A/N This is part of the Deltora Theme challenge. The list of themes we could chose from are on the Challenge thread, so go take a look-see
I'll leave you oh noble readers to guess what they are :). I am so evil; I won't even say how many I used. Mwhaha...ok I used four. Don't give me that look. -_-
"Lief! Hey Lief!"
Loni, Colin and Jack waved madly from the nearby hill, calling frantically.
Lief grinned at his approaching friends, returning the wave.
He'd known the three for as long as he could remember, and knew nearly each of their individual flaws and foibles, as well as the little gems of positivity they kept hidden.
Loni, the token girl of the group often seemed to hover at the back of any trouble the others caused, whether for fear of getting caught, or for fear of getting her dress dirty, nobody ever seemed to know.
Jack, whose real name was in fact, Jessica, was probably the biggest lad of the four, despite the fact she was a girl. Lief could never tell if they were friends or enemies, the line was so blurred.
And Colin, the tailor's son, whose obsession with clothing was defiantly something to be hidden beneath a mental rug then shoved into a dusty corner of the mental attic, though he was teased relentlessly by the other three (although admittedly, Loni ceased after he bribed her with a dress). At least he was good at planning the various pranks they pulled.
In fact, it was Colin who had suggested today's trick. In theory it was simple enough, steal something from one of carts that transported the mystery foods to the palace. They'd often stared longingly at the carts, trying to imagine the tastes and textures of the exotic goods.
In practice, they knew it would take a fair amount of planning to execute. One couldn't simply leap into a cart and escape unscathed, not with Grey Guards driving them. And certainly not Grey Guards armed with blisters.
Lief waited at his hiding place, a bush a small ways from the road side; across the road was Loni behind a second bush.
Jack hypothesized that the whole delivery operation ran like clockwork, and that the cart would pass by them at exactly four o'clock...give or take a few minutes. When it passed, Loni would signal Jack and Colin, who would start a fight in the middle of the path, hopefully distracting the Grey guards long enough for Lief to jump into the cart to get to the loot, he and Loni would grab as much as they could before escaping to Lief's forge, where Colin and Jack would meet them.
Simple then, in theory.
The unmistakable sound of a cart wheels trundling up the pathway hit him, and he nodded across the road at Loni.
She paused for a moment then whistled audibly.
Another pause, before Jack and Colin staggered out of their own hiding place screaming and shrieking like banshees. The Image seemed like so many incidents that occurred between himself and Jack that he couldn't help smiling.
The cart came to a full stop as the grey guards stared at the pair rolling around haphazardly, and then reached for their belts.
Blisters.
Jack and Colin clearly noticed the movement and sprang apart, darting into the woods. Both guards leapt off the cart and followed. Lief cursed under his breath and glanced at Loni. She shook his head at him frantically and the message was clear:
It's not worth it.
But it was.
Lief paused a moment then darted to the cart, seizing the nearest piece of food then returned to his hiding place. Loni stared at him, a combination of shock and begrudging awe crossing her face. Lief examined his prize, a small cake with pink icing and a little strawberry.
Loni stood up brushed herself down elegantly and gestured for Lief to follow.
He did not know for how long they waited, in a small alcove behind his parent's smithy. He hoped his parents had not spotted him- The old beggar, Barda, had given them a look, but Lief highly doubted the man would mention this.
Loni did not say anything beyond 'mmm' and 'yes', and Lief could scarcely blame her, although neither of them mentioned anything.
"Here" he muttered, splitting the tiny cake into quarters-how foolish the whole endeavour seemed now, a tiny pudding for the safety of his two friends - and handed one to her. She accepted it, and spent several minutes staring at it intently.
Lief tried his best to ignore her, nibbling on the edge of his quarter; an explosion of flavours he'd never before experienced burst onto his tongue and he devoured it ravenously. He looked up at Loni again, who was still staring at her share.
"It's good" Lief said, his mouth full of the delicious crumbs. Loni bit her lip, then daintily licked a minute amount of icing off the top before, like Lief, shoving the whole piece into her mouth. She glanced up at Lief, then the two remaining pieces. Without thinking, they simultaneously snatched another portion each and ate them rapidly.
Loni gasped with delight and pleasure, she too had never felt anything like this. She never knew anything could be this good. This was something she did not want to end quickly. Swallowing her last piece, she fell back onto the ground, laughing weakly.
And then it was over. Panting from the sudden experience, gulping desperately for air, Lief glanced down at Loni's fragile form sprawled across the ground. She looked up at him, still feebly giggling while gazing at him expectantly, probably wondering if he had any other treats on his person. He shook his head at her- there was nothing left for him to give.
The realisation of what had happened slowly dawned on them. Lief thought he was going to be sick, due somewhat in part to the speed at which he'd eaten, mostly due to the slowly rising feeling of disgust rising in the pit of his stomach.
Loni nibbled her lip again. Then staunchly, she looked Lief fully in the face.
"Nothing happened, right Lief? You didn't even get anything from the cart, we were too busy running" she said fiercely. He nodded dumbly, and they settled back to wait.
It was sunset when they knew they could not wait any longer. They stood up and went their separate ways-Lief to the smithy, Loni to the carpenters.
It was several days before they spoke again, and by then, there was nothing left to say. They would nod cordially at each other as they passed, and would engage in small talk if they bought something from one another, but that was it. The bond they and their friends shared had gone-along with Jack and Colin.
It started simply enough; rumours circling frantically like small insects; rumours of a grey guard-induced death among the population. The rumours quickly expanded, two young children, were caught after hours by grey-guards and dealt with.
Lief did not know how they perished, by blister or torture, and he preferred not to know. But whenever he saw the results of the former, he would shudder and the thoughts would come flooding back. It was months before he could sleep properly again.
Jasmine entered Lief's study and smiled warmly. The young king lay, mouth slightly open, among a mass of papers. She sighed and placed a small cake, pink and with a strawberry on top, on his desk before leaving.
A/N apologies for the somewhat shoddy quality at the beginning to mid there, Have no excuse this time :/. The signifigance of that last little bit is up to you. So there :P