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

  And then, he was off as he sprinted over the low wall of the neighboring roof and on into his dream. Breathing heavily, he arrived at the main street that ran the length of the south palace wall. But because he had left a couple of minutes too early, he had to bide his time until the last rays of the sun finally sank out of view. The large tree waited for him as the wind blew through its branches. A quick dash carried his strong body across the street and safely behind. Choosing now to climb rather than wait more minutes for the nearby guards to pass, he effortlessly scaled the knobby surface and soon found himself crouched on the top ledge of the inner wall. The ladder was still there, so he slid down to the garden grounds.

  His heart started racing, once again, partially due to waiting so long and partially due to his excitement of seeing her again. But no one greeted him, so he decided to stroll around in hopes of running into her. The flowers were beautiful, and the groomed hedges seemed perfectly shaped. He considered how drastically different this world was compared to his own. There simply was no comparison. Just as he rounded a healthy set of large-leafed flora, he heard a familiar voice. “Hey!” Then, before his eyes, his dream appeared.

  When he turned around to face her though, he was speechless. She was no longer dressed in a flowing garment, perfectly tailored for her beautiful body. Rather, she now wore ragged clothing, no makeup, and her hair was uncombed, pulled up into a cap. Somehow, though, she looked more beautiful than ever to him. He stuttered, “Hey… you…I mean, you look…you…”

  “Do I fit in?” Her sweet voice was, at first, a distraction. When he realized what she had asked, he fought desperately to suppress his chuckle. “What?”

  She tried again. “Do I fit in? Do I look like a commoner?” This time, she lifted her hand and gently swooped it along her body to emphasize her new wardrobe.

  “Oh. Is that what the ragged clothes are for?” He couldn’t believe what she was wearing or asking.

  “Yes…I don’t fit in, huh?” Her innocent eyes continued to penetrate his. Just then, a lone bunny rabbit jumped across the path behind her. Elijah started thinking about food and realized how hungry he was. And he loved the taste of grilled rabbit!

  He smiled and tried to answer her as honestly as possible, but still couldn’t believe how this was transpiring. “No. It’s not that. The clothes are perfect.” He quickly looked down and saw that the bunny had disappeared.

  “Then, what is it?” She was obviously concerned because of the stunned look on his face.

  “I don’t think you can pull off being a commoner, Natalia.”

  Confused, she replied, “Uh, why not?”

  He took a short pause and drew in his breath before he answered, “Beauty like yours does not exist in our world.” Small beads of perspiration suddenly appeared on his forehead.

  But her comeback was wittier than even he had expected. “Then, how do you fit in?” He simply wasn’t prepared for such a beautiful response. “Thump, thump, thump…” His heartbeat sped up even faster.

  He laughed nervously. “That’s really funny, princess. I was actually being serious.”

  Smugly, she replied, “So was I.”

  And then he smiled. “Well, I am sure you want to get out of here.”

  “Yes! I am so excited!”

  He sensed her excitement. “Are you sure you want to do this? This may be out of your comfort zone.”

  “I know, but I need to see what the real world is like. I must!” Just as he said, “Come on,” she immediately turned and headed toward the sturdy ladder against the wall.

  It took only a few seconds for them to climb to the top. He jumped over and onto a fat branch and reached back for her just as a rush of wind blew through the tree. Hand in hand, he helped her across the wall and then down the natural curves of the tree. The bustling activity caused her to stop. The people, the buildings, the animals, and the long caravans were all new to her. Elijah couldn’t help but smile when he saw how excited the princess was. Just as they came out of an alley, a little girl ran by with a long stick in her hand. She dropped it by accident and Elijah leaned down and picked it up for her. The little girl, with a smudge of dirt across her left cheek, grew the biggest smile and politely said, “Thank you.” Just as quickly as she had appeared, she disappeared down the street, stick in hand.

  Natalia stood staring at the small child as she sped down the street. There were no small children in the palace. “Aww!” She turned toward Elijah. “That was really sweet of you.”

  “What? Picking up a stick?” he said.

  A coy look came over Natalia’s pleasant face. “No, silly. You just helped her out. It was a small thing, but I bet it meant a whole lot to her.”

  “Yeah, I guess so.” Elijah thoroughly enjoyed this new sort of dialogue, no matter how strange it sounded to him. No one else was this nice to him. It was even better than his conversations with Karim. He suddenly realized that his heart felt as if was busting open. He couldn’t believe how honest she was.

  Natalia sadly continued, “I don’t really get to help others. Everyone waits on me and helps me. I don’t get a chance to be who I want to be.”

  “Who do you want to be?” She had captured Elijah’s attention and he wanted to know more.

  “I want to be a good woman, someone who helps others and doesn’t spend every waking hour thinking about herself. I want to make a difference for this city. I’m their princess! I should be helping the homeless, making sure all the children have food and homes! She sighed. “I want to do something special—anything!”

  “Well. You can be anything you want to be, Natalia.” Elijah’s voice became excited when he understood how serious she was. He also believed it an honorable desire to help people.

