IMPERIUM

Chapter 7

"Hey! watch where you're going!" Alayna called out. Thankfully she caught herself before she face plummeted on the dirty street. The person that bumped into her briefly glanced at her once, before totally ignoring her existence.

Alayna knew that it was dangerous to make a big fuss in the middle of the street, but she was getting sick of people just walking over her. She deserved a proper apology, especially from a man who couldn't behave in front of a noble woman.'Well, he doesn't exactly know that I am a noble woman.'

"Excuse me," Alanya pushed, but the person continued disregarding her.

Alayna was quite offended by the person that seemed to be a man. The man wore a black cape with a hood and a mask making it impossible to see his face. She was about to speak up before she noticed that he kept looking behind him. Alayna followed where his head was turned. She saw four men from a distance aggressively pushing and turning people around trying to search for someone. From Alayna's point of view they looked utterly terrifying. Alayna thought that they must be criminals. She connected two and two together. The man that just bumped into her was being chased by them and she just had to get in his way.
'My lucky day'

Just as he was about to run away Alayna unexpectedly grabbed onto his arm. He was caught by surprise from her attack. The man snapped his head towards her. He looked back and forth between Alayna and where she was holding on to his arm.

"Seriously?!" he inquired in an annoyed voice, "I don't have time for this," he said in a deep, stiff voice, while trying to get Alayna to let go of his arm.

"You tripped me." she reminded, "On top of that you didn't even apologize."

She noticed that he started getting impatient with her. The man didn't utter a word, and instead just kept staring at her. She could not even properly see his face but being under his gaze made her feel uncomfortable. However Alayna refused to let his emotionless face intimidate her.

"LET. GO. OF. MY. ARM," he said, ice cold dripping from his voice.

"I- I won't let go of your arm until you apologize. In a proper manner too" Alayna tried to firmly state but only a wobbly voice came out. By the looks of it she started regretting angering this man. Alayna hadn't even thought that the man could be one of the criminals, yet here she was digging her own grave.

The man kept looking back as he was keeping track of the men still trying to find him. He turned his face towards Alayna daring her to continue her act. By his last expression, he made it evident that he was not having any of it which made Alayna quickly release her grip on his arm.

"Uhm, I'll forgive you then,"

In answer she received pure silence. She swiftly let her eyes look for the four men. Except this time they were gone. In the blink of an eye the man in front of her was also gone. Alayna was surprised by how fast he left and how she didn't even notice. 

"Men nowadays," she quietly muttered for herself, before walking away.
_______________________________

As Alayna was returning to the castle she couldn't let go of the thought about the man. His rude behavior made her furious. She may be overreacting but she was still mad at how everyone was treating her. That's when she remembered the book in her bag. Alayna quickly searched for it in her bag, thankfully it was still in there. The book had to be kept a secret. She knew for a fact that the sort of information that could be in the book would be able to attract many unwanted enemies.

'If there was something written in the book, it surely must have been so confidential that it shouldn't be revealed to anyone'

She had let her thoughts run until she neared the entrance of the castle. Alayna decided to round the castle and go from the back door instead. When she was about to approach the door she noticed two shadows in front of it. Alayna didn't even try to see who they were. She was occupied by trying to find a way inside so she wouldn't have to sleep outside and die from pneumonia. Her safest option was not available however there was another way, a riskier one. The only way left would be the one on the left side of the castle. The problem was that it was underneath Angelos' window. There was a chance that he would see her, but she had to take the risk. Alayna walked to the left side of the castle, she hesitated for a moment before deciding to just go for it. She sprinted towards the door. Thankfully it was unlocked as she had expected because she knew she wasn't the only one who was using it for their nightly get away.