I felt like I’d been running in circles, without a moment to rest. Even though looking behind me, I never saw anyone chasing after me, the prickling at the back of my spine didn’t leave me. Maybe it was just grime from the brothel. Having this monkey on my back for the entire day made me very sure I wouldn’t last two minutes on the street once night fell. I had no money, and I was miles away from the Vineyard. I doubted a single person in this city would help me if I told them who I was. A majority if these trifling men in this city would probably love to have intercourse with a princess-to-be.

That left me with the invitation from Will Yarberry.

I shouldn’t accept a random guy’s invitation to stay at his house for the night—on that same note, I shouldn’t have trusted a random merchant. What was the worst that could happen? I shuddered at the thought of the worst that could happen. But I had no other plan. If I stayed out on the streets, surely some unkind man would find me—if not Jamel or Dominque.

It took a few minutes for me to get my bearings to figure out what direction ‘uptown’ was, but after that I easily came across the incense shop outside of the main city, and across the street was the yellow door.

I paused as I lifted my hand to knock. What was I about to do? Surely not something as stupid as trusting a random merchant to take me across the world, but somehow more nerve wracking. Taking a deep breath, I lightly knocked twice.

I was just about to walk away when the yellow door opened, and Will Yarberry stood in the doorframe. He wore the same clothes as earlier, still maintaining his altruistic boyish face as opposed to the maleficent animalistic face most of the men here wore. “Hi,” I said, my voice breaking around the edges. “Um, I don’t know if you were serious about your offer earlier but if you were, I could really use a place to stay for the night. Just the night, I can be out by morning.”

Will nodded, stepping aside and motioning for me to enter. “Of course! Come in.”

I shuffled past him into the small house. Only two rooms, the first room inside was a mid-sized square consisting of the kitchen, a dining area, and two armchairs around a rug. A closed door revealed another room off the main room.

As Will closed the door, I took a seat at the table, clasping my hands in front of me. If he was going to take advantage of me, he would surely have to fight me for it.

“Do you like roasted chicken and potatoes?” he asked as he walked over to the oven. “That’s what I was making for dinner for me, but if you don’t like it, I’m sure I can whip up something else.”

“Roasted chicken and potatoes are fine,” I said. And sounded delicious. The last time I’d had decent food like that, I’d been in the palace. I laughed at myself, at the absurdness of it all. When I’d had every thing I could ever dream of, that’s when I’d wanted more. Now all I wanted for a good meal.

“Great! Because I’m not that good of a cook. Roasted chicken is what I’m good at,” Will said. “Did you tell me your name?”

“It’s Elody,” I replied. Even though I was sure, I asked, “Will, correct?”

He nodded, a lopsided smile across his face. “Yes. William if you’re my mother, but that’s neither here nor there. Did you enjoy the rest of your day?”

Enjoy was not the word I’d use. Survived more so.

“It was interesting,” I said. “I won't say I'm not ready for a good sleep though.”

Will came over and sat across from me. “What did you do today? I mean like, what is it that you do?”

“Me? Oh, I do… Several things,” I said.

Will nodded slowly, and I noticed his eyes scanning my body. I was just about to snip at him for being that kind of boy, but he beat me to it. “I don't mean to go by your appearance, but you know, if you're homeless or something, there's nothing to be ashamed of. Especially here. In fact, I applaud you for being a woman here and not succumbing to the disgusting culture—”

“I'm not homeless,” I interrupted, harsher than I should have. Sliding into a gentler tone, I added, “I'm a traveler. I travel for many days at a time and I don't always feel like spending money on such elaborate items.”

Will grinned. “Like clothes?”

My mouth twitched into a smile. He had jokes, and at the moment, a little humor was appreciated.

There was a knock on the door, and I felt my heartbeat immediately speed up, thinking they’d found me. Nervously I asked, “Expecting company?”

“I don’t know,” Will said as he walked over to the door. He looked through the peephole, then opened the door.

A girl with straight, thick black hair that fell just below her shoulders walked in. As she entered, her eyes were immediately scanning the room, landing on me. She looked over at Will. “Your girlfriend?”

I opened my mouth to speak—because I was just about to ask the same question—but no words came out.

“No, this is Elody,” Will replied. “She needed a place to stay tonight as well.”

“You offered someone else to stay here?” I asked. I don’t know why I felt so betrayed, it was his house, he could invite whoever he liked.

Obviously, the girl felt the same way. She asked dryly, “You just let girls sleep at your place?”

Will shrugged. “Should I not?”

The girl looked at me again, a cursory glance. “Do you at least screen then first?”

