The Big City

[z-Galiana]

Galiana knew that large cities stank. She'd mentally prepared herself for that reality, yet the truth of the stench of Rome couldn't be anticipated. She'd chosen wolf form, used to the rangy dogs that had been allowed to run loose in Sicily.

Some people didn't know what she was, and assumed she was a big, if fearsome, pet. But some people had seen wolves before, and couldn't be fooled. So far, warning growls and slinking away from contact had kept her from being accosted, but she'd seen a man wandering around this area with a net, and she suspected he was looking for her.

Galiana sighed a canine huff as she considered that she probably had to do her searching on two-feet. Grumbling, she started to ease her way out of the town. She'd be back after dark, as a wolf; she really needed her nose for this task, and it wasn't good enough as a human's nose.

[z-Galiana]

Hunting on two feet turned out to be no more advantageous than on four. As a wolf, she'd been hunted because she was a wild animal; now, people stared at her because they thought she was an animal.

The Moors were not welcome in Rome. Technically, Galiana was Sicilian, but some of her ancestors had been very Moorish, and she carried their marks on her face. Of course, she carried other marks on her face, and those made her stand out even more.

"Saracen Bitch!" The curse came from behind her, and Galiana turned, her good eye flashing with irritation. Three of the brightest and the best of the Holy Roman Empire's armed guard stood in their uniforms, swords drawn. "Come here."

Galiana considered her options. She was ill-equipped to make a scene here, in public. They might beat her or kill her, but they were less likely to do it in public, unless she gave them a reason. So she drew her hajib closer around her hair and walked forward, gaze down in a submissiveness she didn't feel.

One of them grabbed her arm and jerked her forward into their group. She grimaced against the pain in her arm as he nearly pulled her off her feet. Her tiny frame was almost completely hidden by their larger bodies, and she let herself shiver with anger. She hoped they thought it was fear.

One of the men gripped her face and tilted her head back. "I see you have a kiss from your devil-god," he spat, looking at her scar.

"I was bit by a wolf," she whispered, working to seem small and insignificant to them. "As a child."

"It sensed your evil," another man said, earning some harsh laughs from his friends.

Galiana kept quiet, wishing they would take her somewhere so that she could kill them all out of sight of others. She looked at the last man, who had been silent to now, and something in her eyes made him step forward and backhand her. She barely restrained her growl. "Let's go see the Captain," the man who had hit her said, and the others nodded.