Lyra's POV
Where did he go?
I spun around to stare at the bread stall again.
I shouldn't try to find him. I was better off without him anyway.
The aroma of the bread stung my nostrils. My eyes linger on the breads on display. My throat bobbling as I kept swallowing.
My stomach growled at me, scolding me for not just snatching the bread and running. I reached for a bread slowly, but I stopped. My thought whipping back to Zarek. What if the humans had taken him?
I shrugged my shoulders, turning back to the bread. Why should I care? I hope they torture him and kill him mercilessly. Then I could be finally sure Draziel wouldn't die in the future.
I continued to reach for the bread. I stopped again. My fingers hovering over a loaf. One of the men was staring at me, his eyes tightening into a nasty scowl. "Stop there, you thief!" he snapped, dropping the crate in his hands and bouncing for me. My chest heaving against the tight dress beneath the robe with each step he took to me.
The other man shifted to us. He sighed as he lifted the first man's crate along with his, slamming both down on another table beside him.
His fat face folded into a smile at me, and he slapped his partner on the shoulder. "Let her take it. It's just a loaf," he said to his partner.
I felt alive at his speech, a soothing calm spreading through the whole of me, giving life back to my hand.
The first man turned to him, growling angrily. I didn't wait for him to convince his partner otherwise. I snatched a loaf, running—or wobbling—down the street, since the tight, skimpy bar skirt and oversized robe wouldn't let me run.
I munched hungrily on the bread, feeding it into my mouth with both hands. My stomach squealed with excitement inside of me, snatching the bites of bread as fast as I pushed them down my throat. I smiled, ecstatic at the treat. Perhaps it was because of my hunger. But I have never tasted anything so delicious before.
I took a bend in the street, wobbling as usual along the cobblestones. A noise stung the air, sharp—a slap. It resounded in the air, cutting through me. I shuddered. I spun fast in the direction of the noise, looking down the adjoining street—down the different stalls and their multi-colored tents and the thatched-roof houses on both sides of the road. I growled when my eyes fell on him. Why did I find him again? The evil bastard, Zarek.
I munched on the last of the bread and beat both hands against each other, dusting off the breadcrumbs that clung to them. I strolled gently into the street, surveying the commotion carefully.
Zarek stood proudly before a lady, caressing his cheeks gently. He had just been slapped by a human—a creature he could cut down with just a swing of his sword, and he was grinning, staring down at her, his lips stretching slowly with amusement.
I moved closer, peering curiously into the scene and the crowd that had gathered around. Who was the lady that made the all-evil and powerful Zarek smile after such a slap? I couldn't see her face. Her back was to me. A couple of soldiers and ladies dressed as maids gathered around her, blurring her out from my view.
But I glimpsed her dress, a sapphire blue gown with gold embroidery that hugged tight to her body, outlining her slender figure. Her hair, the color of burnished copper, flowed down her slim, graceful back.
The whole market bowed to her as she bumped past Zarek, continuing down the street. Her entourage running after her like flies. She must be pretty important. I thought.
The sight of her walking graciously along the streets brought a huge load of memories flashing through my mind. It was so vivid I thought I was dreaming it. Memories of when I was a princess in one of my many lifetimes.
Draziel had to fight my people and steer through their dreary politics just to get me away from my home, only for Zarek and his army to ambush us on the way, claiming my life for the fourth time. Those were the early days, when Draziel and I still didn't know the full extent of the cruel curse that binds us.
When I lifted my gaze to Zarek again. I was grinning. I wished I was the one who had slapped him. That would be mighty small compared to the hurt he had caused me across lifetimes, but at least the little revenge would have meant something.
Zarek cradled his sword on his chest tighter when it almost slipped off, his eyes fastened to the back of the lady. Still grinning and caressing his cheek with his fingers, he strolled carefully after her.
I turned away, continuing down the opposite street. I should explore the city and wait until Draziel comes to get me himself. I paused for another moment, spinning back to watch Zarek strolling stealthily after the lady. What if Draziel doesn't come to get me? 177 lifetimes had been enough to learn that the human world was just as dangerous as the underworld.
I scratched my neck gently, and I watched my only ticket back to the underworld for a while, stalking a lady, grinning like a teenager just experiencing his first love. My lips crumbled in distaste—what a pervert. He wasn't just evil. He was also a bloody pervert.
Yet, I found my legs moving after the pervert. I grunted, growling gently. I couldn't bet on Draziel coming to get me—not this version of him. I could still remember how he dropped me in the bathtub earlier without a care if I got hurt or not.
I had to stop waiting on his protection. I had to start watching out for myself now because I am all alone in this. It has always been me and Draziel against the universe. Now it was me—alone.
I followed after Zarek, wobbling down the street in my oversized robe.
"Zarek, wait! Zarek! Zarek!" I called out to the bastard to stop. He didn't. Somehow, he'd ended up deaf. Another time the thought would have been a relief. Now I wasn't so sure.
"Zarek, Zarek!" I kept yelling his name, running after him as fast as I could.
From a narrow bend, a couple of soldiers strolled into the street, wearing the same red leather armor as the guards that followed the lady Zarek was stalking.
They stopped before me. Their mean eyes observing me carefully, making my skin crawl, my heartbeat thrashing wildly in my ears, drowning out every other sound. I wasn't wrong. The human world was just as dangerous as the underworld. Everyone was out to get me. I was probably the universe's favorite prey.
One of them snapped open a scroll, staring down at some inked sketch. "It's her. Seize her," he ordered his companions, pointing a thick finger my way.
I turned, wobbling fast on the robe. I didn't get far when strong hands grabbed the robe's collars, pulling me roughly across the stone-tarred streets.