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Claidi was rushing, too excited to really pay attention to what she was doing. Tonight was the night she was going to destroy the Law and escape the Wolf Tower, and nothing else seemed to matter very much. Even watching her feet as she ran down a flight of stairs in a straight-line dress that wasn’t really made for walking, much less running.
Surprising no one, she fell.
Thankfully, she was only a few steps above the street, so there wasn’t far too fall. Unfortunately, she managed to land on her hands and knees, scraping them both something awful. The pain and her now ripped dress was put to the back burner, though, as her ever-present guard rushed to her side and the nearby city dwellers drew closer, whispering to each other and staring.
An unreasonable, angry part of her wanted to shout “Leave me alone!” and push them all away because she wasn’t helpless even if she was in a fair bit of pain. No matter if they thought she was a princess, they didn’t need to act like she couldn’t take care of herself or that she was some animal to be stared at. But she just took a deep breath, giving them all a vague, shaky smile.
“Thank you,” she said to the guard as he helped her to her feet, trying to sound gracious and not just fed up with everything.
The guard didn’t smile back, didn’t say anything, just stepped back to take his place a few steps behind and to the right of her. She bit back a sigh. After tonight, if she had her way, if she could successfully destroy the Law, she wouldn’t have to deal with this anymore. Just a little longer and she’d be free.