On days like this, the smoke hung thick in the air, the wind was still, and the sun beat down like it was challenging everyone to move. Mika stood at the edge of the Thaylen market, her hands covered in flour, lips pressed tight like the silence that split the village in two.
The market was a jagged row of stalls, but it wasn't just the goods that separated them. On one side, the Lowbloods walked with worn hands, simple clothes, and tired expressions. On the other side, the Blooded shone, draped in colorful robes, their eyes sparkling like stones, and their voices oozing privilege.
Mika hated this place. Not because it was openly cruel, it had long since given up on that. Now, it was worse: a quiet indifference that made her feel invisible.
"Hey, girl," a voice called from behind her. She turned, bracing herself for the scene.
A young boy, arrogant and bored, sported the scarlet crest of the Blooded enforcers. His fingers crackled with leftover heat. His eyes shifted to the sack of groundroot in her hands. "Did you pay for that?"
She blinked. "Yeah."
"Prove it."
With trembling fingers, she dug into her pocket for the token and offered it. He snatched it like it was his to take, inspected it slow as molasses, then tossed it into the dirt. He didn't say another word, just smirked and walked off, leaving her to pick it up.
Nobody around her stepped in. They never did. In Thaylen, justice was for those with the right blood. Mika had none, just Jenna's soft smile and an old rusted locket always hanging around her neck.
She stood up, dusting off her skirt like it was a way to reclaim her dignity. Her eyes traced the hidden line in the ground, where the market's cracked gray stones suddenly turned polished white.
There, just past the sunlit fountain, she spotted him.
It was only for a second, a quick flash between sun and shadow but it was enough.
The stranger was tall, wearing a heavy hooded cloak, even in the heat. His boots had the distinct markings of mountain leather, but the blade at his side looked out of place. He didn't belong here it was against the rules. No one crossed the Red Line unless they had something to prove or something to hide.
But he stood there, facing her.
Their eyes met.
She expected to see arrogance or pity, or even disdain.
Instead, she found curiosity. It was as if he recognized something in her that she hadn't noticed before.
Just then, a breeze swept through the street, whispering past her.
"Mika…"
She spun around, heart racing, but found no one nearby.
When she looked back toward the Red Line, the stranger was gone.
All that was left was the fading chill in the air, and a nagging feeling that something had changed and nothing in Thaylen would ever be the same. If only we they knew what it was...