AUTHOR'S NOTES
THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC ABOUT TORTALL; SO DON'T BE
SURPRISED IF THIS PLOT DOESN'T ALWAYS STAY TRUE TO THE
LIONESS QUARTET. HOPE YOU ENJOY!
~AURORA
PS: MY EMAIL IS VenusGurl2000@go.com AND REMEMBER
WHEN WRITING ABOUT BAD THINGS THAT I'M HUMAN TOO.
PSS: I WANT TO GIVE A BIG OLD THANK YOU TO LILA FOR
LISTENING TO THIS STORY SO MANY TIMES I THINK HER EARS
FELL OFF!
DISCLAMERS: GEORGE, JON, AND ALANNA BELONG TO
TAMORA PIERCE. BUT I DO OWN AURORA AND CO-OWN LILA, SO
DON'T STEAL THEM!
Hi, my name is Aurora Contegue: I'm 14 years old, with honey blonde
hair, baby blue eyes and a proud 5'7" in height. I live in the crowded, busy,
city of Corus in Tortall. I sleep and eat in the Dancing Dove Pub, I don't live
in The PUB I live upstairs in my own room. The only reason I live there and
not in the streets is because I have a hand with thievery. In short, I'm the pupil
of The King Of Thieves! He hides out here, along with the twenty other
thieves, murderers and an occasional Noble. But I'm just the normal teenage
girl, who was picked out of a city of fair male thieves, and was placed as his
pupil! (I'm not bragging!)
Sorry I can't talk much longer, I'm on the run right now; I got caught
pick-pocketing the butcher, and there are at least 8 guards chasing me on the
roofs of the city, not much of a challenge.
" Ok, ok, Dancing dove, Dancing Dove. There it is, around 2 roofs
away," I thought.
I jumped to the next roof, then turned around and went towards the
guards that were chasing me, and then suddenly I ran and jumped on top of a
very tall chimney. The old geezer guards couldn't take the moves I was putting
on them, and at least 4 of them fell off the roof, and the others fainted!
" Am I good or am I good?!"
I finally made it to the roof of the Dancing Dove; I quickly walked to the
fire ladder, tossing my new bag of gold in hand. Then a very strange sound,
CREEK, CREEK.
" Uh-oh"
The roof beneath me collapsed, and I went right through with it. And
with a THUNK I landed right in The King Of Thieves lap!
" Oh, Hi George, what's up?" I giggled the most nervous laugh in my
life, would he kill me? Or just outlaw me from this town?
" Aurora," he said in a fairly calm, but aggravated voice. I started to
sweat.
By now the whole pub had gathered around to see what he was going to
do to me. I could imagine the headlines tomorrow, YOUNG THIEF KILLED
IN RAGE!
" I love the shirt, George, stole it from a Noble? No, no, too easy, The
King has to be!" I was only stalling for time, I hated this shirt!
" Need a way to leave, a ha!" I thought.
" I see your wine glass in half empty, I'll go and fill it up to the very
tippy top. Kay? Ok." I started to head for the kitchen, when I realized that
George had a very firm grip on the seem of my shirt.
" May I talk to you in the back room. Now."
I was slowly dragged to the back room wine closet. I thought that if I
could hit him over the head with a bottle I could make a run for it, but no, I
didn't want to hurt him. George entered and shut the door behind him. He
motioned me over to an empty beer barrel.
" So what is it this time? No, no let me guess. Let's see." He put his
index finger up to his cheek. " You were being careless when you were pick
pocketing, and at least 8 guards were chasing you onto the roofs of the city."
He was pretty close so far. " When you lost the guards, you headed for the
Dancing Dove. Once you were here, you headed for the fire ladder, but before
you could make it, the roof that you were standing on collapsed underneath
you, and you landed in MY lap. Am I correct?"
" It wasn't that simple," I think that is always the best line to use when
you're knee deep in trouble.
" Then do tell," he said
" You were right about most of it, but I wasn't bein' careless when I
pick-pocketed! This flower girl, she claimed that the purse that I was carrying
was hers, which it was not," I paused " It was the butchers, anyhow, she got 8
guards on me, and she got a purse."
" Then what is the purse in your hand now?" He pointed out the bag I
held.
" Oh this? This is the bag I stole. I always keep an extra bag so if
someone takes the one I'm carrying they got a dud."
" Smart girl." Then he looked at me sternly, " But you will have to be 10
times more careful in the market place from now on. If you're to become a true
member of the Rogue, you must prove yourself as a bold-blooded thief. Now
be off with you, I was in the middle of a meeting, young one." He opened the
door for me, and I was bruise free. Now to find that slimy looking flower girl!
I exited the Dancing Dove only to find that my stomach was rumbling,
so I went to Della's Chicken Hut, the newest way to eat chicken was to have it
boiled in oil so it's crunchy, and Della's had the best oil chicken in all of
Corus! I got to the hut and ordered, then sat down next to a girl around my age
in a raggy old skirt. I got my chicken and started to eat when I noticed that I
recognized this girl from somewhere, but where? After I finished my food I
went to find that slimy little flower girl. And then it came to me. That girl…in
the rags… that's where I saw her before… that was the cheesy little flower girl!
