Determined to take control of their fates, Arjen and Arien escape Derolina Castle at the age of sixteen after their cruel mother dies. They adopt new names and find a home in the city of Aramore, while the Emperor of Yuriana searches for his missing...
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The afternoon sun beamed its light down on the cobbled street and extended its warmth to the city. A band of children laughed and ran across the stones, dogs yipping and following behind them. Two women carrying baskets of food from the open market softly chattered as they walked, and a wagon laden with boxes destined for a faraway place rattled by them. In the sky above, seagulls whined, floating on the rising air, their beady eyes searching for a morsel.
Arjen carried an armful of three boxes up the street. The kids race past him as they chased a bouncing hoop. They called to each other, determined to catch it. He didn't know what the game was, but it looked fun. If he were still a kid, he might've been tempted to join them.
He reached a spot in the road where he stopped and carefully stepped over a large protruding cobblestone. It was larger than all the others in this section, and he wondered who in their right mind had thought it put it there. This stone had caught him on more than on occasion, and today he intended to evade its tricks. But just as he cleared the little trap, a dog following the children bumped into his leg. The boxes wobbled in his arms, and he gripped them to keep a firm hold. A giggle drifted in his direction and he peered around to see a young girl, maybe a few years younger than him, covering her mouth, her eyes dancing with amusement, probably due to his overly careful maneuver around the stone. Her mint-green hair matched well the dark green floral dress and white apron she wore. Arjen managed an awkward smile. She worked down the street at a sweets shop he liked to frequent. But he didn't know her name yet. She was cute and she sold candy. What better combination was there than that?
The girl gave him a long, coquettish look, but his mind went blank and he didn't know what to do. She hadn't looked at him like that before. Was she interested in him?
A young man came up beside her, likely a brother judging by their resemblance. He scowled at Arjen and steered his sister away. Arjen watched glumly as they disappeared from sight. I guess I can't blame him for wanting to protect his sister. I'd do the same for Arien. Actually, he had done it many times already. Any young man, especially strangers, who so much as looked at her for more than a few seconds... He shook his head and went on his way to the bookshop. The door was open and he walked in to the comforting scent of old books.
"I'm back," he said.
Marcus stood behind the front counter, a few small piles of books to one side and some documents on the other. He glanced over his spectacles at Arjen and eyed the boxes stacked in his employee's arms. "That's a bit more than I was expecting."
Arjen set the boxes on the counter. Each probably carried two or three medium-sized books. They had been a bit heavy, but he had managed to carry them all the way from the mail office where Marcus' orders were sent. He smiled to himself. He always retrieved the packages with the idea that carrying heavy boxes would help strengthen his arms. It seemed to. I'm not "skinny as a string" anymore, my dear sister.
