Fire in the Heart : The Princess and the Bandit (9781629020112) Read online

  Fire in the Heart

  Copyright © 2013 by SlaughterBrown. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any way by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the author except as provided by USA copyright law.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, descriptions, entities, and incidents included in the story are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, events, and entities is entirely coincidental.

  The opinions expressed by the author are not necessarily those of Tate Publishing, LLC.

  Published by Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC

  127 E. Trade Center Terrace | Mustang, Oklahoma 73064 USA

  1.888.361.9473 | www.tatepublishing.com

  Tate Publishing is committed to excellence in the publishing industry. The company reflects the philosophy established by the founders, based on Psalm 68:11,

  “The Lord gave the word and great was the company of those who published it.”

  Book design copyright © 2013 by Tate Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Joana Quilantang

  Interior design by Honeylette Pino

  Published in the United States of America

  ISBN: 978-1-62902-011-2

  1. Fiction / Fantasy / General

  2. Fiction / Action & Adventure

  13.07.08

  Dedication

  To the loves of our lives

  Chapter 1

  Habarga, as cities go, was enormous. Everyone, who was anyone, wanted a piece of the action. Every day, dusty traders arrived from the Sun Empire and brought with them splendor and dreams, the likes of which had not yet entered into most people’s imaginations. Even the camels sported happy smiles across their ragged faces. Not only did traders constantly stream in and out of this crossroad city, so too did peasant and nobleman alike, all in search of their unending dreams. The quiet din in the market square was cut short by the mosque tower’s call to prayer. Suddenly, the overhead birds ruled both city and sky as the streets emptied themselves of their occupants and left the flying viewers with their own special view of a most majestic palace and cityscape. The setting sun took back its warmth and light ever so slowly, giving way to an awaiting, full blue moon on the horizon.

  Absent from prayer were the on-duty guard garrison, tasked with finding and removing local thieves and bandits if they could find them. Of particular concern were an elusive group of muggers. Rumor had it that they were normal city dwellers gone broke because of bad economic times.

  One particular team of overambitious guards wandered not far from the main palace entrance, just as the sun gave up for the day. Had they known how close they were to their goal, they would have taken their work a bit more seriously. They were talking among themselves about the possibility of finding a couple of reported assailants and didn’t hear the commotion the next street over.

  Elijah had been running with all the speed his twenty-two year old body could muster, through the streets of his great city. He gripped a full bag of stolen food, pressed against his heaving chest. Suddenly, the unsuspecting guards heard the shouts of their colleagues echoing from a nearby alley. Eight racing guards were in close pursuit behind Elijah as he effortlessly bounded through the streets he had long called home. They were yelling at him and trying to catch their breath, all at the same time. The laughing man ignored their commands to stop, unable to slow down for even a moment. But he didn’t care. He continued to run from street to street, selectively ducking into the narrow alleys to avoid the growing group of followers in hot pursuit. A particular cocky one threw his spear, impaling itself into crumbling brick. A guard, positioned above, fired his bow, but the arrow sailed off into the distance. The clamor of the missed spear, as it clattered to the stone street, forced Elijah to duck behind a nearby street vendor. Without warning, there waited his close friend, Karim. But Elijah didn’t take time to discuss it, continuing their bolt for safety. The dark skinned Karim glanced over as he raced beside his friend. “Nice of you to show up, Elijah.”

  Still clinging to his bag of treasures, Elijah’s smiling reply completely masked his tension. “Sorry, it took me so long. I had to make sure I got some extra food.” He quickly scanned the opening to his left, but decided to maintain his current course.

  “Did you get anything good this time?” Karim peeked into the bulging bag.

  Just then, Elijah bolted right into a dark alleyway. Both men ducked under an overhang left by a local vendor and tried to catch their breaths. “No.” Elijah opened the bag for his friend, but it was too dark to make out much except for some bread.

  Karin quickly turned toward the sound of scurrying boots on the adjacent street. But they weren’t the guards, rather, a couple of children with one chasing the other with a long stick.

  Elijah, in his caring manner, smiled. “Don’t worry. It will get us through the night.”

  Karim let his shoulders drop just as his stomach let out another rather loud growl. “Yes, I suppose.” From down the street, Elijah’s name suddenly echoed over the stones. “It is pretty sad the guards know you by your name,” Karim mocked.

  Elijah shrugged. “Well. I did introduce myself to them.” He almost laughed, but the screeching birds that had already settled down for the night caught him off guard. He ducked quickly, turned his face toward the ledge above him, and slowly stood back up.

  Karim ducked too, but didn’t stand up as quickly. His eyes grew wide as he looked up at his friend. “Yeah. Why did you do that again?” There was no smile on his face this time though.

  Elijah quickly glanced down the street and motioned for him to stand up. “Well, if they are going to be chasing me every night, I just wanted to make sure they know who they are chasing.” That’s all it took for both of them to crack broad smiles. “Now, why do you keep asking me this?”

  Karim let the corners of his mouth briefly turn upward. “Just hoping you would give me an intelligent answer for once. That is all.” They both jerked around toward another loud noise coming from the street.