" Where in Corus did she go?" I whispered and then I saw a slight
glimpse of the flower girl going into an alley by the Chicken Hut, so I followed
her. I checked to see if my crossbow was hidden safely under my side pack,
just in case little miss flower is stronger than she looks. Suddenly I felt cold
steel next to my neck. Someone had come up behind me, with a knife!
" Hand all of your gold over, this is my alley, pay the toll!" Screamed a
girl, sounding around my age with a mean attitude. I handed her my extra dud
bag, she let go. While she was distracted with opening the bag, I took out my
crossbow.
" Hey, over here little miss flower girl. I think you should give the bag
back." During this whole time I had the crossbow aimed right at her nose.
" I don't want any trouble, and I don't want to hurt you so I would
leave." said a mysteriously calm flower girl
" Listen I don't think either of us wants to have a fight in an alley, so
listen here," She was moving forward to hear my proposal, obviously she
wasn't as stupid as she looked. " You, missy, got me into a lot of trouble with
my boss, so I am prepared to get that bag back (it was one of my favorites!) in
the most civilized way. A roof top fight, one weapon each, and the fight can be
on any of the city's roofs. Deal?" I put out my hand with my knife hidden up
my sleeve, just in case she took a shake for granted.
" Deal. Noon tomorrow on top of old Farmer's house. Be there." And
with that she made a run for the street.
" What was she talking about me not coming, blah, stupid girl, you have
no idea what you just gotten involved in," I thought.
**********************************************************
The next morning came as fast as the last day had gone, and before I
knew it, it was 11 o'clock! Why didn't George wake me? I told him to! Now
he was going to see the ruff and rumble Aurora, not the silly little thief!
I stomped my way to his bedroom, and knocked at his door till my
knuckles were white.
" Hang on, hang on," Said a bright and cheery George. He sounded like
he had been up for hours!
" Who is it?"
" Aurora Contegue, remember me? The girl who you were supposed to
wake up this morning at dawn?! " I screamed through his door.
He opened his door, and with a look of humor in his face.
" What in the world is so funny?" I scrunched up my face and tried to
not slouch.
" You. For your information I did try to wake you, you just said
'Five more minutes, just five more minutes' so I decided to lay off until
11:30." I was starting to turn bright red with anger.
"YOU TRIED TO WAKE ME UP THEN JUST GAVE UP! WHAT
ARE YOU? A QUITTER? MAN!!!!" I yelled.
" Do you want to make it to that duel or not? It's 11:05 now, so I would
get a move on," he said calmly. I started to run for my room to get my staff,
when George yelled, " Remember I'll be meeting with some very important
clients today, so try to stay out of too much trouble, and watch your back!"
I ran to the Top of old Farmer's roof, I was 10 minutes early! Ha, and
George thought I was going to be late! I sure showed him! I then saw a figure
come off of the fire ladder, in a dark green cloak, it was her; I was ready to win
my favorite purse back, and to show the Rogue that I was a true-blooded thief
and fighter.
" Ready?" she asked
" Ready."
We started to circle each other. She has chosen a long knife, a very
powerful weapon, and so I circled on, looking for her weak spot. Suddenly she
jabbed in at my left shoulder. I dodged just in time. That shoulder had been
injured when I fell into the Dancing Dove, and she had found my only weak
spot! I hit her knife off into the air, and it landed in an alleyway. She was now
defenseless. I had the upper hand! Then without warning she kicked my staff
in the same direction. So she wanted a hand-to-hand fight, so be it. I jumped
to the next roof over, and she followed. Everywhere I went she came right
after me. I thought if I could tire her out, I would have a better chance. It didn't
seem to be working. When I jumped to the Dancing Dove, she tried to strangle
my neck; I throw her right off me. (That was a handy move that the owner of
the pub taught me.) Now we were in a hand-to-hand struggle, she had my hair
and I had hers. Pain was going through both of our scalps, when she stepped
through the hole that I made yesterday! I could only hope that George and his
very important clients were not in his seat. To my luck his clients were not in
his seat, but George was!
" Darn it!" I thought.
THUNK! We landed swiftly on his lap, he didn't seem surprised at all.
"Let me guess, the flower girl?" he stated. The girl was in awe that this
was the King Of Thieves. So I had to speak.
" Yes, your Majesty. I am truly sorry for the intrusion, please forgive us.
The fight got a little out of hand." I held my head down with respect, seeing
that the clients were in a state of shock.
" I'm Lila, the flower girl, I am very pleased to meet you, and here have
this." She handed him the bag that was MINE!! George got us up, looked at
me to say both of you get out of here, and there I went pulling the so-called
'Lila' with me.
