FIC: A WHOLE NEW WORLD (1/5)
Title: A Whole New World
Chapter: 1/5
Author: carolinablu85
Characters: Luke/Noah, Casey, Lily, Ethan, Lucinda, Reid, Katie, and others
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4,280
Summary: “No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming...” (AKA, AladdiNuke)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Less than nothing. Negative nothing- what doesn’t belong to ATWT belongs to Disney.
A/N: Written on the accidental prompting of frances_veritas and on the cheerleading of dazzling_icer . Originally starting as a pure cracky-spoofy story, but weirdly evolved into this. Enjoy!
It was oppressively hot, especially for so early in the morning. Reid hated it. Hated it so much he was of half a mind to turn around and go back to the palace. But he was stronger than that. His mind was the most powerful weapon he had, he could control this.
The sound of footsteps approaching had him turn, his bored and disinterested air back in place. Nothing was stronger than him.
“Sir,” the man nodded as he came up next to Reid. Not quite a bow, but enough deference that he let it slide.
“Do you have it?” he asked, no need for formalities or preamble. Mason was a petty thief, not worthy of his or anyone else’s time.
“I had to slit a few throats, but I got it,” the man reached into the turban wrapped loosely around his neck and head, pulling out a small stone, holding it up.
“This is it?” Reid kept up his disaffected tone. He brought a small pouch of coins out of the pocket of his shirt, holding it up as well. Mason’s eyes tracked the money like a dog to a bone. Reid fought to roll his own eyes. It was an apt metaphor.
“Of course it is,” Mason humbled himself a little further, his shoulders even hunching down. “You wanted the Stone of Eden, didn’t you?” he offered it over to Reid, who took the gem gingerly between thumb and forefinger, studying it. “Well?” Mason took a small step closer. “I did the job, now give me-”
He really shouldn’t have stepped closer. In one swift, practiced move, Reid dropped the bag of money to the ground. Mason’s focus stayed on it, another thing he shouldn’t have done. It allowed Reid to slip his dagger out of his sleeve and slash outwards, cutting a perfect arc through the air and through Mason’s throat.
There was no time to react. Mason’s eyes widened a little in shock and betrayal (which annoyed Reid to no end), but he collapsed to the ground fairly soon after that. The best thing about the kill this way was, along with being quick, it was silent. The thief couldn’t beg or cry or pray or anything else pathetic.
“Did you forget who I am?” he hissed at Mason, who was scrambling to stop the blood that had no hope of stopping. At least, not until there was none left to spill. “Did you think I was that stupid?” He tossed the gem to the ground next to the dying man. “That I didn’t know exactly what the Stone of Eden looks like? You thought you could pull something over me, take the money and go free?” He shook his head. “Don’t waste my time, Mason. I don’t have the patience.”
He turned and walked away, the dust kicked up by his shoes rising and settling back down on the dead man lying in the alley.
Katie was waiting for him around the corner. “Well?” she prompted, fanning herself in the shade of the nearby building.
Reid shook his head, allowing a little of the disappointment he was feeling to show through. “Mason was obviously less than worthy.”
His assistant snorted derisively. “Oh, there’s a big surprise.”
But Reid refused to give into frustration. “Have some patience. We’ll find the Stone and everything else we’re looking for. It will just take more time.”
“How much more time?” Katie’s voice was just this side of whining. “Every day we get further and further away from...”
He waved her words away. “Just a little while longer. There must be someone in this damn refuse of a city that can do it. We just have to find him.”
*******
“Stop! Thief!”
Does that ever really work? he wanted to ask. The part of his brain not concentrating on the best escape routes and hiding spots was rolling its eyes. Really, this was a lot of fuss for a few loaves of bread, wasn’t it?
The palace guards didn’t think so, obviously. Instead of, oh, guarding the palace, they were chasing him through the streets, shouting threats that grew more violent and obscene by the minute. In a way, Noah was impressed. For as dumber than bricks as they were, the threats were pretty creative.
He ducked quickly around a corner, grabbing a cloak off a nearby clothesline. It was a little short on him, of course, but hid most of his features. A door opened next to him, and he quickly stood in it, looking for all the world like he was lounging by his front door on this warm, soon-to-be-blazing-hot morning. A few of the guards hurried past without even a glance at him.
Dumber than bricks.
He shot a grateful smile to the older woman who had opened the door and had let him join her in the shaded entranceway. “Getting into trouble a little early today, aren’t we, Noah?” Emma shook her head sadly, though her eyes still danced a little with teasing.
“No ma’am,” he smiled, passing a bit of his stolen bread to her, as he tried to do every time he got enough to share. “You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”
He wasn’t one to believe in fate or jinxes and such, but maybe he should. The second those words left his lips, an arm wrapped around his throat from behind, yanking him back into the street. The cloak fell away, and Noah struggled furiously with the guard trying to subdue him, holding a knife to Noah’s ear.
“There’s a nice, pretty price on your head, boy,” the man nearly growled. “I wonder if they’ll give me the full amount if I don’t bring back every piece of you...” His knife got closer, scraping against skin.
There wasn’t any noise, definitely not any warning, but seconds later the guard was on the ground, unconscious or about to head that way. In his place stood Noah’s partner in crime, roommate, and best friend, grinning proudly.
