The Vicious Queen

t h i r t e e n

"Gosh I'm starving!" Azura complains from her spot on the ground. She sits on the ground with her back against the wall of the dusty guest house and her eyes are fixed on the ceiling.

Sunlight falls into the room through the broken window in the corner and it glistens her face. Azul sits next to her with his eyes shut and Rune lazily sits on the arm chair with one leg up.

I plop down next to Azul and pat my stomach. "Same."

"If only we have money to buy something..." Azul mumbles.

"I spent all of mine for the guest house." Azura murmurs.

Then suddenly his eyes snap open as he turns to the rest of us except Azura. "Guys! We do have money! We bought some from home, remember?"

We jolt up and we dig into our pockets excitedly but...nothing. Not even a single coin. I pull out my pockets but it's completely empty. Disappointed, I deflate with a groan. "Those guys from last night probably stole them too."

"Seriously!?" Azura whines.

"So what we gonna do now?" Rune asks lazily.

Silent swallows the room as we think. Azul hints with a little bit of hesitation in his voice. "Ask...people? For help maybe?"

"Turn into beggars, you mean?" Azura scoffs turning to look at her brother with eyes filled with sarcasm.

"No, I mean-" he shrugs defensively.

Rune cuts him off. He leans closer with a curious look on his face "How about we steal?" the twins' eyes widen in surprise.

"Steal!? Nah. We'll get in trouble!" Azura disagrees. I silently listen to their conversation as I think. Maybe...

"Only if we get caught." I say without thinking and everyone turns their head to look at me. Rune gives me a proud smile.

"Really?" Azul mouths and I shrug in defense.

"You support these crimes?" Azura asks me disbelieved, flicking a finger at my face.

"No but I don't want to starve to death." I shrug.

Azul deflates and stares at the blank space in front of him. "True though."

Azura slaps her brother on his shoulder "Dude!" and he shrugs. She looks around to stare at our faces. "This is a really bad idea!"

"Yeah but gotta eat." Rune alters getting up and gestures me to join and I do. I rise and give Azura a shrug. She looks around disbelieved and grumbles, not looking up at us. "Just don't get in trouble."

"Have my word." Rune reassures behind his shoulder with a smug smile as we stumble out.

We walk into the city filled with loud chatters crowded with sellers and buyers. "Fish! Fresh fish!" I hear an indistinct voice.

The city is ancient with its ruins everywhere. It's filled with narrow paths and brick walls and stone buildings. There's not a single colorful shade to be seen. It's all brown and gray.

I suddenly feel tensed about the idea of stealing, especially when I see guards in black uniform roaming around with spears in their hands.

"So how are we going to do it?" I whisper to Rune.

He looks down at me and shakes his head as he whispers back. "I have no idea! I don't know how to steal!"

"Are you kidding me!?" I slap his arm and he backs away from me. "You told the idea like you were an expert in stealing!"

He looks down at me and chuckles nervously. I roll my eyes and mumble. "I have never done this ever in my life." I gulp as I look up at him. "Act natural, I guess?"