I opened the door to my room, and sat Lila down on my bed; she had a
look of daze on her face.
" So you know 'HIM'?" she asked, obviously very amazed
" Duh, I'm his pupil, the only female Rogue thief in the city! Pretty cool
huh?" I suddenly snapped out of this 'Buddy Buddy' thing and got to business.
" Anyway, why in the world did you steal my purse. No, no, that wasn't
stealing that was pure maidenliness. 'Help me, she has my purse, my purse!'
Come on, anyway you got a dud, no gold or silver in it." I gloated at my
seeming smartness.
" I needed the money, and you didn't seem to be needing it." She barked.
" Give me a break, you probably are just a normal thief like the rest of
us!" I stood up and got right in her face " So, don't act like you don't do this
often!"
" I don't, I only steal to live, unlike you. I sell flowers, and when
business is bad, and I have to eat, I steal. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I do."
Lila started to walk around my room, mostly talking to herself, but I could
understand most of it, " What do people expect me to do, starve?! I was left on
the streets when I was 5, who would do that to a little girl?" Tears started to go
down her face. " I can tell you who, my never there parents, that's who. They
never cared about my brother and I, never. But, but, we were strong, and my
brother, Eric, he was took away, to an orphanage, or something. So as you can
see," she turned back to me, with wide eyes, " I don't live in the lap of luxury, I
work for my life, and life hasn't repaid me yet."
" I'm sorry, I didn't know." I looked down at the floor, in a sort of in
amazement at her story.
For the longest time there was silence. I had to say something, but what?
She's one of the nicest girls I've met in my life as a thief; could we become
friends? Well, silence isn't going to do anything about it, so speak!
" Ummm, well, you can keep the purse, I have plenty."
" Thanks." She paused in thought. " Why don't we lay the past in the
past, and just start over, OK?" She held out her hand, and I returned the offer,
this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
**********************************************************
Over the next few weeks, Lila and I have had to clean out the stalls next
to the Dancing Dove, since we dropped in on George's important meeting. But
on the bright side of things Lila and I are really good friends, and my
coronation into the Rogue is in 1 day!
" Can you believe it Lila? I'll be a true member of The Rogue in just
1day! I can hardly wait!" We were up in my chambers, sitting on the bed.
" That's really cool Aurora, but," she seemed very distracted by
something outside.
" Oh, don't worry Lila, you're invited. I mean, what kind of friend
would I be if I didn't invite you?"
" No, not those, come over here." I walked over to my window looking
out to the castle.
" What?"
" See that man down there, in the black cloak? He has been down there
for the last hour, around the same amount of time that we have been in this
room. And to add to that, for the last week, I've seen that very guy, following
us around the town." She closed the curtains.
" That's really strange, could he be stalking us?" She shook her head,
she had obviously been looking into this man.
" No, the black cloak that he is wearing indicates that he is of the Cirrus.
The are blood enemies of the Rogue, only a few left, I think they may be after
George." Lila started to move around the room, like she always did when she
was about to get really into something.
" Ok, well, why don't we just tell George?"
" Just my plan, but we are going to take this one step farther, but only
after you coronation." Lila was determined to get me involved in this, wasn't
she?
We made our way to George's room. I knocked on his door, and he
answered.
" Coming." The door swung open, and almost hit Lila.
" Nice aim, George," I said sarcastically.
" I'm very sorry Lila, but could you two come back later? I have some
very important work to do." I realized that George looked very pale and way
thin. He hasn't been out of his room since last week, too long without going
outside.
" No George, this is very important!" I gave him my wide, evil eye; he
knew that meant that I had some sort of information to give him.
" Ok, come in, but don't touch anything." He seemed very testy. Lila
didn't seem too keen on going in, but I pushed her.
His room was filled with tons of papers, mostly blue prints, and some
were weapon prints.
" George, we think that you're being stalked by one of the Cirrus. There
has been a man in a black cloak, following us around town and waiting outside
the building," Lila said.
" Don't you think I don't know that?" he yelled.
" Well, we thought you might, but just wanted to make sure." Both of us
started to head for his door when George started to talk.
" They aren't stalking me, they're stalking you two." I turned around in a
flash, with my jaw hanging down.
" What?"
" They know what I'm planning to do at your coronation, and they aren't
sure which one of you is Aurora. So both of you are in great danger."
" What are you planning to do at my coronation?" I asked.
" Well, I guess I should tell you now. I was planning to coronate you as
the Princess of the Thieves. That means that if I ever stepped down, or was
killed, you would take over. So obviously, the Cirrus wants to kill you so there
would be no heir, and they hoped that I would be shattered at your death, and
they would have an opportune time to kill me, and take the Rogue."
" Oh" was all that I managed to pull out. Me, the Princess of the
Thieves?!
" I can only guess that you were planning to get to the Cirrus before they
could get to Aurora? Am I right?" Lila was on the ball today.
" Correct, so if you will leave now I will be able to plan the attack." He
opened the door, and pushed us out with the door hitting our butts.