“Perfect timing, Case,” Noah nodded his thanks with a smile of his own.
“As usual,” Casey gloated, adding Noah’s loot to their stash in the pack he carried. “Can we please get going now? I like to stay one step ahead of these bozos as much as possible.”
Waving goodbye to Emma, they took their preferred route of escape from this section of the city, climbing up to the rooftops to keep away from any more guards.
“You know,” Casey commented as they jumped from one roof to another. “It’s becoming a pattern that I always have to save your ass in these situations.”
“Well, that’s why I’m the brains and you’re the brawn,” Noah shot back.
“That’s why we almost die like four times a week.”
Noah vaulted over to another rooftop, waiting for Casey to join him before speaking. “Key word there is almost. We’re doing just fine, aren’t we?”
Casey laughed. “Oh yeah. The two most wanted thieves in the city, living in squalor, risking our lives- and now apparently our ears- every day just to get enough food to survive. Yes, that is my exact definition of ‘just fine.’”
Noah bit his lip. When Casey put it that way... “If you’re not okay with-”
“Noah, buddy,” Casey stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “If we weren’t doing this? I’d be in prison and your skinny ass would probably be starving to death. Or a hermit. So shut up,” he grinned. “You’re my partner. We’re in this together, till the world ends.”
Noah smiled, he couldn’t help it, at the closest thing to family he’d ever had. Casey- cast out by his own family for getting into too many scraps with the palace guards- and Noah- an orphan for pretty much as long as he or anyone else could remember- had been friends and partners long before either of them were on the city’s Most Wanted list. “Until the world ends.”
They sped above the city streets a few more blocks until they were sure the guards were gone, climbing down to settle in a slightly-cleaner-than-most alley. “Breakfast is served,” Casey announced, pulling out an apple for each of them, breaking the bread loaf in half.
Noah started scarfing down the bread in record time, considering they hadn’t been able to eat since this time yesterday. With the guards cracking down more and more each day, he and Casey had taken to stealing as much as they could when they could, eating when they could. Surviving as best they could.
A soft noise came from further down the alley, and Noah tensed, his senses immediately on alert. He started to rise to his feet, ready to run, when he saw them. Two figures were rooting through a pile of thrown out garbage, scouring for food of their own.
They were children.
The youngest looked only a little older than Noah was when he started living on the streets. Messy reddish hair that had streaks of blond from being in the sun too long. Dirt smudging both sides of his face. Far too thin. The girl wasn’t that much bigger, though a few years older. Her face already lined with worry and hardship.
Sometimes Noah wondered, and forgot, if he looked like that too. He stood, immediately attracting their attention. The girl pushed the younger boy behind her protectively, and Noah held up his hands, hoping to look harmless. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, slowly.
“Libby...” the little boy whispered.
“Hush,” she said quickly, eyes not leaving Noah. She’d been living on the streets long enough to know better. It was hard to trust anybody.
He tried to smile, projecting friendliness, safety. “It’s okay. Here,” he offered them his apple and the rest of his bread. “Take it.”
The Libby girl looked like she wanted to remain skeptical, but the possibility of food was too much. She leaned forward, snatched the food away, and moved back to the boy, trying to figure out a way to split the apple.
Noah felt Casey come up to stand next to him. “Your damn bleeding heart is going to be the death of me one of these days,” he grumbled, before offering his own apple to the girl. He tried to remain stern, but the grateful, excited grin both kids gave him was enough to melt him, until he was grinning back.
Noah was about to tease Casey about his own soft heart when yet another noise distracted him- a large crowd gathering on the street outside the alley. Curious, he followed the sounds out into the sun. And rolled his eyes.
Yet another procession down the road to the palace. It seemed like there was one almost once a week now.
“Another suitor for the prince,” he heard a man in the crowd say, voice resigned and almost mocking. Noah felt like rolling his eyes again. Every week, some rich pompous ass of a man strolled into their city and promptly strolled back out. Nobody was good enough for their prince, apparently.
He stepped a little closer, wondering what the guy looked like, when a bump to his hip had him stepping sideways, recovering his balance. The little boy from the alley was running gleefully, unknowingly, out onto the street.
“Johnny!” the girl cried out, trying to grab his arm, chasing after him. They were headed right into the path of the procession. She caught him just as the first horse came upon them, just as some in the crowd noticed and shouted warnings. The horse reared up, startled, and without thinking, Noah ran after them. He scooped up Johnny with one hand, holding him tight against his chest, and pulled Libby with the other, yanking them out of the way of the horses’ hooves.
“Filthy brats,” the horse’s rider snapped, finally calming the animal.
Noah glared up at him, taking in his unaffected sneer, his overly-decadent outfit, the fact that the bridle on his horse probably cost more than Noah would ever see in his life time.
“You know, if I were as rich as you, I could probably afford some compassion,” he glared. And some better clothes, he thought.
The prince’s sneer didn’t go away. “Big word for a street rat to know.”
“Big concept for a pompous ass to understand,” he snapped back.
“You insolent...” The man’s boot lashed out quickly, surprisingly quickly. With his arms still around the kids, Noah didn’t have any way to defend himself. The kick hit him in the jaw, knocking him back nearly off his feet.
