Altaea

#Sarife

"Take my hand!" The man dressed in torn fabric extended a hand towards Lydia. She was slightly stunned at the gesture, but accepted nonetheless. He hoisted her onto the rooftop of a low building and they were soon running and climbing a few feet about the ground.

The young woman wondered why they were chasing after him. It couldn't possibly be her because she knew for a fact no one was looking to seize her. She shifted her gaze from their still linked hands to the back of his head where stray black strands blew past his cheeks. He wasn't bad looking, she had to admit. His attitude though, the way he spoke to her that one time was...quite unattractive in her opinion.

"Do you have any idea where we're going?!" She shouted after the strange young man.

Silence was the only response she received. She scoffed silently at the man's rudeness. Her irises moved from the soldiers following below on steeds to the ones that had dismounted their own rides and chased after them by foot. The row of houses was about to come to an end, thus their path slowly becoming nonexistent.

Lydia had to think fast - otherwise her and whoever this guy was would be in serious trouble. She knew this town pretty well since she'd been here for a decent amount of time, good thing it wasn't too large.

"This way!" She yanked his arm with all her might towards the left, and they leaped down onto a sturdy wooden crate. Remembering a dark, unknown building she'd found a small child hiding in before, the woman sharply turned into an alleyway.

Then, roughly shoved him into an old, abandoned warehouse following along immediately after.

Lucius turned to the woman with a shrug.

"Do as you please." He said, barely looking at her. Why she wanted to follow him was beyond his comprehension. He made his way to the docks where ships of countless foreign designs were moored. As he stalked through the harbour he affected the appearance of casual indifference even as he listened to the conversations around him with eager ears. He was searching for any sign of a ship bound for Valania. Or at the very least the West.

He did not look to see if the woman followed, but he felt her presence as keenly as if he held her hand. One of the ships, an Ivalisian galleon caught his eye. The captain was a cruel looking man with a scarred face and he glared at Lucius as the young man passed him. Lucius returned the look with his own steely gaze before carrying on past the ship. From the chatter of the sailors it was apparent that the vessel was bound for the West. The Unclaimed Lands.

At last Lucius addressed the woman, Lydia.

"I need to get on that ship." He said, sitting on the dusty floor behind a cargo crate. "What will you do?" His cool blue eyes regarded her like a hawk.

The port city seemed to be a bit caught up in something, and had she been herself, Faridah would have volunteered to help resolve whatever it was. Instead, she was stopped no less than three times by the guard and asked to submit to inspection. The first time, she agreed willingly. The second came with a bit more bereavement on her part, and by the third she decided it didn't really matter if she was incognito or not because she was sick of dealing with it. She presented her identity and her credentials with much waspishness to the fool who'd thought to stop a lone rider, and had taken no joy in the way he immediately transformed into a bootlicker. Did nobody have any pride anymore? Apparently not outside the upper class.

She steered her horses to port, having decided that her best bet would be to take the suggestion of the Emperor's chancellor and fill the long-vacant post of official ambassador to Valania. To do so was practically asking to be assassinated, but frankly it was the only way she was guaranteed to be able to complete her task eventually, barring getting killed in the meantime. There was no way Lucius was going to leave his father's kingdom under the thumb of the people who had made his life misery. He at least had that much pride left.

Faridah wasn't sure she did. She was going to be absolutely miserable, trying to play politician. It was not a game she enjoyed or was particularly adept at, and she had a feeling the remaining Valanian nobility would take great pleasure in eating her alive. Heavens knew the Sarifans did, and she tried to avoid such things as much as possible. Her hands tightened reflexively on the reins of her horse, and she shook her head. No point in having doubts now.

She'd been given permission to commandeer a royal navy vessel for her purposes, and so she trudged long the docks on foot, leading both horses behind her. She passed by an array of merchant vessels, and had she been paying attention, she would have seen her quarry right there. As it was, she was wrapped up in her thoughts and seeking one ship in particular, and so she passed right by him without a second glance.

Reaching the vessel she was looking for, Faridah unwrapped the cloth that had protected her head from the desert wind, so that she would be more easily recognizable. She didn't count on her unfortunate infamy to do much for her, but she was odd enough-looking that it wouldn't be hard to connect her with the mixed-blood child of Aliyah al-Mazarin. The Captain believed it readily enough, and though he looked rather put-out at having to make an unscheduled departure, there was no arguing with an order from the Emperor's office, and soon both she and her horses were loaded onto the ship. She was offered Captain's quarters, which she declined much to the man's relief.

"I'll sleep below like everyone else," she told him with a shrug, then excused herself to see to her few possessions.

She'd never planned her first trip to her father's homeland to be like this.