" That is sooooo cool Aurora, you will be the heir of the King!"
" Precisely, and that's why after tonight we're going to take down that
black cloaked men!" I was now as determined as Lila was, and the Cirrus man
will never bother us again!
**********************************************************
My coronation was coming very fast. Lila and I only had 5 hours to get
to the Cirrus man's hideout and to find out all that he knew! We headed out at
3:00 in the morning; I picked the locks to George's room and got his maps to
the main Cirrus camp. We were ready! We decided to walk to the camp, it
was only a couple of miles away from this town, and besides that we had no
horses to ride.
**********************************************************
*****************
Two hours later, we had found the hideout of the black-cloaked man.
Lila had to make a deal with a tavern owner to get him to tell us, but all's fair in
life and death. He lived in an old cave right outside of the village we were in,
so Lila and I were on the trail.
The cave we went into was obviously lived in. It had old firewood, a bed
mat, enough food to last weeks, and on every single one of the items had the
insignia of the Cirrus on them.
" This has to be the one Lila, all we have to do now is wait." And wait
we did. It was a good 45 minutes before we saw a light heading in this
direction. It was him, in that same black cloak. To our advantage we had the
element of surprise, and that it was still dark, so he couldn't see us. Lila
headed to one side of the entrance of the cave, while I went to the other, with
both of our weapons out. The man went into the cave and BAMM we hit him
on the head, he was out cold!
" Great job, Lila, now can you hand me that rope and I'll tie him up,"
The man woke shortly after we finished tying him; he was still in a sort of daze.
" Wha? Who are you?"
" I am Aurora Contegue and this is my friend Lila, and we are the people
who are holding you for information." I held my staff point to his heart.
" And I would remind you to talk clearly, if you know what I mean?"
Lila seemed very evil at this point, her eyes went very squinty. He nodded
several time before we started the questions.
" Why have you been stalking us?"
" I think you know that answer already," he smirked.
" Don't be a wise owl, you don't have the upper hand of this game!"
Lila cried
" Ok, Ok, I was trying to kill you. He was going to have you be heir,"
" That was an easy one. Now, who sent you to kill me?" He started to
talk, when a sudden green glow came around him, his eyes rolled back, and
then blood rolled out of his mouth, something had killed him.
" Did you do that?" I looked at Lila with disbelief
" No, did you?" Lila asked
" What could have caused him to suddenly chock and die?" Lila
wondered.
" Magic, this boss of his must be a very strong sorcerer." I assumed.
"And has to be crazy, to kill one of his only followers." I said.
" Someone must not want to be revealed, that's the only answer to it.
But how will we explain a dead man to George?" Lila said.
" I guess he'll have to deal with the truth, but I do hope that he will still
be in one piece by the end of the conversation. I guess I'll bring his dagger, as
proof that he is gone." So we headed out, we had only 2 hours to get back to
Corus, or I'll miss my coronation!
***************************************************************
An hour and 45 minutes later, we had made it back to my room with no
time to spare, but when we entered my room, I found that George was sitting
on my bed. As soon as we were in the door way he ran right over and hugged
both of us in his huge arms.
" Are you two alright? I knew that I should have stopped you when you
broke in to my room!" he kind of questioned and yelled in the same sentence.
" You knew where we went? Then why didn't you stop us?" Lila said.
" I knew that you headed out to find the Cirrus man," his stern look
turned to a look of happiness " I just thought that you needed to handle this on
your own. I'm just glad you two came back in one piece. You didn't kill the
man, did you?" he looked worried.
" No George, we didn't, but before he could answer my question, he
choked and died, really strange." I said, I left out the whole green glow thing, it
might spook him out, but I doubted it.
" Well, did he have a glow to him before he died?" I nodded. " Oh dear,
I knew that they were doing something, but this?" He was talking to himself; I
didn't understand what he was talking about.
" What George? What's wrong?" Lila asked
" Nothing you two shouldn't worry about today, it's a celebration! Any
how you two have to get dressed for the ceremony, and we'll talk about this
later." He left; I grabbed my golden colored dress and headed behind the
changing screen. Lila also grabbed her emerald gown, and changed. In only a
few minutes we were at the party!
**********************************************************
Epilogue
At my coronation I gave the dagger of the Cirrus man to George
as a symbol of my dedication to the Rogue, and with my amazement as
soon as George touched it there was the symbol of the Rogue melded to
it's handle. George gave the object back to me; it was my new weapon
now. I'm a true member of the Rogue, and the thieves also welcomed me
as the new royalty in town. After the ceremony Lila headed out to new
city's, to find new adventures, I guess. As for George, he hasn't change,
but has befriended a new page named Alan of Trebond, and a squire
named Johnny of Conte (his last name sounds familiar), real knights to
be! Other than that my life has been just peachy! Remember, if you ever
drop by the medieval century, look me up.
