Aurelia the Rebellious

1: New Aqquaintances

"Guards! Someone, someone stop her!" The shopkeeper pointed in my direction, where I, the supposed thief, was running off. 

Geez, I had only taken one loaf of bread from the local baker. Why did he have to be so noisy? Can't people like him, the upper class, just realize that not everyone was as well off as them? I dashed past stores and stalls of all kind, stores that were painted with a variety of vibrant colors. I could tell my eyes would hurt from the brightness of colors later on. Well this was Luwanay, of course. The city of color.

Luwanay was only one territory out of twenty-two in the continent of Himalay. Luwanay was known for its colors, spice festivals, diversity, and of course, magic. A lot of territories had magic, but thanks to diversity, Luwanay was more advanced. Luwanay also had a sister territory named Seycha which was also known for its magic and diversity. People like me never had magic because only 5% of the commoner population had it, and at least 30% of the noble population did.

I rounded a corner and immediately took this opportunity to "borrow" someone's bright yellow jacket, which was lying on a lounge chair, and put it on. It helped me blend in with the market's colorful crowd, since I was wearing black. Thank Gaia it was market day, because that's when everyone was really bustling. I didn't dare look back, but I hoped that the royal guards were baffled at my sudden disappearance. This is what it took for me to survive. A second of thievery, and a minute of elusion. 

Short pause on the story here. This will be quick, I promise. Hey, my name's Aurelia. My cousin, Chance, figured it would be a good name for me. And I quite like my name too. He once brought up that the reason why he had to name me was because my mom died by giving birth to me. The night after my birth, my dad went missing. Chance was constantly changing the details, but I think my dad went to a bar to grieve my mom's passing. Chance's parents went out to find my dad, but they never came back. And they never came back to name the newborn baby, left in the care of their three triplets. 

After the string of bad luck that followed after my birth, Chance was officially named the responsible one. Chance is seven years older than me because my mom's friend gave birth earlier. Still, they and I all found a way to pitch in. By 'they' I mean me, Amy, and Bella. Ok, back to the story now.

When it looked like I was in the clear, I turned around and changed directions. I had walked slowly towards the outer borders of the Faye Forests, borders which most people were forbidden to cross. But I wasn't most people. For the fairies sometimes offered safe passage to the poor and people in dire need. Me and my cousins? Well, we were poor and in dire need. When I was walking all I could hear was the occasional rustle of leaves and bushes. That was when the sounds of the territory of Luwanay became much quieter. I could no longer hear anyone bargaining for a better price, no palace guards mistreating the working class. Quiet wasn't always a good thing, though. When it was quiet, my senses were heightened, and my mind was full of paranoia. Every time I heard the snap of a twig, I turned around in fear. I couldn't afford to have any palace guards follow me to our home.

If you were to look at the common map, Faye Forests would be drawn right over Luwanay. Which meant that it was kind of easy to jump between the two territories. My cousins and I couldn't afford an actual home in Luwanay because... well, you get the point. I ran up to one of the many small crumbling cottages hastily. It was a flimsy cottage, but we were lucky enough to have a home. Better here than in the streets, like most, or in our master's boiler rooms or chimneys. I opened the the creaky, wooden door cautiously and...

"Rels! You're home, thank goodness!" Amy exclaimed and hugged me and when I entered the cottage. Rels was short for my name. Every time I went outside, my cousins worried. After all, commoners were in more danger than the royals were. The cottage was a fixer-upper but it was decorated with flowers we all picked on the rare occasions we went to the market. The house only had two small bedrooms. 

Unlike the rustic cottage, Bella and Amy looked so beautiful standing in front of me. Even in the dark blue clothes the fairies shared with us. I, on the other hand, looked like a wicked witch. Amy, Bella, and Chance had curly blonde hair and bold blue eyes. They had many admirers. I sometimes felt like an outcast with my semi-wavy, black, inky hair and dark brown eyes. I felt like an outcast especially when most people couldn't believe I was related to the triplets. Even though we were all poor, at least the triplets were admired. 

Amy and Bella looked like identical twins whenever Chance wasn't there. I could tell them apart because Bella always wore her long hair in pigtails that flowed to her shoulders. But Amy preferred to wear her hair in one, neat fishtail braid. I liked to let my hair flow down occasionally, but I wore my hair in my a ponytail when my hair got irritating.

I stared at Bella and Amy in a trance until they asked me, "Aurelia, did you get any food?"

I brought out the loaf of bread from my worn down satchel as they beamed me two, bright smiles. We were all happy to have a chunk of food for the first time in two days. Once we all sat down on the carpeted section of the floor, I split the bread into four pieces. One for me, Amy, Bella, and one for Chance, who was not apparently not present.

"Where's Chance?" I said while looking around the small cottage. Chance had got to stop disappearing without telling me where he was going. At least tell me before I leave.

"He's out working his part-time job at the market. He said he might be able to earn silver tablets for once!" Bella's eyes sparkled like diamonds under moonlight. Bella was the middle child among the other two triplets that were born one minute apart. For the middle child, Bella sometimes acted the most childish. Even though Bella acted childish sometimes, it felt nice to have a bundle of sunshine living in the cottage. Chance was always out working and Amy was more critical than emotional. Amy had her moments though.

"I don't think it's possible for Chance to earn silver tablets in times like these." Amy pushed up her square glasses.

"That's true..." I muttered, not wanting to disappoint Bella. These days, the nobles were using up most of the Silver tablets. It wasn't likely that Chance would be able to make silver tablets for calculating how much change someone would receive at the market.

Our currency here in Luwanay was simple enough. Iron and some silver tablets for the poor. Silver and gold were for the nobles. While gold and diamond tablets were reserved for the King and his family. These tablets weren't that big, they were wide and short enough to fit in your hand. i could see that Chance was trying hard for all of us, but no one would give a silver tablet for a job, no matter how presentable and elegant they looked.

I also found it unfair that I couldn't get a job because I was too young, and Amy and Bella couldn't get a job because they were girls. Some girls could get jobs, but most men hired girls because they wanted to display the girl's good skin and hair. That way, customers would buy their skin and hair products. Amy, Bella and I couldn't take care of ourselves. Because we needed money to take care of ourselves, but you need a job for money, and you need a good care for the only jobs available. 

"When's Chance-" I began to ask what time he would come back, when we all heard multiple loud knocks.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello, everyone! This story was actually pre-written last year, and I'm just uploading and publishing it right here. Though, some chapters might be different because they were edited from my original draft on Google Docs, but I guess it doesn't matter, haha. (You guys haven't seen my original draft, it's a mess.) But moving on: I want to make content that I and other people can enjoy and love so if you do notice anything off with my book, such as grammar errors, please do tell me! And if you find something you really love, you can comment on that too! I want my experience here to be something I can learn from. 

Q: Do you have siblings and/or cousins? What do you love and hate about them?

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