Royals

Chapter 1 - The Wealthy

A/N Okay, hi!!

 GUYS I'M SO EXCITED!

 First off, before ya'll kill me, I promise I'm working on TVD and CTTM, buuuttttt I've honestly mostly been working on this.

Sorry not sorry. 

Secondly, I would LOVE to hear some feedback from you guys on this new story! So please let me know what ya think, if you wanna see more of it, if it sounds interesting whatsoever, and sturf like that.

Love ya!

-Liv

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           As I sat under the bridge, shivering in my tattered, threadbare dress, I set my glare on the wealthy that strolled through the streets without a care in the world. I hated- no, I despised them. These fat cats with money falling out of their pockets act as though they can buy anything, anyone they want. They don't care about those of us who no longer have a family, who struggle every night to keep warm while they sit by a toasty fire in their home. They get a warm meal every day and yet we're lucky enough to find decent leftovers in a garbage can. One woman who was wrapped up in a warm fleece jacket held her son's hand as she paid at a register in a store across the street. A couple that was snuggled up together, arms linked as they chuckled with their breath flowing out into the frozen air gave me a disgusted glance before carrying on their way.

           I brought my knees up further into my chest and blew warm breath into my numb fingers. For the past week, my hands have been chapped enough to bleed in the creases where I constantly have them bent up into fists. After feeling a bit of cool air on my head, I reached up and adjusted my hat over my matted, somewhat blonde hair. When I was younger, my mother always said it looked at bright as the sun. After living on the streets of Havenbrooke for so long, it looks more of a light brown color from the dirt. If I was lucky enough to find an abandoned fire at night to curl up next to, the ashes didn't exactly help much. I sighed, gazing off to my right at the night sky, stars bright as can be. I guess that's one advantage of living out on the streets. Every night, I have a beautiful view of the constellations. Normal people count sheep before they go to sleep, but me? I count each and every one of the stars until their bright stillness puts me into a deep slumber. Noticing how dark it was becoming, I pulled my ragged blanket to cover myself and lied down on the cool, icy stone.

            After shaking and shivering for quite some time while counting the stars, I had just started to close my eyes when a shadow appeared on the opposite side of the bridge. I sprung up from where I laid, clinging to my blanket for life in case it was another tramp. I've been in that situation before and let's just say, it didn't end well for the old man who decided to pick a damn fight over my blanket that used to be in one piece. He was headed for the hills the second that I punched him square in the nose. There are three important rules you learn to live by on the streets: use self-defense, don't trust anyone, and never believe the words of a wealthy. Oh, and don't eat anything given to you by a scruffy beggar. It's most likely that they gave you a special rat-poison sandwich. Been there, seen that, and I can tell you that it's not pretty. Seeing two other shadows appearing from behind the first person that entered the tunnel pulled me out of my thoughts. Now that three figures were headed in my direction, I decided that self-defense wasn't in my best interest. I quickly began backpedaling with my hands and dragging my blanket along with me as they grew closer. My heart started racing when I realized how big the following shadows were. Suddenly, something hit the center of my back and knocked the breath out of me. I fell forward onto my legs and turned to see the brick wall at the end of the tunnel. My eyes widened as my breathing picked up while the figures raced toward me. No no no no no.... As I covered my face and braced myself for the impact, a soft hand slowly lowered my own away from my face. Confused, I lifted my gaze to see a nicely dressed older woman with short, pulled up salt and pepper hair. I furrowed my brows and narrowed my eyes at the woman, confused as to why a wealthy would actually waste her time on me.

Her emotionless brown eyes met my own blue ones as she asked, "What is your name?"

I only stared at her for a long moment, trying to figure out what she wanted with me. Did I do something wrong?

"M-my name?"

       She nodded her head once, giving me the go ahead. I looked the woman up and down, curious as to what was going on. Why would a wealthy ask a street rat of their name? I guess it's only my name.. what harm could it do?

"Alayna."

         She rose her brows and proceeded to examine me, her eyes stopping at mine once more. After a moment, she turned to the men behind her whom I'm assuming are guards and spoke quietly enough for me not to hear. She looked to me once more with a warm smile on her face, "I'd like for you to come with me. I can provide a warm bed, three meals a day, warm showers, a clean home, and hospitality unlike any you've seen."

I narrowed my eyes, "What's the catch?"

        She furrowed her brows, confused for some reason as to why I would've asked such a question. She's a wealthy. They don't speak, let alone offer anything to us such as this.

        Her eyes softened with pity as she calmly answered, "Darling, there is no catch. Please, I am truly giving you the offer that I stated. You will owe me nothing in return."

        I glanced to the large men standing behind her and immediately shot my nervous glance back to her. Why would she do this? Is this a trick into slavery? I mean, whether it's slavery or not, at least it saves me from the streets. Last winter, I hardly survived from the terrible frostbite that threatened my body. A warm bed, decent meal, roof over my head, and she offered. She's not trying to buy me at some sick auction that the wealthy hold every month. Her voice pulled me back to reality, "Will you come with me?"

This was the first time I broke my own rule.

        Reluctantly, I took the woman's hand that she held out to me and she helped me to my feet. Now standing, I realized that she was a good bit taller than I am. She placed her hand around my back comfortingly and rubbed my shoulders in an effort to warm me up, but I only tensed at her touch. She led us to a Cadillac Escalade where the guards opened the doors for us. I first climbed into the back seat with her following shortly behind. For the entire ride of what seemed like an hour, she kept her arms around me while I shivered nearly the whole time. From the heat blasting into the backseat, I couldn't decide whether I was hot or cold. One minute I was burning up and wanted her off of me, and the next my teeth were chattering so much that I thought they would break.

"We're here."