I bit my lip, holding back a comment. Who did this girl think she was? Did she really think she was something better? If she looked at the situation, we were both in the same boat, we both needed a place to stay the night. The real question was why did she?

Will had went back over to the oven to check on the chicken, either ignoring or completely unaware of the girl’s question. I tried to keep my eyes on anything in the room besides the girl, but I found it increasingly difficult. There was something off about that girl, something my brain wanted me to figure out from looking at her.

She sat down at the table across from me, boldly looking me over. “Name?”

“Elody,” I replied. “You?”

“Milena.” The expression on her face—still looking me over with taut lips—didn’t make it seem like she wanted to say anything more.

Will took the chicken out of the oven and brought it over on a wooden paddle to the table. He set a plate in front of each of us as well as in front of the open chair for himself.

Milena looked up at him. “Thank you Will, but I'm not hungry.”

“I'm not either,” I said quickly.

“I thought you were,” Will said to me.

“I…” My words trailed off, buried underneath the growl roaring from my stomach.

“Sounds like you’re hungry,” Milena said. I could have sworn I saw the twinkle of a smile in her eyes.

I kept the scowl off my face as Will cut me a piece of chicken and placed it on the plate in front of me. He cut a piece for himself, then looked at Milena. “Are you sure you aren’t hungry?”

Milena looked up at him, and I thought I saw a spot of guilt flash across her face. “Maybe just a little.”

Will smiled and cut a smaller piece for her.

Even though Milena hadn’t won over me, dinner was still one of the most awkward experiences I’d ever had. None of us spoke. Every time I looked up, Milena seemed to be staring right at me. I couldn't figure out why. I wasn’t that dirty. Did she recognize me? I certainly didn’t recognize her. And not to judge, she didn’t seem like a noble associated with any of the royal families. So how could she know me? Being that she kept looking at me, I did my best to keep my eyes anywhere else, doing a full sweep of Will’s home.

Did Will sense the awkward air? It couldn’t be just me. But he continued to eat his chicken and potatoes, a content look on his face.

I could have jumped for joy when all three of us finished eating.

“What’s the sleeping arrangements?” Milena asked, beating me to the question, less eloquently.

“Oh, of course!” Will led us over to the closed door, pushing it open so we could see inside the room. A square box with a full sized bed, its head pushed up against the center of one wall, a wooden medium sized dresser against another, and a ship’s wheel as decoration on another wall. Bland overall, but livable.

“This is my room,” Will said. “There’s only one bed, but I put fresh sheets on it.”

“Where are you going to sleep?” I asked him.

“On the floor in the main room,” Will replied. It seemed nothing could take the cherub smile off his face. “It's not a problem.”

Milena yawned. “Well if you don't mind, I'm going to go ahead and get ready for bed.”

I felt the creeping exhaustion, but didn't want to play copycat with this girl. I went back over to the table and started clearing away the dishes.

“Oh, you don't have to do that,” Will said, coming over to help me.

“I have to do something to thank you,” I insisted, already carrying the dishes over to the sink. In truth, I cared more about wasting as much time as possible before I had to be trapped alone in a room with that girl than showing any form of gratitude. To pass the time, I also assisted Will in cleaning all the dishes he’d used to cook the meal. By the time we finished, I’d only managed to increase my apprehension towards the situation.

We hadn’t heard a peep from Milena since she’d disappeared into the bedroom. Maybe, I thought as I walked toward the closed door, she’d fallen asleep already. Praying she was asleep, I pushed the door open as quietly as possible for old pine wood. To my dismay, Milena lay across the right side of the bed awake.

“Does Will need any more help?” she asked as I walked in.

“No, we did everything,” I replied. I did my best to inconspicuously sneak a peek at what Milena had chosen to wear to bed, but unfortunately, she was already under the blankets. My safest bet seemed like just sleeping without pants, that shouldn’t cross any lines. I don’t know if Milena turned her head away—not that she had ever looked at me as I stood in the room—but I faced the far wall as I slid off my pants. I pulled my shirt a little lower down my legs and then walked over to the bed. “You don’t mind if I just fall asleep, right? I’m sorry, I’m just really exhausted.”

“That’s fine with me,” Milena said. “It's not like I had some big plans for the evening.”

I’d have to learn to deal with her sarcasm. Afterall, it was only one night. Sliding under the covers, I made sure to leave enough space so she didn’t feel like I was encroaching on hers. I laid with my back to her, and closed my eyes, hoping to drift off to sleep right away. When ten minutes had gone by and I wasn’t asleep yet, I knew it would be a very long night.

