She could move again!

  Feuer secured her canvas like pants and tucked her simple shirt into its waste band. Unlike her dress, this was very easy to move in. Two side pockets had just enough room in them for what she needed to take with her. On her right a small dagger her guard had given her a year earlier, and on her left was a very small pouch of coins. Her family did their best to keep her away from both items, but she knew well enough to hide them.

  The pouch was light and didn’t have a lot, a few silvers and a handful of coppers. For a peasant, perhaps a decent number of coins, but for a noble, it was barely enough for a day out. In her case it would be enough. She just needed to get out of the castle for a while and… think things through.

  Opening the window, she could see the ledge a rat might use to climb up. It was hot outside, so of course, most of the guards were either inside or at the very least in the shade. Even with all the Toosanaci carriages in the courtyard, there was almost no one attending them. No one was watching this side of the castle as she made her way out to scale down the old stone walls. Despite the heat, a chill ran down her as she looked around. It felt like someone’s eyes were already on her.

  Taking a breath, she pushed those thoughts out of her mind. This wasn’t the time to think about anything except her grip and footing. Thankfully the ledge was fairly large, about half a meter, large enough to get and keep an easy footing. The hard part would be getting down, but she had a plan for that.

  Making her way along the edge, she quickly came to the nearby roundabout of southwest tower keep. Around it, she could see a metal pipe attached to the side, a roof drainage pipe. Small bits of fiber and what looked like string clung to parts of it. This had to be how the rat climbed up the side of the castle. Grabbing the pipe, it was hot, almost burningly so. But that didn’t matter. This was her way down, and out. Gritting her teeth, she began her descent. After all, what was the worst that could happen, she fell and died. At least then she wouldn’t be forced to marry that gold plated manure pile.

  In reality, the family’s healers would be called out to revive her. While she never faced an injury that severe, she was already well acquainted with them. Her mind drifted as her hands reached around the pipe, and she climbed down. It seemed easy, one step down, slide your hand down the pipe, another step-down slide your hand down a bit more. Under her fingers collected dust and the hot pipe caused the sticky sweat to quickly dry. Halfway down the pipe, her fingers slipped on a patch of particularly thick desert dust.

  In a panic, she reached back around, each time her hand slipped as she felt herself falling backwards. Until,

  ‘Cling.’

  The sound of her hands fully wrapping around the pipe caused it to ring out. For a moment she hugged the hot metal, trying to catch her breath. She was still a good 9 meters off the ground. Probably not a lethal fall, but certainly not good. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and calmed her breathing.

  Pulling away one hand, she could see the brown and black dust, along with red and irritated skin. Her hands had more callouses and built-up then any normal noble man or woman would be comfortable with. For her though, it was a sign of determination, and a desire to forge her own way. It was also why she was able to do this at all.

  Spitting on her hand, she tested her grip again, and slowly made her way back down to the court yard bellow. Barely a meter off the ground, she jumped off the side and made her way towards the castle walls.

  There, along the shade of the walls and main gate, were the guards. They weren’t paying attention. Actually, that’s not completely true, a few were in deep meditation and concentration on their inner eyelids. She smiled at her family’s useless security. No wonder rats always found their way in. She couldn’t make a run for the main gate. Even the useless guards would catch her there. But the north employee entrance, she knew it was often lightly guarded.

  Feuer made her way around the courtyard, hugging the side of the Staff Quarters as she did her best to not be noticed. She was mostly successful as the guards weren’t paying any attention in the mid-day heat. So far, she had gone completely unnoticed, beyond the single shadow watching her from the shade.

  However, the courtyard was quite large, and parts of it very open. A few unfortunate ground keeper was still stuck outside. Thanks to the other noble family present, small matters of appearance couldn’t be neglected. A lone raccoon anthro looked up from the dead plants he was trying desperately to revive. The heat caused him to pause as he caught sight of her. For a moment, the furry man considered the elf girl, perhaps wondering if she was a hallucination brought on by heat stroke, then after deciding she was real, he considered if she should be outside today. A sudden light of realization beamed into his baked noggin as he remembered what his supervisor had mentioned about keeping an eye out for escape attempts by the younger elf.

  Realizing what he had to do, the racoon stood up and rushed back to the castle keep to summon help. There was no way he was going to deal with the little hell child directly.

  “Shit” Feuer whispered. It was now or never. She broke for the staff entrance gate.

  As expected, there were less guards, which is not the same as there being no guards. Four of them stood watch, or more accurately stood around in the shade joking about something. Feuer saw their faces from a distance, she didn’t know any of them well enough to talk her way outside. If such an act would have even been possible in the first place.

