"Wow this place is so incredible." Bella said awed.
"You already said that." Edward chuckled.
"I know, but it's really perfect. Anyway how high are we, I noticed a lot of stairs."
"Around two hundred feet, we also have elevators, but they are on their monthly check up now. And please watch your step; we don't want you to fall all the way down." At that Bella unthinkingly stepped into Edward and grabbed onto him.
"Well for someone who demands to be respected you certainly do hug me a lot." Edward smiled crookedly at her and she blushed cursing that she had an up do and couldn't hide her red face behind her hair.
"Wait, wait, wait. Are you seriously telling me that we're two hundred feet above the ground, how is that even possible?" Bella said trying to change the topic.
"Look just don't think about the logical and rational aspect of everything, it's magic anything is possible with that."
"Easy for you to say, you had years to get used to it."
"Even living here for fourteen years doesn't get you used to things you constantly discover, trust me."
"So on with the tour, I'm sure you'll also meet some of the villagers these days but for now everyone is in their houses doing god knows what."
"There is a miller, baker, tailor, dressmaker, blacksmith. Basically everyone in the village has a job and their own role."
"You're very organized, but in a village this small there's bound to be disagreement because everyone knows everyone very well."
"Well said princess, even though all of them have kind hearts, they just can't resist certain things. We are all human after all. And even though we all kind of get along and help each other we just can't agree on certain things."
"There's a girl chasing you, isn't there?" Bella smiled smugly at Edward at which he just looked at her astonished.
"How did you possibly know that?"
"Because the look on your face when you said that you all help each other but not necessarily agree, was priceless." Bella laughed "It was somewhere between annoyance and extreme fear. I just have to meet this girl, because that's the first emotion you showed beside smugness and self-confidence." She continued to laugh.
"Yea, yea, laugh it up, I'm sure you'll get a stalker or two yourself while you're here." Bella immediately stopped laughing at that. "Ha!" Edward gloated "How did you know that look was because of a girl anyway?"
"Because Jasper has the exact same look on his face when Princess Maria of Texas spots him. Whenever she sees him she makes a point of it to never leave his side and she is insufferable. Beautiful but insupportable. Mother ingrained it in Jas to be nice to girls no matter what so he just politely tells her that he's not interested but there's no talking to her. Thank God she doesn't visit that often."
"Poor Jasper I swear I have more sympathy for the guy now." Bella giggled at that.
They were standing by a fence on the path to the mountains when Edward groaned in pain. 4
"What is it?"
"Looks like you are getting your wish. The bane of my existence is approaching; let's scram before she catches us." Edward said in a hurry.
"Shush, I'll take care of it, just shut up and follow my lead." Bella told him quietly while taking his hand in hers.
"Edward!" A strawberry blonde shouted while she came near Edward and Bella and her eyes bugged out of her head when she saw their hands clasped.
"Edward, darling, would you be so kind to introduce me to your friend." Bella said in her regal voice.
"Of course, my love this is Tanya, daughter of my father's friend Eleazar. Tanya this is Princess Isabella." Edward said while kissing Bella's gloved hand.
"Now if you will excuse us Tanya we must be on our way, Edward promised he will show me the rest of the village." Bella said while turning around with Edward and went in the opposite direction of Tanya.
As soon as they escaped the notice of gaping Tanya they started to laugh.
"Oh my god did you see her face she was closing and opening her mouth while her eyes were bugging out of her head, she was like a fish out of water."
"I must say I'm impressed princess, I've never thought of you as fun." Edward smiled at her.
"Oh Rose and I are doing this every day, we are constantly thinking of new ways to raise the hair on the head of our court members."
"What, no way, but you were so how to put it; royal to Tanya, you were an actual, cold hearted, you're all below me, stuck up princess."
"And didn't I pull it off perfectly?" Bella giggled. "We're not at all like that in reality. Our mother always taught us that no matter our royal status we have to be nice to everyone and treat them with respect because those are the qualities of a true princess. Put aside our occasional pranking and mischief making and we are exactly like that."
"You mother seems like a wise woman. And what does Jasper do in that mischief making?"
"He usually sabotages us or tattles to father, and that's why we always exact our revenge on him. He just never learns."
"That poor sucker, Emmett and me learned a long time ago not to mess with Alice, she may be tiny but she's really dangerous. Everyone is afraid of her." Edward chuckled.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but why did you become thieves and isn't that against the whole good thing, the stealing and killing?"
"We have never killed anyone, we do steal but only so our families would survive."
"How in the world do you manage to steal without killing anyone?"
"We think all lives are precious and justice will come for the evil ones sooner or later. As for how we have learned how to outsmart them and we just knock them unconscious or tie them up. And we became thieves because just as our father told you we were banished from our home by our enemies and we ended up here. He started stealing for us to survive and soon others came who joined him and they trained their children to continue in their path once they got older. To continue taking care of the village."
They spent the next couple of hours talking about their lives, their siblings, their parents, everything they could think of while lying in the leaves hiding from Tanya. The same was happening to Rose and Emmett, Rose simply couldn't resist after she saw what a nice and funny person Emmett really is underneath that gruff exterior. Who would have thought that a princess could that get that close to a thief.
