“Thief! Thief! Catch the thief!”

The ugly cry echoed over the street. This startled Lorelei as she frantically looked around. In the distance she saw two guards running towards them, chasing a small nimble figure. Before she could react, Jessup and Rish sprang into action. The young squire hurriedly stepped in front of Lorelei, protecting her with his body, and drew his dagger. At the same time, the binshi jumped forward with an outstretched hand. Lorelei couldn’t see exactly what happened but just in a few seconds, there was a crash and a pained scream. The thief lay flat on the ground with Rish’s knee digging in his back, keeping him down, and her hand tightly grabbing his neck. With large eyes, Lorelei stared at the figure wriggling in the binshi’s hold. It was a boy! No older than eleven or twelve and scrawny looking, with dirty clothes and ash-white hair. His face was distorted with pain, his nose bleeding from when he hit the ground, yet his hand still clutched the now dirty piece of bread with desperation.

Soon enough, the two guards came running. One of them pulled the boy up, the other gave Rish a small nod of thanks. Without saying a word, they started to drag the crying boy from where he came. His sad sobbing made Lorelei’s heart throb.

“W-what is going to happen to him?” she asked in a small voice.

“The punishment in Norden for stealing varies depending on the crime.” Jessup put his dagger back and answered. “For first-time offenders doing petty theft, it is flogging. Repeated crimes or stealing valuables call for one or both arms to be broken.”

All the blood left Lorelei’s face.

“But he is a child! And he took a piece of bread because he was hungry!”

“Stealing is still stealing, my lady.” Rish was perfectly calm. “If he has stolen something, the boy deserves to be punished.”

“No.”

With a determined look, Lorelei turned around and hurriedly followed after the guards and their prisoner, forcing her escorts to run after her with confused and strained expressions. It was not hard to find them. The commotion a few streets away drew Lorelei’s attention immediately. In front of a bakery shop, a large crowd of people had gathered. The two guards stood there with the young sniffling thief between them. Just as Lorelei was getting closer, one of the guards pulled the boy to an empty cart standing nearby and forcefully bent him over the back. The other guard bound the boy’s hands to the sides so that he couldn’t move even an inch. They intended to execute the punishment right there!

Lorelei was preparing to shout and stop them when she felt someone pulling her to the side. She saw Rish’s grim face in front of hers and the words stuck in her throat.

“I am terribly sorry, my lady, but I can’t let you interfere.” The binshi’s voice was stern. “Every theft should be punished. This is the law in Norden. The duke was the one who proclaimed it and he is the one under whose orders it is implemented. As his wife, you can’t break the laws the duke has decreed.”

In the distance, there was the clear snapping sound of a whip and a child’s scream. Lorelei tried to struggle out, but the other woman was holding her tight.

“It is unfair! He was just hungry!” She felt her eyes sting but deep down she also somehow understood that the law was right, even though she didn’t want to admit it. As if reading her thoughts, Rish said with a milder tone:

“You always start small, my lady. You take away a loaf of bread because you are hungry. Then you get bolder and steal an egg, a chicken, a horse. In the end, you rob someone from their last coin and slit their throat. If the boy does not understand his crime early, his future will be dark.”

Lorelei bit her lip as the whip’s loud crack sounded again. The boy’s screams were digging right into her heart. Next to her, Jessup whispered in her ear:

“Don’t be sad, my lady. The guards also know that the kid is just hungry. The normal punishment is twenty strokes on bareback. But they left the boy’s clothes on. Besides, that loud noise the whip makes each time – it is just for show. He is not striking with full force. The sound then would have been different.”

Still, thirteen more lashes followed. After the fifteenth, the guard stopped and proclaimed loudly.

“The duke does not want corpses lying on the streets. The punishment for stealing a loaf of bread has been implemented in accordance with duke Norden’s order. Now disperse!”

The crowd slowly dissipated, leaving only the baker, the two guards, and the crying boy. One of the guards cut the rope holding his wrists and the child slumped on the ground trembling.

With most of the eyes gone, Rish finally decided it is safe enough and released her grip. Like a freed bird, Lorelei ran towards the boy. Her arrival surprised the guards and one of them tried to stop her, only for Jessup to step in.

“Keep your hands away, men! This is the lady’s private business.”

The squire moved between them and pulled out a small silver token, engraved with two coats of arms – at the top, there were a deer and wolf around a shield; at the bottom was a ship with open sails with three stars above the masts. The guards froze, immediately recognizing the crests of duke Norden and baron de Mar. Furthermore, seeing the token was silver definitely meant that the carrier was from the nobility.

In the meantime, Lorelei had squatted beside the boy. The clothes on his back were torn, but there was barely any blood. Just as Jessup had told her, the guard had lightened his strikes. She tried helping the boy up, but he shrugged away from her and curled up on the ground.