  She seemed shocked. “Really?”

  He continued, “Yes. All you have to do is believe.”

  “Yeah, I…” she said. But her downward gaze told him that she struggled with this more than she let on.

  Suddenly, they heard a strange voice. “No! He’s getting away!” They both glanced up.

  The next thing they saw was a man chasing a goat. He kept shouting, “Someone help me! He is getting away!”

  Elijah immediately ran toward the small goat and tried to catch it, but it was too agile for him. It quickly ducked in between his legs and he missed it completely. He shouted, “What are you doing? You going to help?”

  “Oh! Right!” Natalia started chasing the goat beside Elijah. Its owner, the lone man, now stood and watched with a smile.

  Elijah yelled, “Corner it!”

  “What? What do you mean?” Natalia asked.

  Elijah dove for the wiry goat. A quick buck took it right out of his path, but Elijah had missed it again. “Cursed goat!” Natalia laughed.

  The owner shouted out again, “What are you doing? Catch

  him!”

  Now frustrated, Elijah said, “I am trying!” He stumbled and landed in a deep mud rut, face first.

  Natalia continued her laughter, this time, with even more gusto than before.

  “What are you doing?” The owner stood there, hands on hips, glaring.

  Elijah looked at the owner, face full of mud, and pleaded. “I am trying to help you, sir. What? You couldn’t tell?”

  Natalia, still laughing as she bent down, patiently called for the goat. It quickly sauntered over to her and nudged her with his head. “Aw! I am sorry that mean man tried to hurt you.”

  Elijah’s mud covered face flushed slightly as he stood with leash in hand.

  After tying his rope around the goat’s neck, the owner quickly turned to the smiling princess. “Thank you so much! You are a true hero! What is your name?”

  She returned her name with a huge smile. “Natalia.”

  The man replied, “Ah! You have the same name as our pr
incess! You are truly blessed! That must explain your gentle touch, my lady.”

  “Thank you so much.” Natalia immersed herself in the conversation as she stood in the middle of the narrow street.

  But the man quickly replied, “No. Thank you! I must give you something in return!”

  “Oh, no. I am fine, thank you.” Natalia glanced at Elijah.

  The owner replied, “Nonsense! I will be right back!” With that, he tied the goat to a small tree and sprinted off.

  Elijah walked over to Natalia, completely covered in mud. “You know. You could have done that before I started chasing him.”

  Her joyous laughter eventually put a smile on his face. “Sorry. I thought you had everything under control.”

  But he did his best to make light of her comment. “Fooled you, didn’t I?”

  The goat’s owner finally reappeared. “Here is some bread that my wife baked! It is delicious! The best bread in the city! Here. Take it!”

  She reached out and took his goodwill offering. “Oh, thank you! You are too kind.”

  “No. Thank you so much!” After that, he took the goat’s leash and happily walked away.

  Elijah eyed the bread and felt the gnawing in his stomach. “Good job!”

  Natalia held the loaf out in front of him. “Here. I already ate at the palace.”

  Elijah suddenly threw up his hands. “No. You earned it.”

  “How about we share it?” she said.

  “Well…”

  “Well. You did put a lot of work in trying to save that goat,” she said.

  Elijah’s smile disappeared. “Stupid goat.”

  “He is not stupid!” Natalia pulled back.

  “Sorry,” Elijah whispered.

  She laughed and then broke the soft loaf in half. “Here you go.” Even spattered in mud, Natalia admired his rugged handsomeness, his broad shoulders and muscular arms. His kind, hazel eyes twinkled with his hearty laugh.

  His fingers lingered against her skin. The long pause allowed him to soak in every fantastic sensation now running through his hands and heart. Their eyes again met as the stars sparkled down on them. Elijah pulled away ever so slowly. With the goat incident complete and some bread in Elijah’s belly, they eagerly continued their walk through the open street.

  “Where is your family, Elijah?”

  He gave this question a few seconds’ thought and then quietly responded, “I don’t have a family anymore. Just friends.”

  “I am sorry. What happened to them?”

  Still quiet, Elijah reflected. “My father left my mother before I was born, and my mother died when I was very young.”

  Her face welled up with sympathy. “I am so sorry, Elijah. Who took care of you?”

  He glanced down as he replied, “At first, I was in a children’s home, but as I grew older, I took care of myself.”

  “I am sorry, Elijah.” The princess tenderly placed her hand on his arm.

  “Don’t be. I am with you right now.” Elijah felt her tingling touch and couldn’t help but smile.

  “You’re sweet,” she said as they walked along the dimly lit street.

  He paused for a moment and thought about how nice she was to him. “Almost as sweet as you.”

  Natalia giggled. “I don’t know. You’re pretty sweet too.”

  The casual conversation grew deeper with each question. As they stood there, alone and without a care in the world, their searching eyes found each other’s, time and time again. “What about you? Is it just you and your father?” Elijah tried to imagine what her life was like.

  “No. My cousin is Ghais. He is captain of the guard.”

