We're Burning (Frerard)

16.The Viva Napara Market

„The tyranny
The violent streets
Deprived of all that we're blessed with
And we can't get enough, no..." - Crossfire, Stephen

———

The castle was dark and gloomy, the shadows cast by the walls and the little light hanging around the halls even darker than usual.

Frank sighed silently, the dark engulfing the floor below him and the ceiling above him made sneaking through the hallways unseen much easier. He pulled his hood lower over his eyes, casting his skin in shadows, just like the castle.

Carefully, Frank stepped into a new hallway, gluing his back to the wall at the sound of footsteps. Once they faded out, Frank let go of the breath he was holding, then moved again. From there the way to the kitchens was short and practiced, and he managed to get there fast enough without being seen.

The kitchens, like the rest of the castle, were set under deep shadows, and unoccupied. It was mere minutes away from midnight, and Frank waited patiently in his hiding place for the servants to come with the garbage. They, along with a few others, were the only ones who held the keys to the kitchen's backdoor.

Frank would ask to be given a spare key as well, so he wouldn't have to rely on them, but he feared he couldn't justify asking for keys to the dump without selling himself out. He could only imagine how the King would react to his nightly adventures, and he wanted it to stay that way.

Eventually, two servants came, four bags full of garbage in their hands. The taller one of the two cursed and fumbled with the bags, moving one to the other hand and using his now free one to fish a key out of his pockets and open the door. The second guy shouldered the door open with a grunt.

"We don't get paid enough for this shit," one of them said, wrinkling his nose against the stink. The other grumbled in agreement.

The two servants made their way outside and towards the end of the alleyway, where the dump awaited hungrily for the castle's daily trash. Hidden in the shadows and behind a thin cupboard, Frank waited until the voices of the complaining servants were far enough to be faint and hardly heard, then slipped through the door which they'd left wide open.

Without making any noise to alert the two to his presence, Frank began slowly moving away from the alleyway, through the path which the cleaners will come tomorrow to collect the garbage. Once he could no longer hear the two servants, he pulled his cloak tighter around his body and left the castle's grounds.

There were not many places that sold what Frank was looking for, nor in the hours he was able to go look for it. Mainly because those hours were usually long past midnight, and not very often. But it didn't matter that it was past midnight where Frank was headed, and absolutely no one there cared about his tight schedule.

The Viva Napara Market thrived at night, its booths filled with all the goods Frank could ever want to find. The Market was hidden from the eyes of those unwanted, and to this day Frank was thankful that he had found it, eighteen years old and having snuck out of the castle.

Not much had changed over the years, Frank thought, smiling to himself. Or at least, his rebellious antics didn't change, he had changed drastically with the passage of the years.

Sighing, Frank went back to navigating through the suburbs that stood behind the wealthier streets. Compared to them, the suburbs could be called slums no less, but Frank knew none of the residents of the area liked the word. Unfortunately, he had first hand experience with that.