A Fatal Bond

Aerilyn “Touch me again and I'll break your wrist!” I didn't bother to look at the drunk fool I'd just pick pocketed. His hand had brushed against my ass so I took his wallet… as a warning! Is there a trade fairer than that? He muttered something behind me but I was already walking off. The coins in my pocket were heavy and it soothed my pride more than his slurred cursed ever would. My eyes scanned the area, the undercity never slept and I'm proud to say I don't sleep too. Well, not if I wanted to stay alive. The streets crawled with low lives like me—thieves, prostitutes, dealers—the kind of crowd no one misses when they disappeared. Club pandemonium’s bass thumped through the cracked pavement. The call girls laughed with fake delight while heavily built men did drugs under the rusted rail like it wasn't a new sight too. I slipped through them like smoke, very quick. “You got a lighter?” A voice asked behind me. I quickly turned, enough to show him the knife in my palm. “Do I look like I smoke?” He backed off. Smart. Then my stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in a day and half and that's when I saw my victim with his thick wallet poking from his back pocket like an invitation. All I had to do was brush past him and just like that, another dinner was mine. I ducked into a quieter alley and opened the wallet. My eyes widened at the sight—- Notes and coins, enough to get me from tonight till noon tomorrow. I tossed the wallet into the dumpster and headed for the food stall. “Soup. Two lambs. Loaf of bread” I said, slapping the coins on the vendor's counter. “Hurry up! I’m starving.” The thin, tall food seller looked up from the vegetables he was cutting and flashed me a smile, revealing two missing front teeth as he took the money and placed it in his apron’s pocket. “A beautiful night to you, Miss,” he said. “The soup would be ready in a few minutes. Sit.” He gestured to a cluster of shabby chairs and tables, arranged beside his stall. A few men sat there already, engrossed in their meal and conversations with their weapons testing carelessly at their feet. From the look of these men, I could easily tell that they were the type of trouble that I avoided at all costs. I turned back to the food seller, my face expressionless and my lips pressed in a thin line as I stretched forth an open palm. “Give me my money back. I can’t wait. I’ll eat somewhere else.” “What money?” The man said with a smirk, and I knew in that moment that I’d been outsmarted. Damn it. I should’ve gotten my food first before handing over the money. I’d thought with my stomach, not my brain. I couldn’t hassle him for the money because that would mean creating a scene, which would lead to the royal guards arresting me for disorder and throwing me in the dungeons of the palace—a place I wouldn’t dare return to. Now, I was left with two options: sit and wait for a few minutes or leave the money for him and go to bed hungry. I chose the former. “Five minutes,” I growled, and he responded with a nod. I glared at his stupid smiling face and I withdrew my hand, balling it into a fist as I walked to take a seat in the corner, pulling my hood lower. Suddenly, the noisy street grew silent, followed by murmurs and the sound of heavy boots stomping the ground in perfect rhythm. I looked up just in time to see twelve royal guards, clothed in red and gold uniforms, their eyes scanning the dirty street and its inhabitants of mischief. My blood ran cold and I yanked my hood lower, turning my face towards the dirty wall beside me, my heart beating fast against my chest. People cleared out of their way as no one wanted trouble, not even the bad guys. Two guards began placing posters on the cracked walls of the alley. One placed it right on the food stall. Another guard pinned it across the street. A few people walked over, whispering in curiosity. I didn’t need to look. If the royal guards were placing posters at this hour, it could only mean that someone was in trouble and the situation was really critical. I clenched my jaw and kept my hood down, my eyes fixed on a dent in the greasy wooden table in front of me. Don’t look. Don’t move. The guards didn’t speak. They just did their job and disappeared down the street in silence, their boots stomping rhythmically the same way they’d come. When they’d finally gone, I let out the breath I’d been holding. I’d been hiding, stealing, and running for twelve long years, yet they still hadn’t caught me. I muttered under my breath, “Thank the gods,” and reached up to adjust my hoodie again. Then, I felt a shift in the air. It was as though someone was watching me. I turned slowly and saw the same group of men from earlier. But this time, they were no longer eating, they were staring at me. The two of them were whispering, their heads bent close to each other, but their eyes kept drifting towards me. My instincts got heightened and my hearing got sharper. “It could be her,” one of them muttered. “Are you sure? I think she’s too small,” the other one replied. “And that one has bright green eyes.” “She’s hiding her face,” the first one said. “And I think she’s been hiding in the under city, the smelly air must’ve polluted the color of her eyes.” Polluted eyes? I almost laughed, but something stopped me. Green eyes. My blood turned cold. They were talking about me. I stood quickly, pushing the chair back, but not too fast to make a scene. Their eyes followed my every movement. I turned, trying to calm my racing heart, and then, I finally looked at the poster beside the food stall, and stomach dropped. It was me. The photo was old. It was taken years ago when I still lived in the palace as a Princess, but it was clear enough for anyone to see that the girl in the picture was me. My long black hair. My sharp cheekbones. The thin, but visible scar on my chin. My green eyes. Under the photo were written in bold black letters: “WANTED. DEAD OR ALIVE.” “REWARD. ONE CHEST OF GOLD.” “DELIVER TO THR ROYAL PALACE. TO LORD LUCIAN.” Lucian. My cousin. The monster who murdered my parents and stole the crown. I’d hidden from him for twelve years, only to be caught. My chest tightened, and for a second, the memories of the palace coup twelve years ago flashed before my eyes. My vision blurred, and I gripped the edge of the table to steady myself. Breathe. Just breathe. A chill ran down my spine as I heard a whisper behind me. “She’s the one.”