Fire in the Heart : The Princess and the Bandit (9781629020112) (4 page)

“You stupid girl! You are…” Nizar continued his insults.

Finally, Elijah turned around. “Hey! You can talk foul to me, Nizar, but not them. Leave them out of this.” He raised his fist as he stepped closer.

“I am so sick and tired of this life we live! We will be rat thieves till the day we die if we stay with you, Elijah!”

Then, Elijah reached out to touch him. “Don’t worry. It will get better.”

Nizar grimaced. As he walked off into the other room, he kept shaking his head.

Elijah then walked over to Rasha. “Are you okay?”

Still extremely reserved, she merely nodded.

“Do not worry. He just forgot to take his herbs today,” Elijah responded.

Finally, Rasha relaxed in her chair.

A second later, Elijah got up and started to walk outside the hideout.

Karim said, “Where are you going, friend?”

“To get some fresh air.”

Karim asked, “You need me to come?”

“No, Karim. Not this time.” Elijah then walked out of the hideout and stood at the edge of the roof, looking toward the palace.

“Hey?” Uninvited, the pretty Isabelle walked out into the night air. “Are you okay?” She wrapped her arms closely around her.

“Yes.” Elijah’s smile seemed genuine enough, but his thoughts were on the palace across the city and under the moon.

Isabelle moved closer. “What’s on your mind?”

“Nothing. I am fine.” Elijah turned and looked across the city.

Isabelle wasn’t ready to give up. “Right…look, Elijah. I know that Nizar was wrong in how he said it, but it’s true. If we let Karam kill the sultan and princess—”

Elijah abruptly turned.

“It’s just that it might…make life easier for us.” Her soft voice didn’t make her words any easier for Elijah to receive.

Shocked, Elijah just let her talk.

She continued, “Why did you stop him?”

Elijah answered, “We can’t let ourselves do wrong just because we think it will ease the pain only for a little while. If everyone thought like that, what kind of a world would we live in then?”

Isabelle watched him closely as he continued.

“I know we are not as fortunate as some. But we do have things that we should be thankful for. It could always be worse, Isabelle. Don’t forget that.”

Then, Isabelle shared her real concerns. “I am just tired of living like this, Elijah. I want a real life. A real home.” A small tear beaded up and ran down her face.

With as much reassurance as he could find, Elijah tried to comfort the girl. “It will come to pass. Just believe.” He couldn’t help but think how the others really felt after that. No matter though. He had business to attend to and quickly turned to leave.

She suddenly blurted out, “Hey! Where are you going?”

As he leaped from the open area and onto a neighboring roof, he shouted, “Nowhere!” and was gone.

“Elijah!” But he didn’t hear her.

Now free from Nizar, Isabelle, and the others, Elijah felt as if he had been released out of prison. His soul felt a new life and freedom as it propelled his strong legs across roof after roof. The palace slipped from view several times when he had to jump down to a lower structure. Finally, one energetic leap quickly brought him up a wall and onto a much taller roof as the palace sprang back into view. His heart raced faster and faster in part due to his running, but mostly because of his dreams. It seemed that the closer he got to the princess, the faster it beat. Images of her, no matter if they were true to form or not, kept appearing. He couldn’t focus on anything else as he ran, leaped, and jumped, closer and closer to his goal. Without notice, his legs seemed to give up their faithful strength and forced him to stop. Hands on knees, he listened to a couple arguing below and to his pounding heart. Slowly, he straightened up and let the bright lunar light flood his face. And then, he was off again, now only minutes from his destination.

The only distance separating him from the palace now was the wide street in front of him. On the other side, he spied a tall tree directly adjacent to the side palace wall. Off to the left, several guards were just rounding the corner and coming his way. He was forced to hide until they passed. When they were just across from him, they stopped and started laughing. Then, they moved on to the other side of the palace. Finally, Elijah was free to roam again. With ease, he shimmied up the patiently awaiting tree and slipped over the wall onto a narrow ledge. This gave him a great place to look for the princess. As he scanned over the now exposed grounds, he saw absolutely no sign of his dream. There was nothing but a well-kept garden and several guards over against the far wall. He spied a tall grouping of bushes not too far away and decided to make those his next stop. Just before he was ready to jump to the ground, he noticed a ladder just a few feet away. His next thought was “Perfect!” as he quickly walked over and shinnied down to the ground.

A lone rabbit hopped by, stopping just long enough to twitch his nose. Instinctively, Elijah looked at the bunny with hungry eyes. He couldn’t help but whisper, “All right, food!” The focused man stealthfully pulled out his small dagger and stood ready to pounce on the small animal when a voice broke through the darkness. “Hey! What are you doing?”

Elijah jerked and quickly hid his dagger. He forgot about the fleeing bunny and glanced around. There, before his eyes, stood the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. In soft and flowing silk clothing, the princess stood with a questioning look on her lovely face. As the situation slowly registered in her mind, she suddenly turned toward the far wall.

Elijah sensed her fear. “Oh no. Wait! I’m not going to hurt you!” He then gently raised his hands. “I just—”

“You! You’re a commoner!”