He shook his head to clear the stars from his vision, trying not to let the pain show on his face. He was still holding onto the kids, he couldn’t drag them down or scare them. When his vision cleared, the little boy- Johnny- was looking up at him with wide, almost concerned eyes. He smiled. “I give it one hour before he’s headed back out of town,” he told the boy, loud enough for all to hear.
The man had already started past him, but turned in his saddle upon hearing the words. “Learn your place, boy. You’re worthless. You were born a street rat, you’ll die a street rat, and no one on this earth will mourn you.”
The palace doors slammed shut between them. Leaving Noah back in his world without even the last word to go with. Worthless. Words like that- Weak. Worthless. still flashed through his brain sometimes, the only memories he still carried from his time before... from before.
“I’m not worthless,” he muttered, to the dirt beneath his bare feet. The kids had run off. The crowd was dispersing. No one cared to hear his argument. He glared one final time at the doors to the palace.
How horrible of a person must the prince be if that was the type of man they wanted to marry him off to?
“Hey,” a hand on his shoulder. Casey, of course. “Let’s go home, come on.”
Noah didn’t nod, didn’t sigh, didn’t acknowledge the thousand and one things wrong with this life. He just turned and followed Casey back into the alleys, ducking this way and that around the city until they came to the abandoned, decayed building he and Casey were calling home these days.
They climbed up the half-rotted stairs, still silent. Reaching the top floor, Casey entered first, immediately going to his makeshift bed and plopping down with a sigh, rooting through his pack for anything else useful he might’ve stolen today.
Noah forced the door closed with his shoulder, then went to the far wall, where the bricks had crumbled away enough for him to look out at the city, and at the palace. It seemed to shine at all hours of the day and night, a beacon in the city. As dirty and dark as these streets could be, the palace seemed so untouched by it all.
Noah traced the outline of the building with his eyes, wondering what life was like for people who didn’t have to steal every day to survive. He didn’t actually like his life out here, though he’d never admit it. He was good at being a thief, but he didn’t enjoy it. He wanted to be so much more than what he was, but he couldn’t be. He was stuck, no honor or pride. No way out.
Someday, he thought, telling Casey only in his head. Someday we’ll live in a place like that. And never have any worries at all.
*******
“That’s it! We’re leaving,” the doors that led out to the pasture were flung open with a bang, startling Lily out of her reading.
“Your Highness! What-?”
“I have never been more insulted in my life,” the man grumbled, not breaking stride on his way to the front doors.
“You’re leaving?” she followed him quickly, trying to slow his process, trying to figure out what was going on. He had a stain across the front of his shirt, what looked like juice.
“Good luck marrying him off!” And then the man, his guards, his processional, were gone.
He had only been here an hour.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath to center herself, and headed towards the pasture. “Luke!”
There was no answer at first. She went out further, calling for her son again, peering at the stable for any sign of him. There he was, standing by the corral, petting one of his horses. “Luke, I-”
“Rawr!” another voice called out, a small body leaping into her line of sight, blocking Luke. “Rawr!”
“Ethan,” Lily sighed, picking up her younger son. “What did you do? Did you spill your drink on Crown Prince Addington?”
“Aw, don’t blame Ethan,” Luke called out, walking over to join them. He had an empty cup in his hand. Ethan’s juice cup. “He was just playing with him. Weren’t you, buddy?” He took Ethan out of Lily’s arms, spinning him around. “You were just playing with that overdressed, self-absorbed Prince, weren’t you?”
Lily’s eyes narrowed, looking back and forth at both of her sons. “Luke, we talked about this. You can’t keep-”
“He was insufferable, Mother. Pompous and arrogant without a shred of compassion,” Luke shook his head, holding Ethan a little closer. “He hates kids. How could you ask me to consider someone like that?”
“It’s not me asking, Luke,” she tried again. “It’s the law. The law says you must be-”
“Must be married to a prince,” he finished for her, sing-songing. He turned back to the bench by the stable, setting Ethan down next to him.
“By your next birthday,” she reminded him.
“I know,” he grumbled.
“You’ve only got three more days!” she tried to keep her voice- and her emotions- on lockdown. Once again, she wasn’t successful.
“The law is wrong,” Luke said yet again, their same argument over and over. He kept his voice soft, though, as Ethan climbed into his lap. “When or if I get married, I want it to be for love. For... for anything real. Not this.”
“Sweetie, we’ve talked about this,” she said gently, sitting down next to them. “It’s just the way it is. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it’s your duty.”
“All I do is my duty!” Luke burst out. “I’ve never been outside the palace walls! This isn’t a life, Mother, it’s a term of service. I didn’t ask for it.”
“It’s your birthright, just like it was mine,” she reminded him.
“Well, I don’t want just this. I want... I want to experience things. I want to see something new. I’ve never done anything on my own, I don’t even have any real friends!”
“Hey!” Ethan turned around on Luke’s lap, eyeing him with a pout.
“Except you, Ethan,” Luke amended, grinning affectionately. Satisfied, Ethan turned back around to study his mother warily, just as Luke’s expression went back to a stubborn glare.
