Deceit's Strategy: A False Prince FanFic

Chapter 1

MOST EVENTS AND CHARACTERS BELONG TO JENNIFER A. NIELSEN (some characters are my own)

What if I told you this wasn't a romance or a mystery or a historical book or a fantasy but a fanfic? Would you react by throwing a pillow across the room? Would you slam the book? Would you cry because all you want is good writing and not this crap? Or would you would you be the rare reader who opens the book and takes the chance to change their lives? Well, I wouldn't believe it if you told me you're going to, so you're just going to have to prove me wrong, I guess.....

My tale starts out a little rough, I have to admit. I live in an orphanage in the middle of nowhere. Which definitely is not the paradise you were expecting, but you took the chance. Are you still there? Yeah? Wow, you really are special. 

The floorboards beneath me creak as I tiptoe across the dimly lit room. The moon shone silver rays towards me, illuminating my every step. I open the door with practiced precision and sigh with relief as I note that no one has woken up. The dust on the floor drifts up and curls back to the floor lazily. I'd like to say that was the hard part, but not even close. I then snuck down the steps and out through an open window. The breeze leaves me with a slight chill, but besides the goosebumps speckled across my arms, there is no sign it has affected me. I look down at my feet and wiggle my toes in the boots I've had since I was ten. They had been the last gift my father had given me before he had died. I sighed and then shook my head to scatter the thought. 

No.

 I had to keep running. It was my only way to avoid the past. I slip from shadow to shadow, winding down the street and towards the forest on the edge of town. I round a corner and slam straight into Sage. 

He lives at the sane orphanage as me. Though the orphanage was supposed to be for boys only, hence the name 'Mrs. Turbely's orphanage for disadvantaged boys' but I stole her little things and she hid me in a back home the boys didn't know existed, all but Sage. He had stumbled upon it one night, scaring the heck out of me and discovering me. I hadn't talked to him since that night, but I definitely wanted to. 

He had the softest dimple on his left cheek - nope, I didn't like him, didn't want him. I would not go against my vow. I had sworn off men when the man my older sister loved had killed my entire family. Again, I shut out the thought of death and instead on the boy in front of me. 

He was frowning as the impact knocked him to the floor, but barely left me phased. I reach a hand out to help him up, but he doesn't take it. I frown at his rudeness and take a step back. What a jerk. 

He looks at me, realizing his mistake, and smiles sheepishly. "Sorry Gianna, I didn't think I'd be running into you here, literally."

I shrug off the cute apology and turn around. "You shouldn't be here," I mumble to him.

 He shrugs and leans against a stone wall beside him. "Seemed like a good night for a stroll." 

I know his answer is anything, but honest. I stand a little straighter and turn to face him. "Please don't tell anyone I was here." 

"I haven't told anyone you even exist. Why would they believe when I tell them you've snuck out?" I smile at his response. 

I stand there for a second before waving ever so slightly in a polite way and scurry back into the darkness. 

...

The next morning, I am sore. The climb through the window had been considerably more difficult than the previous one. most likely because one window was on the first floor and the other on the third floor. My cloak was ripped in numerous places from where it had snagged on the rough wood of the orphanage and my hands covered in cuts and splinters, but I had made it back in one piece. More than I could have hoped for. I lay in my bed for minutes, contemplating my life decisions before resolving to go into town, and steal some things for Mrs. Turbely. The walk to the town is a habit, and I take it slow, allowing my eyes to wonder and observe everything around me. I see a dog running through a field, a small girl right on its tail, a newspaper drifting through the wind, and even a person on the roof of a house. 

Once I get into the quick bustling of the main square, my hands easily slip in a d out of pockets and stalls, grabbing little things no one will notice are gone. 

That was easy. 

I practically skip back to the orphanage when I turn a corner and notice the boy, Sage, on the ground getting kicked by a man that looks like the butcher on 3rd street. 

Oh, it was the butcher that works on 3rd street. 

I notice seconds later that the roast tucked under one of his arms is why Sage is being beaten. 

Shoot. 

The genius had stolen something that would help the good of the orphanage and gotten caught. Idiot. I decided it's time for me to step in. Unnoticed before I now notice a man standing beside Sage. He has a brown beard, and his clothes look valuable, too valuable to come from this town. 

"Excuse me, sir," I say, walking over and addressing the man with money. "This boy belongs to Mrs. Turbely's orphanage. I work there, if you need anything you can ask me." 

"No, I'm just helping out this man whose meat has been stolen." He offers a polite smile, but I doubt it's sincere. 

Sage shakes his head like, 'just drop it', but I won't. 

The shadows in this man's eyes scare me, and I don't want him talking to Sage or looking at him if I was being honest. "Please, I insist. 

"No, you don't." The threat in his voice is undeniable. 

I growl and unsheathe a knife from my belt. "Oh, I do."

He flicks his wrist. And then someone comes from behind me and presses a knife against my throat.

 He throws the butcher a pouch, "50 coins, for the roast and the boy." The butcher nods and then books it out of the alley we were tucked in. 

The knife presses softly into my throat, but any movement will cause an open wound. "So girl, you think you can just interfere with me?" He stalks towards me and meets my glare. My eyes are unwavering under his sharp glare, and eventually, his eyes slide away from mine. 

"Just let her go," Sage protests standing up, slightly lopsided I note. 

The man walks over to Sage. "You may speak when told to. And no. I like this ones attitude, and someone knows too much." He says this last part as if it's a total mystery on who this person is, all the while glaring straight at me. 

Also, how did I know too much? 

Sage yells a warning, but it's too late as the man holding me slams the hilt of the dagger into my head. A bright white flash flares in my vision as I crumple, my body limply falling into the man's arms.