Beatrice

Chapter 1

The clothes thrown by the landlady hit my face. She tossed all my belongings out the window, and I looked up at her, trying to catch them.

She hurled the last bag of my things. "Don't ever come back here! I've been too nice to you for too long!" she shouted, slamming the window shut.

I had been kicked out. My aunt died two weeks ago, and her good-for-nothing companion left me with their debts. He didn't even leave me a single silver or copper coin.

I packed all my things into a large bag. How am I supposed to live now? There's no place for me to work in this small countryside town. Thankfully, I spotted a group of merchants; they must be headed towards the capital.

I approached one of them, carefully choosing who looked the friendliest. "Excuse me," I called out to a lady with red hair.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at me. "Can I help you?" She didn't seem to like strangers; I had been completely mistaken.

But she didn't drive me away, so I continued, "Are you headed to the capital?"

She raised an eyebrow and faced me. "Yeah?" She placed her right hand on her waist.

"I'm Bea and, um... well, can I go with you?" She questioned me with her eyes. "The thing is, my aunt died, and my supposed guardian left me with nothing. I got kicked out of the house we were renting, so I'm thinking of going to the capital to find a job. If you take me, I'll repay you when I get my first salary. So, please—"

"Stop. You're saying too much. Fine, you can come," she said, cutting me off. It seemed I had been rambling.

"I'm sorry, and, um, thank you." She nodded and walked towards the group of men, who suddenly looked in my direction. I bowed to show my respect.

That night, we camped in a forest. They were actually nice. They gave me food and talked to me kindly. "That man must be a good-for-nothing jerk! How old are you again, miss?" the second-in-command grumbled.

"I'm fourteen," I replied, and he started grumbling again. I just went along with it and let him be.

"You sound and look more mature than your age," Rosa, the lady from earlier, commented.

I looked down at the hot tea they gave me. "I have to be," I said with a smile, gazing at the stars through the gaps in the tree leaves.

"Come here, let's sleep together," she said, opening her blanket for me. I smiled and got in. It was warm, even though the wooden floor of the carriage was cold.

When I woke up, the carriage was already moving. It was Rosa's turn to drive. "Are we close, Rosa?" I asked, sitting up behind her.

"Yeah, see that gate?" She pointed to a gate at the end of the path.

"Whoa! It's huge!" I exclaimed as we got closer. I hurriedly got out of the carriage and looked at the golden gate towering over us. The soldiers started inspecting the products on the carriage and some papers.

A knight suddenly looked at me. "What about her? She's not on your list," he said to the leader while looking at the papers.

"Well..." the leader explained my situation to the soldier. "Please consider; it's not like she can harm anyone." He smiled at me. I never knew there were kind people like them.

"Then just this once, I'll let you through since I've known your group for a while now," the soldier said, signaling the other soldiers. The massive gate slowly opened, its rusty hinges groaning loudly. Sunlight streamed through the widening gap, creating patterns of light and shadow on the ground.