For a second Lily felt ganged up on, which was ridiculous. She was the one in charge. “Luke, I’m sorry you feel this way right now, but you won’t always. You know how important this is, how you- as a prince, how you owe this city to be-”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be a prince anymore,” Luke snapped.
“Luke,” she started, then stopped. Tried to reign in her temper. This obviously wasn’t going to get solved right this minute, but the ominous weight of ‘three more days’ was on her shoulders. She sighed. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Because when you turn twenty-one, you will be married. End of story.” She stood up and walked away before he could argue anymore, before any more of his criticisms or refusals could hurt her feelings anymore.
He just didn’t get it, did he?
Re-entering the palace, she turned back to the throne room to finish reading her reports and paperwork... and nearly collided with someone walking in the opposite direction. “Oh!” she cried out, startled, hand over her heart. “Reid, I didn’t see you.”
“Your Majesty,” her chief advisor inclined his head. “My apologies.” He glanced in the direction she had come from. “More problems with your son?”
“Of course,” she sighed, trying to throw a mostly polite smile to Katie, who returned it with the same amount of fake-civility.
“And with his birthday so soon, it must be very hard on you,” Reid nodded along.
Of course it was ‘very hard,’ she wanted to snap. Reid knew it was very hard, everyone who worked in the palace knew it was very hard. But her own troubles distracted her from pointing that out, as did the fact that Reid was one of the few who acknowledged that it was trying for her, not just Luke. “It is.”
“You know,” Reid drew out his words slowly, as he always did when he was beginning to brew an idea in his mind. “There may be a way I can help.”
“Help?” she tried not to let any hope seep out into her voice, but she knew it did. “Help how?”
“Well, I can’t make any promises, of course,” he said smoothly. “But I have to think there’s been some precedence for this- Luke can’t be the first to get proverbial cold feet, right?”
“I suppose that’s true,” Lily agreed half-heartedly. Her own marriage collapse aside, it seemed like every crown prince or princess had been married by the appropriate time. The way things were done. But it was possible, at some point in the past...? “So what can we do? What can you do?”
“To be honest, Your Majesty, I would need access to information I don’t have. You would have to allow me into the Official Records chamber.” Reid looked at her almost blandly, but she knew there was a lot of planning and thinking going on inside.
“Reid, you already-”
“The Confidential Records, Your Majesty,” Reid elaborated. “The ones restricted to yourself and the Royal Family.”
“Are- are you sure?” Lily was thrown by the unusual request. No one used those records without her express permission. No one dared ask. But then, Reid never seemed to think he was like everyone else. And he wasn’t, not really.
“Only if you want my help, of course. If you want to fix this Luke situation without any more people knowing how much he’s refusing his duty, refusing to listen to you...” Reid answered.
Oh. She couldn’t have that. She couldn’t have people talk, question her as a leader (or a mother). “Fine, okay. Yes,” Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out the key to the Confidential Records chamber. “Thank you, Reid. Really.”
He actually smiled. “My pleasure, Your Majesty.”
*******
Once they were sure Lily was safely out of hearing distance, Katie let out an aggravated noise. “I cannot stand that woman,” she fluttered her hands around. “I don’t know how much longer I can take working for her. One of these days, I swear..."
“Calm yourself,” Reid intoned, eyeing the key with a certain amount of satisfaction, enough to let a smile grace his face for a moment. “It won’t be much longer now.”
“You seem so certain,” she grumbled.
“I don’t ‘seem,’” he snapped. “I am. Give me one day with the restricted records. I’ll find exactly what we need to get rid of Her Majesty and the two brats, and then...” another smile. “I’ll be in charge.”
*******
He managed to wait until nightfall.
Luke stayed in his room, ear pressed to the door until he was sure no one else was around. He was dressed in clothing he’d stolen (regretfully, of course) from the servants’ laundry room. And now, with one last glance at the room he’d lived in (been forced in) for the last twenty years... he slid out into the hallway.
His next stop was the room at the end of the hall. He snuck inside, determinedly not looking at the decorations on the walls, the handmade drawings of horses, of two princes holding hands. He walked to the little bed by the window instead, kneeling down next to it.
Ethan was asleep, dead to the world. Luke stared at him, memorizing his features. For a second, he tried to picture Ethan five years from now, ten years from now. What would he look like? Would he look like Luke at all? Would he remember Luke?
But then the second passed, and Luke steeled himself. He kissed the top of Ethan’s head softly, inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry, buddy,” he whispered, barely any noise at all. “But I have to do this. I can’t have my life lived for me. I hope you understand one day. Please, please be okay.”
He stood up, moved to the window by the bed. Right outside Ethan’s window was the path to the stables. Next to the stables was the lowest and least protected point in the palace walls. His escape.
One last glance at Ethan, and Luke climbed out the window. Silently, ready and on the lookout for any guards or servants, Luke made it down to the pasture. The horses living there had been with Luke for years. He’d seen horses be born and die there. Penned in. He couldn’t live like that.
A look left, a look right, and he hoisted himself up the nearest tree by the wall, climbing his way to the top of the wall. He paused there, just before leaping over, the palace looming on one side and freedom on the other. “Goodbye,” he whispered.
And then he jumped.