“Mercy, lady, mercy! I won’t do it again. Don’t punish me anymore, please, lady!” His voice was hoarse and breaking.

Seeing that he was scared of her, Lorelei thought for a second and then stood up. She went straight to the confused baker. After a short conversation and the exchange of some small coins, she returned to the boy with a big loaf of freshly baked bread. She leaned over him with a benign smile and handed him the bread.

“I am not going to harm you, child, I promise. Here, take it.”

The boy just looked at her with teary eyes but didn’t dare touch the bread, squirming even farther away instead. Faced with so much fear and mistrust, Lorelei wondered what to do. She remembered one time she was scared and crying because her father had ordered her to be beaten. At that time, out of shock, she had lost the ability to speak for days. Her master was the one who had calmed her down and treated her wounds, jokingly talking to her all the time. She could clearly remember his calm and assuring behavior and gentle tone. This gave her a good idea about what to do.

To everyone’s utter astonishment, the noble lady sat down right on the wet, muddy street cobbles, feet crossed, and broke a large chunk of the bread, stuffing it in her mouth. She chewed slowly with half-closed eyes, never letting the boy out of her sight.

“This is such a lovely, tasty bread.” Her cheerful voice chimed like a small bell. “It is warm and fluffy and simply melts in the mouth.”

The boy slowly stopped trembling. She could clearly see him gulping when the scent of freshly baked bread reached him. So, he was that hungry. She took another smaller piece and ate it.

“It sure is so tasty but is too large for me. Just two bites and I am so full already. What should I do? It would be a waste to throw it away!” Lorelei sighed theatrically and looked at the loaf in her hands with a sorrowful expression. She then tore away another two small pieces and handed them over to the very nervous Jessup and Rish. “Here, have some too. I can’t eat anymore.”

Her two companions hesitantly complied, but after finishing their shares they also stated that they are full. Lorelei turned to the boy again, her smile still bright and cheerful.

“It is so sad that this good bread will go to waste. Young friend, would you like to have it? Otherwise, I would have no other choice but to throw it away or feed it to a dog. That would be such a waste, indeed.”

She stretched out her hand with the still-warm loaf. Very slowly, with fear and hesitation clearly visible on his dirty wet face, the boy reached out and touched the bread with trembling fingers as if it was some kind of holy object. Then, in a split second, he grabbed it and hugged it tightly to his chest, curling up like a little hedgehog to protect it. Everyone could hear muffled sobs coming from him yet again.

Lorelei stood up and patted her clothes. She then nodded to the startled baker and the guards and waved for Rish and Jessup to follow her. They hadn’t even gotten a few steps away when Lorelei felt a small tug at the hem of her tunic. She turned around and saw the boy, still clutching the large bread, his big blue eyes staring hopefully at her. Jessup motioned to drive him away, but Lorelei stopped him and gave the child an encouraging smile.

“L-lady fairy,” the boy’s voice was shaky with fear and anguish but he still held to the hem of her tunic, “please, kind lady, help us! My little sister is very sick. Please, good lady, save her!”

“What do you think you are you doing, kid?” Rish stepped in and tore his hand away before Lorelei could interfere. The boy retreated a small step back but still didn’t go away.

“Please, lovely lady. You are rich. Please, by some medicine for my little sister!” He was choking while saying this. “In return, I’ll be your slave for the rest of my days, lady. I’ll give you my life, but please, save my little sister!”

“Enough!” Jessup stepped in, standing next to Rish and blocking the child’s way to Lorelei. “Go away and be grateful, that the lady showed you mercy today.”

“Lady, please!” The boy fell on his knees, bending down so that his brow touched the round.

“Scram!” Jessup’s voice was dangerously low, but suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Back away, Jess. You too, lady Rish.” Lorelei came between them and bend over, helping the boy up. “Lead the way, young friend. I will help your sister, but first I need to see her. Otherwise, the medicine might not work.”

“My lady, this is crazy!” Jessup was exasperated. “You can’t possibly follow some unknown beggar to god knows where! Think about your safety!”

“I agree with Jess on this, my lady.” Rish’s tone was steely. “It is unfortunate, but you can’t save every poor soul in Yalda. Think about your position.”

“It is exactly as you say, lady Rish.”

Lorelei threw a glance over her shoulder and the binshi was surprised to see the usually meek face of her mistress now hardened with determination. Her expression was very much like the one she had so often seen on the duke when he had made an unshakable decision.

“But lady Rish,” Lorelei continued, “I am not going to help every poor soul in Yalda. I am going to help a child, begging on his knees. And as for my position – it is exactly why I must help them. Now then, lead the way, little friend. We have no time to waste.”

Just like that, the esteemed duchess Norden followed a little bread-thief into something that would later become a legend amongst common people and nobles alike.