Of Magic and Sand

Chapter 1

"Well, if I were the prince I would hurry up and chose a princess so we can have coronation day and get a feast!" Ziana finally chimed in, putting her yellow shawl higher over her face to hide from two guards who just happened to be walking by. The women chuckled lightly, sounding like a dozen parrots chattering at once.

"Getting into trouble a bit early today, aren't we, Ziana?" Ziana just gave a small laugh, throwing aside the shawl.

"Trouble? Not yet." Ziana said, grinning slightly. "And besides, you're not in trouble unless you get caught."

"Now I've got you!"

Ziana whirled around and came head to chest with the ugly head of guards, Razoul.

"Okay, now I'm in trouble!"

Before Razoul could do anything else, his turban was pushed over his eyes. A small calico cat was sitting on his head, her claws gripping the fabric tightly she hissed, baring her long yellow fangs.

Take that you bastards, don't you dare hurt my Ziana!

"Thanks, Oki." Ziana said, giving the cat a small salute. Oki gave a high pitched meow in return. Razoul pushed his turban back up, sending Oki onto the ground.

"Gotta keep one jump ahead of the breadline" Ziana murmured under her breath as she grabbed Oki by the scruff of the neck, and took off at a sprint with the guards in hot pursuit.

She ducked into the marketplace, underneath a stall's counter, and watched as the guards ran past. Unfortunatly, one of them turned around last minute and their eyes met. Oops.

Ziana took off running again, pushing barrels down behind her as she ran. Oki dug her claws into her next as she flew by.

Slow down, Ziana! You are going to get us both killed!

"Riffraff! Street rat!" The guards yelled, as the barrels broke and washed thick goopy molasses all over them.

Ziana rounded a corner, but then skidded to a stop as she saw four guard walking by with swords pulled out.

Quickly, Ziana pulled herself up onto another rooftop before they saw her and sighed in relief as she watched the guards run underneath her. She grabbed a dusty looking carpet and jumped off the roof, barely missing a pile of manure.

When she finally did touch down, she threw the carpet aside and set Oki down next to her. She paused, listening for pursuit but all she heard were the calls of the shopkeepers and the chirp of the birds. She was safe from the guards, for now.

"And now, my fine furry friend" She said, breaking the loaf of bread into two and handing a piece off to Oki. "We eat!" Oki gave several happy meows, taking a bite out of her piece of bread.

Ziana was about to do the same, in the shadows of the alleyway pair of dirt covered children, digging through a trash can. The boy held up a moldy fish skeleton, squinting at it as if to see if it was still good. Ziana watched them for a moment, and then realized that they needed the bread more than she did. She walked over to them, holding out the bread for them with a smile.

"Here you go, I'm sorry there isn't more." She said softly.

The young boy hesitated slightly, but eventually he took it with a grateful look.

There was a sound of trumpets, making the two small children jump and scatter further back into the alleyway. Ziana turned around towards the main street and watched as several guards and a beautiful woman on a snow-white horse were marching towards the palace. Ziana craned her neck slightly, and marveled at how well dressed this woman was in her expensive silk robes. Her horse was decorated in gold and white feathers, and they sparkled in the morning sunlight.

"Another princess, no doubt." A voice from the crowd murmured as they watched in fascination as she passed by.

"How long do you think this one will last before the prince rejects her too?"

Ziana was about to reply, but then Oki, who had been watching from one of the rafters jumped down and darted across the crowd into the street. She reached up playfully to try to snatch one of the feathers hanging down off the white horse. The princess shrieked loudly, causing her horse to rear up.

"It's a rat! Ew, kill it! Kill it!" she shouted, her beautiful face transformed into a snarl, pointing at Oki.

Ziana moved in a flash. She blocked the guards blow at Oki.

"You better watch where you're swinging that thing. You almost killed my pet cat." she said, scooping up Oki in her arms.

The guard bellowed loudly and then smacked Zinia in the face,Get out of my way, abysmal little street filth."

The princess riding on the horse pulled out a frilly fan and waved her face a few times.

"He's not wrong, you know." She said, and then she kicked her horse and resumed her pathway to the palace. Zinia watched her go, her cheekbone throbbing from where the guard had struck her, all of sudden felt like the loneliest girl in the whole world.

"I am not abysmal." She said in a low voice as the gates slammed shut. Oki started purring and rubbed up against her pants leg, looking rather concerned.

"Oki, I'm fine. C'mon. Let's just go home..." Oki meowed loudly and then hopped up to perch on her shoulder. She stood up and began walking back to the edge of town using the alleyways.

After all, the guards were still out there looking for a runaway street rat.