  There was a slight gap between them they didn’t seem to be covering, right between the wall and a long line of bushes. It would be hard, but maybe if she hid between those bushes and the wall she could make it close enough to run through the gate.

  Pushing through the bushes was hard. The branches were dry and sharp from the lack of rain. Small twigs caught on her clothing as she tried to make her way, less than stealthily to the gate, to her freedom!

  Despite her best efforts, the approach was anything but quiet. The sound of sticks breaking and leaves rustling was inevitably going to cause the guards to notice something was moving back here.

  “Hey, sounds like something is in the bushes” It took far less time than she had hoped.

  Hearing the call to investigate Feuer froze, hoping they’d ignore it. They didn’t.

  “It’s probably just those foxes that have been running around.”

  “It’s our ass if someone is sneaking around, so I’m going to check anyway.”

  The two guards bantered as they began to look through the bushes. Slowly, getting closer to her. For a moment, it felt like the one guard’s eyes caught sight of her as she could see the whites of her eyes.

  Bracing, she would try to make a run for the gate. She knew it wasn’t possible, but at this point, she had to try.

  Something moved in the shadows between the wall and gate opposite her.

  The sudden sound of wood dropping caught the guard’s attention, as a small wagon seemed to have collapsed, spilling the custodial tools and materials along the small path. The female guard that was seconds from seeing her, turned to face the commotion.

  “Hey, can I get some help over here.” A different guard called out from the wreck.

  “Gods take you. What did you do now Jallom?” The guard called out with frustration.

  “I didn’t do anything, the wheel just collapsed.” Jallom protested, as the other two guards laughed.

  The female guard audibly swore before making her way to the broken cart. “Gods take this place, it’s too hot for this...”

  With the guards indisposed, Feuer made a break for the now unattended gate. Rushing through it, she was free! At least, for the time being.

  Looking behind her, no one was following her from the smaller gatehouse. By all accounts she had made it. A smile crept up her face. It wasn’t the first time she had snuck out of the castle grounds, but it was the first time she had escaped from a locked room too. Thinking about it made her almost giddy, as the anger she felt faded slightly. Thoughts of escaping from other spaces flowed in her mind, and she wondered, could she even escape from the castle dungeons? There was a sewer entrance nearby. But the thought of creeping through the sewers like an actual rat didn’t appeal to her.

  Still, looking at the scrapes and scratches along her arms maybe that would have been better? Shaking the leaves and twigs from her head she smiled at her minor wounds. ‘Battle scars’ she thought to her self as she moves further down the street.

  Feuer broke from view of the castle and made a quick run of it through the high market. All the while, unaware of that shadow that seemed to follow her.

  Now, what was she going to do with her temporary freedom? No doubt they’d throw her in the dungeon when she got back, so she’d have to live it up for however long was possible. A few of the people on the street looked her way. Some seem to recognize her, but most didn't pay her much mind. For someone in a noble family, even as low down as she was, the risk of Kidnapping for ransom were pretty high. Yet that thought didn't seem to concern her at all.

  The truth was the high market was relatively safe. Multiple city guards wandered around, all of which were loyal to her family. Even beyond that, who would believe that such a high-born noble like her would be wandering on the market alone? Even those that seemed to recognize her shook their heads and went back to what they were doing. They had better things to do than to involve themselves in the matter of nobles and the Vallhorn family.

  Even the city guards who knew her well enough just shrugged their shoulders and went about their patrols. No doubt her personal guard was around somewhere searching for her. If need be, they could always be issued orders to pick the girl up and bring her back to the castle. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.

  Feuer wandered around the marketplace, wondering what to do. A light rumble in her stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten much today. Most of the lunch hour was spent getting our into that dress that there wasn't much time to eat anything. The family will be sitting down for dinner in the next hour or two. She didn’t know if she wanted to head back before that. Or at all.

  Her feet naturally took her down the marketplace towards the so-called golden apple. This was a high price grocer region of the higher marketplace. Stalls would sell produce, baked good and other eatables of exquisite quality, and at highly inflated prices to match.

  One shop in particular, a bakery, caught Feuer’s eye. Feuer would claim to hate sweets and other childish items. A claim that was not backed up by her own actions as she stared longingly at the store front. Loafs of golden brown breads, and flaky pastries lined the window.

  But what really caught her eye was the sign which had a rather sweet looking tart hand drawn on it on it in minute detail. Fruits piled on top of a seemingly fluffy custard, which was surrounded by a flaky buttery crust. It was only a drawing, but her mouth watered at the sweet she claimed to hate. The price on the sign was 18 coppers. That seemed reasonable, maybe? She thought to herself.

  Looking in her pouch she had seven coppers and two silver coins. Obviously 7 was less than 18. But the two silvers should have been enough to make up the rest. Shouldn’t it?