Milena must have sensed I was still awake, because she broke the silence by asking, “Elody, right?”

“Yes.”

“So, what is it you do?”

“I'm a…” I decided against telling her who I really was. “... A wandering painter.”

“That's nice.”

“What about you?”

“Oh, I'm a prostitute.”

A violent shiver raked my body and I jumped out of the bed. “What!”

Milena sat up, her face confused at my reaction. “What?”

“You’re a prostitute?”

“Yep,” she replied, still staring at me.

“So, you…”

“...Sleep with men for money, yep,” Milena finished my sentence.

“What… How is that?”

Milena shrugged, lying down on her back. “Work. Exhausting really. People can be so stupid.”

I was doing my absolute best to keep an indifferent look on my face, but on the inside I was panicking. How could she even talk about it so casually? I’d been in her shoes for about a day and I wanted to burn my skin off.

Milena tilted her head in my direction. “Are you sleeping standing up or are you getting back in the bed?”

I felt terrible asking the question, but it was the only words my mouth could get out. “Don't you have… Diseases?”

Milena sighed. “I'm not that kind of prostitute. I frequently go to the doctor. And you'd be surprised at how many men pay me but then get too tired to actually get what they paid for.”

Still, I couldn't get myself to get back in the bed with her.

Milena rolled over so her back was to me. “Whatever,” she muttered.

I watched her back for a few minutes, as long as I possibly could before my eyelids started to droop. My mind did not want to get back in bed with a prostitute, but my body was very quickly slumping further and further. Eventually my exhaustion won, and I crawled back into bed. I pushed myself as far against the edge as I could without falling out the bed.

#

When I woke up, my eyes were eyes met the ceiling, sunlight dancing across the ceiling from the curtain. I exhaled through my nose and stretched. Slowly, dread filled every crevice in my body as I remembered where I was and how I'd gotten there. I looked to my right to see the girl from last night, but all that was there was about four inches of mattress before the wall. I gasped, realizing I had rolled onto her side of the bed at some point, and rolled over toward the edge of my side of the bed. A sickening feeling settled in my mouth as I wondered what diseases had crept into my orifices while I'd been on her side. Then I sat up because it was odd that she wasn't there. Had she left already? Listening now, I heard the clink of plates and pots in the kitchen.

I still wasn't hungry, so I laid back and closed my eyes.

I needed to make a plan. I was thankful to Will Yarberry for letting me stay the night, but he hadn't fixed my current predicament. I couldn't stay in Scultera, I had no intention of being found by that awful slave trader. I didn't want to go back to the Vineyard because even though I'd failed, I still wasn't ready to get married. Maybe I could make it to Athennia on my own. I had two feet, I could walk.

The door slowly swung open and Milena peeked her head in.

I sat up so she'd know I was awake.

She entered the room carrying a tray of hot oatmeal and sausage. “We fixed breakfast, I figured you'd want some, and while it's hot.”

“Thank you,” I said, accepting the tray onto my lap. I looked down at the food, my mind already processing what had to be directly touched to be made.

Milena must have seen the look on my face. “Don't worry, I scrubbed my hands before touching the bowl.”

I looked up at her. “I didn't mean to offend you.”

“Assuming I'm a walking plague? Oh no, I wasn't offended.” Her tone only held a smidgen of bitterness.

I didn't know what to say next to her, so I put a spoonful of oatmeal in my mouth. “It's really good.”

Milena shrugged and left the room.

I ate half of the oatmeal and almost all the sausage before deciding I didn't want to eat alone anymore. I peeled myself out of bed and carried my tray into the main area.

Will was sitting at the table finishing his own breakfast and Milena was at the sink washing dishes. I sat down with Will.

“Thank you again for breakfast,” I said to them. To Will I said, “And thanks for letting us stay here for the night.”

“No problem,” he said, flashing a baby smile. “I always like to help.”

He was probably the only man in this whole city who said that to women and actually meant it.

“Do you have plans for today?” Will asked me.

“Not really,” I replied, putting a spoonful of oatmeal into my mouth. I’d been so disturbed by Milena and exhausted at the same time I hadn’t put a single thought into the next day. I couldn’t live with Will for the rest of my life. What even were my options? Return to the Vineyard with more shame than a man who’d cheated on his wife? Or try and carry out my plans of traveling by myself—because that panned out so well the first time.

I noticed Milena wasn’t in the room anymore and craned my neck to see into the bedroom. From what I could see, she looked like she was packing up all her things. Switching my attention back to Will, I said, “Maybe walk around a little.”

Will nodded. “Get some inspiration for a painting?”