~Aurora~
THIS IS MY FIRST FANFIC ABOUT TORTALL; SO DON'T BE
SURPRISED IF THIS PLOT DOESN'T ALWAYS STAY TRUE TO THE
LIONESS QUARTET. HOPE YOU ENJOY!
~AURORA
PS: MY EMAIL IS VenusGurl2000@go.com AND REMEMBER
WHEN WRITING ABOUT BAD THINGS THAT I'M HUMAN TOO.
PSS: I WANT TO GIVE A BIG OLD THANK YOU TO LILA FOR
LISTENING TO THIS STORY SO MANY TIMES I THINK HER EARS
FELL OFF!
DISCLAMERS: GEORGE, JON, AND ALANNA BELONG TO
TAMORA PIERCE. BUT I DO OWN AURORA AND CO-OWN LILA, SO
DON'T STEAL THEM!
Hi, my name is Aurora Contegue: I'm 14 years old, with honey blonde
hair, baby blue eyes and a proud 5'7" in height. I live in the crowded, busy,
city of Corus in Tortall. I sleep and eat in the Dancing Dove Pub, I don't live
in The PUB I live upstairs in my own room. The only reason I live there and
not in the streets is because I have a hand with thievery. In short, I'm the pupil
of The King Of Thieves! He hides out here, along with the twenty other
thieves, murderers and an occasional Noble. But I'm just the normal teenage
girl, who was picked out of a city of fair male thieves, and was placed as his
pupil! (I'm not bragging!)
Sorry I can't talk much longer, I'm on the run right now; I got caught
pick-pocketing the butcher, and there are at least 8 guards chasing me on the
roofs of the city, not much of a challenge.
" Ok, ok, Dancing dove, Dancing Dove. There it is, around 2 roofs
away," I thought.
I jumped to the next roof, then turned around and went towards the
guards that were chasing me, and then suddenly I ran and jumped on top of a
very tall chimney. The old geezer guards couldn't take the moves I was putting
on them, and at least 4 of them fell off the roof, and the others fainted!
" Am I good or am I good?!"
I finally made it to the roof of the Dancing Dove; I quickly walked to the
fire ladder, tossing my new bag of gold in hand. Then a very strange sound,
CREEK, CREEK.
" Uh-oh"
The roof beneath me collapsed, and I went right through with it. And
with a THUNK I landed right in The King Of Thieves lap!
" Oh, Hi George, what's up?" I giggled the most nervous laugh in my
life, would he kill me? Or just outlaw me from this town?
" Aurora," he said in a fairly calm, but aggravated voice. I started to
sweat.
By now the whole pub had gathered around to see what he was going to
do to me. I could imagine the headlines tomorrow, YOUNG THIEF KILLED
IN RAGE!
" I love the shirt, George, stole it from a Noble? No, no, too easy, The
King has to be!" I was only stalling for time, I hated this shirt!
" Need a way to leave, a ha!" I thought.
" I see your wine glass in half empty, I'll go and fill it up to the very
tippy top. Kay? Ok." I started to head for the kitchen, when I realized that
George had a very firm grip on the seem of my shirt.
" May I talk to you in the back room. Now."
I was slowly dragged to the back room wine closet. I thought that if I
could hit him over the head with a bottle I could make a run for it, but no, I
didn't want to hurt him. George entered and shut the door behind him. He
motioned me over to an empty beer barrel.
" So what is it this time? No, no let me guess. Let's see." He put his
index finger up to his cheek. " You were being careless when you were pick
pocketing, and at least 8 guards were chasing you onto the roofs of the city."
He was pretty close so far. " When you lost the guards, you headed for the
Dancing Dove. Once you were here, you headed for the fire ladder, but before
you could make it, the roof that you were standing on collapsed underneath
you, and you landed in MY lap. Am I correct?"
" It wasn't that simple," I think that is always the best line to use when
you're knee deep in trouble.
" Then do tell," he said
" You were right about most of it, but I wasn't bein' careless when I
pick-pocketed! This flower girl, she claimed that the purse that I was carrying
was hers, which it was not," I paused " It was the butchers, anyhow, she got 8
guards on me, and she got a purse."
" Then what is the purse in your hand now?" He pointed out the bag I
held.
" Oh this? This is the bag I stole. I always keep an extra bag so if
someone takes the one I'm carrying they got a dud."
" Smart girl." Then he looked at me sternly, " But you will have to be 10
times more careful in the market place from now on. If you're to become a true
member of the Rogue, you must prove yourself as a bold-blooded thief. Now
be off with you, I was in the middle of a meeting, young one." He opened the
door for me, and I was bruise free. Now to find that slimy looking flower girl!
I exited the Dancing Dove only to find that my stomach was rumbling,
so I went to Della's Chicken Hut, the newest way to eat chicken was to have it
boiled in oil so it's crunchy, and Della's had the best oil chicken in all of
Corus! I got to the hut and ordered, then sat down next to a girl around my age
in a raggy old skirt. I got my chicken and started to eat when I noticed that I
recognized this girl from somewhere, but where? After I finished my food I
went to find that slimy little flower girl. And then it came to me. That girl…in
the rags… that's where I saw her before… that was the cheesy little flower girl!
