The Fascinator

The castle wall clung to the sky, its grey draping sides accenting the pale blue flags which hung from every window. There were five different styles of flag, each with their own insignia, and eventually followed back to a simple pattern starting with the first one in line. The castle itself seemed to be howling, lonely, in pain as it stood, towering above the small villiage below. It was a homely town, the kind of place one could expect to hear powerful rumors of a mythical creature lurking in the nearby forest. The houses themselves appeared old and the mud brick masonry cracked.
Ignoring most everyone that passed them by, the people gave off a sense of brooding as the stared at their feet, going about their lives, oblivious to the world around them. They were not the sort who would catch the eye of a random passerby, the men wearing more or less the same thing: faded, scratched, patched, torn, patched again, and loose hanging sack or sheep skin clothing. The women were not much of a facination either, most the same as the men but in the form of dresses. There was the occasional purple, although it was faded near to the point of a dull grey-brown.
Helix made a cautious notion to be sure his presence was not seen as he slithered between the dull shadows of the tiny houses. He took careful notice to the scenery around him, watching the villagers as he made his shifty way through the outskirts of town. It was always important to know what you were up against. He took note of the way the houses were scrunched up together like a dozen sheep in a bedroom. There was the occasional outlier, seeming to glare at the rest of the town in envy for its closely packed position. He shuddered at the ominous sight.
Helix approached the tavern inn, appropriately named The Golden Buckler due to the poor paint job, causing a large, shoe buckle shaped paint blob underneath of a large window on the building's southern wall. This was the only building that had two stories, the second obviously for housing passerby's who happened to find themselves with the misfortune of stumbling through here. The top floor was leaning slightly, and he thought if he waited much longer to get a room and leave, the more likely it would collapse at any moment. As he approached the splintered wooden door, a small movement flashed in his peripherals. Without turning his head a notable amount, he glanced at the now distinguishable fabric which was lazily hovering around the corner of the shaky building.
A young woman manifested herself from the side of the shaky building, her stature small but her air of confidence emitted itself in the air. She was an anomoly in the seemingly forsaken villiage.
Helix's heart dropped at the sight of her. Pulled tightly into a bun, her obviously long auburn hair framed her face as a few small strands curled around her cheeks. Her dress was long and a vibrant green, reminding him of the leaves in the summer. A lacey ribbon framed the features of the busty dress. Helix wished now that he had not just arrived from a long, weary journey and was poorly dressed and groomed because of it.
Sadly, travel did not allow for such luxuries.
Her head heald high with a feigning oblivious knowledge to the world, she seemed to glide as she approached a small carriage, simple in appearance but master in woodcraft and its finer details. Casually climbing aboard, she instructed the small man in the front that they were leaving. He snapped the reigns of the two horses flanking each other, and they slowly came to a gentle canter. The supplies tethered to the back implied they had a long journey ahead of them. He considered following them, but dismissed the idea, remembering he had business in the quaint villiage.
Motionless, he watched her carriage roll away into the trees. Slowly, he turned and walked into the tavern.