The Rogue Princess

Chapter 1: Meeting Amalia

I never thought I would be a princess. But it turns out, I was. I still am. But my chance of being a queen? Nope. None. Although, I got a prize for coming out of the dark. An amazing sister-in-law. Her name's America, and she is the queen of Illea.

"C'mon, lets's go!"

"I'm coming as fast as I can!"

"Come faster!" I tore around the corner. "Whoa, stop!" Faye halted.

"Is that it?" I nodded.

"There are pure gold necklaces and bracelets and crowns in there."

"Wow..." I grabbed her hand.

"C'mon, let's go!" We ran over to the store. "Wait here." I walked into the store.

"Hello, young lady! Is there anything I can get you today?" The merchant asked in a cheerful voice. Your voice won't be cheerful for long. I thought.

"Um, yes, actually! I came in to browse, but there's a specific item I'm looking for." The merchant smiled as I walked over to the counter.

"Ah, yes. Is it a beautiful necklace? Or a charming bracelet perhaps?"

"I'm not quite sure. But I do know it's called the, "Rubied Treasure." His smile got bigger.

"Very good, very good. That is our most prized crown. I shall get it from the back. Wait here, will you?" He disappeared behind the back flap. I ran to the door.

"Get in here! Hurry!" Faye scrambled in. "Take anything of value. There's no one here, you won't get caught." I hurried to the counter while Faye grabbed some objects. I heard the merchant's footsteps approaching.

"Faye, he's coming!" I whisper-shouted. Faye ran out the door.

"Here it is, madame." He carefully laid the crown on the counter. "Now, let's talk about the price, I-"

"Hold it there. I have a proposition for you." The merchant became curious.

"Yes, what is the proposition?" Time to lay the cards on the table.

"If I can prove, in fact, that this crown is not actually the Rubied Treasure, I get to have it for free." The merchant gasped.

"I'm totally flabbergasted that you would even think that this is a fake!" I quietly laughed.

"Watch, I'll prove it." I grabbed the crown and held it up. "It will be proven fake, if I can strike one of the rubies with my nail and the ruby will break." I lifted my nail and hit a ruby. A crack appeared.

"There are two ways I knew this was fake; One, my nail has cracked the ruby. Two, everyone knows the actual Rubied Treasure is safe and sound in the castle." The merchant looked down at his shoes. "Good day, sir." I casually walked out and Faye and I ran across the street.

"Did it work?" I scoffed.

"Of course it did. Now, c'mon, we gotta get this stuff back home."

We ducked under the collasped wall.

"Ah, home sweet home." I plopped on the bean bag. Faye poured out what she took from the store.

"Soon we'll have enough to buy that puppy we wanted!" Faye exclaimed. I sat up and looked at her.

"Yeah, and then what? We have to go out again to get more money to feed the damn thing! We already spend enough feeding ourselves!" I plopped back again, frustrated.

"I wish we had the actual Rubied Treasure. Then we'd be set for life." I abruptly sat up.

"That's it! We'll steal the Rubied Treasure and some gold!" Faye looked at me, puzzled.

"But the Rubied Treasure's in the castle." I looked at her. "Oh...what?! You expect us to break into the castle?!"

"Yup! I mean, how hard could it be?"

"I don't know, maybe the rebel alarm will mistake us for rebels and the guards will shoot on sight? Or-or we could get caught and sentenced to death! Yeah! Huh! Did you think about that?! Huh?!"

"Faye!" I yelled. "If you don't want to do it, then I'll go alone!"

"That sounds like a good plan!" Faye lowered her voice. "Just...don't get caught, okay?" I looked at her.

"I won't."

I rode my bike up the hill. The castle was getting closer and closer. Finally, I stopped and hid my bike in the bushes. Walking through the garden, I heard a rustle in the bushes. I stopped in my tracks and leaned down. Suddenly, a figure approached me quickly. I took the chance and jumped on them. We struggled for a while until-

"Amalia?" I stopped wrestling.

"Faye?" We both shined our flashlights on each other. It was Faye, sure enough.

"You came?" We asked at the same time. We giggled.

"Who goes there?!" We both froze. A guard was shining a flashlight in our direction.

"Oh no..." I whispered. "We're screwed." Faye and I held on to each other as the guard got closer and closer and...passed us. He walked straight past us!

"I'm over here, you big ninny! Come and get me!" A voice shouted from the dark. The guard ran in the direction the voice came from.

"That sounds like..."

"My cousin, Pip, from Britain? It is him. He's given us some time, but not much." Faye said. I grabbed her hand.

"C'mon." We ran through the gardens to a tower that was part of the castle.

"Okay, it looks like I can climb this. Do you remember the climbing lesson I gave you?" Faye looked at me. "Okay, never mind. Find another way in, I'll meet you at the treasury." She nodded, thenn ran off. I grabbed the first brick and climbed. When I reached the top, I pulled myself through the window. And then I discovered something. It was the queen's bedroom. From the selection.

"This is where she slept..." I touched the fabric of the bed. There was a note lying on the ground. I picked it up. Here's what it said:

Dad, I'm sorry. I never got the chance to say goodbye. Now I'm queen, but nothing feels right without you here. Everytime I turn around, I expect to you to be there. But you never are. The citicens are working on a cure for Maxon's mother. I hope they get it to work, cause then... well, maybe I can use it on you. I miss you, Dad.

Love,

America

I dropped the note when I heard a commotion in the hallway. I cracked open the door and saw Faye being dragged by both arms by two different guards down the hall.

"No!" I screamed, and I tried to pull Faye out of the guard's hands, but another guard came up behind me and grabbed me by the waist. I fought and screamed and kicked and yelled, but that guard wouldn't budge.

"Let me go!" I screamed.

"We're bringing you to the king and queen. Resisting is not wise." The king and queen! I knew what that meant. It made me fight harder. We finally arrived at the king and queen's bedroom. They knocked on the door. No answer.

"You'll go in the dungeons until the king and queen can deal with you properly.