  Pausing, she tried to think about how many coppers worth she had in her pouch. ‘Seven plus two. No seven times by.. seven… which kind of looks like a one?’ She squinted in thought. Trying to keep the numbers in her head was hard, as they kept shifting. ‘Silvers were, twenty four coppers each. That’s two ‘dash’ four coppers? No, that wasn’t a two it was a five and a nine? Maybe a three?’ Feuer sighed. She just couldn’t hold the numbers in her head.

  Maybe she could just try and ask the baker, but that was a sure-fire way to be taken advantage of. Even she knew that. Her feet paced in front of the shop as she tried to think. But the more she thought, the more her feelings turned to anger, which turned into frustration. Why was she so dumb?

  Glares from some of the shop goers suddenly made her feel uncomfortable. “Kid, if you’re not going to buy something leave. You’re scaring away my customers.” The baker had come out to shoe her along, clearly he had no idea who she was. But, that wasn’t a bad thing. Often, unless she was in formal wear, no one really recognized her. Just another noble child, no one of real consequence.

  Seeing her presence and coins weren’t wanted she walked away from the tasty looking treat, taking her fortune of nothing with her. Instead of a sweet or anything to eat, she found a secluded back alleyway to brood in.

  Her sisters and brother didn’t have these kinds of problems. Why was she just different? Words, numbers, they both got twisted in her mind. She could think, she could reason if people would listen to her. But maybe she couldn’t. Maybe that was just something she told herself to make herself feel better. Confusing thoughts and ideas jumbled in her mind, like the letters and numbers on that sign. Maybe it was because of how she was born. The harm she did to her mother when she was born, maybe that caused harm to her as well.

  Collapsing on a nearby stoop Feuer’s head dropped. A thought began to cross through her head. Maybe, she should never go back to the castle. Would her family even care? Could she even survive without them? The fact was she didn’t really know numbers. Technically she was literate, but just barely. Fidgeting with the dagger at her side, she could swing a sword, but without knowing any techniques her skills were at best, mediocre. Of course, she was still young, she could get better. No, she corrected herself, she would get better! Maybe even become a traveling knight, eventually.

  Her fingers moved over the sharp blade of the dagger and felt it’s tip. It was sharp as she pushed her fingertip into it. The force wasn’t that hard, and the slight bite of pain brought her thinking back to reality. She was daydreaming. That wasn’t the kind of thing a knight and soldier did, she would tell herself. If she was serious about it, she had to maintain her composure, less she be overtaken by a stronger opponent, or worse a sneak attack. Wincing, she pushed her finger deeper into the blade, trying to wake her mind up with the pain. She was still daydreaming. A quick sharp pain brought her mind back to reality as a slightly wet and sticky sensation at her fingertip suggested she pushed a bit too hard.

  For a moment longer she considered the red dollop at her finger’s tip. A huff escaped her mouth. Hurting yourself like this wasn’t normal. But without the pain, she couldn’t control her own thoughts. Awareness of her surroundings came back to the young elf, just in time.

  Nearby, the shadow that had been following her began to make its move. Sensing an opportunity, it reached out to the unattended purse just sitting in that open pocket. As it reached out, a sudden cold metallic sensation crossed the shadow’s neck.

  “What are you doing, thief.” Feuer held her dagger just under the hood of the small thief. Slowly, the thief moved their hand away from the girl’s pocket. Under the cream-colored hood, a smile appeared on the otherwise hard to make out face. The thief was using some kind of spell to hide their appearance, making it hard to see them and almost painful to look at them for too long.

  Feuer pulled back the dagger slightly, but still held it pointed at the young thief. “Go away street rat, I’m not in the mood to play with you today.”

  The young thief moved around the elven girl, looking at her from behind her hood. “Hmm, you’re a bad liar you know.” The thief’s voice was soft and quite young. Given her size, she was either younger than Feuer or of one of the smaller races.

  Pulling back her hood, the thief’s rather large ears popped up. Like large fleshy plates, the dirty blond velvet fur turned longer and became a messy mop of light brown hair that sat atop her head. Olive colored skin that was made darker by the sun exposure helped hid some of the dirt on her face and body. Cliché though it might be, her eyes were a deep green, like emeralds she had tried to steal from a shop earlier.

  The mouse girl had a smug smile about her as she stared at her current mark on the steps.

  Feuer had a sense of someone watching her since before she left the castle, in truth, she suspected the young thief had been around. “How long have you been following me, Lalaluie?”

  “Oh, a while now. Who do you think caused the distraction at the gatehouse?” Lalaluie smiled smuggly.

  “…Of course, that was you.” Feuer smiled back and shook her head.

