The False Princess

Chapter 2

Edited

I groggily wake up with my hands tied behind my back, and my ankles bound. I attempt to sit up, and groan with effort. My head is pounding, and I feel nauseous. I'm in a dark small space, but by the light of the lantern swaying above me, I can tell I'm not alone.

"Good-you're awake. You realize that you've been taking up most of the room? There's lots of us in here, and you took up half the space. So thank you for that." A girl hisses angrily in the darkness. I glare at her...or at the general direction that I think the voice is coming from.

"I'm soooooo sorry that I was knocked unconscious because I actually put up a fight. I sure hope I didn't cause any inconvenience." I shoot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. She huffs and turns away from me. I roll my eyes, and lean my head against the hard wall. Everything hurts. Gradually, my eyes become accustomed to the darkness, and I can almost see. The girl wasn't kidding-we're stacked in here so tightly we're practically sitting on each other.

"Here. Eat this. It will help with the pain." A boy next to me, holds out a leaf or something.

"I'm fine." I protest. I may be a thief-scum of the streets, but even I know not to accept strange substance from people I don't know. Just then we hit a bump, and I can't hold in a gasp of pain. The boy laughs, even though I don't see anything funny about the situation.

"Eat it." He places the leaf in my palm, and I begrudgingly put the plant in my mouth. I sigh in relief as soon as the leaf touches my tongue. It immediately vanquishes the pain, both in my temple, and my cheek, where the man hit me. The nauseous feeling in my stomach dissipates, and I instantly feel more alert. I turn to face him so that I can thank him. But I get slightly distracted by his hair. Hey-I'm still a teenage girl-I get distracted by these things!!! His light brown hair curls softly at the ends, and his emerald green eyes have a 'happy' look about them. He smiles at me.

"I'm Derrin." He introduces himself. I smile in return.

"I'm Lynx. Thank you for the medicine." I respond gratefully. Derrin's eyes lock on my left cheek.

"They hit you!? I thought they would at least know better then to hit a girl!" He angrily states. I'm not sure why he cares, but I don't really remember the last time somebody actually cared about me, so I don't mind.

"I spit in his eyes. Don't worry though-I'm used to it." I say tiredly. I notice the fleeting look of worry across Derrin's features, but turn away before he can say anything else.

"You did that!?" A girl sitting across from me says in a surprised time.

"I didn't want to be captured! Didn't anybody else put up a fight?" I ask, looking around the small carriage. I don't know what I expected, but I guess I didn't expect the dead silence that followed my statement. There's a couple mutters, but for the most part people remain silent.

"Oh." I murmur. That's stupid. Why didn't they try to put up a fight? There's a awkward silence.
Just then the doors are flung open, and the bright afternoon light filters in. Even though I'm half blinded, I can still see the man I spit at glaring at everybody.

Oh great.

"Everybody out!" He roars. Slowly, kids start to stand, groaning as they stretch out their stiff muscles.

"Can you stand?" Derrin asks me.

"I'm not a invalid." I respond sharply.
I stand up, and almost immediately my legs give out. Derrin half catches me as I regain my footing.

"Don't say anything!" I scowl. He laughs in amusement, and helps me out of the small trailer.

When the man sees me, his lips curl up in a awful sneer. I glare at him, trying my best to look way tougher then I actually am.