A N N I F E R
A N N I F E R
Annifer had heard of cities before.
Stone-brick walls cold and rough to the touch and high as mighty. Armored guards wearing plate shined like a freshly washed cup. Streets packed to the brim with busied traffic, a fact further compounded by the on-going festivities. And there she was. A teensy, tiny ant against the current; a lone, out of place star among the cosmos.
Heaving a oversized, rugged sack over her shoulders, Annifer wandered the winding roads of the Atutanian stronghold. It had all been new to her. The smells. The people. The wealth, she quickly noticed, as highborn folk pranced along in their carriages protected by a group of armed men and women.
Her thoughts shifted to Lady Ariesca as she walked, mindlessly stabbing the ground with the butt-end of her pitchfork with each step. She had never met the woman in person, of course, but Annifer had her own idealized vision of the noble she had thrown away everything she had known for. Was she any different? Did she show pity to those beneath her station? Or, had Annifer thought wrong, and Ariesca was—oh, how did the saying go—"like two peas in a pod", flaunting her wealth much like these nobles were?
Perhaps, Annifer wondered, it was time to find out.
Stepping foot in-line with the other promising cadets, Annifer took in the nearby crowd. A blonde knight, with a taste for foreign candy, and a crossbowwoman, dressed in the peasant's garb, were among others scattered about. Knights were to be expected, she knew full and well, but to see a fellow peasant was a welcomed surprise. Perhaps Annifer hadn't been the only foolish one today, as some had come to tell her over the long, difficult journey to Atutania. Then again, the woman had been the one holding a proper weapon, and not some rusty farming implement like Annifer.
"Name?"
Annifer looked up, and came face-to-face with a corpulent beast of a man. It seemed he had served on the frontlines of the kitchen, she believed, rather than that of the battlefield like the rest of his fellow wardens.
"Annifer." Annifer replied. She paused, wondering if to note her village before continuing. "Of Aspador."
"Well, Annifer of Aspador," The man spoke with a hint of sarcasm, "I don't believe we have any hay to pitch."
"You don't have to worry, warden, it's for pigs."
The warden smirked, as if to say "I like this one!". Ushering her onward, the man allowed Annifer to pass on through the gates and join the rest of the prospective lot that had gathered within the order's grounds. The thought of introducing herself crossed her mind, but Annifer knew she had one goal above all in mind—to find Lady Ariesca.
After all, she was the reason Annifer had travelled so far. The reason she gave up everything for a glimpse of something.