“What?” I quickly remembered my lie. “Oh, yes.” My attention shifted again when Milena reentered the room. Thankfully, Will’s did too. Even though I was pretty sure Milena had been packing, she came out of the room empty handed.

“Milena, will you be needing the room tonight as well?” Will asked her.

Milena shook her head. “Nope. I'm going out to buy some things and then I'll be on my way.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Indeedra,” Milena replied.

“You're not from here?” I asked.

Milena shook her head as she crossed the room towards the exit.

“Then what were you doing here?” I was too genuinely interested to feel nosy.

“Business!” She waved as she headed out the door, not bothering to explain what she meant by that.

I looked at Will, and my first thought was to ask him if he knew she was a prostitute. Looking at his baby face, I decided against that. “So, what are you doing today? Do you have a job?”

Will shook his head.

“Then how can you afford this place?” I asked.

“My father bought it for me,” Will replied. “My parents live in Churrel. I used to have a job, but I wasn't any good at it. Now I just do a few things here and there to put food on the table.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

Will shrugged as he got up to put his dishes in the sink. “I know it’s not the most exciting, but I can’t say that I want exciting, at least not in this city.”

“How long have you lived here?”

“Since I was sixteen,” Will replied. “It’s not the best but the rent is cheap. And I guess I don’t want to be too far from home.”

“It just seems so odd that you would choose to live here,” I said. “Everyone here is a drunkard or a pervert. You don’t strike me as either.”

“I think the outskirts of town are better,” Will said. “But I see your point. I don’t really know why I’m still here either. I’ve thought about leaving. Just don’t know where.”

My eyes moved over his body structure. A thin frame with barely defined shoulders and legs almost like birds. He was a frail being, basically a stretched-out boy. But he’d survived here.

“Amerenth.”

Will looked over his shoulder at me. “Excuse me?”

“You could go to Amerenth,” I said. “I’ve heard it's beautiful there.”

Will nodded, returning to the dishes, but I continued. “Or Aust. Or Tatari. Or Milford Haven, it’s beautiful in the spring.”

“You know a lot of places,” Will said. “Milena mentioned that you said you’re a wandering painter. Guess you’ve been a lot of places.”

“Not as many as I’d like.” The words tumbled out, seamlessly piecing me into my lie. It was sort of the truth, I had not gone as many places as I’d like. “Will, we’re the same age, aren’t we?”

“I’m twenty-one,” Will said as he took a seat at the table again.

I nodded. “We’re both young. We’ve got years in front of us. You’re really okay with just living here? In Scultera? Don’t you want to travel, see the world?”

“I mean… It would be nice,” Will said, leaning on his elbow.

“Where’s some place you’ve always wanted to go?”

Will met my eyes as he thought. “Three Rocks. I’ve heard the rocks it named after are kept so clean if you stand at the right point between them at the right part of day, you’ll feel the full heat of the sun from the way it bounces off the rocks.”

“And you could go there,” I said, the rims of my eyes widening as I felt myself becoming more alive at the idea of traveling. “What’s the point of working little jobs here and there making just enough to eat? You could travel and still find odd jobs around to eat. But you’d get to see the world.”

Will’s eyes skimmed the tabletop and he rubbed his finger along the edge. “It all sounds nice.”

“It would be nice,” I prodded. I had him, all I had to do was tighten the snare. “And we could do it, Will. You and I.” Now I heard the desperation in my voice. It wasn’t so much that I wanted Will to go. I wanted to go, and having someone else would make it less intimidating.

Will must have heard the desperation too because he looked at me. “I’m sorry Elody. I don’t think I’m ready to just give up everything to travel. It sounds ne but… I’ve got things here.”

A pit started to open up in my heart.

“But maybe we could do a small trip,” Will continued. “I haven’t seen much of the world. You said you haven’t seen much but I’m sure you’ve still seen way more than me. Maybe there’s someplace nearby that we could go visit.”

I bobbed my head up and down. I’d take it. “We can go with Milena. I’ve never been to Indeedra.”

Will’s face lit up. “Me either. How convenient.”

“It’s settled then,” I said. “We’ll have a small adventure. We’ll travel back to Indeedra with Milena.”

“Maybe someplace else too,” Will mumbled and I could see the wandering look gleaming in his eyes.

By the time we arrived in Indeedra, he’d probably be ready to trek the earth. I’d seen the look in his eyes though when he’d talked about staying here. He belonged here, or at least thrived in simple settings. I’d make sure he came back to his little house.

“Do you think Milena will mind?” Will asked.

“I’m sure she won’t.”