally be able to leave. She would be safe. But her stomach churned at the possibility of getting found out, since she didn't exactly have the cleanest escape from the castle.
She felt composed, standing next to the tracks, glancing down every now and then waiting for the train to arrive. Kazimiera stared ahead and let herself wander off into her thoughts of what the ride might be like. She didn't know what route it would take, would she look out her window and observe the serene ocean? Or would she travel through the plains with tall yellow grass with delicate blue flowers sprinkled throughout it? Maybe even the snow-peaked mountains, while the fragile snowflakes fell to the frosted ground while her jacket kept her warm-
The floor below her began to shake, she had to take a step back from the tracks and stuck her head out to look down to see the train advancing toward her. It seemed like it was coming fast but really it was slowing down. As it got closer Kazimiera could barely fathom how big it was. She knew they were big, but this was extraordinary. She watched the rods move up and down in a circular motion as it moved with the wheels, and the thick steam left in large puffs from the smokebox with a loud shhh sound. She took in every dent and scratch and every nut and bolt jutting out from the painted black metal until the machine screeched to a halt and the doors swung open.
People rushed forward and Kazimiera hesitantly stepped onto it, scared she might fall through the tracks but made it through nevertheless. People were already finding places to sit and reading newspapers while Kazimiera couldn't believe they didn't feel as excited as she did. She almost lept out of her seat when noticed stairs leading to a second floor.
A second floor on a train! I wish I had run away years ago! Kazimiera thought to herself giddily.
She ran up the stairs as fast as she could, probably earning a few strange looks but who cares? Only to find that it was completely empty, the entire floor was all to herself. Kazimiera laughed and skipped over to a random booth and scooted all the way in so she was next to the window.
On the table was a paper itinerary of all the stops the train would be making. She looked for La Cochina Central Train Station and found it above a red dot that was along a squiggly red line that went all over the continent. She traced it until she found Fugativa. It's approximately eight hours away with six stops and many, many chances to get caught.
But as the train blew its whistle and it started to inch forward, and the only thing Kazimiera's eyes were locked was the view of the morning sun rising behind her family's castle, making it seem as though it was sparkling, Kazimiera rested her head on the window while she stared off, only thinking about one thing.
She was finally free.
Author's Note:
Yayyyyyyyyyy she finally did it. You guys im so fucking excited cause this is where all the fun magic stuff actually starts to happen and we meet A LOT of new important characters next chapter so ill post that in like two months lol