"What? A criminal has escaped?"
There was an uproar happening in the market and whispers came from everywhere. Panic started to break out and everyone was suspecting the one next to them to be the criminal they searched for.
"What has that criminal done?", a man asked.
"This individual is a very dangerous one. They have awaited trial for multiple centuries and are the murderer of a princess!", a guard shouted at the top of his lungs to make the whole market hear the details.
"This can't be..."
"The criminal whose trial couldn't be held for centuries is now free!?"
Panicked voices filled the market and almost everyone had shock in their eyes or was actively trying to run.
Feyra stood in front of the store seeing the people looking at each other and walking back and forth as though they wanted to stay moving so if something happened they could still escape.
"How does this individual look like?", a man from the crowd called. He seemed to be rather calm in comparison to most others.
The guards were silent for a while.
"We sadly have to inform you that we have no direct picture of how this individual looks like. However they have a peculiar hair colour. One that isn't common under humans.", the guard, who had previously also spoken, said.
By now even more guards had come and looked at some people who seemed suspicious. Some even went to ask people if they had seen an individual with such a peculiar hair colour.
Feyra immediately knew that it was best to get out of this situation before this may get troublesome or even out of hand.
Just as she wanted to leave the market she heard a voice behind her.
"There is the individual! Follow her!", a guard called out and immediately all the guards came together to follow her.
Feyra started running knowing that she had to leave the kingdom right away without even being able to buy another bit of bread.
"Capture them!"
She heard the voices behind her running down the main street.
"In the name of the king we cannot let them escape!", another guard yelled.
There even came some guards that were on patrol to help them making it harder for Feyra to escape.
Damn it! I just wanted to buy a bit more bread and then take my leave... Why do I now have to rush out of the capital? Well I didn't plan on staying long either knowing this place would be too dangerous for me.
While she was in thought she reached the outskirts. The ground was muddier here even if the main street was still going on till the harbour.
Many people from the outskirts walked here too so the mud from their shoes and feet would get stuck here. Only when one got near the plaza would it become far cleaner. That was at least the case for the main street.
Most side streets were just as dirty given there wasn't a good drainage system and basically no house had running water. All the waste humans produced ended up on the streets.
Washing clothes was just as hard given there wasn't any natural water source around everyone could use. Only a few wells were within the capital.
Though Feyra didn't care as much for that she still noticed that the kingdom, especially the capital, had barely changed over time. Even when she was young she remembered that she was told never to walk in other places than the main street.
The Father had warned her that the streets around would be too dirty and she must stay clean no matter what.
Looking back at it Feyra thought it ridiculous. Especially the fact she was told to stay clean although she also had to stain her hands with blood and death.
She arrived at the harbour before the guards had caught up to her and hastily looked around if there was any ship leaving soon.
If she could leave with them she wouldn't need to worry about the guards searching the ships and potentially finding her.
I wouldn't want to use That to get out of here..., she thought as she spotted a ship that seemed to have loaded all the wares.
"Excuse me are you going out of the kingdom?", Feyra asked the man who looked at the harbour and advised the last of his men to take another box with them.
"Yes we are. Why do you ask?", the man asked looking at Feyra.
"Could you take me with you? I need to get out of the kingdom."
"We're setting sail soon so come on board. You can explain yourself later."
Feyra nodded and went on board as the man had said. Shortly after she had went on board, the guy who had loaded all the wares gave the sign that they could start.
The man who had allowed her to join them went away and started to get the ship out of the harbour. It seemed like the captain had been the one who had allowed her to join.
Just in that moment did the guards arrive at the harbour seeing that Feyra had already taken off with the ship.
"Damn it!", one of them cursed loud enough that Feyra could still hear it.
They threw their weapons to the ground or balled their fists in anger but now Feyra could finally start finding all the truths she wanted to find.
As they were further out on the sea the man came back to her.
"I'm Captain Buck. It's quite rare to see someone wanting to suddenly join someone on a ship like this. I also heard there was a murderer running around in the kingdom. How about you tell me a bit about yourself and why you needed to depart that fast?"
Feyra looked at him. She didn't even know where to start to properly thank him as well as explain the whole truth.
"I guess I should start at the point with the murderer. The kingdom is searching for the murderer of a princess. That was a long time ago though. That murderer is supposedly me.", she started explaining taking a break to see Buck's reaction.
"I see. Is that the truth though? I know the kingdom a bit and traveling around I haven't heard the best stuff about it.", Buck asked taking off his hat.
