[=+= The Sore Foot Princess =+=]

[Lynesse {Celia/Jazzy} 398]

The rough stones from the path poked into Alicia's foot. A cool Salvus breeze blew against her as her robes fluttered in the warm spring air. Salvus was especially nice at these times and many traders and merchants had chosen to set up their stalls in the city.

 

The fresh smell of fish hung around Salvus, though more locally to Alicia, the smell of bilge-rats and sewer sludge seemed to fill the air around her. Her feet, caked with brown mud trudged their way up the emperor's road as the faint spring sun shone against her disheveled face, once silky blonde hair, now dirty and muddy.

 

Years ago, she'd comb her hair neatly, putting curly pink ribbons in it. Though, that was sixteen years ago. Now, things were much different. She scratched her head as if she was a lost mutt, slouching. Her mother had always taught her not to slouch. "Real ladies don't slouch. Stand up straight, Alicia."

 

Though, Alicia didn't recall much about her old life, as much as she'd like to. Sometimes, she'd dream about the faint smell of lilacs that her mother would always bring into her room. Other times, the huge keep she once lived. She always felt secure, being held tight by the tightly stitched blankets. The huge walls felt like her stronghold.

 

But who was "her?"...

 

Alicia wouldn't be able to answer. She dreamed sometimes about her old life. There was little time to ponder or think about the old when she was awake.

 

Suddenly, the scenery changed around her. The stone paved roads turned into loose sand, molding around Alicia's small feet. Beside her stood a rugged man, smiling fondly at her. It was a kind sight. The man towered over her but he was very busy. People ran at him, here and there. The man finally sighed. She remembered the words clearly. "Wait here, I'll be right back, dear." the man said, kicking the side of his horse and leaving Alicia there on the beach, never to come back.

 

Yet, a man, a much different one did come back later. This man was rugged, his gruff face hidden between rough cloth, wrapped tightly around his head. He grabbed Alicia, pushing her into the cart where moans of the old, the young, and the sick emanated from.

 

"You're not my dad, you're not my dad!" she yelled into the air, though to no avail. She was thrown into the cart, never seeing or hearing of her old home again.

 

Then, suddenly, she was somewhere else. Hot desert sands beat against her face. This wasn't home at all. A tent was not her stone solitude. A strong blow met her face. "Get up, girl." the man replied, with his gruff tone.

 

"Well, well, well. What do we have here, hrhm?" the man said, eying a purple pendant on her neck. Her mother had given it to her. She always kept it safe. "Don't lose it, Alicia!" she remembered, as the words echoed through her head.

 

"Give it here, girl!" the man said, striking her hard once more on the cheek. She held onto the pendant tightly, screaming back teary-eyed at the man.

 

"It's mine, and you can't have it! I want to go home!" she said, clutching her cheek in pain. At this point, she was unaware that someone could show such cruelty. She was always safe guarded in her whole life. After all, she was the daughter of the crown prince and his wife.

 

It took two more strikes against the small, four year old girl for her to finally release her grip on the pendant, the man ripping the trinket off. One thing she would always remember about her old life was her name. The pendant clearly had "Alicia" inscribed on it.

 

It would take years for Alicia to come to terms with what happened. She was a slave, a servant, she was the lowest of the low. Memories of a distant past had long blow over, gone in the arid desert winds.

 

There wasn't much kindness shown to her from the slavers. However, she would learn to be integrated with them. Never speak back, do as they say, and never look afraid. She had lived on these pillars, trying her hardest to not belittle her cruel masters.

 

They had made use of her skills. She had learned to read and write at a very young age. It was clear that her parents wanted her to become a proper lady. The slavers took advantage of her. Often, while she wasn't writing things like death threats, they had her read and interpret scripts. Slavers did not learn to read or write.

 

Then there was the day, liberation day. She had been with the slavers for eleven years, serving faithfully. She had weathered through beatings, sickness, and hunger. Though, through all of this, she had survived. Alicia had rarely seen the outside air. They generally kept her inside, to do her work.