" Where in Corus did she go?" I whispered and then I saw a slight
glimpse of the flower girl going into an alley by the Chicken Hut, so I followed
her. I checked to see if my crossbow was hidden safely under my side pack,
just in case little miss flower is stronger than she looks. Suddenly I felt cold
steel next to my neck. Someone had come up behind me, with a knife!
" Hand all of your gold over, this is my alley, pay the toll!" Screamed a
girl, sounding around my age with a mean attitude. I handed her my extra dud
bag, she let go. While she was distracted with opening the bag, I took out my
crossbow.
" Hey, over here little miss flower girl. I think you should give the bag
back." During this whole time I had the crossbow aimed right at her nose.
" I don't want any trouble, and I don't want to hurt you so I would
leave." said a mysteriously calm flower girl
" Listen I don't think either of us wants to have a fight in an alley, so
listen here," She was moving forward to hear my proposal, obviously she
wasn't as stupid as she looked. " You, missy, got me into a lot of trouble with
my boss, so I am prepared to get that bag back (it was one of my favorites!) in
the most civilized way. A roof top fight, one weapon each, and the fight can be
on any of the city's roofs. Deal?" I put out my hand with my knife hidden up
my sleeve, just in case she took a shake for granted.
" Deal. Noon tomorrow on top of old Farmer's house. Be there." And
with that she made a run for the street.
" What was she talking about me not coming, blah, stupid girl, you have
no idea what you just gotten involved in," I thought.
**********************************************************
The next morning came as fast as the last day had gone, and before I
knew it, it was 11 o'clock! Why didn't George wake me? I told him to! Now
he was going to see the ruff and rumble Aurora, not the silly little thief!
I stomped my way to his bedroom, and knocked at his door till my
knuckles were white.
" Hang on, hang on," Said a bright and cheery George. He sounded like
he had been up for hours!
" Who is it?"
" Aurora Contegue, remember me? The girl who you were supposed to
wake up this morning at dawn?! " I screamed through his door.
He opened his door, and with a look of humor in his face.
" What in the world is so funny?" I scrunched up my face and tried to
not slouch.
" You. For your information I did try to wake you, you just said
'Five more minutes, just five more minutes' so I decided to lay off until
11:30." I was starting to turn bright red with anger.
"YOU TRIED TO WAKE ME UP THEN JUST GAVE UP! WHAT
ARE YOU? A QUITTER? MAN!!!!" I yelled.
" Do you want to make it to that duel or not? It's 11:05 now, so I would
get a move on," he said calmly. I started to run for my room to get my staff,
when George yelled, " Remember I'll be meeting with some very important
clients today, so try to stay out of too much trouble, and watch your back!"
I ran to the Top of old Farmer's roof, I was 10 minutes early! Ha, and
George thought I was going to be late! I sure showed him! I then saw a figure
come off of the fire ladder, in a dark green cloak, it was her; I was ready to win
my favorite purse back, and to show the Rogue that I was a true-blooded thief
and fighter.
" Ready?" she asked
" Ready."
We started to circle each other. She has chosen a long knife, a very
powerful weapon, and so I circled on, looking for her weak spot. Suddenly she
jabbed in at my left shoulder. I dodged just in time. That shoulder had been
injured when I fell into the Dancing Dove, and she had found my only weak
spot! I hit her knife off into the air, and it landed in an alleyway. She was now
defenseless. I had the upper hand! Then without warning she kicked my staff
in the same direction. So she wanted a hand-to-hand fight, so be it. I jumped
to the next roof over, and she followed. Everywhere I went she came right
after me. I thought if I could tire her out, I would have a better chance. It didn't
seem to be working. When I jumped to the Dancing Dove, she tried to strangle
my neck; I throw her right off me. (That was a handy move that the owner of
the pub taught me.) Now we were in a hand-to-hand struggle, she had my hair
and I had hers. Pain was going through both of our scalps, when she stepped
through the hole that I made yesterday! I could only hope that George and his
very important clients were not in his seat. To my luck his clients were not in
his seat, but George was!
" Darn it!" I thought.
THUNK! We landed swiftly on his lap, he didn't seem surprised at all.
"Let me guess, the flower girl?" he stated. The girl was in awe that this
was the King Of Thieves. So I had to speak.
" Yes, your Majesty. I am truly sorry for the intrusion, please forgive us.
The fight got a little out of hand." I held my head down with respect, seeing
that the clients were in a state of shock.
" I'm Lila, the flower girl, I am very pleased to meet you, and here have
this." She handed him the bag that was MINE!! George got us up, looked at
me to say both of you get out of here, and there I went pulling the so-called
'Lila' with me.
