Chapter 5: A stroll in town

"Thyra! Thyra! Help me!" Cried the voice in my head. It sounded like it was hurting or dying. It sounded like it really needed some help. Though I really wanted to help it, I couldn't. I felt like I was lost in a dark spot. Surrounding a dark spooky forest. While the voice kept calling out my name. Suddenly, I heard a branch breaking and then there was an indistinct continuous chirping. It got aggressively louder each time then it just stopped. The place was quiet and still again. I was feeling very much relieved that the noise stopped but I was very much afraid of the sudden silence.  It seemed a little too suspicious. My heart started beating as loud as ever. You could literally hear it from outside my chest. The wind blew and brushed against my body, covering my entire skin in goosebumps. I trembled not only from the cold but from the fright. 

I slouched down in the middle of nowhere, trying to find the sense I lost. I looked down and felt a shadow overlooking me and when I turned around. A ugly looking creature that resembled a hairless monkey jumped right before my face. I screamed, " Ahhhh!". For dear while running through the thick passage of trees and bushes. I ran as fast as I could till I couldn't run any faster. I ran till I saw that I was approaching a dead end. There was completely no escape and by this time,the creature was towering over me. Its huge hands with its long fingernails were curved up above my face. Reaching closer towards me. I braced back further but it drew closer. It's sticky yellow saliva dripped on my face and it made me sick. As much as I did want to, I couldn't wipe my face off. My hands were stuck by my side. The only thing I could do was to turn my face to the side, clenching my eyes shut. I was ready to leave this word with teary eyes. I didn't want it to end like this. I felt my heart stopped beating and my lungs stopped breathing. For some strange reason, I thought of screaming as loud as I could. Awakening the crows and the owls in the trees. Just when I thought I had already died, I woke up in my bedroom only to realise that it was just a dream.

"Pheww!" I sighed in relief. I was glad that it was just a dream because I couldn't afford to descend at such a young age. This world and this kingdom needed to know of me before then. My name shall be constantly heard. I needed to start my legacy for the next generation to be equipped just as I was.

 I sat up in bed reminiscing about what happened. I was wondering if this weird dream had anything to do with my little investigation and what happened to me in the study. I crawled out of my bed, with my eyes still sleepy and my body still feeling tense from all that shock. I walked on the cold ground, towards my bathroom.  Where I washed my face and drank some water from. I was wiping my face when I somehow had the strangest feeling to look back at the mirror.  When I opened my eyes, to my realisation, it was the exact same hairless, monkey looking creature, grinning behind my back. I was frightened and started helling. I threw my wash rag on the floor and ran out of there as quickly as I could. I ran all the way back to my room and shutted my door. Now I wasn't sure if it was a dream or if it was reality. I pinched myself two times but, turns out this was real and it actually happened. 

I needed to think straight and act right but my mind was confused and worried. I reached for my chalk board and drafted my third clue onto it. I needed to show my brother right now, but I was too scared to go back out. I was in fear of seeing that creature standing in the dark halls awaiting my presence. It was better to see Adrian in the morning so we can talk about whatever this is. 

I sat in the middle of my bed for the rest of the night in fear of seeing that same creature in my dreams again. I was frustrated and for some reason, I started to cry. I have never felt so hurt or afraid before. I was usually unbeatable and fearless. I can't say that about myself anymore as I am now a coward chicken. I looked in the mirror to see the warrior I once knew before but now she looked tired and weary. She looks lost and certainly not mentally stable. But sometimes, I blame myself. I blame myself for wanting to use spells to take my parents throne. Maybe it's what I deserved, I shouldn't have done what I did nor what I had in mind. Maybe I shouldn't have returned to my uncle's study the second time since I was told not to go in there. It's all my fault but, "how can I ever fix the damage i have done to myself?"

Despite my troubled mind, I fell asleep. I was awakened by the sunlight shining into my face. I turned my head from the sun and I continued to sleep. My body was laid diagonally across the bed with my head hanging down. The covering sheet was covering every part of me except for my feet. I got up after snoozing gor a while and made my bed, washed my face, tidied my room then went for breakfast. Our chef Bertha, who is Caroline's mother, prepared fried eggs, toast and chocolate tea. She placed each plate, cup and spoon to the respective area where they belong. I sat down to the left of the table, right next to my brother. I wanted to tell him about his dream so badly but it was bad manners to talk around the table while eating. After all a princess has to be etiquette in everything that she does. Especially when she is the future queen. After breakfast, I chased Adrian up the stairs. 