  His emotions quickly disappeared. “Oh…”

  “Father has been acting strange lately. He is not himself.” She shook her head as she replied.

  Elijah wondered if she was all right and wanted to reach out to her. “What do you mean?”

  The trusting princess continued, “It seems like he is angry at the world. He has no sympathy for anyone anymore. He treats me now like a soldier rather than his daughter.”

  “Well. Maybe there is something going on that’s troubling him. Don’t worry. I am sure he will come around again.” Elijah was often full of advice and was especially happy to give it to her when he realized that her life was just like so many others he knew.

  She replied, “I am surprised you don’t hate him.”

  “What do you mean?” Her remark caught him off guard. He had never thought of him that way and was slightly confused that she had said that.

  “Well. He is the cause of you having to steal. He makes it to where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I know his system, and I completely disagree with it.” Natalia crossed her petite arms and let a subtle frown develop.

  But Elijah merely shrugged. “I am sure he is doing what he thinks is best.”

  Natalia wanted to know more though. “How do you not show bitterness towards him?”

  Again, Elijah shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because if it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be spending this time with you.” Then his eyes met hers.

  His comment made her turn slightly away. “Have you said this to many women?” Suddenly, a couple of children ran by them, both with sticks in hand, knocking a ball of hard rope down the way.

  Elijah looked at the playing boys and then replied, “Hmmm. Well. I did say it to the goat.”

  She suddenly broke out in laughter. “Maybe that’s why she ran from you. You scared her trying to seduce her like that.” She kept laughing as she recounted the incident, still fresh in her mind.

  Elijah just let her talk. He thought her jokes were so cute and didn’t want to ruin them.

  Natalia changed the subject when he didn’t respond though. “Where are your friends?”

  Now, caught up in his dreams of what they would do the next time they met, he barely heard her. “Huh? Oh. They are in the hideout.”

  Coyly, she asked, “Can I meet them one day?”

  He quickly responded, “Oh, yeah…you would want to meet them?” His mind jumped back into his world long enough to think about Nizar and Isabelle and what they said about the princess. That’s all it took to fill him with a bad feeling, but he decided to shake it off. Maybe, he thought, they weren’t as serious as they had originally sounded.

  “Yeah, they seem like important people in your life.”

  He casually replied, “I think I can arrange something.” But it wasn’t as easy as it should have been. Those two definitely affected him negatively, and now he fully realized it.

  Natalia excitedly said, “Oh, that would be great! I can’t wait!”

  But Elijah showed some alarm. “Wait. What about you being a princess and all? We can’t let them know.”

  But her innocence got in the way. “Why not?”

  “Well. Because. Don’t you want it to be a secret?”

  She quickly answered, “Yeah. But if they are your friends, you must trust them to keep a secret, right?”

  “Uh…yeah, I guess that makes sense,” Elijah slowly said.

  “Well, then. I demand that I see them tomorrow.” She stood there, arms still crossed, awaiting his approval.

  With a slight bow, Elijah gave her what she wanted. “Yes, Your Highness.”

  Her laughter again filled the narrow street. “Well. I should probably get going. Will you walk me home?”

  “Well. Actually, I will help sneak you back into your home.” That’s all it took for them to chuckle together and turn around in the street.

  She continued laughing and gently turned to him. “Thank you so much for tonight, Elijah. I had so much fun.”

  “Me too, Natalia.” Once again, Elijah entered into his dream world, a place where on
ly he and the princess lived. His heart started beating faster, and he felt as if he were on top of the world.

  When he realized that she needed to get back to her home, he smiled and turned them both to go. “Let’s get going.” And they were, once again, on their way back to the palace.

  Chapter 5

  No matter how many times he had seen the palace, it always awed him when he looked at it afresh. It was so majestic, so brilliant, and so big. Each view of it made Elijah face his secret desire of one day having wealth and prosperity in abundance. But with the way things were going, it seemed like that day was far into the future. One thing was for certain though. The time spent with Natalia was well worth it and helped him feel as if he already had realized his dream.

  It now seemed second nature to get into the palace courtyard. The huge tree along the road stood ready and waiting, each and every night. All he had to do was wait for the sentries to pass and then scale up and over with ease. It was one thing to look at the palace from outside, but entirely another to see it from behind those walls. He enjoyed his little strolls among the well-kept flowers and plant life as he waited for his princess to arrive. She always seemed to surprise him though. “Hey, you.” A smiling princess quietly walked up to the waiting man.

  The nearly full moon perfectly lit his broad grin. “Hey, Natalia.”

  She walked up and threw her arms around him. He was surprised, but eagerly allowed and accepted her embrace. It happened so quickly that he didn’t have time to notice her ragged clothes.

  Elijah quickly pulled back. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes!” She almost shouted. “Do they know I am coming?”

  “No. I figured I would make it a surprise for them.”

  She shrugged her shoulders when she heard that. “You think they will like me?”

  “Why wouldn’t they, Natalia? Look at you.”

  Her nice smile didn’t completely hide her nervousness. “Seriously, Elijah. Beauty isn’t everything.”