I opened the door to my room, and sat Lila down on my bed; she had a
look of daze on her face.
" So you know 'HIM'?" she asked, obviously very amazed
" Duh, I'm his pupil, the only female Rogue thief in the city! Pretty cool
huh?" I suddenly snapped out of this 'Buddy Buddy' thing and got to business.
" Anyway, why in the world did you steal my purse. No, no, that wasn't
stealing that was pure maidenliness. 'Help me, she has my purse, my purse!'
Come on, anyway you got a dud, no gold or silver in it." I gloated at my
seeming smartness.
" I needed the money, and you didn't seem to be needing it." She barked.
" Give me a break, you probably are just a normal thief like the rest of
us!" I stood up and got right in her face " So, don't act like you don't do this
often!"
" I don't, I only steal to live, unlike you. I sell flowers, and when
business is bad, and I have to eat, I steal. I'm not ashamed of the fact that I do."
Lila started to walk around my room, mostly talking to herself, but I could
understand most of it, " What do people expect me to do, starve?! I was left on
the streets when I was 5, who would do that to a little girl?" Tears started to go
down her face. " I can tell you who, my never there parents, that's who. They
never cared about my brother and I, never. But, but, we were strong, and my
brother, Eric, he was took away, to an orphanage, or something. So as you can
see," she turned back to me, with wide eyes, " I don't live in the lap of luxury, I
work for my life, and life hasn't repaid me yet."
" I'm sorry, I didn't know." I looked down at the floor, in a sort of in
amazement at her story.
For the longest time there was silence. I had to say something, but what?
She's one of the nicest girls I've met in my life as a thief; could we become
friends? Well, silence isn't going to do anything about it, so speak!
" Ummm, well, you can keep the purse, I have plenty."
" Thanks." She paused in thought. " Why don't we lay the past in the
past, and just start over, OK?" She held out her hand, and I returned the offer,
this was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
**********************************************************
Over the next few weeks, Lila and I have had to clean out the stalls next
to the Dancing Dove, since we dropped in on George's important meeting. But
on the bright side of things Lila and I are really good friends, and my
coronation into the Rogue is in 1 day!
" Can you believe it Lila? I'll be a true member of The Rogue in just
1day! I can hardly wait!" We were up in my chambers, sitting on the bed.
" That's really cool Aurora, but," she seemed very distracted by
something outside.
" Oh, don't worry Lila, you're invited. I mean, what kind of friend
would I be if I didn't invite you?"
" No, not those, come over here." I walked over to my window looking
out to the castle.
" What?"
" See that man down there, in the black cloak? He has been down there
for the last hour, around the same amount of time that we have been in this
room. And to add to that, for the last week, I've seen that very guy, following
us around the town." She closed the curtains.
" That's really strange, could he be stalking us?" She shook her head,
she had obviously been looking into this man.
" No, the black cloak that he is wearing indicates that he is of the Cirrus.
The are blood enemies of the Rogue, only a few left, I think they may be after
George." Lila started to move around the room, like she always did when she
was about to get really into something.
" Ok, well, why don't we just tell George?"
" Just my plan, but we are going to take this one step farther, but only
after you coronation." Lila was determined to get me involved in this, wasn't
she?
We made our way to George's room. I knocked on his door, and he
answered.
" Coming." The door swung open, and almost hit Lila.
" Nice aim, George," I said sarcastically.
" I'm very sorry Lila, but could you two come back later? I have some
very important work to do." I realized that George looked very pale and way
thin. He hasn't been out of his room since last week, too long without going
outside.
" No George, this is very important!" I gave him my wide, evil eye; he
knew that meant that I had some sort of information to give him.
" Ok, come in, but don't touch anything." He seemed very testy. Lila
didn't seem too keen on going in, but I pushed her.
His room was filled with tons of papers, mostly blue prints, and some
were weapon prints.
" George, we think that you're being stalked by one of the Cirrus. There
has been a man in a black cloak, following us around town and waiting outside
the building," Lila said.
" Don't you think I don't know that?" he yelled.
" Well, we thought you might, but just wanted to make sure." Both of us
started to head for his door when George started to talk.
" They aren't stalking me, they're stalking you two." I turned around in a
flash, with my jaw hanging down.
" What?"
" They know what I'm planning to do at your coronation, and they aren't
sure which one of you is Aurora. So both of you are in great danger."
" What are you planning to do at my coronation?" I asked.
" Well, I guess I should tell you now. I was planning to coronate you as
the Princess of the Thieves. That means that if I ever stepped down, or was
killed, you would take over. So obviously, the Cirrus wants to kill you so there
would be no heir, and they hoped that I would be shattered at your death, and
they would have an opportune time to kill me, and take the Rogue."
" Oh" was all that I managed to pull out. Me, the Princess of the
Thieves?!
" I can only guess that you were planning to get to the Cirrus before they
could get to Aurora? Am I right?" Lila was on the ball today.