“Yes, I am.” They stood there, breathless.

“How did you get into the palace?” she tensely asked.

He chuckled. “Oh. Well. It wasn’t that hard. Just climbed a few trees, snuck past some guards, you know…the usual.” The moonlight glinted off his teeth and handsome smile.

Now, a little uncomfortable, he wondered what he should say next. “I mean…it was very hard. You have such good security here.”

She crossed her arms. “Should I run and call the guards?”

Elijah quickly replied, “I hope you don’t…Look. I’m sorry. I just…”

She demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“I just…” The man started stumbling on his words, something that almost never happened. He was so taken by her beauty that he couldn’t get his thoughts together. Now, face to face, he saw the gold flecks in her large brown eyes sparkle in the moonlight. Her long, curly red hair gently fell down her small back. Her oval face perfectly framed her button nose and delicate rose lips. But he tried to continue. “I just wanted to get a closer look—” as his voice trailed off.

She quickly replied, “At what?”

“At you.”

“Me?”

Again, there was dead silence.

Elijah couldn’t stay quiet for long. “I…have never seen a princess before.”

This time, it was the princess’s turn to chuckle. “Well. I am human, just like you.” Her small shoulders seemed to relax as her hands dropped to her sides.

He couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t think so.” His mind raced back into his perfect dream of his lovely princess who could do no wrong. He was completely smitten in her presence.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she boldly questioned.

Elijah said, “I don’t think human beings are supposed to be as beautiful as you. I think they call those angels. I could be wrong though.”

“Humm! You’re pretty nice. My dad says that all commoners are thieves and are always wanting to get ahead, no matter the cost.” A calm settled over the protected garden. The little rabbit sat, nose still twitching, as it munched on a mouthful of grass.

“Well. There are some like that. Not everyone is bad though.” Elijah didn’t care what she said as long as she kept talking. He kept thinking of how perfect this situation was turning out and could barely contain his excitement. Isabelle, Karim, and the others now seemed so far removed from him as he continued to bask in brand-new feelings of excitement and closeness. She was everything he had dreamed.

“You’re not bad?” she asked, beaming.

He modestly replied, “No…I’m not bad,” with a chuckle.

The princess stepped closer to the sound of his racing heart. “What’s your name?”

“I am Elijah,” he gently replied.

“Elijah…wait. I have heard that name,” the princess exclaimed.

“Yeah. Your guards chase me almost every night,” he replied.

“They say you’re a thief, and you steal food from the granaries!”

“Yes, I do.” His blank expression hid his curiosity.

“But why would you do that?”

Elijah smiled. “To eat.”

The wind rustled through the leaves and then was gone.

He crossed his arms as he continued, “It’s a matter of survival to some of us.”

“Oh. That’s horrible! Why don’t you have jobs? Or a home?”

Elijah took a deep breath. “We didn’t have the right to have those, princess. It was the family that we are born into that shapes our future.”

“Oh. I guess I never thought about it like that.” The bold lady seemed shocked.

She continued, “Well. Being a princess has its bad moments as well.”

Elijah laughed. “That’s good, princess. Not only are you beautiful, but funny too.”

She quickly corrected him, “I am not joking! It can be very bad at times.”

“Oh really? Like what?” Now, she had really sparked his curiosity. He had never imagined that royal life could be like this.

“I have no freedoms! Yesterday was my first day out of the palace! Do you know what it’s like being cooped up here like an animal all day?!” Her emotions flooded out to him as if they had known each other their entire lives.

Suddenly, an unwelcome voice came from across the yard. “Princess?” Elijah quickly turned toward the sound.

She shrugged. “Oh. They are coming to check up on me.”

Elijah frowned. “I guess I better go. It was a pleasure talking to you, even though it was short-lived. It was a pleasure.” He found it nearly impossible to pull himself from her presence, even though danger was closing in on them both. He fought to come up with a reason to stay, and then he found one. He realized that he had talked with her the entire time without saying her name.

Elijah now seemed so pleased. He finally had a name to grace her beautiful face. “Natalia. Well. If you plan to have any more parades, just let me know. I’ll look you up.” He chuckled as he turned to leave.

Two gruff voices sounded out from nearby. “Princess Natalia!”

She turned and then glanced back for a moment. “Meet me here tomorrow at sunset.”

Elijah was immediately captivated by her warm smile. “What? I mean…”

Before she ran off, she whispered, “Don’t be late! I have to go…”

“I…” But she was gone.

Her sweet voice rang in his ears as it drifted back over the bushes. “I am here!”

She’s so wonderful!
he thought. Without another moment’s delay, Elijah bolted down the well-worn path toward the wall. In seconds, he was up the awaiting ladder and back in the poverty-stricken city.

Chapter 4

T
he wind had
finally died down and Elijah paced back and forth as the sun finished setting. He couldn’t leave until then, and it felt like it was taking forever. Even though it was almost time, to him, time seemed to have stopped. His soul bustled with excitement as he contemplated their next meeting, but he refused to talk about where he was going to anyone, not even Karim or Rasha. Even though they had asked, he didn’t tell them about the previous night.

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.