She grew up in the clutches of poverty; He was raised in the lap of luxury.
She hated nobles; He couldn't be bothered with commoners.
Her heart hidden deep in thorny vines; His one burning in his sleeves.
She was the recently orphaned flower seller;...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Had I but plenty of money, money enough and to spare,
The house for me, no doubt, were a house in the city-square;
Ah, such a life, such a life, as one leads at the window there!
- ROBERT BROWNING
ISOLDE'S POV
The force of water slowly lessened and a gigantic metal gate became visible to eyes. The heavy-looking gate was inscribed with ancient letters and drawings.
So similar yet different from the ones I saw back in the Rock.
The carriage came to a halt all of a sudden and a Mage dressed in dark robes appeared out of nowhere and stood at the window with his face completely covered except for the eyes.
"Welcome home, Captain Baig. I do hope you had a pleasant trip, my lord," the dark Mage bowed as he spoke in a low growl.
"Well, it was quite a trip, Hadraniel. Found a young new Mage for us to teach," he motioned towards me.
"The more the merrier, my lord. I hope you enjoy learning the ways of the Devine, madam," with that the he disappeared again without waiting for my reply.
The ancient gates opened with a metallic sound and I watched with fascination as the city became visible.
It wasn't like the city in the county. No, this was something completely different.
Immediately upon entering the city were barracks for soldiers. Training grounds, quarters, weaponry shops.
As the carriage moved forward, the harshness of war and soldiers faded and the bustling noise of marketplace came to my ears.
Shops and salons lined up the sides of the streets. Behind them, beautiful two storied houses. I could see fountains in the city Square. There were roads everywhere, even on top of us, crisscrossing the city in many layers
The carriage halted sometimes to let people cross the road. Children were running along with the carriage to peek inside. Shouts of greetings could be heard aimed at Inayat, "Welcome back, Master Mage", "Welcome back, Master Mage" and so many more from children to the old.
I once dreamed of buying a house near city Square like this for me and mama. The dream was now long gone and so was my dear mama.
The scenery changed again when we crossed a beautiful bridge built on top of a lake. This time it was to estates with luxurious courtyards and white marble statues and metal gates. This is probably where the nobles lived.
