Aide Me

Chapter Four - Help Me

"Oy, lady. Wake up!"

Emaia snapped out of her slumber and opened her eyes. She quickly discovered that the wagon had stopped and that she was in a dark city; Bart City.

"We are here," The farmer needlessly said.

Emaia quickly sat up and straightened her gown. "Thank you."

"Best find accommodations quick," The farmer advised her. "You don't want to be out alone at night in Bart City."

"Right, thank you," Emaia nodded and crawled off the wagon. She grabbed her satchel and looked around the deserted streets. Bart was definitely not as rich as Rochess, despite the fact that Bart was a mining city. People lived off of what they found in the ever-collapsing mining tunnels. Most people lost more going into those caves than benefiting from its treasures, and the ones that got lucky finding the occasional ruby or emerald... well, let's just say, they never lived to cash it. The competition was rough in Bart, hence the reason that most thugs found their livelihood here.

The farmer sat his horse in motion and disappeared down the dark street. Emaia was left standing in the town square, looking around for something that might be open. All cities had a curfew; After midnight, everything was closed until sunrise. Emaia could tell that it was currently very close to midnight, based on the moons position. She had to move quickly.

She started hastily walking down the street, keeping her eyes open for even the slightest sign of light, but every Inn she walked by was dark and closed and showed no sign of taking late customers. Emaia started to worry; What if she didn't find lodging for the night? She would have to spend the night sleeping on the street.

What mess had she gotten herself into?

Her mind started wondering if she had made the wrong decision leaving Rochess. No sane person would willingly choose to leave a safe future, a wealthy husband and a legacy like the Rochess heritage. Maybe she should just head back first thing tomorrow?

No, She heftily thought. She had committed to this. She didn't want to get married and she definitely didn't want to stay captive in the shadows of a man. This way, she could choose her own future and she wanted that more than anything. Even if it meant sleeping in the streets for a night.

Suddenly, Emaia was brought out of her thoughts when she heard something behind her. She whipped around, but it was too dark to see anything. The houses of Bart were casting shadows dark enough to hide anyone who might be following her. She narrowed her eyes, but decided to keep going. If she just kept moving, maybe she would find someone who she might be able to pay for a place to sleep.

She headed down a new street, turning a corner to a new dark road. Behind her she could sense someone following her, perhaps several people, but she refused to let it scare her and kept going. As she continued down the dark streets with no signs of people in sight, she started to feel a cold-sweat run down her back, though.

What if they attacked her? She hadn't packed any weapons (how foolish of her really) so she could not defend herself. Never mind the fact that she had never held a sword in her life. How was she going to cope if they decided to corner her?

As if fate wanted to punish her for leaving her home, Emaia found herself stumbling into a dead-end alley. She was trapped.

When she heard obvious footsteps approaching, she turned around and faced three dark shadows coming closer.

"Finally, she stopped moving," One of them mumbled. It was a man. It sounded like he wasn't much older than herself.

"I was getting tired of all this running around," Another one added.