CHAPTER TWO
Chapter: 1/5
Author: carolinablu85
Characters: Luke/Noah, Casey, Lily, Ethan, Lucinda, Reid, Katie, and others
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 4,280
Summary: “No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming...” (AKA, AladdiNuke)
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Less than nothing. Negative nothing- what doesn’t belong to ATWT belongs to Disney.
A/N: Written on the accidental prompting of frances_veritas and on the cheerleading of dazzling_icer . Originally starting as a pure cracky-spoofy story, but weirdly evolved into this. Enjoy!
It was oppressively hot, especially for so early in the morning. Reid hated it. Hated it so much he was of half a mind to turn around and go back to the palace. But he was stronger than that. His mind was the most powerful weapon he had, he could control this.
The sound of footsteps approaching had him turn, his bored and disinterested air back in place. Nothing was stronger than him.
“Sir,” the man nodded as he came up next to Reid. Not quite a bow, but enough deference that he let it slide.
“Do you have it?” he asked, no need for formalities or preamble. Mason was a petty thief, not worthy of his or anyone else’s time.
“I had to slit a few throats, but I got it,” the man reached into the turban wrapped loosely around his neck and head, pulling out a small stone, holding it up.
“This is it?” Reid kept up his disaffected tone. He brought a small pouch of coins out of the pocket of his shirt, holding it up as well. Mason’s eyes tracked the money like a dog to a bone. Reid fought to roll his own eyes. It was an apt metaphor.
“Of course it is,” Mason humbled himself a little further, his shoulders even hunching down. “You wanted the Stone of Eden, didn’t you?” he offered it over to Reid, who took the gem gingerly between thumb and forefinger, studying it. “Well?” Mason took a small step closer. “I did the job, now give me-”
He really shouldn’t have stepped closer. In one swift, practiced move, Reid dropped the bag of money to the ground. Mason’s focus stayed on it, another thing he shouldn’t have done. It allowed Reid to slip his dagger out of his sleeve and slash outwards, cutting a perfect arc through the air and through Mason’s throat.
There was no time to react. Mason’s eyes widened a little in shock and betrayal (which annoyed Reid to no end), but he collapsed to the ground fairly soon after that. The best thing about the kill this way was, along with being quick, it was silent. The thief couldn’t beg or cry or pray or anything else pathetic.
“Did you forget who I am?” he hissed at Mason, who was scrambling to stop the blood that had no hope of stopping. At least, not until there was none left to spill. “Did you think I was that stupid?” He tossed the gem to the ground next to the dying man. “That I didn’t know exactly what the Stone of Eden looks like? You thought you could pull something over me, take the money and go free?” He shook his head. “Don’t waste my time, Mason. I don’t have the patience.”
He turned and walked away, the dust kicked up by his shoes rising and settling back down on the dead man lying in the alley.
Katie was waiting for him around the corner. “Well?” she prompted, fanning herself in the shade of the nearby building.
Reid shook his head, allowing a little of the disappointment he was feeling to show through. “Mason was obviously less than worthy.”
His assistant snorted derisively. “Oh, there’s a big surprise.”
But Reid refused to give into frustration. “Have some patience. We’ll find the Stone and everything else we’re looking for. It will just take more time.”
“How much more time?” Katie’s voice was just this side of whining. “Every day we get further and further away from...”
He waved her words away. “Just a little while longer. There must be someone in this damn refuse of a city that can do it. We just have to find him.”
*******
“Stop! Thief!”
Does that ever really work? he wanted to ask. The part of his brain not concentrating on the best escape routes and hiding spots was rolling its eyes. Really, this was a lot of fuss for a few loaves of bread, wasn’t it?
The palace guards didn’t think so, obviously. Instead of, oh, guarding the palace, they were chasing him through the streets, shouting threats that grew more violent and obscene by the minute. In a way, Noah was impressed. For as dumber than bricks as they were, the threats were pretty creative.
He ducked quickly around a corner, grabbing a cloak off a nearby clothesline. It was a little short on him, of course, but hid most of his features. A door opened next to him, and he quickly stood in it, looking for all the world like he was lounging by his front door on this warm, soon-to-be-blazing-hot morning. A few of the guards hurried past without even a glance at him.
Dumber than bricks.
He shot a grateful smile to the older woman who had opened the door and had let him join her in the shaded entranceway. “Getting into trouble a little early today, aren’t we, Noah?” Emma shook her head sadly, though her eyes still danced a little with teasing.
“No ma’am,” he smiled, passing a bit of his stolen bread to her, as he tried to do every time he got enough to share. “You’re only in trouble if you get caught.”
He wasn’t one to believe in fate or jinxes and such, but maybe he should. The second those words left his lips, an arm wrapped around his throat from behind, yanking him back into the street. The cloak fell away, and Noah struggled furiously with the guard trying to subdue him, holding a knife to Noah’s ear.
“There’s a nice, pretty price on your head, boy,” the man nearly growled. “I wonder if they’ll give me the full amount if I don’t bring back every piece of you...” His knife got closer, scraping against skin.
There wasn’t any noise, definitely not any warning, but seconds later the guard was on the ground, unconscious or about to head that way. In his place stood Noah’s partner in crime, roommate, and best friend, grinning proudly.
