Thus the wheels of the carriage were slower than the time, and then feet, sometimes, six months were drawn and turned over like a short chapter with a story more than any book itself...
Many roads changed and vanished before them—mud, dust, and grass giving way to frozen passes and flowered plains.
They crossed towns, villages, some caravans from nomads, some places that had smoke still rising and some where the smoke was nothing more than just stains.
Sometimes they saved some troubles, sometimes others saved them.
For a while the world only had few songs of footsteps and wheel creaks, the soft clatter of coin and bowstring for them.
Violet counted the moons in silence, sometimes hushed tears missing Maria and Garrett and sometimes the time with Luciel.
The next moon shall mark her twentieth year.
***
Violet's PoV
The creaking wheel of the carriage moved with a few bumps making me fly a few inches up.
The capital's outer hills curved in the distance like sleeping sheep.
I pulled my cloak closer, "It feels strange," Vael sat in front of me, wearing the same cloak as me..."We've been traveling for a long time, this might be our last one, after this..." His lips paused, I know why, but no one can run away from the truth.
He had changed— less scowl, more thought behind his grey eyes.
The scars on his hands had faded to thin white lines.
We had seen too much, bandits, broken temples, wild fields crawling with beasts from nightmares.
During the journey, Vael has sometimes talked about his vengeance, but his answer was always that once his hatred dies... The agony his people went through will be forgotten too.
Vael said that his tribe and others around them, were captured, tortured, killed... Only for conquest, to prove herself, the first heir of Isvalar, the one who led the purge.
When Vael narrated his last I couldn't help but feel my heart twisting, his words still echoed in my mind...
"their eldest heir—first princess—she purged my village. Said she'd prove her worth through conquest, she did.
Every child, every elder, every wolf under our banner burned for her glory."
I stayed silent and etched into my mind, at least to feel some of the pain, share some of it, but I know I can't....
I returned to the present and I looked at the huge gate growing as the carriage moved.
When the story of Vael came to my mind, then faces of papa and mama came back to me too, then Luciel and Mr. Raven too...
I really hope I can find at least some answers from my mother.
I snapped back when carriage stopped, I found ourselves with some strangers.
I looked out and saw us in the middle of a long queue of bullocks, chariots of holy, carriages and people with stacks of luggage on their head.
-
***
The road turned harder. Clouds gathered over the garrison, soft and gold-edged.
The capital's walls rose from the valley floor, tall and sturdy with some cracks here and there.
East Gate stood open, its bronze doors etched with faded reliefs of tales only nobles know how to exaggerate.
When it was our turn the guards asked Violet to remove the cloak, she did with any questions, revealing start black hair.
Before the boarding this carriage Vael asked Violet to die her hair to avoid any unnecessary eyes on them.
One wrong move and they'll be in the cell before putting a step into the main city.
Vael smiled faintly. "Not bad. You look like you could belong here."
They crossed through the gate without trouble.
No guards stopped them then.
Slowly moving from the tall shadows of the gate...
The city unfolded—rows of sunlit houses, banners swaying, laughter spilling from taverns.
They paid their dues to the coachman, and said their goodbye...
Violet took a deep breath inhaling honeyed bread and metal.
Then her gaze her moved to the tall tower, gilded around a grand castle decorated in royal blue, gold and white.
Violet put her hand on her chest and took a step ahead but then Vael tapped her shoulder, "Violet," his gaze were low with a smile barely, "One last errand together?"
She nodded, she knew what was coming, she prepared for it but now, she wasn't so sure...
Vael scratched the back of his with a small chuckle "Just a walk. Through the streets."
***
Vael's PoV
The city was too clean.
Stone streets washed smooth by years of rain, flowers in boxes on every sill, people smiling as if they'd never heard a scream.
Children ran with wooden swords, pretending to be heroes. A bard's tune drifted from a corner stall, soft and sweet.
I felt my stomach twist. "Look at them, Laughing, smiling. They walk on the blood of innocents and don't even feel the stain."
