she walked in moondust and stars were sprinkled in her hair

✧


hough exploration by one’s self was perhaps a dangerous undertaking, especially in an unfamiliar land, it was preferable (as Aislinn found it) to wandering in awkward silence with a hired sword. She’d spent much of her life wandering alone after the death of her mother- firstly in search of a father she knew nothing about, and then in search of a purpose. The unending silence of solitude was a welcome travel companion, a familiar embrace of peace. That wasn’t to say she didn’t enjoy company, in fact Aislinn spent many a day watching wistfully the young equines her age laughing and joking with friends. It was simply that she was rather painfully, inconveniently shy.

Nevertheless, as the rolling dunes of sand unfurled across the horizon, unending and unchanging, she began to regret her decision to go exploring alone. The golden sea stretched as far as the eye could see, surrounding her on all sides until she couldn’t tell which direction she’d come from and in which she was heading. The velvet lining of her cloak was beginning to feel claustrophobic beneath the late afternoon sun, a too-close heat that made her skin crawl and her hair clung uncomfortably to her neck beneath the star-flecked material. Though the unbearable heat of Solvitas in Alanaris was no joke, the sun-cracked ear of the Northern Kingdom was a canyon wasteland bordered by the resplendent Jade Jungle - an undulating environment where one did not feel like they were drowning in sand. This desert however felt as though it would never end and never change. With a frustrated sigh, no small amount of alarm filtering through her veins, Aislinn pulled her hood down feeling the ceaseless stare of the summer sun upon her star-flecked skin. Turning in what she hoped was the direction she’d been heading, the star-singer pushed on.

When at last a sandstone city arose from the haze of heat upon the horizon the sun was nearing the end of its journey across the sky and Aislinn nerves (and body) were fried. Weary though her legs were, her pace picked up at the promise of civilisation and safety, relief and welcome wave after the nagging fear that dogged her explorations. A wall encircled the pale buildings, doomed roofs peeking out from the heights of the parapets where Ash swore she could see the eyes of watchful soldiers tracking her movements. As she passed beneath the shadow of the fortification any trepidation she felt was overpowered by the sense of liberation as she was finally free of the endless ocean of sand. Hot, tired and dehydrated her eyes combed the dusty streets for an inn or café.