“Perfect timing, Case,” Noah nodded his thanks with a smile of his own.
“As usual,” Casey gloated, adding Noah’s loot to their stash in the pack he carried. “Can we please get going now? I like to stay one step ahead of these bozos as much as possible.”
Waving goodbye to Emma, they took their preferred route of escape from this section of the city, climbing up to the rooftops to keep away from any more guards.
“You know,” Casey commented as they jumped from one roof to another. “It’s becoming a pattern that I always have to save your ass in these situations.”
“Well, that’s why I’m the brains and you’re the brawn,” Noah shot back.
“That’s why we almost die like four times a week.”
Noah vaulted over to another rooftop, waiting for Casey to join him before speaking. “Key word there is almost. We’re doing just fine, aren’t we?”
Casey laughed. “Oh yeah. The two most wanted thieves in the city, living in squalor, risking our lives- and now apparently our ears- every day just to get enough food to survive. Yes, that is my exact definition of ‘just fine.’”
Noah bit his lip. When Casey put it that way... “If you’re not okay with-”
“Noah, buddy,” Casey stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “If we weren’t doing this? I’d be in prison and your skinny ass would probably be starving to death. Or a hermit. So shut up,” he grinned. “You’re my partner. We’re in this together, till the world ends.”
Noah smiled, he couldn’t help it, at the closest thing to family he’d ever had. Casey- cast out by his own family for getting into too many scraps with the palace guards- and Noah- an orphan for pretty much as long as he or anyone else could remember- had been friends and partners long before either of them were on the city’s Most Wanted list. “Until the world ends.”
They sped above the city streets a few more blocks until they were sure the guards were gone, climbing down to settle in a slightly-cleaner-than-most alley. “Breakfast is served,” Casey announced, pulling out an apple for each of them, breaking the bread loaf in half.
Noah started scarfing down the bread in record time, considering they hadn’t been able to eat since this time yesterday. With the guards cracking down more and more each day, he and Casey had taken to stealing as much as they could when they could, eating when they could. Surviving as best they could.
A soft noise came from further down the alley, and Noah tensed, his senses immediately on alert. He started to rise to his feet, ready to run, when he saw them. Two figures were rooting through a pile of thrown out garbage, scouring for food of their own.
They were children.
The youngest looked only a little older than Noah was when he started living on the streets. Messy reddish hair that had streaks of blond from being in the sun too long. Dirt smudging both sides of his face. Far too thin. The girl wasn’t that much bigger, though a few years older. Her face already lined with worry and hardship.
Sometimes Noah wondered, and forgot, if he looked like that too. He stood, immediately attracting their attention. The girl pushed the younger boy behind her protectively, and Noah held up his hands, hoping to look harmless. “It’s okay,” he said quietly, slowly.
“Libby...” the little boy whispered.
“Hush,” she said quickly, eyes not leaving Noah. She’d been living on the streets long enough to know better. It was hard to trust anybody.
He tried to smile, projecting friendliness, safety. “It’s okay. Here,” he offered them his apple and the rest of his bread. “Take it.”
The Libby girl looked like she wanted to remain skeptical, but the possibility of food was too much. She leaned forward, snatched the food away, and moved back to the boy, trying to figure out a way to split the apple.
Noah felt Casey come up to stand next to him. “Your damn bleeding heart is going to be the death of me one of these days,” he grumbled, before offering his own apple to the girl. He tried to remain stern, but the grateful, excited grin both kids gave him was enough to melt him, until he was grinning back.
Noah was about to tease Casey about his own soft heart when yet another noise distracted him- a large crowd gathering on the street outside the alley. Curious, he followed the sounds out into the sun. And rolled his eyes.
Yet another procession down the road to the palace. It seemed like there was one almost once a week now.
“Another suitor for the prince,” he heard a man in the crowd say, voice resigned and almost mocking. Noah felt like rolling his eyes again. Every week, some rich pompous ass of a man strolled into their city and promptly strolled back out. Nobody was good enough for their prince, apparently.
He stepped a little closer, wondering what the guy looked like, when a bump to his hip had him stepping sideways, recovering his balance. The little boy from the alley was running gleefully, unknowingly, out onto the street.
“Johnny!” the girl cried out, trying to grab his arm, chasing after him. They were headed right into the path of the procession. She caught him just as the first horse came upon them, just as some in the crowd noticed and shouted warnings. The horse reared up, startled, and without thinking, Noah ran after them. He scooped up Johnny with one hand, holding him tight against his chest, and pulled Libby with the other, yanking them out of the way of the horses’ hooves.
“Filthy brats,” the horse’s rider snapped, finally calming the animal.
Noah glared up at him, taking in his unaffected sneer, his overly-decadent outfit, the fact that the bridle on his horse probably cost more than Noah would ever see in his life time.
“You know, if I were as rich as you, I could probably afford some compassion,” he glared. And some better clothes, he thought.
The prince’s sneer didn’t go away. “Big word for a street rat to know.”
“Big concept for a pompous ass to understand,” he snapped back.
“You insolent...” The man’s boot lashed out quickly, surprisingly quickly. With his arms still around the kids, Noah didn’t have any way to defend himself. The kick hit him in the jaw, knocking him back nearly off his feet.