 

"We're leaving, girl. Pack the things." the slaver said, pushing her slightly.

 

"Y-yes, master." Alicia replied, nodding to him weakly, though curtly.

 

She scowered the room, packing the man's things. She had been taught what a slaver needed in his packs. She put the heavy long sword, his robes, and food and drink into his pocket. However, she had caught wind through the papers that she sifted through that the men were leaving these island. Apparently, a new place had been found to settle. They called in Anthos.

 

Then her eyes wandered over to the top of a dresser. There sat her childhood pendant. The slaver always had placed the pendant on somewhere high, perhaps to spite Alicia. The pendant was Alicia's only reminder of her past life, the one that she ran through in her dreams.

 

By this time, Alicia had blossomed into a young woman and she was tall enough to reach the top of the dresser. Yet still, the slaver kept the pendant there, sure enough that the girl wouldn't try anything.

 

Now, though, for some reason that only the creator knows, Alicia felt a daring feeling that she had never felt before. She stood on her toes, reaching to her the pendant and stuffing it into her pocket in her ragged robe.

 

"Alici-, girl! Where are you, hurry it up!" the man said, his voice booming loudly, though he outside the tent. He did not bother to call Alicia by her name, though this is one of the rare times where he almost slipped up. He did not want to remind Alicia of her past. She was a slave now, a servant.

 

Perhaps he took pity on her. A slaver commonly sells his catches, though, he felt a need to keep the girl and made his uses out of her. While he would not go as far to consider her as his child, he did acknowledge that he did raise the girl, from the age of four until she was a blossoming young woman. He considered taking her on as a wife.

 

"C-coming, master!" she replied, yelling in polite of a fashion as she could. She stuffed a few of her own things into her own bag. Her master had occasionally allowed her to read a book or two, to improve her work.

 

She made her way onto the ship, tightly clutching the pendant when she could. It made her feel stronger. She made a promise that she'd keep the pendant safe. The man had taught her to never break an oath.

 

It took five more days on the ship for Alicia's second leap of faith, no pun intended. Her master was asleep and the boat was anchored to the side of a small island, where her master's comrades were as well.

 

At the opposite end to the island, she glared at the swirling blue water. Her light green eyes stared at the water as she mouthed the words "Freedom." She said the word bitterly. Her feet edged to the side of the waters, glowing darkly in the night sky of the sea.

 

She looked down at her rough hands, alike that of the slaver's when she first met him. When he first abducted him, taking away from her old life, from her stronghold. She shared his hands. She shook her head. "I don't want to be like her..." she whispered to herself.

 

Her feet fell closer to the edge. The only freedom was that of death, which tasted so sweet to her at the moment.

 

And then she fell, down into the dark blue water, into the deep unknown. It was done.

 

Or so she believed. Though, days later, she had found herself washed up on a shore. On the shore of the fabled lands. This was Anthos that she was at. This is where the slavers were heading.

 

Though, her failure at death gave her a new will to live. She dusted the sand off her body, a newer determination in her eyes. She smiled, saying a word with a bit less of spite. "Freedom."

 

And then Alicia was back in Salvus, the salty coast air turning back into that of Salvus' spring. She had wandered Anthos, begging for some spare minas, living day by day to find herself a meal.

 

And so begins a new chapter of the sore foot princess.

[Lym 849]

TL;DR: My sis is a peasant at heart?

[Lynesse {Celia/Jazzy} 398]

TL;DR: My sis is a peasant at heart?

((No, I'm playing a new character. ;-;))

[TeaLulu 1783]

MAH BABY GUUUURRRRRLLLLLLLLLLLLLL <3 I love it.

[Sultan 3953]

((Wait wtf I left her on a beach wtf when did this happen))

[Lynesse {Celia/Jazzy} 398]

((Wait wtf I left her on a beach wtf when did this happen))

[[Lulu told me that Horen left me on a beach. q_q]]

[TeaLulu 1783]

[[Lulu told me that Horen left me on a beach. q_q]]

((this is facts. lets. just say it was an accident. because horen had to help ari with the twins and sons are more important.))