" Correct, so if you will leave now I will be able to plan the attack." He
opened the door, and pushed us out with the door hitting our butts.
" That is sooooo cool Aurora, you will be the heir of the King!"
" Precisely, and that's why after tonight we're going to take down that
black cloaked men!" I was now as determined as Lila was, and the Cirrus man
will never bother us again!
**********************************************************
My coronation was coming very fast. Lila and I only had 5 hours to get
to the Cirrus man's hideout and to find out all that he knew! We headed out at
3:00 in the morning; I picked the locks to George's room and got his maps to
the main Cirrus camp. We were ready! We decided to walk to the camp, it
was only a couple of miles away from this town, and besides that we had no
horses to ride.
**********************************************************
*****************
Two hours later, we had found the hideout of the black-cloaked man.
Lila had to make a deal with a tavern owner to get him to tell us, but all's fair in
life and death. He lived in an old cave right outside of the village we were in,
so Lila and I were on the trail.
The cave we went into was obviously lived in. It had old firewood, a bed
mat, enough food to last weeks, and on every single one of the items had the
insignia of the Cirrus on them.
" This has to be the one Lila, all we have to do now is wait." And wait
we did. It was a good 45 minutes before we saw a light heading in this
direction. It was him, in that same black cloak. To our advantage we had the
element of surprise, and that it was still dark, so he couldn't see us. Lila
headed to one side of the entrance of the cave, while I went to the other, with
both of our weapons out. The man went into the cave and BAMM we hit him
on the head, he was out cold!
" Great job, Lila, now can you hand me that rope and I'll tie him up,"
The man woke shortly after we finished tying him; he was still in a sort of daze.
" Wha? Who are you?"
" I am Aurora Contegue and this is my friend Lila, and we are the people
who are holding you for information." I held my staff point to his heart.
" And I would remind you to talk clearly, if you know what I mean?"
Lila seemed very evil at this point, her eyes went very squinty. He nodded
several time before we started the questions.
" Why have you been stalking us?"
" I think you know that answer already," he smirked.
" Don't be a wise owl, you don't have the upper hand of this game!"
Lila cried
" Ok, Ok, I was trying to kill you. He was going to have you be heir,"
" That was an easy one. Now, who sent you to kill me?" He started to
talk, when a sudden green glow came around him, his eyes rolled back, and
then blood rolled out of his mouth, something had killed him.
" Did you do that?" I looked at Lila with disbelief
" No, did you?" Lila asked
" What could have caused him to suddenly chock and die?" Lila
wondered.
" Magic, this boss of his must be a very strong sorcerer." I assumed.
"And has to be crazy, to kill one of his only followers." I said.
" Someone must not want to be revealed, that's the only answer to it.
But how will we explain a dead man to George?" Lila said.
" I guess he'll have to deal with the truth, but I do hope that he will still
be in one piece by the end of the conversation. I guess I'll bring his dagger, as
proof that he is gone." So we headed out, we had only 2 hours to get back to
Corus, or I'll miss my coronation!
***************************************************************
An hour and 45 minutes later, we had made it back to my room with no
time to spare, but when we entered my room, I found that George was sitting
on my bed. As soon as we were in the door way he ran right over and hugged
both of us in his huge arms.
" Are you two alright? I knew that I should have stopped you when you
broke in to my room!" he kind of questioned and yelled in the same sentence.
" You knew where we went? Then why didn't you stop us?" Lila said.
" I knew that you headed out to find the Cirrus man," his stern look
turned to a look of happiness " I just thought that you needed to handle this on
your own. I'm just glad you two came back in one piece. You didn't kill the
man, did you?" he looked worried.
" No George, we didn't, but before he could answer my question, he
choked and died, really strange." I said, I left out the whole green glow thing, it
might spook him out, but I doubted it.
" Well, did he have a glow to him before he died?" I nodded. " Oh dear,
I knew that they were doing something, but this?" He was talking to himself; I
didn't understand what he was talking about.
" What George? What's wrong?" Lila asked
" Nothing you two shouldn't worry about today, it's a celebration! Any
how you two have to get dressed for the ceremony, and we'll talk about this
later." He left; I grabbed my golden colored dress and headed behind the
changing screen. Lila also grabbed her emerald gown, and changed. In only a
few minutes we were at the party!
**********************************************************
Epilogue
At my coronation I gave the dagger of the Cirrus man to George
as a symbol of my dedication to the Rogue, and with my amazement as
soon as George touched it there was the symbol of the Rogue melded to
it's handle. George gave the object back to me; it was my new weapon
now. I'm a true member of the Rogue, and the thieves also welcomed me
as the new royalty in town. After the ceremony Lila headed out to new
city's, to find new adventures, I guess. As for George, he hasn't change,
but has befriended a new page named Alan of Trebond, and a squire
named Johnny of Conte (his last name sounds familiar), real knights to
be! Other than that my life has been just peachy! Remember, if you ever
drop by the medieval century, look me up.
~Aurora~