He shook his head to clear the stars from his vision, trying not to let the pain show on his face. He was still holding onto the kids, he couldn’t drag them down or scare them. When his vision cleared, the little boy- Johnny- was looking up at him with wide, almost concerned eyes. He smiled. “I give it one hour before he’s headed back out of town,” he told the boy, loud enough for all to hear.
The man had already started past him, but turned in his saddle upon hearing the words. “Learn your place, boy. You’re worthless. You were born a street rat, you’ll die a street rat, and no one on this earth will mourn you.”
The palace doors slammed shut between them. Leaving Noah back in his world without even the last word to go with. Worthless. Words like that- Weak. Worthless. still flashed through his brain sometimes, the only memories he still carried from his time before... from before.
“I’m not worthless,” he muttered, to the dirt beneath his bare feet. The kids had run off. The crowd was dispersing. No one cared to hear his argument. He glared one final time at the doors to the palace.
How horrible of a person must the prince be if that was the type of man they wanted to marry him off to?
“Hey,” a hand on his shoulder. Casey, of course. “Let’s go home, come on.”
Noah didn’t nod, didn’t sigh, didn’t acknowledge the thousand and one things wrong with this life. He just turned and followed Casey back into the alleys, ducking this way and that around the city until they came to the abandoned, decayed building he and Casey were calling home these days.
They climbed up the half-rotted stairs, still silent. Reaching the top floor, Casey entered first, immediately going to his makeshift bed and plopping down with a sigh, rooting through his pack for anything else useful he might’ve stolen today.
Noah forced the door closed with his shoulder, then went to the far wall, where the bricks had crumbled away enough for him to look out at the city, and at the palace. It seemed to shine at all hours of the day and night, a beacon in the city. As dirty and dark as these streets could be, the palace seemed so untouched by it all.
Noah traced the outline of the building with his eyes, wondering what life was like for people who didn’t have to steal every day to survive. He didn’t actually like his life out here, though he’d never admit it. He was good at being a thief, but he didn’t enjoy it. He wanted to be so much more than what he was, but he couldn’t be. He was stuck, no honor or pride. No way out.
Someday, he thought, telling Casey only in his head. Someday we’ll live in a place like that. And never have any worries at all.
*******
“That’s it! We’re leaving,” the doors that led out to the pasture were flung open with a bang, startling Lily out of her reading.
“Your Highness! What-?”
“I have never been more insulted in my life,” the man grumbled, not breaking stride on his way to the front doors.
“You’re leaving?” she followed him quickly, trying to slow his process, trying to figure out what was going on. He had a stain across the front of his shirt, what looked like juice.
“Good luck marrying him off!” And then the man, his guards, his processional, were gone.
He had only been here an hour.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath to center herself, and headed towards the pasture. “Luke!”
There was no answer at first. She went out further, calling for her son again, peering at the stable for any sign of him. There he was, standing by the corral, petting one of his horses. “Luke, I-”
“Rawr!” another voice called out, a small body leaping into her line of sight, blocking Luke. “Rawr!”
“Ethan,” Lily sighed, picking up her younger son. “What did you do? Did you spill your drink on Crown Prince Addington?”
“Aw, don’t blame Ethan,” Luke called out, walking over to join them. He had an empty cup in his hand. Ethan’s juice cup. “He was just playing with him. Weren’t you, buddy?” He took Ethan out of Lily’s arms, spinning him around. “You were just playing with that overdressed, self-absorbed Prince, weren’t you?”
Lily’s eyes narrowed, looking back and forth at both of her sons. “Luke, we talked about this. You can’t keep-”
“He was insufferable, Mother. Pompous and arrogant without a shred of compassion,” Luke shook his head, holding Ethan a little closer. “He hates kids. How could you ask me to consider someone like that?”
“It’s not me asking, Luke,” she tried again. “It’s the law. The law says you must be-”
“Must be married to a prince,” he finished for her, sing-songing. He turned back to the bench by the stable, setting Ethan down next to him.
“By your next birthday,” she reminded him.
“I know,” he grumbled.
“You’ve only got three more days!” she tried to keep her voice- and her emotions- on lockdown. Once again, she wasn’t successful.
“The law is wrong,” Luke said yet again, their same argument over and over. He kept his voice soft, though, as Ethan climbed into his lap. “When or if I get married, I want it to be for love. For... for anything real. Not this.”
“Sweetie, we’ve talked about this,” she said gently, sitting down next to them. “It’s just the way it is. It doesn’t have to be a bad thing, but it’s your duty.”
“All I do is my duty!” Luke burst out. “I’ve never been outside the palace walls! This isn’t a life, Mother, it’s a term of service. I didn’t ask for it.”
“It’s your birthright, just like it was mine,” she reminded him.
“Well, I don’t want just this. I want... I want to experience things. I want to see something new. I’ve never done anything on my own, I don’t even have any real friends!”
“Hey!” Ethan turned around on Luke’s lap, eyeing him with a pout.
“Except you, Ethan,” Luke amended, grinning affectionately. Satisfied, Ethan turned back around to study his mother warily, just as Luke’s expression went back to a stubborn glare.
