The ride was the exact opposite of comfortable. The robbers seemed to make it their mission to roll over-Every. Single. Rock- they could find. By the end of the ride, my body was sore in all the places I didn't even know could be sore.
Was this how adventure feels like?
Finally, after I've tumbled into nearly every bag of loud clunking treasure there was, the wagon finally stopped.
The robbers had been singing- loudly and horribly- for the entire ride, so they didn't hear my obnoxious bumping. The singing stopped as the wagon stopped, and I heard footsteps coming nearer. Probably one of the men, judging by his heavy footstep.
Oh crap- I need to get out of here!
I clumsily- though much smoother than I thought- rolled to the back and hid behind one of the bigger bags, full of books, for some reason. It's not like we had much books left, after the fire.
I could hear the higher, more feminine voice of the woman as she instructed the 2 men to carry out the bags ("carefully!") and moving them over a few steps, then a loud thumping noise as they dropped it onto the ground.
They came back and repeated the action with the next bag.
I needed to go now. Now or never.
With all of their backs turned, concentrating on the treasures, I jumped up- bumped my head on the cover- and ripped the fabric open with the force of my head.
Good thing the woman was yelling too loudly for them to hear me. Note to self: next time I want to hire a band of robbers, make sure not to get bossy ones with a high voices.
I unceremoniously leaped over the edge of the wagon and rolled straight behind a large bush. (How plot convenient!) Right in time too, as the robbers turned and retrieved the bag full of books. They've probably stolen all of the library books we have left, though I could think of no possible reason for them to do so.
I opened a part of the bush to peek through, ripping the sleeves of my nightgown in the process. Aw man, this was favourite one!
"BE GENTLE, YOU IDIOTS!" A loud shrilling interrupted my thoughts of going on a nightgown shopping spree and I snapped my eyes back to where the woman stood, glowering at the men and the book bag, its contents out, on the floor.
"Sorry, Gravia, it was an accident!" One of the man, the taller, sturdier looking one said.
"Accident? Accidents do not happen!" The woman- Gravia- snapped. "Pick those books up. I-We, need them to survive.
Huh. How important can those books be, honestly? I'd looked through all of the books whilst searching for memory bubble and coma books, and the others were all useless titles like, "Cooking for the Dummies", "How to Annoy Your Parents 101", "The Basics For Being a Ninja," and "All You Need to Know about LOVE!". I see no need for any of these robbers to read those books, except maybe for the cooking one.
The men scrambled to pick up all the books and carried them to an entrance to, what looked like, a cave. They walked in, carrying their treasures, and disappeared into the darkness.
Of course, a normal human with a logistic brain would leave and get backup from the castle, where they have a huge army of soldiers. But I guess I'm not a normal human, I'm a normal queen. (Cady is very proud of that one.)
After a few seconds, I crawled and stood up, walking stealthy- or so I hope- after them, glancing back only once to see the black mustang looking at me curiously and flicking his tail back and forth. Well, good to know someone here's got my back.
I slipped in the cave, only to discover it wasn't very long or deep. I crouched behind a big rock and eavesdropped on the conversation they were having, sitting around a campfire on logs. How cozy.
"It's so cold here. Hunter, throw in some more of those books."
Hunter, the taller one of the two men, grabbed a stack of books from inside one of their tents and chucked them into the fire. Instantly, the flames soared higher and the smoke drifted down, making my eyes water. I pinched my nose to stop myself from sneezing out loud.
"Trevor, move over." Hunter said in a gruff tone, pushing Trevor over on the log so he could sit down.
"Eat up, boys." Gravia said, handing them each a bowl of appetite depriving porridge.
"What is this?" Trevor asked, in a disgusted tone, watching the little piles of soggy stuff floating around.
"Rat porridge." Gravia said, sounding quite proud of herself.
The men each gave their own sigh and started slurping the porridge loudly, though most of them dripped down their chins. I turned away, disgusted at their manners, and came face-to-face with the black mustang.
He snorted in my face, and I cringed away. Though the horse was beautiful, years of travelling on the road with less than little to eat had chipped away at his beauty, and it showed. I felt a pang of sadness for this horse, who could've been a competitive champion, but the robbers must have stolen him away from some wealthy farm and claimed him as theirs.
A hatred for the robbers welled up inside me, which didn't cease as Gravia snapped at the horse to come to her rudely.
"Come here, you ugly creature. You're blocking the breeze."
As the mustang turned away to its owner, my coat zipper got caught on the edge of its saddle and I lurched forward, barley avoiding the wheels of the wagon behind him. I collapsed into the ground in full view of the little crew.
I heard the gang gasp in shock as I tugged my coat away, ripping my zippers in the process.
"Oh my, oh my, what do we have here?" Gravia said, in a surprised tone that gave me a feeling of dread.
I swallowed and mustered up as much courage as I could. "You stole from my castle, and I hereby declare you three arrested for thievery."
There was a moment of silence, before they threw their heads back and laughed. At me.
How dare they!
I really wished I had some sort of secret power then, and engulf me in a magical blinding light that would leave them all shocked and speechless.
But of course, this was reality.
They finally stopped laughing and Hunter said, in a mocking tone, "Oh no. Hear that, guys? We should definitely put our hands up and surrender to this child wannabe queen here."
Rage boiled inside me, and I lay there, glaring at them as hard as I could.
A flicker of recognition flashed in Gravia's eyes before she held up a hand to stop the others from laughing. "Wait, you're Hope's daughter? The old queen of the castle?"
My heart leapt at the mention of my mother's name. Still, I must've looked surprised as I said, indignantly, "Yes. So what?"
"Oh my dear girl, I might just be your godmother! Your mom and me go quite a ways back."
YOU ARE READING
Gold's Rule ✔️
Fanfiction「COMPLETED」 Gold thought losing her parents was hard, but when she loses someone even closer, her life can't seem to go on. She still has to run a kingdom and everyone expects her to be okay. How could she be? But when she discovers something sho...
