The Angry Wolf
. : Some Market Place : .
: Literally Could Be Anywhere :
: Literally Could Be Anywhere :
Alwine adjusted the small pack on her back as she stepped carefully through the bustling marketplace. Her eyes moved deliberately over the stalls, searching for some rare herb that Katrine had asked her to. She hadn't needed to say yes. After all, it had been almost a decade since had Alwine arrived at Figaro Fortuna IV, and had never left.
And why would she? For a few years, life had been everything she had wanted to be. She and Katrine had reconciled, which was a fancy was of saying Alwine did no longer see her as an enemy to be killed. It wasn't friendship, not exactly, but it was mutual respect. And after Kat had Larentia and Alwine married one of the Bergen brothers and had Aethelwulf and Wulfric, the children had become inseparable, making them all welcome in both houses. Alwine loved it. She had a strong feeling that Katrine did as well.
But enough time had passed. Alwine had a very general inkling as to what was happening in the galaxy, and was still weirded out by the fact that time on Figaro Vortuna passed slower than elsewhere, so that it had been a decade for her, while four decades for the galaxy at large.
The chatter around her now was a hum of foreign languages and bartering cries, a steady reminder that the galaxy kept turning, with or without her. She paused at a stall shaded by woven fabric, the vendor's wares a mix of colorful roots and dried leaves. Kneeling, Alwine began to sift through the offerings, careful to still the slight tremble in her fingers. It was just another day, she told herself. Just a quiet errand. Just an excuse to leave her children behind for a moment, and then come right back.
She glanced up, scanning faces without focus. The crowd felt dense but familiar.
Yet somewhere at the edge of her vision, a movement, quick, almost imperceptible, caught her attention. A heartbeat, a flicker of something in the eyes of a passing figure made her pulse quicken. But when she looked again, the person was gone.
Alwine shook her head, forcing a small, tired smile. Nothing but shadows playing tricks. This was what the mind did when one became stagnant for too long.
Absolutely nothing to worry about.
