From Street Mouse To Princess

| SAM'S P.O.V. |

I grabbed and apple from a food vendor's cart and slipped it under my shirt, making sure to not be seen. I dashed away and slipped into Old Maid Kennerly's fabric stall. "Morning, Miss K!"

The elderly woman looked up from her work and eyed the apple clutched in my dirt-rubbed hand. "Causing trouble already, eh, Sam?"

I polished the apple against my shirt and winked at the gaggle of young peasant boys that stood by the stall. "Oh Miss K, it's only trouble when I get caught!" I tossed the apple in the air and caught it around my back, finishing with a little bow. The peasant boys clapped enthusiastically.

Suddenly, a loud roar ripped through the marketplace. "Street mouse!" An angry palace guard fumed at the end of the alley way that lead to the fabric stall, glaring at me as I innocently took a bite out of the stolen apple. He took a step closer and I swallowed hastily.

"Well, gotta run! See you, Miss K!" I tossed the half-eaten apple at the old woman before climbing up onto the ledge that often served as my escape path from the guards. I flew across the ledge and heard the peasant boys' appreciative cries behind me. I threw them a flying kiss and jumped into the busy street below me, disappearing into the jumbled crowd. The guard roared again and I heard him calling for reinforcements.

"Seize that thief!"

I laughed as I ran through the hectic streets with a practiced ease. The marketplace had been my playground for as long as I could remember. I've spent a good part of my fourteen years of life using the marketplace as a battle field; me versus the palace guards who just couldn't appreciate a girl in need. Sure, I stole from food vendors now and then, but I usually found a way of paying them back by chasing away unwanted thugs and robbers. The vendors, in their own way, were used to my little stealing sprees, only the guards seemed to have a problem with them.

I jumped over a pothole, dove under a low beam, and rolled under a passing cart.

Jump, dive, roll.

Jump, dive, roll.

Jump – CRASH!

I collided with a stationary figure. I cursed and picked myself off the ground, dusting the dirt off my front. I rounded on the figure. "Are you crazy? What are you doing standing in the middle of –"

"There she is! Look, she has an accomplice! Grab them both!"

I groaned. The figure, a tall brown-haired boy, probably my age, looked at me. I sensed his rising panic. I grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into another alley. "Stick close, kid."

He nodded and followed as I started scaling the wall in front of us. Halfway up the wall, I glanced back at him, making sure he was still close. He was quick, but his movements were clumsy and inexperienced. I heaved myself onto the roof and stuck out a hand to help him up. Once we were both on the roof, I pulled him into a hidden alcove, one that I had set up for situations like these. I shoved him onto the worn, squashy arm chair I had managed to squeeze in the tight space. "Make yourself at home."

The kid nodded gratefully and then buried his head in his hands. I rolled my eyes. "First time on the streets, newbie?"

I watched him nod reluctantly. He sat up slowly, a wry smile on his face. "What gave me away?"

I began ticking off observations on my fingers. "One, you were standing out in the middle of the street during a guard check. Two, if I didn't help you up, you wouldn't have made it to the top of this roof. And three," I gave him a once over, "your clothes. They're in too good a shape for a long-time street kid."

He crossed his arms. "That obvious, huh?"

I lay on the ground in front of him and locked my hands behind my head. "Yup." I looked up at him. "So, what your story, newbie?"

He leaned back and crossed his legs at the ankles. "You seem smart; take a guess, street mouse."

The term he used was one reserved for palace folk. He obviously wasn't from these streets. "Hm, are you a stable boy? A kitchen serf? Runaway palace guard-in-training?"

He chuckled. "Something like that."

"Okay Mr. Cryptic, don't tell me your story. Whatever, that's how it works on the streets anyways, right? Don't tell me your secrets and I won't drag you into mine?"

"Well, it's just…"

"Complicated?" I finished.

He nodded. "Yeah. All my life it's been other people telling me what to do, telling me how to live my life. I just want to be –"

"Free?" He looked at me. I shrugged. "That's what all the first time street roamers say." I looked up into the uncovered sky and we settled into a comfortable silence.