  “Naturally! I saw all the nobles coming in earlier. Bunch of easy marks. But your family has guards everywhere today,. Couldn’t really get in. So I waited for an opening. At least, till I saw you trying to get away from your room. I’m impressed you made it down from there.” The mousy girl smiled almost playfully at Feuer.

  “Oh? I’ll have to remember that when I talk to my parents again. Add more guards to keep the thieves out.” Feuer perked up a bit, enjoying the slight banter.

  The thief smiled wide, “Would you? That would mean less competition for me.”

  That wasn’t the response she was hoping for, “They’d catch you too, you know?”

  The mouse thief took a seat next to the elf girl, almost close enough to grab the coin purse, but just a bit to far. “Nah. You forget, I was already passed the gatehouse. Just saw you trying to leave. Seemed more interesting than the stuck-up nobles.”

  Feuer couldn’t tell if she was lying or not. It was hard to tell with the mouse girl. But, it made sense, she was here after all and not back in the castle.

  The mouse turned her head and glared at some young men grouping up a dozen meters away at the farther alley entrance. There was no one else in this alleyway at the moment, and the mouse girl knew this wasn’t technically her turf. Even the upper market had thieves and gangs. Though, they were much better hidden and tended to target the lower classes that made their way behind the walls. The guards were less likely to care if a commoner had their coins stolen, over an aristocrat’s.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Hey, let’s walk.” She waved Feuer up from the step.

  Feuer looked down the alleyway, seeing the other would be thieves blocking that exit. “I could take them.” She decried but still followed the smaller girl.

  “Eh, maybe one of them. But not a group.” Back on the streets a few more of the gang were making their way towards the alley. No doubt if they had waited it would have been an ambush.

  Proud of herself, the mouse stretched her arms and smiled. “Let’s get some food. I haven’t had anything to eat since this morning. Since I just saved your life you can treat me. How many coins do you have anyway?” The mouse eyed her with one eye, probing.

  Feuer looked away in agitation. “… Enough.”

  “Enough, huh?” The thief tapped her chin with a subtle smile. Perhaps she saw a way to get how many coins the elf had on her. More than likely though, she was just going to tease her some more.

  The thief pointed at a shop a few meters away, “What about that place. They have good sandwiches for 22 coppers. We could get two of those and something sweet after. Do you think you’ll have enough coins?”

  Feuer paused and started counting on her fingers. Before shaking her head, “Yes. Yes I do! I think…”

  The mouse girl stared at her, uncertain if she was really serious or not. “You’re kidding right? I’m younger than you and even I know how to do this. My little sister is younger than me, and she knows this!” She continued to tease Feuer, who could only blush in response.

  Lalaluie held out an open hand, as if politely asking to steal from her. “Carrying those coins is a waste. You might as well give them to me to manage.”

  “Right, I give them to you and suddenly everything that cost 24 coppers is a silver.” Feuer huffed and moved ahead of her companion.

  The thief blinked a few times at Feuer’s back, trying to figure out if she was joking around or not. “Yes? I mean that’s how it works…” The mouse girl suddenly began laughing, “Wow. You really are an idiot!”

  “No I’m not!” Her face grew bright red, as she tired to take control of the situation. “I knew that. I was just… making a joke. You’re laughing so it worked.”

  “Ha ha! No, you weren’t this great! I knew you were slow, but this is a whole different level.”

  As Feuer swung at the now giggling mouse girl. Despite how quick Feuer was, the thief was just too nimble as she bounced up a nearby wall of a shop. There she sat on the ledge of the short single-story abode, just high enough to see down some of the nearby alleys and streets. Feuer’s frown turned into actual anger as she saw the mouse girl bouncing a small bag in her hand.

  “Missing something?” Lalaluie smirked. “I can feel the coins, I know there aren’t rocks this time.”

  The small nibble hands felt the bag between her fingers and her smile turned flat. “Hmmm… there’s almost nothing in here.” Opening it up she saw the two silvers and a few coppers, and her smile turned completely upside down.

  “Hey! Stop that’s mine.” Feuer protested.

  “Wow. There really isn’t anything here. I mean for a commoner this would be a good chunk of silver and copper, I guess. But for the richest family in the city. This is just sad.”

  Feuer felt her face continue to glow red. “It’s all I could save. They don’t let me manage my own coins.”

  “I noticed that. You rarely have a coin purse on you to begin with. It’s usually on that guard of yours…” She looked around, no one was following them or looking for her. Even on the neighboring streets. It was rare, someone was usually around or looking for her.

  “Surprised your guard isn’t out looking for you yet. You really are by yourself tonight.” Perhaps sensing there was no real danger, she dropped back down to the street.

