Lyana stopped in front of a group of children playing with a wooden ball in the mud. There were about seven or eight of them, aged between five and twelve, all barefoot, their clothes patched, their faces dirty.
She looked at them for a moment. In the palace, she saw clean faces, smiling faces, artificial faces. Here, she saw real faces – tired, hungry, but their eyes still gleamed.
She bent down slightly and said in a quiet voice:
"Who wants bread?"
The children stopped playing. They looked at her suspiciously. A stranger offering free food? In "The Back," nothing was free.
But the youngest among them, a five-year-old boy with a shaved head and large, hungry eyes , took a step closer. He looked at the basket, then at Lyana's face, then at the basket again.
Lyana smiled. It was a rare smile – on her perpetually serious face, the smile was like a sun suddenly rising. She gave him a loaf of bread and a piece of cheese.
The boy grabbed the loaf with both hands, as if it were treasure, then ran to a corner of the wall to eat it away from the others.
Then the rest of the children stepped forward. Within minutes, the first basket was half empty. Lena distributed the dates, and Mara distributed the dried apples and nuts, while the soldiers stood like statues, only their eyes moving.
After half an hour, the baskets were empty. The children had scattered to their wooden homes, carrying bread, cheese, dates, and dried apples.
Lena turned to Lyana and whispered: "Time to return, my lady. The palace is far, and night is approaching."
Lyana nodded without speaking. She looked one last time at the narrow alleys, the leaning houses, the children still eating on their doorsteps.
Then she whispered to herself: "Tomorrow I will bring more food."
They began the return journey. The six soldiers surrounded them like a silent wall, Lena walked beside Lyana, and Mara walked on the other side, very close to her.
On the way, Mara whispered to Lyana:
"You know... my mother is afraid every time we come here."
Lyana looked at her friend: "And I am afraid too. But fear is not an excuse to stay in the palace and not helping those children."
They walked the rest of the way in silence, as the stars began to appear above the copper domes of Lusaris.
**************
After Ren ran away from in front of the wooden house, she raced barefoot through the narrow alleys of "The Back." Her heart was pounding like a trapped bird. Her green eyes were filled with tears.
She knew Ella. She was her neighbour. She was her only friend.
And she had seen what Ella's stepfather did to her. She had heard her crying at night. She had seen the bruises on her face. But she was afraid. Too afraid to do anything.
Until now.
she whispered to herself as she ran.
"I can't go home..."
"I can't sleep knowing she's still there..."
She stopped suddenly. She was at the edge of "The Back," where the paved stone streets of Lusaris began.
She saw light. Not the dim light of oil lamps, but the bright light of copper torches. She saw a small wooden cart. She saw guards.
And she saw three girls – two around her age, and an older woman.
*********
Princess Lyana, Mara, and Lena were standing by the food cart, preparing to return to the palace. Lena was holding an empty basket, her sharp eyes scanning the alleys around them as usual. The baskets were nearly empty. The six guards were scattered around them.
Suddenly, Ren collided with Lyana.