  But it was too late as a guard panted out his warning. “There they are!”

  Eight guards barreled around the corner of the street, just yards away, and forced Elijah and Karim out of hiding. “Let’s go!” Elijah and Karim darted out from behind the abandoned vendor stand and continued their sprint for freedom.

  Karim, with a raspy voice, asked, “Do they actually think they will catch us this time?”

  Elijah was so used to making sport out of feeding his friends that his lungs were in perfect shape and so were his ears. “Give them credit for trying.” He smiled as he thought of his many successes and how he had helped so many. But now was not the time to reminisce as the two young men worked their way down another wider alley. Suddenly, the alley opened up into a large, bordered area. Without warning, the two found themselves cornered, with no visible way of escape. Anything was better than this as the guards came closer and closer. Scanning the area, they both looked up toward the rooftops.

  The shaking voice of one loud guard shouted, “We have them!” With boots solidly on the ground, they all stopped and faced their cornered prey.

  The two captives turned around and saw the guards pouring out of the alley. There were more than eight now, but it was too dark to count them. The hoard of outstretched blad
es formed a formidable barricade. A flash of moonlight sparkled on the sharpened surfaces as Elijah glanced around. His darting eyes roved from assailants to the rooftops and then back toward Karim.

  The blade brigade suddenly split open when a tall, well-built man emerged. Elijah noticed his bald head and scared face right away. He shouted, “Elijah! You and your friend will not escape this time!”

  Elijah quietly replied, “Oh, no. We are trapped. No place to go and nowhere to hide. What will we possibly do now?”

  The man’s jaws clenched. “Your time has come, rat thief. Today, we will finally end your reign of terror.” He lifted his blade directly at Elijah.

  Karim’s face turned red and said, “Reign of terror? We are just trying to survive! It’s not our fault we were born into the wrong families!” Elijah noticed the white of his friend’s knuckles.

  But Elijah didn’t want Karim to get involved and lifted his hand toward him. He whispered, “Shhh.”

  The bold guard momentarily broke out in laughter, but quickly narrowed his eyes. “It’s the luck of the draw. Guards, kill them!”

  Elijah elbowed Karim and quickly stepped to the forefront. “Wait, wait, Ghais. I have something I must say before you end our miserable lives.” Karim was speechless.

  Ghais glared. “What is it, rat thief?”

  Elijah drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Do you have friends?”

  Ghais’s forehead suddenly furrowed. He fixed his gaze onto Elijah.

  Then Elijah continued, “It doesn’t seem like you are a very likable guy, and I was just wondering if you have any friends.” A rat scurried against the nearby wall, its claws scraping against the hardened earth and stone.

  Karim stood, still speechless.

  Ghais clenched his fists. “Is this a joke, rat thief?” A second later, the furious guard raised his blade and took a step toward the handsome, dark haired, hazel-eyed thief.

  But Elijah merely shrugged and continued, “Sorry. Just wondering if you had friends…” With that, he started to back up toward the towering wall. “Because I do.” Just then, three men and two women stood up by the edge of the roof and suspended two ropes.

  Ghais bellowed, “Charge!”

  The man’s word fell on deaf ears. “Catch us now.” The crafty leader smiled and lunged for the dangling rope, with Karim close behind. They were over halfway up by the time the lumbering guards reached them. Within seconds, Elijah and Karim swung their legs over the ledge and onto the roof with Elijah excitedly peering down at the scrambling guards. “Hey. Maybe next time.” The moon glinted off the waving blades far below.

  Ghais waved his clenched fist. “I will kill you, Elijah, if it’s the last thing I do!”

  From the roof, Firas laughed. “Go take a bath, pig!” His long hair seemed to fit his skinny body perfectly. The other rooftop friend, Bayan, threw a rock at one of the guards and hit him in the head. He leaned his stalwart body slightly over the ledge and pulled on the still dangling rope.

  Karim had watched Bayan launch his stone-throwing attack and broke into a smile. “Nice shot, Bayan.”

  With no modesty at all, Bayan replied, “Of course, it was.”

  Ghais shouted, “Spread out! Try and get on those rooftops!” Immediately, his guards took off.

  Several of the guards lingered behind. “Here you go! This may help!” Elijah skillfully threw down one of the limp ropes.

  The guards quickly glanced back and forth.

  Isabelle broke out in a quiet laugh. “You are so mean, Elijah!” Her pretty skin and face glowed in the moonlight. Her black hair glinted as she leaned over to get a better look at the commotion down below. Elijah grinned as she held onto the shaky roof tiles to peer over the edge. He could not help but notice the curves of her arm muscles. She had to be quite fit in order to keep up with him and the others.

  Rasha wasn’t as pretty as Isabelle, but she was very cute, nonetheless. Her long, black hair framed her face perfectly. “Are you sure you should be doing that?” said Rasha quietly.

  Ghais had turned around and come back to the large open area in the alley. “What are you waiting for? Get climbing!” He held out his blade, forcing the men toward the rope.