  “Yeah well. I snuck out of the castle, from my locked room. No one knew I was coming out.” Feuer crossed her arms, no long trying to grab back her coins.

  The thief smiled with half lid eyes, “Did you, actually come out here looking for me? Aww, I’m touched.”

  “…No.” Feuer lied.

  The mouse girl’s face up turned into a soft, if still smug smile. “Why don’t we go talk about it? That bakery you were at over charges for crap product. There’s enough coins here for a bakery in the lower market. Barely.” She rubbed that last bit in.

  Feuer walk through the gates of the high market down into the lower markets. In truth, she was a little nervous. She'd been in the lower markets on more than one occasion, frequently even. Just never by herself. Technically her thief friend was with her, but did she really count? Was she really her friend for that matter?

  It didn't matter. Feuer was confident she could take care of herself.

  Walking around the lower markets, less and less people seem to pay attention to her. Was hard to tell if it's just because they didn't know who she was or didn't believe that she would be out there by herself. Regardless, she was, in essence, alone. But with company.

  The bakery Lalaluie had suggested was just outside the so called Golden Stairs. Unlike most of the buildings in the upper marketplace, this one was slightly run down. The sandstone colored bricks had cracks throughout them, and a few were different colors. Mortar bits were missing in a few areas. Part of the building looked like it had stucco applied to it at one time but now it was just ancient and cracked brick. But the smells from it were delectable. It might have even been better than the bakery up in the high marketplace was.

  The mouse picked out two treats for them. Of course, they were the most expensive on the menu. The mouse paid using Feuer’s own coin purse. Which gave Feuer a slight bit of additional agitation. Even if she would have paid for it herself anyway.

  “So tell me, Princess, what are you doing out here by yourself?” Lalaluie sat down at a small table and began to slowly pick into the oversized, sweet and fluffy tart like pastry.

  Feuer looked down at her own serving and poked at it before taking a small bite. It really was good. “I just found out I'm getting married… again.”

  For the next few minutes, Feuer explained her entire day and a small portion of her life. The mouse had heard some of this before, but a lot of it was new to her ears. After finishing, the two sat in silence for a moment, each nursing their sweets.

  Finally, Lalaluie spoke up, “Wow, that’s a lot.”

  “Yeah.”

  Again, silence for what felt like minutes.

  “I mean, you’re barely 10 and your parents are marrying you off. You aristocrats are messed up.” She tried to laugh, but clearly even a part of her sympathized. A little anyway.

  “It’s not like that.” Feuer protested. “I mean, we won’t actually be married till I turn 20, it’s just… arranged beforehand.”

  “If you say so.” The mouse smiled and went to take another bite before realizing something, “Wait, you were betrothed when I first met you? Then a few months ago, I remember you mentioning a new one again.”

  “Yeah, that didn’t… work out. Either of them. Both their families decided to pull out of the marriage.” Feuer waved her hand dismissively and tried not to make eye contact.

  “You're 10. And you've been married not once but multiple times before? Damn, and I thought my life on the streets was hard. How does divorce even work for aristocrats and nobles, who keeps the castle?” Lalaluie continued to poke.

  “No!” Feuer hit the table, “I told you we weren't married. We were arranged to be. That’s how it works. There is no actual marriage until we both turn 20. It's just back deals and negotiations between families until then. It's all fucking stupid.” She sunk into her seat. “They don't even give me a chance to choose who I love. At least you’re free to do that.”

  “Huh? Free is one word for it, I guess. Most girls in my position don't get a choice either. Love doesn’t exist for us either princess. We don't get married; we just make money selling love, when we get older.” The mouse looked disgusted with those words. It was obvious what she was referring to.

  Feuer continued to poke at her tart, “You could just leave the city you know.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been over this before. I think about it all the time. But I can't. I've got a little sister I have to take care of.” Her smile was almost bittersweet. It was clear she wanted to leave just as much as Feuer herself did, but neither couldn’t any more than the other.

  “You could take her with you.” Feuer’s voice held some encouragement, some hope. If the mouse could escape, then maybe she could too. At least, that’s what she thought. It’s why she kept bringing it up, a small bit of the conversation was her own way to keep her own hope alive.

  It was a hope Lalaluie didn’t have. “No, it doesn't work that way. She has a price on her head, we all do. None of us can leave the city without paying an exit fee for ‘services rendered’, or whatever bullshit Adem makes up.” Lalaluie grabbed at the tart almost violently before shoving a bit in her mouth. “My sister is still young, I couldn’t move quickly enough to just run either.”

  Meanwhile Feuer more played with hers, “I didn't think there were any taxes like that?”

  “It's not a tax people normally pay. It doesn't go to your family or the city.”