I poked him in the side and asked him to come to my bedroom. Where I discussed with him about my new clue. I told him what I saw in the dream. I described the creature as vivid as I possibly could. I describe its hairless skin, its huge eyes, its long fingernails,  its big drooling mouth and its yellow teeth.  I wanted to know what this thing was and why it was in my dream. Apparently, Adrian has never heard of any creature of that sort. He says the only way we could truly find out what this was by reading up on Korro's book of creatures. We would have to take a visit to the town's library. 

I grabbed my old napsack and shoved a notebook and a pencil inside. After gearing up for our little visit to the library, the hardest part was up ahead. It was to convince our parents to let us out of the palace without bodyguards following us about. Knowing the type of mission we were on, taking anyone else with us would be a dead ringer. I convinced my parents that there was this history project that was due next week and Adrian was going to help me out. They didn't buy my lies at first as the palace has its own library as well as I did. 

However, I still insisted on persuading them to let us go. After a while they did, mostly because they never wanted to be a stoppage to any of our life desires as long as those desires aren't damaging to us. The other reason would be because they insisted for us to take one of their most trusted bodyguards and servants, Mikey. Mikey was a well respected man. He was patient, kind and chill. He never let anything bother him and that's what I always admired him for. The other fact was that Mikey wasn't a nosey person and could care less about what we were intending to do. All Mikey cared about was taking us there safely and taking us back to the palace in one piece. Aside from all his good quantities, Mikey was also a bit overprotective of the people left in his care. Personalspace was something missing from his vocabulary. He would always think that we were in danger of the simplest things.  If we attend an event and are served drinks or food which wasn't made by our own chefs, he would take the first step in tasting the meal first to make sure it wasn't poisoned.

 I am not sure if that makes any sense. Though I know he is just doing his job and I appreciated his effort, he was really annoying. Spending an entire day with your overprotective bodyguard watching your every move is even more boring. 

Anyhow, we decided that maybe it was best that we went dressed in civilian clothes, walking on foot to attract less attention. I only worked with that boring idea my parents suggested. They have boring morals about how i shouldnt be a showoff and how people won't like me for it. I could have cared less what people thought of me. I wonder why someone would have all this fame and opportunities at their fingertips and cover it all up. There is no way I am going to live the rest of my teenage years in bondage. I decided to take my comeback on our way to the library. After all, I am too gorgeous to hide under a hoodie. All this beauty needs to be on display. It was my life's mission to make other people jealous of my good looks and to make them feel awfully insecure of their scrappy faces. I mean like, I don't really want it to seem like I am on high horses. It's just that I can't stand people who disgraces the meaning of real  fashion and style. What the point in wearing a yellow top and a brown bottom. That's a crime to the fashion industry.

 However, I hanged onto one strap of my bag and threw the door alongside my brother and Mikey. We walked a little further to the main gate passing all of the other guards. I thought they would've stopped mikey wanting to know where he was taking my brother and I but he didn't. So I suppose that they probably know of our little outing. Up next there was the palace's huge black gate. It was surely the oldest thing on the property. Its parts were rusting and most times it was stuck and couldn't move. There were many incidents of pieces of the metals falling down nearly colliding into a guard. 

Finally, we were officially out of that prison. We walked down the little steep hill leading to the town square. We walked on solid ground with many decorative trees, and flowers planted along each of the sides on the road leading up to the palace. The walk felt like forever as the distance was pretty much hectic. Now I was starting to feel regret for deciding to come to the library. I was already tired and the journey wasn't even half covered yet. I didn't know where this sudden boost of adrenaline came from but all I knew was that it energised me and I started  to walk more lively and fastly. By using up all my strength, I got extremely tired. I started to feel dizzy. My head was spinning and hurting. I was out of breath and my heart was racing. I threw my hand over my forehead and threw myself onto the ground. Then, I historically cried out,"Water! Get me some water, I can't  breathe!" Mikey bought my drama and instantly turned into a freak. He was panicking, " Oh My Gosh! Princess thyra, I am so sorry I will get you some water by the nearby stream". I was glad it worked and smiled mischievously. I sat under a tree shade with my brother, waiting for Mikey to return to us. Eventually he came back with a round dish filled with water. I was wondering where he got that from and was hoping he didn't find it by the river. That would be gross enough for me to have an allergic reaction to water. I could feel my flesh itching from drinking from a dish that never left the palace but appeared in Mickey's possession.  However, I  was still thirsty. So I shut my eyes while drinking it.  

