The Poisoned Prince

Chapter 1

Nicky stood at the counter cutting up a bright yellow potato to finish the small meal she made for her family. She placed them in the bowl with other bright colors of vegetables, and meats. She added spices and put them inside a square brick container with a fireproof plate in the middle, with small flames on all sides. She set the food on the plate and grabbed the lid off the counter placing it on the enchanted machine, which they called a heat spinner. She headed over to the cupboard grabbing some utensils, with three plates. Nicky put them on the floor. She adjusted the small cushions they used for seats. She returned to the counter washing her hands in a small tub with a washcloth. Right then, her mom walked into the room with her older sister, Julia.

"They're trying not to scare the people." Her mom said.

"We can see it's getting worse-" Julia said with an irritated tone. She cut herself off once she noticed Nicky was in the room. Nicky knew almost instantly what she was talking about. Julia was talking about the prince and how he was poisoned. Her family had tried to keep it a secret from her, but they were kind of bad at it. You could also tell by the air, the air inside our small room was probably better than the air outside. Julia hastily changed the subject saying,

"Mom you know you need to be careful at these steps you always slip" Julia was helping their mother step down the small set of stairs in the room. Julia had her lay on their small old mattress barely a foot thick. Hey, Nick is food done?" Julia walked over to her and sat on the small cushion.

"It's in the heat spinner it will be done in a few minutes, how's mom?" Nicky walked to the heat spinner and checked on the mix of foods, Julia coughed and replied,

"She's ok for now but we need to find a doctor, also did you hear the reward for the prince's cure has nearly doubled since last week" Julia's voice sounded a little worried when she talked about their mom.

"Yeah, I saw the poster out front, with that money we could afford food without you having to work all the time and even a doctor for Mom. I just hope once the prince gets better she will too" Nicky grabbed a cloth, and gripped the large plate from the heat spinner placing the plate in the middle of the three cushions. She dished her family a small portion of the now golden brown food.

"You know that's far too dangerous for either of us." Julia grabbed the plate offering her mom the food. And, honestly, in Nicky's opinion, Julia was being a bit dramatic about it. She went back and joined Nicky.

"So, just saying- what if one of us tried to look for the cure..." Nicky's voice got quieter as she talked.

"Don't even think about it, we've already had this talk. You know it's far too dangerous for the both of us." She added. "Even if, who would stay with mom?" She took a bite of the food.

"I could go, you could stay and keep an eye on her, and I could even find others to help me-" Nicky said, poking at the food.

"Ok we're done with this talk I'll be heading out soon, and I won't be back till after dark. This new job is better than my last, it's not a lot, but it's more. And no one is willing to hire a seventeen-year-old girl, they want professionals." She said the last sentence in a mocking voice. She walked over to the tub and set her dish in. Nicky walked over to her mom, took the empty dish, and set a drink of water by her mattress. Her mom coughed.

"I'm heading out, take care of Mom ok?" Julia said as she opened the door looking at her sister. Nicky knew sometime soon she would go out alone and find that cure at any cost, but first, she needed to check a few things. Well, of course, she wanted to save the prince- but her mom was her main priority right now. If Julia weren't able to find something to help her mom get better, Nicky would.