  “No, that's OK for my dad says taxes don't go to us either. They go to the tax collectors who put it in their pocket.” Feuer tired to laugh, even if she didn’t quite understand.

  “Heh, it’s the same for us I guess.” The mouse squeaked out a laugh, pushing back the darker feelings.

  “Yeah, that's where the real money is, tax collecting!”

  “Hey, that's a good idea! I could become a tax collector and you could become my muscle!” Lalaluie laughed at the absurdity of the idea. It wasn’t serious, but it felt good to pretend for a moment, like almost normal children.

  “Yeah, we could go to a new city, the two of us, and earn some coins, go on adventures. It would be great!” Feuer laughed at the thought, as Lalaluie joined in. Both knew they were silly thoughts, and the laughter might have been a bit forced, but it felt good at least. Feuer needed the distraction, and in truth, so did Lalaluie.

  With the sweets finished off the two stood up and continued walking. For a while it was in silence. They wandered through the lower market, and eventually headed toward the arena district, with no particular destination in mind. Just walking to get away for a time, even if it was only in their own minds.

  The distant sounds of cheering and general noise implied there was an event going on. If Feuer had a few more coins she might have tried to go in. A spectacle might have helped take her mind off of things. Maybe she could sneak in. The mouse girl was a thief after all.

  Lalaluie sensed what Feuer was thinking as the elf girl looked longingly at the giant round structure. The mouse upturned her nose at the idea, “Don’t think about it. You don’t have enough coins even for the cheap seats. I could sneak in easy enough, but I don’t think you could reach the upper levels were there are no guards to see.”

  Feuer’s head dropped a bit, “Yeah, you’re right.”

  Lalaluie decided to change topics, “So are you going back to the castle today”

  “I don't know. Maybe…” Feuer’s thoughts drifted for a second as she thought about an alternative, “Where do you live?”

  “We all just call it the alleyways. It’s in-between the industrial district and lower markets. Also, forget about going there. It’s not a nice place.”

  Not enjoying the thought of something she couldn’t do, Feuer protested. “You manage to do it.”

  “I don’t really have a choice; I’m a street rat remember. The adults there are very bad people, and steal from us, but they also kind of protect us. Sometimes. Someone like you, a noble. If you’re lucky, they would just ransom you.” Lalaluie dropped her smile and glared at the Elven girl for a moment. It was rare to see the mouse girl just not smile, and it was clear she wasn’t joking.

  For a while longer the two walked in more silence. The mouse girl could see Feuer’s features had fallen some more. Scratching at her head in frustration, Lalaluie protested Feuer’s own melancholy, “Look, I get your life isn’t what you want. You don’t have a choice in what your life is, and you’re being married off without your say. It’s still better than the life I have, and I’d trade places with you if I could. Being on the street sucks.” Feuer still didn’t look up, and it was starting to piss the mouse off, “At least you have an actual bed, and hot food everyday.” She further protested.

  Finally, Feuer looked up and saw the torn on expression on her companion’s face. A mixture of anger, envy and a small amount of pain.

  “Sorry. I know it must sound pathetic for a noble to complain about anything.” Feuer struggled to say anything else, feeling ever more pathetic for envying a literal street rat.

  “No. You do have a point, not having control of your life… being a salve sucks, even if you’re given a golden chain. But, it’s still better than an iron one though.” Lalaluie rubbed at the scar on her upper arm as Feuer nodded in agreement.

  She knew the thief had a point. Yet still, a part of her would have taken that offer to swap lives, even for just a few days. Just to see what it felt like to be free. The elven child still did not fully understand how chained her friend was, possibly even more than she was.

  The roaring sounds of people could be heard ahead. The two had seemingly made their way all the way to the walls of the arena. Most of the entrenches were covered by guards or other muscles. Aside from one which seemed to be boarded up for some reason. Even from a distance, the boards looked loose.

  “Hey, you sure you don’t want to try and sneak in.” Feuer pointed at the possible makeshift entrance.

  With a sigh, the mouse smiled. “Ok, but if anyone finds out, I’m running and leaving you behind.” The smile up turned into a smirk, “I’m smaller than you, and also a lot quicker.”

  The two made their way to the boarded-up entrance.

  Looking around, no one seemed to be paying attention as Feuer pulled at one of the boards. It came off without any force, as it seemed like they weren’t the only ones to try this. Behind the boards was black scored and broken stonework. Damage from a wayward spell during a particular event a few weeks ago. Such damage was not common, but also not completely rare either.

  Exiting through some makeshift scaffolding, no one seemed to be paying attention as the crowd roared and cheered at whatever was going on in the center of the arena.

