Within the Walls [NEW VERSION]

Chapter 2

My fingers ache from the frostbite, stiff and pink when I emerge onto the street the next morning. I glimpse the bags under my grey eyes in the window across the street. Stained in red, stinging, and hollow. The green eyes in the forest haunted my dreams, and I woke up in sweats. I round the corner, slipping into one of the major streets. Even though the sun is only peaking over the walls in the east, the street already teems with the Convex people. But eyes remain cast on the ground. A woman popping out of a textile warehouse flinches and squeaks when she bumps into me. Her nose scrunches and her body trembles. While she wears a drab, torn frock, and stained corset, she carries an armful of brightly coloured fabrics. Bold pink, baby blue, sunny yellow.

"I'm sorry," I stammer, darting out of her way. She blinks before placing her heap of clothing into the back of a carriage, where a chestnut mare snorts and stamps her feet. The woman climbs aboard the cart, flicks the horse reigns and heads north, towards the Concave Sector where wealthy patrons will browse and purchase her garments. I hear bright colours are all the rage now.

As I bypass her, I almost trip up over a person huddled on the footpath. The man is curled in the fetal position, embracing his knees. His eyes are wide open, staring lifelessly in front of him, his eyelashes coated in a layer of white frost. My insides churn. No one has bothered to move his body to the morgue yet.

I increase my pace, trudging through the icy, dry maze of streets, passing Lyra's laundromat and the large horse stables. Stablemen scramble back and forth, with handfuls of hay and pails of horse feed. Others sweep the stalls and brush the horse manes. Soon, I cross the square, careful to keep my gaze forward. I fight the urge to glance at the Tranqs stationed in the vicinity, to look for those green eyes. Maybe a rogue Tranq was out there? Freshly sharpened claws slither around my throat, tightening. If it was a Tranq, then they watched me break the law right in front of them.

The girl's scream from yesterday reverberates in my ears, followed by the shudder of the city gates.

I pull the hood of my coat over my head. The shadows of the markets welcome me as I slip into the alleyway. I allow the disarray of senses to swallow me whole. Hooves clatter as horses pull carts of goods, the metal wheels rattling along the cobbled ground. People shout greetings at one another. They huddle in small groups and flit between the stalls. My nose wrinkles at the sharp scent of burnt metal and charcoal from the blacksmith stand. The burly man hammers a sword into shape, grunting with the effort. A tall lady selling her pottery waves at me. She presents a gummy smile as she tries to coax me into buying one of her vases.

I pass the lady from the apothecary, stirring a steaming herbal mixture in a pot. She has a sign on her stand offering bloodletting, with a tank of black leeches floating inside.

"Two leeches for the price of one! Purify yourself today!"

With a shake of my head, I ignore the protest of my stomach. The aroma of stew almost pulls me to my knees. As I round a corner, I have my sights set on a stall selling oils and someone hollers my name across the aisle of vendors.

"Elle!"

I spin around, regarding a boy loitering behind a stall selling old fruit and vegetables. Although, his baskets are looking rather empty from the lack of crops. I grin and zigzag through the traffic. He yanks me into a hug as soon as I squeeze behind the stall.

"You would not stop by the markets without purchasing some of my delicious produce, were you?" he says with a chuckle, releasing me from his embrace.

"Of course not, Aston." I roll my eyes and laugh. "Although, I think your carrots have shrivelled up against the cold. They're growing a nice green mould to keep warm."