"What about you?" I turned to him, eyebrows raised. "What are you trying to break free from, blondie?"

I snorted. "Who says I'm trying to break free from something? For me, these streets aren't an escape; they're home."

He gave me a surprised look. "Home?"

I nodded. "For all fourteen years of my life." I played with the hem of my ratty t-shirt. "It's no big deal, really. I'm used to it, you know?"

"Actually, I wouldn't." He mumbled it so quietly, I was convinced he hadn't meant for me to hear. A rumbling noise came from his midsection.

"You hungry, newbie?" He nodded. "Alright, let's go nab some breakfast."

"You mean - steal?" He whispered the last word as if trying it out for the first time.

I wrinkled my nose. "My, my, you really are new to the streets." I rolled my eyes and pulled him out of the alcove. "C'mon, just remember, keep light on your feet and stay alert for palace guards, okay?"

We stepped out onto the roof. The toes of my bare feet curled against the edge of the rooftop. "Watch carefully." I launched myself off the roof and flew towards the ground, bending my knees slightly for a silent landing. A couple seconds later, the boy landed next to me, his landing a little less graceful than mine.

"Huh, I give you a seven out of ten." He grinned and gestured for me to lead the way. I crept into another alley, guiding him towards a food cart I knew would be left unattended by its lazy vendor who usually spent his days drunk and talking to the animals in the livestock stall. I spotted the cart and held a finger up to my lips. We kneeled behind a couple of crates of vegetables. I signaled for the boy to stay behind the crates. "Whistle if you hear any guards." He nodded and I went to go snatch some food.

I tucked two small apples, half a loaf of bread, and a bundle of grapes into the pouch I created by folding the bottom half of my shirt up. I was about to grab a chunk of cheese when I heard a low pitched whistle hit the air. I abandoned the cheese and ran back to where I left the boy.

He motioned to the opposite alleyway, indicating that the guards were coming from that direction. I pushed the grapes and bread into his hands and then pulled him into another one of my secret hidey-holes. He opened his mouth to speak, but I pressed my hand to his mouth. "Shh! Wait for them to pass." We waited in silence until the clanging of the guards' swords were echoing from a distance. I gave the boy the okay to speak.

"Oh Lord, I thought we were –"

"Hush! They might still be able to hear you, dummy!"

He looked offended by my choice of insult. "Dummy? I'll have you know, I happen to be very smart!"

I stuffed an apple into his mouth. "Oh stuff it; it's just an expression, newbie. Shut up and eat your apple." He took the apple out of his mouth and looked down at it warily. I tore a piece of bread from the loaf and stuck it in my mouth. "What? Does this food not measure up to your standards, Your Majesty?" He stiffened at the words 'Your Majesty'. "Uh, lighten up, newbie, it was just a joke."

He gave me an odd smile. "Oh, yes. Of course…" I could sense that he was holding something back.

"There you go again."

He looked at me, confused. "What?"

I waved what was left of the bread in his face. "Being all Mr. Cryptic."

He snatched the bread out of my hand and ate it. "Hey, I don't want to have to drag you in on my secrets," he said, using my previous words against me.

I rolled my eyes and started picking on the grapes. "Alright then." I caught him frowning at me. "What?"

"You sure do that a lot."

I rolled my eyes again and spit out a small grape seed. "Do what?"

"That!" He pointed at my face. "You roll your eyes!"

"I do not!" I felt myself rolling my eyes. Oh. "Well, so what if I do?"

He shrugged and popped a couple grapes into his mouth. "It's nothing. Just don't come crying to me when your eyeballs fall out of their sockets from all of your eye rolling."

I shoved him on the shoulder. "I do not cry. Ever."

He shoved me back gently. "Never?" I bobbed my head.

"Yep."

"Wow, you must be pretty tough then."

I smiled and chewed on a grape. "Yeah, I guess I am."

So that's the first chapter of From Street Mouse To Princess. What do you think?

Leave me a review and let me know if I should keep going!

Love,

DEETRIXJAAY :3