Fiyero guided his horse in the square of surrounding Vinkus guards. The black mare moved at his slightest touch and responded to his laughter with a cheerful pace at which she trotted. Fiyero loved his horse more than any other he had before.

"Midnight, calm down," he whispered softly to the horse.

The horse was getting agitated at being surrounded by so many guards at once, longing to break free and run until her heart gave out.

Fiyero's thoughts drew back to what he was doing. His parents had sent him to fetch his "prize" as his father put it. His mother had looked at her husband with such disdain at what he had just said, and tried to ignore him. Fiyero smiled thinking about his parents strange relationship, they worked with each other, hadn't stayed faithful, but still loved being together passionately. Fiyero hope the woman he was fetching would be somewhat of the same.

Fiyero relished in thinking of what he and his future partner were to fulfill together. They could become lovers, friends, or enemies.

The contract had initially been a surprise to him. His father warned him though that this woman was not to be his wife. Fiyero was to marry Vinkus royalty and he knew that he must remind himself not to get to caught up with this girl.

A thought drummed the back of his mind though. She's only sixteen. Him being twenty one made it a bit more socially acceptable but this girl was still a teenager.

"Prince Fiyero, we're drawing near to the village," a guard sternly told him, having turned around in his horses saddle to face him.

Fiyero nodded and trotted on. Soon he started to pass by some very destitute houses. He acknowledge the fact that some had patches of roof missing, some people cooked outside on open fires, and and a few people came up very close to the prince's procession, all dressed in tattered ill-fitting clothing. Those few people bored into Fiyero's eyes. They were judging him, seeking for answers. Their eyes were all black rimed with bags under them, making them look like impoverished raccoons. One woman reached out to try to touch Fiyero's horse, but was brutally swatted away by one of the guards. This woman yelped loudly and quickly held her now bleeding hand close to her heart, covering it from sight.

Guilt encompassed Fiyero. Here he was, invading other peoples culture and punishing them for being curious. He looked down at his clothing. It was the clothing of Vinkus royalty. Jewels were fastened onto his jacket and cape. His pants had a silver and gold trim running down them. His boots even had an expensive platinum toe covering. Most people in this village looked like they were lucky to have shoes.

Biting his lip, Fiyero forced himself to stare straight ahead, trying not to look at the people on his sidelines. But something stopped him,

"Look at those weird diamonds on his skin," a little boy cried out.

Fiyero admitted that they did look weird, but it was tradition that Vinkus royalty got tattoos on their skin once they reached the age of eighteen. In his case, it was a sign of manhood, or be ready to get married in a woman's case. But it still surprised him a little bit and provoked an unexpected reaction in the guards. Fiyero's guards got down off their horses and seized the little boy's hands, pinning him to the ground. The boy started screaming and crying out as the guards started to beat him with the butts of their large guns. Although Fiyero couldn't exactly see what was going on, he heard the earsplitting shrieks and he could see the blood that flew through the air.

But this soon died out and Fiyero saw the guards standing up, whispering about how that'll teach those rats to disrespect Vinkus royalty. Tears started to blot Fiyero's eyes as he forced himself to look at the mangled body of the small boy. He remember as a child himself he had a big mouth too. But he was never punished for what he said, at least to this extreme. He hoped that this journey to Munchkinland would be his last.