I clenched my fist but my anger was just barely keeping itself under the lid.
She didn't answer. She watched a baker hand a loaf to a boy too thin for his clothes. "Not all of them know," she mumbled.
"That's the problem," I paused, my teeth grinding against each other, "Ignorance feels like innocence until you remember what's buried under the bricks. The one who stays silent is far more dangerous and evil than the one who does them."
She turned to me with heavy eye. "I can't see you hurting yourself Vael, what you are doing is far beyond insanity, please—"
I kept my slime, how can I explain it to her, the anguish I feel every day, any day that went by feels like committing a sin, I was supposed to be dead too, but the one who saved me—
I am doing this again, I feel like my chest is bursting again, I took a deep breath, without realising I found myself close to a fountain—a small one,
half-forgotten between two marble lanes. Water spilled over stone, clear and slow. The air there was quiet there...
Violet sat down playing with water, staring at coins at the bottom of the clear.
"I wanted to thank you, for everything, for helping me." There was sparkle in her eyes, maybe because they were wet.
The words struck deeper than any blade.
The way she said it, that gratitude... It felt heavy, I don't know why I let you tag along...
But ever since I met her, I found a purpose besides spending each second in contempt...
I want to ask her to stay, maybe let this journey go forever–
No, I can't... I can't deny them their retribution.
Closing to our destination, without realising she had became someone that could bend my will, a weakness....
I reached instead into my pouch and drew a small trinket—a charm of woven black thread and wolf fang. "This belonged to my tribe. A symbol of a safe path. You'll need it more than I do."
Her eyes widened. "Vael, I can't—"
"Take it as a memory..." I kept my hands close to her.
She looked down at the charm, then up at me. "Then promise me something, stop hurting yourself...."
I smiled, but it hurt. "Sometimes, revenge is just anger or hatred... Sometimes survival."
"I have no right to question your path, but remember, you have a friend you can return too..."
We stood there, the fountain murmuring between us.
Finally, I said, "If fate allows, we'll meet again."
Her fingers tightened around the trinket. "If fate allows."
We turned. The crowd swallowed her in moments, a swirl of cloaks and sunlight. I didn't call her name.
***
Violet's PoV
I didn't look back.
The trinket felt warm in my palm, its threads biting lightly into my skin. The wolf fang glimmered faintly when the sun hit it, as though holding some quiet pulse.
I walked until I reached the guard post by the inner wall—a squat building with brass crests and tired soldiers at its doors. The air there smelled of oil and iron.
I straightened my cloak, pressed the trinket against my chest, and stepped forward. "Excuse me," I said to the nearest guard. "I'm looking for someone who works within the royal family. Her name is Calla."
He blinked, then frowned. "Calla who?"
I hesitated. "Calla of House Haroth—" I stopped, remembering what mama had told me. "Calla, daughter of Count—"
Before I could finish, the guard's expression shifted. The faint interest in his eyes hardened into something else. He glanced at the others.
"What did you say?"
"Haroth," I repeated, unsure. "That's her surname. I was told—"
Laughter broke from the line of guards. Harsh, sudden, like steel striking stone.
"Count's daughter?" one said. "You've got nerve, girl."
I stepped back, alarm rising. "What do you mean?"
No answer. Hands grabbed my wrists—cold, hard.
"Wait—why—?"
The captain sneered. "Orders."
The next thing I knew, the world tilted. My bow clattered to the ground, boots scuffing the cobble.
I struggled once, but their grip was iron. The captain's voice cut through the ringing in my ears. "You shouldn't have spoken that name."
"Why?" I whispered.
He didn't answer.
Chains closed around my wrists.
***
The wind shifted. Beyond the wall, the capital bells began to toll for evening.
The fountain water still ran somewhere behind her, whispering faintly under the din.
And above the city gates, a raven circled once, dark wings flashing in the last light, before vanishing into cloud.