For a second Lily felt ganged up on, which was ridiculous. She was the one in charge. “Luke, I’m sorry you feel this way right now, but you won’t always. You know how important this is, how you- as a prince, how you owe this city to be-”
“Well, maybe I don’t want to be a prince anymore,” Luke snapped.
“Luke,” she started, then stopped. Tried to reign in her temper. This obviously wasn’t going to get solved right this minute, but the ominous weight of ‘three more days’ was on her shoulders. She sighed. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Because when you turn twenty-one, you will be married. End of story.” She stood up and walked away before he could argue anymore, before any more of his criticisms or refusals could hurt her feelings anymore.
He just didn’t get it, did he?
Re-entering the palace, she turned back to the throne room to finish reading her reports and paperwork... and nearly collided with someone walking in the opposite direction. “Oh!” she cried out, startled, hand over her heart. “Reid, I didn’t see you.”
“Your Majesty,” her chief advisor inclined his head. “My apologies.” He glanced in the direction she had come from. “More problems with your son?”
“Of course,” she sighed, trying to throw a mostly polite smile to Katie, who returned it with the same amount of fake-civility.
“And with his birthday so soon, it must be very hard on you,” Reid nodded along.
Of course it was ‘very hard,’ she wanted to snap. Reid knew it was very hard, everyone who worked in the palace knew it was very hard. But her own troubles distracted her from pointing that out, as did the fact that Reid was one of the few who acknowledged that it was trying for her, not just Luke. “It is.”
“You know,” Reid drew out his words slowly, as he always did when he was beginning to brew an idea in his mind. “There may be a way I can help.”
“Help?” she tried not to let any hope seep out into her voice, but she knew it did. “Help how?”
“Well, I can’t make any promises, of course,” he said smoothly. “But I have to think there’s been some precedence for this- Luke can’t be the first to get proverbial cold feet, right?”
“I suppose that’s true,” Lily agreed half-heartedly. Her own marriage collapse aside, it seemed like every crown prince or princess had been married by the appropriate time. The way things were done. But it was possible, at some point in the past...? “So what can we do? What can you do?”
“To be honest, Your Majesty, I would need access to information I don’t have. You would have to allow me into the Official Records chamber.” Reid looked at her almost blandly, but she knew there was a lot of planning and thinking going on inside.
“Reid, you already-”
“The Confidential Records, Your Majesty,” Reid elaborated. “The ones restricted to yourself and the Royal Family.”
“Are- are you sure?” Lily was thrown by the unusual request. No one used those records without her express permission. No one dared ask. But then, Reid never seemed to think he was like everyone else. And he wasn’t, not really.
“Only if you want my help, of course. If you want to fix this Luke situation without any more people knowing how much he’s refusing his duty, refusing to listen to you...” Reid answered.
Oh. She couldn’t have that. She couldn’t have people talk, question her as a leader (or a mother). “Fine, okay. Yes,” Lily reached into her pocket and pulled out the key to the Confidential Records chamber. “Thank you, Reid. Really.”
He actually smiled. “My pleasure, Your Majesty.”
*******
Once they were sure Lily was safely out of hearing distance, Katie let out an aggravated noise. “I cannot stand that woman,” she fluttered her hands around. “I don’t know how much longer I can take working for her. One of these days, I swear..."
“Calm yourself,” Reid intoned, eyeing the key with a certain amount of satisfaction, enough to let a smile grace his face for a moment. “It won’t be much longer now.”
“You seem so certain,” she grumbled.
“I don’t ‘seem,’” he snapped. “I am. Give me one day with the restricted records. I’ll find exactly what we need to get rid of Her Majesty and the two brats, and then...” another smile. “I’ll be in charge.”
*******
He managed to wait until nightfall.
Luke stayed in his room, ear pressed to the door until he was sure no one else was around. He was dressed in clothing he’d stolen (regretfully, of course) from the servants’ laundry room. And now, with one last glance at the room he’d lived in (been forced in) for the last twenty years... he slid out into the hallway.
His next stop was the room at the end of the hall. He snuck inside, determinedly not looking at the decorations on the walls, the handmade drawings of horses, of two princes holding hands. He walked to the little bed by the window instead, kneeling down next to it.
Ethan was asleep, dead to the world. Luke stared at him, memorizing his features. For a second, he tried to picture Ethan five years from now, ten years from now. What would he look like? Would he look like Luke at all? Would he remember Luke?
But then the second passed, and Luke steeled himself. He kissed the top of Ethan’s head softly, inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry, buddy,” he whispered, barely any noise at all. “But I have to do this. I can’t have my life lived for me. I hope you understand one day. Please, please be okay.”
He stood up, moved to the window by the bed. Right outside Ethan’s window was the path to the stables. Next to the stables was the lowest and least protected point in the palace walls. His escape.
One last glance at Ethan, and Luke climbed out the window. Silently, ready and on the lookout for any guards or servants, Luke made it down to the pasture. The horses living there had been with Luke for years. He’d seen horses be born and die there. Penned in. He couldn’t live like that.
A look left, a look right, and he hoisted himself up the nearest tree by the wall, climbing his way to the top of the wall. He paused there, just before leaping over, the palace looming on one side and freedom on the other. “Goodbye,” he whispered.
And then he jumped.
CHAPTER TWO