He had black hair and many scars across his face. One was on his cheek while another went over his eye and nose.
"I'm not the princess' murderer."
"I expected that already. You don't seem like someone who would do that. I trust you.", Buck answered as he looked at the sea and back at Feyra.
She didn't quite understand how he trusted her so easily but for now she was relieved she had left the kingdom.
Though it was still likely the people of the kingdom would follow her for a while. As long as she left the villages around the kingdom in time or even entered places belonging to the Empire she would be safe.
"You see I've come around already for a bit. Some scars speak stories. Once I met a guy who had a similar hair colour to yours. He helped us escape a dangerous situation.", Buck started to tell a story before taking a break and sighing. "It seemed he knew this was the last thing he would do. That smile while he told us to run and not look back still stays in my mind."
Buck took another break looking at the sea as it passed. It was calm for once.
The sea around the kingdom was known for being rough almost all year round. Seafarers and even fishers were happy when it was calm and they would have a smooth journey.
Buck looked back at Feyra. "He was a Fallen Angel."
Feyra looked at Buck with wide eyes. She hadn't expected that he had ever met a Fallen Angel as it was rare to find them in the first place.
"You're a Fallen Angel too, aren't you?", Buck asked after he had taken another short break to see Feyra's reaction.
Feyra smiled. "I am. How did you know?"
"I've already said I've met someone with a similar hair colour. It's rare to see someone with a hair colour that isn't dark or blonde. Besides the pattern of the black on your hair is so irregular that it paints the clear picture of you being a Fallen Angel.", Buck continued explaining now smiling too.
"Guess I'm the second one you've met then.", Feyra said nodding slightly.
After that they chatted a bit further and Feyra learned that Buck seemed to trust Fallen Angels more than any humans or even the church.
Shortly after a guy came over calling for Captain Buck and so he had to leave.
Feyra looked around the ship a bit and also looked at the calm sea. She had never been able to set foot outside the kingdom as the Father would not allow it. Whenever she was able to visit the harbour she had to wish everyone a safe journey but was never able to go on a ship herself.
Now she stood at the head of the ship and looked over the sea and the scenery behind it. Mountains stretching in the distance while on the other side grasslands found a place for themselves.
Forests and trees passed by until they were too far out and all that was left was the sea.
The kingdom's capital lay on an island not far from the main continent it had most of its cities and villages on. A big bridge was built to connect the two and so the capital took shape over time.
The island had a peculiar place on a map as around it were some grasslands and mountains before one would have to steer out of this little nook and would enter the wide open sea.
Feyra found it very interesting as everything was just like she had read in the books she wasn't supposed to read.
When she was younger she lived in a shrine but the Father would occasionally bring her some books. Most of them were about religion and The Lord himself.
Yet in this little shrine there had been some books left behind that the Father discovered only later and had to forbid her from reading.
Yet Feyra didn't listen and stuck to these books and read every single one of them. Most of them contained knowledge about the world defying what the religious texts said that the Father had given her.
In one of them it was described how the world was and that there were multiple continents and the planet was round.
One of the largest continents was called the Empire and could only be reached by sea given that between the Empire's part of the continent and another smaller one was a large mountain range no one had ever crossed yet.
People had tried crossing it but most were found dead by locals that lived around the mountain range.
In another book, Feyra had read about the human body and how it worked. Some of these things were new to her as she never had various needs. Other parts included what the body consisted of and also some conditions that can occur.
One chapter also spoke about reproduction and also showed examples of other continents, kingdoms and places that opposed the text of having one wife and staying with that one.
Looking back at her memories Feyra shook her head again. Most of the things she had learned were indeed quite ridiculous now that she didn't need to care about that anymore.
"You were in thought just now, eh?"
A voice called out to her. It was a young man who had a crippled nose from a fight likely.
"Oh I was. I guess the sea was calming so I drifted off. May I ask if you ever got into a fight and had a broken nose?", Feyra said turning around and looking at the young man.
"Ahaha... How did you know? That was years ago.", he said rubbing the back of his head as though he was a little embarrassed.
"Your nose is a little off from the others. Usually that can happen when someone had a broken nose and it doesn't grow back properly.", she answered pointing with her finger at her own nose.
"That's impressive! You know quite a lot! When I have a question I'll come to you!", the young man said with a smile and a thumbs up.
"Also I was supposed to bring over a message from the Captain to you. He said you're welcome aboard!"