She did not know what to do at first, nor did she have much money on her and she had to get used to the different currencies here, so with the few coins she took from Aria, she asked around for a place to stay and managed to get a cheap room at a tavern.
It was not perfect, but at least she would be getting a good bed and meal for a few days, which was enough, better than having to sleep on the streets.
Yet, even after securing a temporary room near the western quarter, sleep refused to come easily, the hum of layered enchantments pressing through stone walls, and the distant echo of bells and spell work threading through her senses like a second heartbeat.
By the time dawn crept across the city in pale gold lines, she realized rest here would always be shallow. This place did not sleep, it calculated.
She left early, cloak drawn close, intent on understanding rather than hiding. If she was going to survive here, she needed to learn how the city moved, how people gathered, where power clustered, and where danger pooled thickest. She needed to know how the world worked and what she needed. She needed to see its truth, even if partially.
At that time, markets bloomed quickly with sound and color, legal stalls bleeding subtly into quieter alleys where goods were not announced aloud and prices were negotiated with glances rather than coin.
It was there she felt it again, that prickling awareness at the back of her neck, sharper than simple curiosity.
She slowed, pretending to examine a vendor's trinkets while her instincts mapped the space around her. There were too many pauses and too many footsteps adjusting to her pace. She glanced subtly at things placed around here and that was when she caught reflections in polished metal and enchanted glass, eyes lingering too long, measuring her posture, her gait, the faint wrongness that clung to her presence no matter how carefully she tried to mask it.
The system whispered urgently.
[Hostile Intent Probability: Rising]
[Classification: Opportunistic Predators]
Her jaw tightened, she knew exactly what that meant and she moved, deliberately now, slipping deeper into the maze of narrow streets where she stumbled into partially dark areas, where some deals were being conducted. That was a mistake.
Three figures detached themselves from the flow of people with practiced ease, their movements smooth, confident, the kind that came from repetition. Another appeared behind her, blocking her retreat without making a show of it. Their clothes were ordinary, but their eyes were not. There was calculation there, and something uglier beneath it.
"Well now," one of them murmured, gaze flicking briefly to where her hood shifted just enough to reveal the faint curve of her ear. "That's rare."
Her breath slowed and her eyes shimmered, while her hand curled slightly at her side as a low growl slipped from her chest before she could stop it, raw and instinctive, echoing faintly against the stone walls.
They smiled and looked at each other before one of them took out a glowing whip and her brows furrowed.
"Easy," another said, lifting his hands placatingly while stepping closer. "No need for that. We're just talking business."
"Business? Well, I am not for sale," she said coldly.
The first man laughed quietly. "Everything is, sweetheart. Especially things that don't belong to the city's records."
The realization struck her like ice. This was not random harassment; this was organized. Circles that hunted the overlooked, the undocumented, the different, and creatures and people who fell between authority lines. Her kind, whatever that truly meant now, was currency here.
The system flared in alarm.
[Immediate Threat Confirmed]
[Recommendation: Escape or Escalation]
She prepared to do the latter, since she could not afford to cause trouble on her first day here and ruin everything before it even got started.
That was when the crowd ahead parted unnaturally, as though an invisible line had been drawn through it.
A woman walked through the space with effortless authority, tall and striking, her presence commanding attention without demanding it. Her hair shimmered darkly under enchanted light, her attire elegant yet unmistakably reinforced with subtle sigils.
Around her moved men and women clad in uniformed armor marked with an insignia she recognized instantly from the city gates.
Order.
Not guards, not soldiers, but something higher. Executors of law woven directly into the city's authority structure.
The men around her stiffened and an opportunity bloomed in a single heartbeat, a devious plan to help herself came to her mind.
Before doubt could slow her, she moved.
She slipped free of the corner with speed, crossing the space between herself and the woman just as the predators hesitated, unwilling to draw attention. She caught the woman's arm lightly, then pressed herself against her side with deliberate intimacy, fingers clutching fine fabric as if seeking comfort rather than refuge.
"I'm sorry I'm late," she said quickly, pitching her voice low and breathless, eyes wide with practiced desperation. "I got lost."
The woman looked down at her, surprise flickering briefly before something sharper replaced it. Amusement, perhaps, or curiosity edged with calculation.
Then she leaned slightly closer.
"Oh?" the woman replied smoothly.
She lifted her chin, letting her hood fall just enough for her features to show, eyes burning with defiance and fear braided tightly together.
"I'm already sold," she said clearly, her voice steady now. "I belong to my mistress here."
The word hung heavy in the air. Silence followed, thick and dangerous, her men glanced at each other in shock, while people around them shrank back.
The men behind her froze completely, faces draining of color as they recognized the implication. Whatever circle they belonged to, it was not one foolish enough to challenge someone under the protection of Order, especially not a woman who wore authority like a second skin.
The beautiful woman's lips curved slowly into a smile that was anything but gentle as her gaze trailed over the girl's form under her outfit.
"Is that so?" she said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders with proprietary ease. "Then you have wandered far from where I left you."
Her grip tightened, not painful, but firm enough to communicate ownership unmistakably.
The predators backed away, murmuring apologies, already dissolving into the crowd as though they had never been there.
"After them, if you catch them, bring me their heads." She ordered, a wicked smirk appearing on her face and a few of her men took off, while people pretended they did not see anything.
Only when they were gone did the woman glance down at her again, eyes bright with something dangerously interested.
"That was bold," she said softly. "And reckless."
She swallowed, heart racing, but met her gaze without flinching. "I needed protection."
The woman laughed quietly, the sound rich and unreadable. "You chose an expensive kind and one that does not let go until she gets to the very depth of what interests her."
She leaned closer, voice dropping. "Now the question is whether you're clever enough to make that lie worth keeping. You are coming with me, little vixen."
Around them, the city continued its relentless motion, unaware that something subtle and irreversible had just shifted. Because she had not merely escaped capture.
She had drawn the attention of Order itself, and now she had no choice but to adjust, play a role, or use it.