Forever and Ever After (book1)

Chapter 1

Another new chapter, hope you guys like the new edited bits

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Chapter 1

After many years the baby Isobel grew into a fine young woman who had grown to know the arts of robbery and highway thievery. She was an idol in the small robbers community; the finest female robber in the land.

She could play the damsel in distress so well that even some of the robbers actually thought she was worth stealing off until she threatened to remove certain appendages, so when rich gentlemen rode along and tried to her help her, they never saw her hands slip inside of their coats where they hide their most valuable possessions.

Her narrow body could slip through carriage windows and small doors so she could steal the contented or on the odd occasion she would have to climb through the small gap between the main carriage and the seat where the driver sat and drive away with the whole lot. Most of the carriage would go on to be salvaged and sold to various people while other valuables would be sold on the black market to the highest bidder.

But she became the most valuable member of the robber's community when she became the only person capable to gain access to the Troll Market where she could buy something more valuable than money; magic.

One summer day, Isobel was sitting in the trees waiting for the carriage their scouts had already seen heading down the dirt road on the other side of the forest. She was one of five who wanted the contents of inside the carriage but all thieves know it was whoever got hold of what first got to keep it, so she really wanted something worthwhile, even if it was something small.

As she heard the carriage wheels get closer and the sound of horses approaching, her heart rate began to beat faster. The thrill of a robbery always got her excited. She double checked her disguise was secured around her face and covered her hair. She made sure her sword could be drawn easily but most of all she made sure that she would be mistaken for a guy not a girl; that was the last thing she needed.

Three royal guard horses came into view with no riders on their which seemed strange for a moment, before a knight could run into view to claim his horse back. Isobel shimmied down the tree just before the carriage rolled past so she could jump in to action.

A white and gold carriage rolled up in front of Isobel, she wanted to jump around and cry out in delight as she realised she had hit the jackpot; a royal carriage and from the amount of escort it probably had real royalty inside not the decoys she was use to handling.

She picked up a stick and threw it at one of the four horses pulling the carriage. It spooked and reared up, spooking the rest of the horses as it did. Isobel smiled to herself when she realised the other robbers hadn't appeared from wherever they were hiding.

A young man stepped out from the carriage and looked at the horses with displeasure. "What's going on?" he demanded, his voice was full of authority and he stood like the very ground he stood upon should listen to him.

"The horses my Prince, they seemed spooked by something," the driver replied.

As the Prince stepped out of the carriage and gently closed the door behind him, Isobel made her move. She ran straight for the Prince, slid to kick up the dust and knocked the prince's feet from under him and scrambled under the carriage for cover.

A roar echoed around the forest and the heavy body of a creature with grey fur landed in front of the carriage and stalked around it licking its lips as it turned hungry eyes towards its next meal. From the scraps hanging from its chin and the large amount of blood down its front, Isobel could guess where the other thieves had gone along with the other royal escorts.