  Not paying attention, Feuer almost immediately bumped into someone who was leaning haphazardly against the wall. “Hey watch where you’re standing!” She complained, only for Lalaluei to grimace slightly.

  The man she had bumped into, was an arena guard, seemingly waching the field and not doing his job. Tilting up his head and helmet, as he glared at the two troublemakers.

  “Where did you two come from?” He looked around.

  Before Feuer could answer, the thief girl stood in front of her and took the lead. “The bathroom.”

  While not a scholar, Feuer was at least wise enough to not interrupt the young thief toying with her current mark.

  “Bathroom?” The guard looked around the outer parameter towards the short line for the bathrooms. His gaze also glanced towards the partially covered entrance that was under repair.

  “You’re both kids where are your parents?” He quizzed.

  “My parents are up there in the copper seats.” Lalaluie pointed up generally towards the higher seats.

  “You two are related?” The guard smirked lightly.

  Feuer tried to answer, “No we-“

  Only to be interrupted by Lalaluei again. “Yes! She’s the adopted one though. My parents felt so bad seeing an orphaned elf they had to take her in.”

  “Her clothes are nicer than yours though? A lot nicer.” Sounds of cheering caused the guard to shake his head at missing the action, that didn’t matter. He had suspicions but wasn’t paid enough to really care and wanted to get back to watching the game. “Look kids, these seats and the bathrooms are for silver paying folks only. Coppers have their own seats and water works. Don’t come back down here unless your family pays for it.”

  “We won’t sorry.” Lalaluie smiled broadly to the guard.

  Feuer felt her arm being pulled by the smaller girl. Despite her spread and agility, she was quite weak. A Smile crossed Feuer’s lips as she saw the mouse struggle. The smile turned into a wide grin as she switched places and started pulling the mouse girl behind her.

  “Hey, no running!” The guard shouted out as the two bounded up to the upper levels. Neither of them heard his last remark of “Damn kids.” As he went back to leaning against the wall, paying more attention to the match than his own job.

  The two made their way to two empty seats at the top of the arena, in the so called copper section.

  The arena could be subdivided into five general areas, Feuer and Lalaluie were at the top outer ring of the arena. These were the cheap seats, so called ‘copper seats’ because they usually cost around 12 coppers, but could be cheaper or more expensive depending on what was going on. Next, below them was the middle ring, where the silver seats, were. These mid-range seats were quite pricy for a commoner, being anywhere from 4 to as much as 30 silvers for a really expensive event. The silver and copper sections were technically linked together and used the same entrances.

  The lower three sections were all joined together, in fact the gold and blood seats were technically the same, with the blood seats being the lowest three rows. Right between the gold and silver seats were 4 suites for the arena. One was reserved for news, and announcers and was the smallest of the four. One was auctioned off each year to a different family, Feuer had no idea who owned it this year. One was technically owned by Feuer’s family, but was always rented out for arena upkeep like the previous one, and they never used by them, another was owned by the second most powerful family in Trillonia the Tierastan. A family that long ago once built the arena, back when they were they were the so called Ast of Trillonia. That is, the protectors and owners of the city.

  Feuer wondered what it would be like to see the arena from that suite. There would be servers and attendants too, but she really only cared about the view. Thinking about the suite and their current seats it was hard not to pout a bit that it was hard to see.

  “Hey, I was going to try and get us in the silver section, but you bumped into that guard.” Lalaluie reminded her.

  “Yeah, I should have been paying more attention. Think we could get into the blood seats one day?” Feuer smirked. Her family could have afforded it, but getting them to pay for it was another point.

  “Ha! Not without a hand full of gold, and that’s on a cheap day. Guards down there do pay attention and will arrest people. Even you.”

  Suddenly the crowd roared in excitement. On the field one of the gladiators fell to the ground, his body sparking slightly from the residual of a magic spell. Feuer cursed herself for missing it. On the one hand, magic felt like cheating in a sword fight, on the other hand, it was pretty cool.

  “There you have it, great people of Trillonia! Of our two novice gladiators, only one is left standing.” Sound echoed around the stadium, the speaker’s volume amplified by some sort of sound spell and enchantment. Feuer didn’t really care about all that.

  A handful of boos from the crowd stood out over the lukewarm cheers. It was clear a good portion of the stadium didn’t care for this manner of victory. The boos and mediocre cheers suddenly erupted in a chorus of celebration as the fallen gladiator stood up. Despite being the loser, many here didn’t seem to see him that way.

  A fact confirmed by the announcer. “Well, the crowd certainly doesn’t agree with Rothal’s loss! Gladiator Rothal, please take a bow for all your fans!” The weakened gladiator took his helmet off, subtle signs of blood and sweat covered his face and head as the tropical skinned human bowed before his audience. Once more there was a loud symphony of cheers.