Mikey tried helping me up but I made my knees fail and pretended that my leg really hurts. Being the gentleman he was, Mikey lifted me up and carried me on his back. I was quite relieved from the walking and decided to make my brother jealous of me. I made a funny face and stuck my tongue out to him.

"I dont you should be doing this, mikey's a good guy so stop it!" Whispered Adrian in an aggressive tone.

But I honestly didn't really care. I simply mocked Adrian and laughed after the pathetic look on his face. For the rest of the journey I was carried on Mickey's back straight to the town. By then, Mickey was panting out of breath. I felt a little sorry for him, so I hopped off his back and started to walk. As we approached the busy town, the more my sense of showing off tingled. It was a Saturday, so the town was busier than ever. Especially in the markets. Lots of families were purchasing groceries and a lot of busy cars were driving about. We walked past the mop of people desperate for their weekend shopping throughout the town. We had our hoodies over our heads covering our faces and hiding our identity. Many people were questioning who we were. I could hear whispers and I could feel the fingers pointing at us. Most of them thought we were moggers most of them thought we were suspicious. I wanted to shout 'I am the princess so badly but I had to keep a low profile'. However, we had to play deaf to our many accusations and continued to walk away. Upon reaching the library, we spotted three men staring at us with a scary look on their faces, I never really thought of it as nothing much. So we entered the library. I walked up to the lady at the front desk, the librarian. I asked her for directions to the aisle about monsters and creatures and she directed us to the second to the last aisle around the back. We walked speedily around there. As soon as we entered the monster aisle, we dropped our things and started searching each and every book for the exact monster we saw. We read about many monsters and creatures such as dragons, fairies, vampires, unicorns, mermaids and werewolves. But absolutely no book in that library had anything to do with the creature I saw. I felt hopeless and started to have a tantrum. I threw one of the books down in disappointment and signed loudy. My actions surely alarmed the librarian and disturbed the other readers. We were kicked out immediately. At this point I had the most excruciating feeling to just disappear. Nothing ever works in my own will. We continued to walk throughout the town, heading home

Suddenly, I heard a man's voice out in the distance. It shouted, " Hey you smugglers! Stop right there!". Then he came running along. It was one of the same three men that I spotted earlier before entering the library. Somehow, I knew that they were up to something.  He grabbed Mickey seeing that he was much taller and older. He decided to pick a fight with the strongest one amongst the three of us. The man held onto Mickey and punched him continuously in the stomach. Throwing him on the ground. 

Mickey pleaded, "please stop! I swear that we are wont causing any harm nor are we planning to do so, we  just came to the library and we are now leaving".

"You came to the library huh? For what reason, to read up on how to take disadvantage of Korro's people?  Nobody walks around a crowd in black hoodies except thieves!" Shouted the guy.

" I'm tired of people like you mistreating Korro's people, there must be a stoppage since the king and queen aren't doing anything about this, I say you get rid of them", shouted a next man. My heart started to beat faster and I was worried. I was also in disbelief. I didn't know that my mother and father knew of such things and had done nothing to help. This was quite shocking as I never knew that my parents were like this. 

After All They were the ones of good encouragement and good morals. This made me trust my parents and now I have unanswered questions to ask them If we make it out of this.

Adrian tried to convince the people otherwise as they all gathered around us and said all sorts of mean stuff. They never believed us otherwise. The man decided that he would beat us out of town and make us never come back. I spotted two more men coming towards our way. They were the same ones that stood with the other man that I saw before entering the library. I suppose one each for me and my brother. I stood like a helpless little girl awaiting to prove to them that I am greater than what they expect. The guy approached me. I realised that he looked familiar but I could recognize who he was. The guy raised his fists afer me. Throwing punches side to side, but I dodged all of them. Then slipped my foot under his feet, tripping him under my will. I then jumped over him and started to punch him in his face continuously. I looked deeply into his battered face and realised that it was Robby and an old time friend. 

