CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Bjorn noticed someone suspicious.
The street was busy and packed with people. He could hardly even keep his eyes on Tatiana because there were many people wearing cloaks as well.
He caught her making her way through an open space. A stall that's selling books. A suspicious looking man followed her but kept his distance for a few meters while observing Tatiana's every move. Looked like the man was following her even before and noticed that she had many gold coins inside her bag, a clear sign that she's a noble.
While Tatiana was busy browsing through books that she will buy for Elliot, the man slowly inched forward which made Bjorn move forward as well. The man looked over the crowd of people and glued his eyes on the princess like a hyena stalking a gazelle.
While the man was thinking of a way to escape after grabbing the purse, he didn't notice that a bigger prey was already behind him, watching his every move. He felt the back of his hair stand up and the air suddenly turned cold.
He slowly turned around and was greeted by someone's chest. The man immediately recognized the danger and went on with his plan without thinking much. He jumped on Tatiana, attempting to snatch her bag but Bjorn immediately tackled him to the ground and grazed her hair instead.
The princess who felt that something flash behind her, whirled around but didn't see anyone. Bjorn and the man he tackled to the ground was immediately covered by the people walking around.
Tatiana shrugged and proceeded to read the blurbs behind the book's cover. She finished paying just in time for Bjorn to knock the man out and tie him to a pole somewhere. The other guards will find him soon enough since Bjorn let a note.
"Elliot will love these," she happily whispered to herself and walked around for some more. She also passed by a stall that sold bows and ties. She picked one polka dot bow and one yellow and black striped necktie for William. She found it funny and chose the design just for fun, she thought that the old man at least needed something colorful in his life.
As for Emma, she needs to pay her back big time. She was lucky enough to find a beautiful necklace with a letter E as a pendant. She also bought her a pretty music box which plays a gentle and beautiful tune.
She never thought that venturing to the capital would be so much fun. There were a lot of people and she was never good with crowded places but she enjoyed every part of it. She felt like she was free for the first time.
Eventually, she got lost and ended up in the residential area of the capital. There were no people loitering around the area so she decided to remove her hoodie so she can look around better. The houses were mostly made up of wooden planks and pointed roofs. The building itself also stretched out up to at least three or four stories high.
She continued to look around for any signs of going back to the main street or at least the way back to the entrance of the capital but to no avail.
"No! Please! This food is all I have left!"
Tatiana turned when she heard someone yelling. It continued along with mocking laughs and clattering of objects. Her grip on the basket that she was holding tightened.
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply and chanted to herself, "this is not your world and what happens here is none of your business. This is not your world and what happens here is none of your business."
She turned around to walk towards the other direction when she heard an ear-piercing cry.
"No!" the voice wailed, "don't hurt my sister!"
"Don't hurt him, please! It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"
Her ears suddenly started ringing as flashbacks from her past life started to resurface. The screaming in the background continued and all she heard was her own breathing and heartbeat, and the muffled screaming in background.
The houses in front of her started duplicating and moving around. She closed her eyes tightly as a single tear escaped from her eye. She shook her head and dropped the basket that had all of things she bought and went running towards the direction of the screams.
She ended up in dead end and saw teenage kids hovering over what looked like a seven year old boy and a much younger girl. The boy was hugging the girl, shielding her with his body.
Blood trickled down the side of the boy's face and a broken chair was beside him, the parts and legs scattered apart.
"Please hurt me, just don't touch my sister!" The boy cried.
"You don't get to decide that, you're just an orphan." One of the older boys said and nodded at his other friend, "go on, kick him!"
The other boy was in the position to kick when Tatiana threw a rock that she found on the side. It hit the back of one of the boys and winced in pain.
"Ow! Who did that?!"
They all turned around to see Tatiana standing at the edge of the dead end. She glared at them and crossed her arms.
"Stop that and go home!" she yelled at them. "You won't grow up to be respectable citizens if you don't stop what you're doing now!"
The boys looked at each other with confusion and laughed.
"What the heck is she saying, lad?" the boy asked his friend. The friend shrugged in return, "must be a crazy bxtch."
"Go back to your mum and play dolls with her or something!" one mocked, "you don't deserve to be here!"
Tatiana had forgotten that she was only fifteen in her present life which makes her the same age as these boys or younger. She wanted to hit herself in the head for running here without a plan.
Her eyes went to the young boy and girl who were cowering in fear behind the older boys. She felt determined to save them, plus she won't be able to sleep in peace if she just let them be.
"I told you to stop it," she muttered. Her knees were shaking out of fear, she didn't know what to do. She was outnumbered by a bunch of boys who looked like they beat people for fun. "You shouldn't hurt others like that."
"YoU shOulDn'T hUrt oTherS like that!" the boy mimicked her voice and laughed out loud. "Why don't you have fun with us instead, eh? We'll let these orphans go."
Tatiana chewed the bottom of her lip and looked around. She had no other choice, this was her last straw.
"Bjorn!"
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END