  The announcer continued his short speech “Gladiator Yuth, you may have won the match today, but sadly you have lost the crowd. A reminder, anything goes in free-for-all combat days, but the use of magics in a pure sword fight are so often looked down upon.” Again, there were more boos and jeers. “Gladiator Yuth and Rothal please make your way out of the arena floor.”

  The arena was a complex place. Lalaluie and Feuer managed to enter on a combat day, but there were other events held. Various small sporting events, test of agility and strength, combat was only a part of what was done here. Though, it was a larger part, perhaps.

  As the two gladiators left, two more soon entered, and again, there was a rush of cheers as the match started in earnest. The hours passed, and before long, the day’s events were over. Outside the sun was just barely starting to set.

  “I bet I could be a contestant one day.” Feuer declared to her companion.

  Who in return just laughed, “ha! I’ve seen how you handle a sword, and even that dagger earlier. If I wanted to I could have pulled it from your hand, and you wouldn’t even have noticed.”

  “Liar.” Feuer spat back.

  “Eh, maybe I’m overselling my disarmament abilities. But I’ve still have seen you sword fight. You can’t even best your own guard when she goes easy on you.” Lalaluie smiled back at Feuer’s grimaced face.

  “When have you seen me sword fight? I’ve only ever fought in the courtyard. It’s not like just anyone could see, you’d have to actually be in the castle!” Feuer protested.

  The mouse gave a half smirk and raised an eyebrow, not sure if the elf girl was serious or not.

  “Hmm…” Feuer’s grimace turned into a pout, “I really will have to talk to the guards when I get back. What do you mean Shevana goes easy on me?”

  Out of the corner of the mouse’s eye she could see some of the guards moving around and looking at the two of them. Whispers and words were exchanged as at least one ran off, in the direction of the castle. Lalauie knew this day would soon be over. Thinking about it the mouse girl seemed to have a look between contentment but also a bit of sorrow. Perhaps, lamenting a wasted day not spent stealing. Though she did still have what was left of Feuer’s coins, that wasn’t much.

  “What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

  Lalaluie shrugged. “Nothing really. Just thinking I should have chosen a bigger mark than you.”

  “Well… I can’t help it they won’t let me hold my own coins.” Feuer almost pouted again.

  An almost sadistic smile crossed the mouses lips as she began to tease Feuer one last time. “There’s not much left in here. Seriously, do you want me to just give it back to you?”

  Squinting her eyes, Feuer knew the mouse was toying with her. The only question she had was why? “Aren’t you a thief? Do thieves actually give back what they stole?”

  “No, but I’m not kidding there’s like 3 coppers left here. You’re actually poorer then I am. It makes me feel bad.” The thief mocked again. For a second she wondered if she had gone to far as Feuer’s face seemed to drop into an almost fearful expression.

  “Lalaluei, you know stealing is a crime.” The mouse girl froze as a familiar voice called her name.

  Feuer also froze as she too knew that familiar voice. It was her personal guard, Shevana.

  A sudden shout in front of them grabbed Fuere’s attention. It was her personal guard, Sheevna and she didn’t look particularly happy to see her. “Princess! It’s time to go home.” The guard woman glared at her protectorate.

  She was also flanked by several more of the castle guards. Behind them a few of the city guards also stood blocking their way. By all accounts the day was now over.

  “Come along, you can play with your rat friend some other day.” Sheevan walked up and lightly but firmly grabbed Feuer by the shoulder.

  Feuer looked back at Lalalluie with an almost pleading gaze. The mouse girl just shrugged and bounced Feuer’s coin purse in her hand.

  The mouse girl haphazardly held the bag of coins in her hand, as if teasing Feuer to grab it. She did.

  As Feuer snatched the bag from the mouse girl she weighed it in her hand. Something wasn’t right, it felt like, “Are there rocks in here? When did you even get the time to do this?”

  Smiling, Lalalue scurried up a nearby wall, dodging the sudden rain of small pebbles. At the top of the wall, she flashed a smile back at Feuer as she waved, “Take care, princess!” With that she jumped to the other side and disappeared. But not before getting once last jab in, “Good luck on your marriage!”

  The guards at Feuer’s side didn’t give her a chance to run after the mouse girl as they too grabbed her shoulder. Quickly, they began pushing her back towards the castle, it was clear they were ready to carry her if need be.

  Despite Feuer’s struggles, she knew it was hopeless. She just didn’t have the strength to deal with the multiple guards who threatened to literally pick her up and carrier her home.

  “You can play with your friend some other day. Come along, princess.” Feuer couldn’t see the smug smile on her personal guard’s face as she got the last word in.