<div align="center"><em>Alina...watching the gruesome scene and then finding an excuse to escape the castle for a few hours.</em><br/><br/>(http://www.hollow-art.com/files/bases/Rachel_Hurd_Wood_051.jpg) (http://www.hollow-art.com/files/bases/Rachel_Hurd_Wood_010.jpg) (http://www.hollow-art.com/files/bases/Rachel_Hurd_Wood_009_0.jpg) </div><br/>Alina (http://a69.g.akamai.net/n/69/10688/v1/img5.allocine.fr/acmedia/medias/nmedia/18/36/23/59/18668420.jpg) hated Cormac. She hated his men, she hated the castle, she hated everything about it. The only good thing about her life right now was that the Lord and his knights had not noticed that the servant girl who had been serving in the castle since she was old enough to walk had actually grown into a woman. A young, ripe virgin that would undoubtedly be destroyed if they noticed her. They already had a variety of slave girls at their beck and call, but Cormac was insatiable...and his men were just as bad. They always wanted something "New." Like a new toy, or a new horse. Now that Alina was 18, she had the body of a woman and long red curls the color of blood. Therefore, she always wore a head scarf to cover her hair, and a long dress to cover her body. So far she'd managed to stay out of their way, but it seemed like the men could almost smell fresh meat, and she'd rather kill herself than become a slave like the girls who screamed from his room every night. She'd had to clean up the blood, cum and a variety of other things that she didn't want to think about. Those girls lived in hell, and although Alina didn't want to die, she wanted to be a sex slave even less.<br/><br/>The horns blew and she heard the telltale signs of a victorious return. She attempted to escape back down to her room in the servants' quarters, but the crowd of excited brown nosers were pushing her around and she was forced to simply wait as the gruesome display went on. Once it was over, the young girl saw him choose a beautiful olive skinned woman from the crowd, and Alina sent up a prayer for the poor girl, wishing she could save her. However, she knew that was a pointless wish, so she simply sighed sadly and once again escaped from the crowd. There were chores to do, but more than anything, she wanted to get away from the stench of death that always hung around the castle...but was now more concentrated.<br/><br/>Running down a spiral stone staircase, she saw the main housekeeper, Margrete, and caught her arm.<br/><br/>"Is there anything I can do out of the castle? Errands that need to be done in the village? Anything?"<br/><br/>Margrete understood immediately and nodded.<br/><br/><em>"Take one of the horses and go into town to fetch some more fish. We're running low. Show them your Cormac pendent, and then return when you've filled a good cart load."</em><br/><br/>Alina smiled and the kindly old woman patted her shoulder before turning around and barking out some orders to another maid. Sighing in relief, Alina took the staircase back up and pulled her ragged shawl tight around her body before exiting the castle. The wind bit sharply, but it felt good to be out of that evil bastion. Looking around, she found a groomsman and smiled.<br/><br/>"I'll need a horse and cart to go into the village, please."<br/><br/>Soon it was done, and she got up onto the cart to grab the reins, clicking her tongue and feeling the wheels start into motion.