The Prince

Chapter 5- Street Urchins

Stepping out onto the stone-slab doorstep, I looked around for the girl, and squinted slightly. The noon sun was bright.

Maybe you should have come out earlier and on time, Jack, my thoughts taunted, then you wouldn't have had to deal with the flaming sun or her flaming eyes.

Just as I thought the dragon had unfairly deserted me, I caught sight of her slim, small figure leaning against a shop wall. Mouse-brown hair casted shadows across her tipped downward face. She was studying something in her hands.

Before I'd even gone two steps, her head snapped up and her eyes focused directly on me. The studied object was slipped into her pocket as she walked over.

"We'll start with the market," she said shortly, brushing past without making eye contact.

I close my mouth that had opened for another apology and followed her. I'd apologise later.

We, or rather she, walked briskly through the streets, sliding between crowds of people or using the back-alleys as shortcuts when needed.

I could have sworn I'd seen her hands nip into pockets, but after I'd focus my vision, she'd be pacing ahead gracefully.

Why did you have to steal from this obnoxious girl, Jack? You could have at least picked someone less...cocky.

I felt her eyes catch briefly onto my lower body, before flickering away. I held back a smirk.

After a few minutes of ducking and weaving between people, she spoke.

"Why don't you eat your food?"

It took a moment for me to realise she was talking about the package I had forgotten about, still clutched in my hands. The warm fat was beginning to seep through.

Oh.

"It's not mine," I told her.

She gave me a look that said she thought I was crazy.

"I got it for you," I explained. "I was just waiting until you calmed down."

An extremely lady-like snort left her nostrils.

"I am calm. Hand it over."

She held out her hand and I dumped the parcel in it, obeying despite her lack of manners. She unwrapped it and took out a bun, stuffing the other one back to me.

"You can have both," I said.

"I'm fine."

She didn't waste any time savouring the bread, and ate it in a shorter time than I had. I was about to offer the second one to her, but thought against it. My head might get bitten off if I did.

I wrapped it up and dropped it in my pocket, incase she changed her mind later.

*~*~*~*~*~*

We'd searched the market through and through, with still no sign of that god-forsaken emerald.

Lynn peered at the bustling stalls around us, fingers drumming on the wall she sat on and her feet swinging childishly.

I had decided against climbing up on to the wall, not fancying my chances of a broken leg, and instead watched her try to get up there for my own entertainment.

But try was indeed the wrong word.

With a stretched grip on the top of the rough stone, she'd hauled herself up in one fluid motion, and landed in a tidy position. A smirk had formed on her lips as she glanced down at me, a mix between showing off and taunting.