"Thyra, is that you?' he asked. I told him that it was me. Then I asked him, "why are you doing this?" He said he was sorry and that he thought I was a thief. 

 I looked over to my left and saw that Adrian was already knocked out and Mikey was there struggling to fight off the man. I got up off the boy and ran over to Mikey's defence. I managed to take him off Mikey for a while but, unfortunately, I didn't know that this man was more than I could ever handle. He was too strong and just simply too much for me. I tried as best as I could and fought my fight. I lost in the end and he threw me on top of Adrian's unconscious body. I couldn't believe that people were like this. I thought korro was a place where people lived in harmony and loved one another. Now I am the disguised princess who got beaten up by her own people. I was furious and determined to give the fight my second try but I was unable to.I heard a loud cheering. They were happy that we were defeated. I heard the man saying, " Let's unmask them to see their true identities. When he took my hoodie off revealing my face, I heard the crowd becoming silent.  I tried to look up, then I saw lots of people covering their mouths and standing back. 

"It's the princess and the prince!" shouted one lady.

The crowd started to chatter. They started to get angry, turning to the men and Robby who attacked us. Boy did I love the beginning of this, but somehow I didn't want robby to get beaten he was my friend. I rushed over to him and gave him my hoodie. I told him to run from the town as fast as he could. Unfortunately, Robby couldn't reach far as they spotted him and captured him alongside the other two men. I begged for them to not hurt Robby. Although I would be seen as a fool for wanting to spare my attacker's life.

" We are sorry, we didn't mean to hurt them; besides we thought they were thieves, look at how they dressed!" explained the man.

But the people could have cared less. I watched them beating him mercilessly, while My brother, Mikey and I were being tended to. We had people holding onto us asking if we were okay. They took us up and decided to take us to the nearby nurse to get us treated for our bruises and scratches. To be honest, the punches and the bruises wore off of me and I wasn't feeling as much pain as my brother and Mikey were feeling. 

However, since it brought the spotlight and the attention I loved .I made my body feel almost lifeless. I let go of my weight and was carried into the nurses. Where she gave me pain killers, dressed my wounds and gave us the royal treatment. Suddenly, I saw Carolina come running along. She was panting and she looked worried sick. She was sweating really hard and had baskets of fruits ith her. 

"I was doing the regular weekend shopping for your mother, when I heard what happened, so I had to come see you; are you okay?" She asked. It was pathetic seeing the two love birds showing sympathy and pity for each other and so, I turned my back to them and forced my ears shut. The look on their faces and the expressions they made were quite cringy and disgusting. 

After some time, I saw my parents rushing in towards us. They were all looking worried but, truly, I was quite relaxed. I was having the time of my life. " Oh my Gosh! My babies are you okay? Am sorry this happened to you guys. Lets get you home" my mother said with teary eyes. We were escorted into the royal carriage individually. From there our journey continued out of the town square, up the little steep hill and back inside the palace. There our parents inferred on what exactly happened and who did this to us. Mickey was too helpless to answer and so was Adrian. So I had to. I explained briefly what took place. My parents promised me that they would punish the men for what they had done. I found that pretty weird as my parents believed in second chances. I begged them not to hurt the men who hurted us.  I told them that they were already beaten by the people. However, they still insisted on taking revenge. I never gave up on what I stood for and pleaded, "Please don't hurt them,they didn't know who we were, give them another try; this isn't like you guys".

 "Well this is like us now! It's best if you go to your room and take yourself out of this! Make the grown ups handle this!" my parents shouted. 

I couldn't stand this sudden change in them so I poured out what I felt to them, " I am not a child anymore and it's time you two stop treating me like one! I swear if you take revenge am out of here!" I stormed off from the living room and headed up stairs toward my bedroom. I knew not why I didn't want them to take revenge on those men despite what they did to us first. But it just didn't feel right. All I knew was that I didn't want my old friend to be treated badly by my parents.