My Foreign Prince

Chapter 1

"Cindy! Can you come down here for a second?"

The movement of the quill in my hand stopped as I heard my mother call to me from the bakery downstairs, causing me to look away from the words I was writing down. "Coming!"

Grabbing a handful of my simple dress I ran out of my room and down the wooden steps, swinging around the banister and landing on my two feet. My mother looked up from the dough she was kneading and chuckled.

"You're awfully chipper today, dear." She mused as I skipped towards the counter she was working on, leaning against and crossing my arms over the surface. I grinned.

"It's weird, right? I just have this feeling, that something big is gonna happen!"

"Is that so?" The woman laughed "Well perhaps you'll encounter this big thing while you go to the market. We're out of flour."

I rolled my eyes and made my way to the door "I'll go get some..."

"Money's on the dining table!"

"Got it!"

I slid the coins into my dress pocket before slipping on my cloak, greeting a customer that just walked in before walking out the front door.

Well anyway, I better introduce myself. I'm Cynthia Livius - but everyone calls me Cindy. I'm a sixteen year old girl living in my amazing kingdom of Belliak. My parents own the town bakery, meaning they're always buzzing with work so I'm usually the one to buy groceries. Not that I'm complaining. It's been this way since I was a little girl, meaning I was now a regular at the market. This meant everyone knew my name and I was friends with every stall owner.

"Cindy! Good to see you back again!"

"Hello." I smiled, waving at the kind woman running the firewood stall. Winter was rolling in, so that one was real busy at this time of year. I skipped through the market, looking for the stall with the ingredients I required.

"Cindy!"

Ah, there it is.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Den!" I say cheerfully, pressing my palms against the counter. Mr. Den smiled at me with his sunken eyes.

"Good to see you back. I assume your parents are running low on ingredients?"

"Yeah, again..." I rubbed the back of my head "Sorry, it seems like we're taking most of your stock."

"No need to apologize, lass." The elderly man waved a hand in dismissal "It's because of you three that our town never goes hungry. I think I pretty much owe it to you."

"Oh please. You do your job and we do ours. There's really not much to it." I grinned "But anyway, how much for the biggest bag of flour you have?"

"For you, I'd give it for two bronze coins." Mr. Den rubbed his hands together. My jaw dropped.

"But that's so cheap!"

"Like I said, you make sure we're fed." The man pushed a large sack of flour on the counter "If I were you I'd take the deal while it still stands."

"Well, I can't say no to such a profit. I'll take it!" I dropped the asked amount into his palm and grabbed the sack, slinging it over my shoulders. Mr. Den gave me a concerned frown.

"Are you sure you can carry that, lass?"

"Pfft, please! This is me we're-- woah!"

I stumbled backwards from the weight, nearly crashing into the stall behind, but an arm caught me and prevented my fall. Another hand took ahold of the flour preventing it from falling off my shoulders and spilling across the pathway.