Kingdom of Flames & Flowers (Curse of the Dragons #1)

by Raven Storm

The more plump girls from the stone quarters behind her were soon huffing and puffing, clearly unused to so much activity. They slowed and slowed, and we came almost to a halt. Sweat stained their pretty silk dresses. I wondered what they did all day in their stone houses. “What is the holdup?” a girl asked from behind me. The girls from the bread quarter were all lined up at my back, wondering what the problem was. They were just as stout as the stone girls, but clearly more used to physical work. With determined faces, they had hiked up their dresses and faced the steps patiently, one at a time. “Halt,” came the command from the fireguard up front. He was nearly an entire staircase ahead of us, the older blonde girl nearly at his heels. She stood still while he descended back down to the rest of the line, beginning with the red-faced stone quarter girls. “You must continue,” the fireguard captain warned the stone girls. Or else what? I wanted to ask. “Move it, piggies!” I knew without turning around that the insult came from the girl my age, who was toward the back. The rest of the girls were between her and me. We all ignored her, even the fireguards, who were yelling at the stone quarter girls to pick up the pace. I rolled my eyes. If they could go any faster, they would. I certainly wouldn’t complain at having to follow behind at a slower pace. Begrudgingly, they continued the climb.

What is with all this farphobia? Jesus! Like WHAT is the point