  That’s all it took for the man standing closest to the luring bit of hemp to lunge forward with both hands. He almost missed the rope entirely, but his lower hand connected and gave him just enough time to quickly latch on with both. The near miss caused him to just hang there motionless. Then, up the swaying strands he went.

  Nizar, an average-built companion with the others on the roof, looked on with raised eyebrows. “Surely, they aren’t that stupid.” He stared at the struggling guard, now hanging on for dear life.

  Karim stepped out from behind Elijah and shook his head. “Apparently so.”

  Firas suddenly burst out in laughter. “Come on! You’re almost there! Keep climbing!”

  Firas’s words marked the struggling man’s halfway point, but he moved slower and slower as the minutes ticked by. Elijah had been observing in silence. “Would you like to do the honors?” Karim boldly declared his intention. “I would have it no other way.”

  In a matter of seconds, Karim sliced through the rope. A loud thud was followed by a roar of laughter from behind the roof’s edge.

  No longer interested in his prey, Elijah motioned to the others to quickly gather up the two ropes. “Come on! Let’s get some grub!” In a flash, the gang bounded from their perch and started jumping over the other rooftops on the way to their hideout. Their laughter drifted into the crisp coolness of the desert air.

  The fleeing group made their last jumps to one of the highest rooftops in the city. Elijah stood there for a moment, gazed toward the palace, and marveled at the beauty of the flickering lights. He especially enjoyed his panoramic view and often stood in this exact same place, night after night, taking in the pleasurable sight. Inside, the group had already dug into the bag full of Elijah’s catch. He was the first to speak as he entered their humble abode. “Well, how is it? The food, I mean.”

  With a mouthful of bread, Bayan replied, “Delicious!” He then quickly reached over and grabbed another hunk of cheese.

  “You think everything is delicious!” Firas took another bite of sweet bread.

  But Karim wasn’t quite as excited. “It’s all right. I’ve tasted better.” Nonetheless, he forced down a mouthful of cheese with a huge gulp of red wine.

  Rasha didn’t hesitate to say, “It’s good.”

  Smiling, Isabelle chose a seat beside Elijah. “It’s perfect.”

  Suddenly, Nizar’s neck veins started popping out. “This is the worst-tasting grub I have ever tasted!” Without warning, he launched his food off the table and onto the nearby wall. Blank stares filled the room.

  Rasha immediately tensed up.

  Firas whispered under his breath, “It’s not that bad.”

  But Nizar banged his clenched fist onto the table. “It’s not bad? It’s not bad?” Rasha quickly pushed herself away.

  “I think that’s what he said.” Bayan’s half smile caught on with a few of the others.

  Nizar abruptly stood up. “Shut your mouth! Here we are, living as thieves! The city guards chase us every day! We have to steal our food to survive! We live from day to day! Am I the only one who sees this?” Everyone but Elijah stared at the man’s red face.

  Rasha suddenly shouted out with her shaking voice, “Please. Stop yelling.” Tears started to fill her eyes as she glanced around the room.

  Nizar stared at Rasha as he shouted, “Someone has to speak out in this madness!” His eyes formed into narrow slits.

  “It’s okay, Nizar. We are still alive, friend.” Karim walked in between Rasha and Nizar.

  Nizar took a step backward. “Yes. I guess we should be thankful for
that now, shouldn’t we?” A small smile appeared as he curled his upper lip.

  Elijah finally became involved. “Get some sleep, Nizar. You will be fine.” He glanced around the room and realized the negative impact the bold man was having on everyone.

  Just as he turned toward Nizar, the man abruptly spun around and thrust out his pointed finger. “You! You are leading this masquerade!”

  Elijah leaned back in his chair and replied, “You say it as if it’s a bad thing.”

  “How is it not?”

  Elijah leaned forward and continued, “It feeds you every night, does it not?”

  “Oh, that’s right. The man with the plan. You have a plan for everything, don’t you, Elijah?” Nizar continued to glare.

  Elijah paused and slowly exhaled. “Only when I need one.”

  Isabelle, seated in between the two, started fidgeting in her seat. She quickly shot him a nod of approval. Elijah smiled back, but turned back to Nizar.

  “Then, what will you do tomorrow in the parade for the princess?” Nizar asked.

  Elijah slowly wrung his hands together. “What?”

  Nizar crossed his arms and kept glaring. “Oh, you haven’t heard? The princess is coming out of the palace for the first time in her life. It’s her eighteenth birthday. She is going to meet the people of this city. What do you plan on stealing from her?” His eyes slowly narrowed.

  Elijah scratched his head for a second before he continued, “How many of you knew this?” Mention of the princess forced his thoughts away from his friends and this conflict. He felt himself drift away as he started to wonder what she was like. Often, he would sit and stare at the palace and dream of its abundant life. But his thoughts usually were cut short by the ever-present reality of finding food.

  Everyone became quiet except for Bayan chewing on a piece of roasted chicken.

  Elijah frowned. “Why wasn’t I told of this?”

  Nizar abruptly bowed. “Oh, forgive us, Your Highness. We didn’t know that we answer to you.”

  Elijah turned to Isabelle. “Why didn’t you tell me?”