Descending from Ordinary

Chapter 8

"Don't say it so loud," he pleaded. "I don't want anyone to know I'm out of the castle."

"What's a royal doing sneaking around the kingdom anyway?" Ace glared.

The prince turned to Jacob. It wasn't hard to pick which one was him; it's not every day you see a man with bright pink hair. "I want to accompany Jacob on his journey to the Forest."

"You...what?" Jacob wondered, not sure of what to think. "Why?"

"For one, I need to get out of that place," he explained. "Being an only child that just so happens to be a prince...well, it's tiring. I want...I want to go on an adventure."

Jacob could see the eagerness and desperation sparkling in his eyes when he explained his dilemma. Honestly, him tagging along didn't matter to Jace or Jacob...actually, Jacob thought it would be better for more people to tag along anyways, considering how supposedly dangerous the trip was going to be. The more defenders, the less chance of dying, right?

"Hm," Ace hummed, not amused. "Well, it was nice hearing your life story and all, but we really gotta go. So, excuse us."

Ace turned back to Jace, grabbing the sack and slinging it back over his shoulder. He began walking away. Jacob reached after him. "Wait, Ace—"

"We don't need some runaway prince tagging along," he didn't stop walking.

"Listen, I promise I—" the prince went to grab Ace's arm to stop him from walking but ended up tugging on the bag of stolen food. When his fingers jerked at the fabric, it caused it to slip from Ace's hand and to the ground, allowing all the little berries, rolls, and other foods to tumble out onto the dirty stone ground.

Bringing mass attention in their direction, people began to turn their heads to the commotion from various directions in the crowds. The four boys gave each other meaningful 'oh shit' looks, turning their heads as a large man with small horns on his shiny, bald head began pushing through the crowd.

"You!" he growled deeply. "You stole from my booth!"

"Dammit."

Everyone looked at Ace in panic, who'd been as still as a statue, only for a split second before he immediately grabbed Jacob and Jace's arms, tugging them along with him as he bolted down the street. Jacob hurried to grab the prince's hand to make sure he wasn't left behind, and the four of them made their way only a few meters ahead of the angry salesman.

Turning street by street, the four attempted to lose the large man in the crowd, but, unfortunately, his towering height allowed him to keep his eyes on them, sticking right on their tails. Ace swore under his breath as he noticed they weren't getting any farther from the chaser running like they were. Suddenly whirling into an alley with a sharp turn, everyone was suddenly thrown off balance behind Ace in the chain of four, barely held together.

Jacob's breaths became rapid and heavy as he began losing his stamina bit by bit. He never was an athletic person, really, but he never thought he'd run out of breath so quickly. Turning one more corner into an empty alley, Jacob slammed into Ace as he made an abrupt stop. Jace and the prince slammed into Jacob, making them all topple forward, but Jacob held onto Ace's shoulders to keep himself upright.

Looking up, the boys noticed why Ace had stopped—there was a high house to house stone wall blocking the alley's path. Jacob's heart pounded with panic. Instantly, Ace ran next to the fence, dropping to one knee and holding his hand out like a step. "Climb over!"

Jacob didn't ask any questions and did as told. He put his foot in Ace's hand and he lifted him up to reach the top of the gate. Jacob quickly pulled himself over, landing flat on his meters on the other side. He turned back to the fence, putting his face close to the cracks between the wooden columns so he could assure the others were going to get over in time. Ace was lifting Jace up, and he successfully got him over to Jacob's side before he turned to the prince. As the prince stepped into Ace's hand, the large man suddenly turned the corner, holding out a large sword in the two's direction.