Dust snuck its way through the cracks in the carriage as the wheels droned on, punctuated only by the occasional cough from a parched throat.

Being royalty was nice, or so the others said: being able to ride everywhere, being able to wear jingly jewelry and being able to wear matching clothes with everyone else were a few of the reasons they stated.

I personally didn’t like it, though, because the rides tended to be really long, and the carriages were stuffy with so many of us crowded inside. Also, I wasn’t able to look out and see the trees and pretty birds like I wanted to, but I guess that was for the best.

The others told me that being seen by other travelers was not good, as they would all crowd around us because we were so popular, and then it would be even more crowded than it was inside the carriage! I guess I should just believe them. Hmm. But why don’t they look happy?

Finally, the carriage slowed down to a stop. The fabric of the carriage was pulled back, and with a *Clink* and a *Clang* the safety gate was opened.

“We are setting up here.” A big man said. “You know the drill, now get a move on!”

I am part of the tent team. As royalty, we have to make a lot of tours, talk with other important people, and to show off how great our family is. To do that, we make a sort of arena for the show; but they always put me with the tents, so I haven’t gotten to watch it yet. They tell me it’s not as fun as I think it is…

My job will be to carry stuff for the others to use when making the tents, and then I will help with the cooking. I can’t actually cook, myself, but I’m good at finding the ingredients. It’s an exciting job. If I work hard enough I can even get a reward! So I have learned how to run really fast, even with all this jewelry.

Well, enough of that. I gotta help with the tents!

“Little one!” Fifty three called out to me.

“Yes!”

“Go bring me some rope.”

“Okay!”

Now where was it? Oh, yes, the left side of the carriage with extra big wheels.

I trot over to the carriage and climb inside. Hmm. It’s a bit messy in here, so let’s clean it up a bit. Put the extra robes there, the blankets over here, this flint rock goes in that bin… Ah! Rope! I finally found where it was all piled up. Time to run back.

“Fifty-Three! Fifty-Three! Huh? Where is he?”

“Here, I’ll take it.”

“No! It’s for Fifty-Three!”

“Give it to me!” Eighty Two said, ripping the coil of rope out of my hands.

“But Fifty-Three!”

“Shut up. He got put on the arena team.”

“Hmm?” I tilt my head to the side.

*Sigh* “Just don’t worry about him. And um… Go see if Twenty-Six needs help in the kitchen. “Okay!”

“Twenty Six!” I call out as I run over to the food wagon

“Little one, I’m glad to see you again!” An old lady smiles at me.

“You know you saw me yesterday too…”

“Yes, I did, but each time I get to see you again, it puts my heart at ease, because that means there is hope for you.” She pokes my nose while accenting the “you.”

“Hope? What do you mean?”

“Don’t worry about that little one. You will know in time if fate smiles on you. Now go get me some potatoes.”

I still don’t understand, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is whether I can get the reward, so let’s get some potatoes!

*Cling, cling, clang, crrring* Man I hate wearing jewelry! It’s so heavy and hard to move it and…

Ah! Focus! There is a reward to win!

*Oomf* I finally managed to find the potatoes and lug a bag over to Twenty-Six.

“Good job! Now we need to start the fire, so go get me a flint.”

“Okay!”

That was in the wagon I just cleaned up. This one will be easy!

*Cling, Crrrring, Clang, Clang* Here! I climb back up into the carriage again. Oh, there’s another robe on the floor. Wait, I recognize that—it’s the one Fifty-Three was wearing. Ah, that’s right, a named royal often puts their clothes in here when it is time to take a bath. I have concluded that it’s bad to get red stuff on you, since the dirty clothes usually have lots of red spots on them when they get put in here. The robes often have extra rips in them too. Does the red stuff make holes in fabric? I should be careful if I find any of this red stuff…

Alright. Got the flint, so let’s head back.

*Crrring, clang, cling, cling*

After getting back, I lit the fire and then kept getting the ingredients for Twenty-Six. I even got to stir the pot this time! She said it was because she would be able to retire soon, so she needed to teach me how to cook. She smiled at the word retire but her eyes looked sad. These kinds of expressions are common, and I have tried asking about them, but the others always say something like “don’t worry about it,” or “I am happy.” I try to believe them, but something just feels off…

Today I was fast enough, and so I got a reward! A whole extra cup of soup! For some reason, I have to hide from the men in colorful commoner clothes when eating my rewards, but I don’t mind it. They always taste just as good whether or not anyone else is watching.

*Ding, ding, ding* One of the commoner men rang a bell. All the people who are old enough to have names always get a whole meal a few hours before the night shows. I heard one of the commoners say something about strength to fight, but I don’t know. They have to wear extra jewlery, so I’ll just be patient while waiting to grow up.

The bell hurts my ears! I can say it though. They say that if you voice you complaints then ghosts will come to haunt you. I don’t know what ghosts are, but I’m pretty sure I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t be much fun…

“Little one, Little one!”

“Hmm? Thirty-Two? What is it?” I ask, looking up at the slim but somewhat muscular man peering down at me. “Time to play the game.”

“Which one?”

“The invisibility game”

“Oooh, okay!”

This is a game that Twenty-Six taught me and the others like to play with me. It’s a game where I go and hide somewhere reeeealy well until someone makes this funny sound, or I get found. I’m good at hiding, though, so usually they have to make the sound.

“Where to hide this time… Hmm.”

“Hurry, hurry!”

“Okay, okay, I found a place!”

I run over to the food carriage and jump into the pit of dried beans. I have found that when it is full, I can wiggle down so far that no one can find me—at least not yet, hehe.

It’s actually really close, so I can make out Thirty-Two talking with Twenty-Six. I hear something like “little…arena…wild dogs.” Are there little doggies in the areana? I want to see them!

Hmm. Come to think of it, the place seems a bit more quiet than usual… I wonder why.

“Where’d you go little girl? Come out, come out! We’ll give you a name, haha!”

“Yo, Bitch-face, where’s the girl?”

“The-the girl?” Twenty-Six asked.

“Yeah, the one who’s been helping ya lately.”

“Oh, there was a piece of rope left out, so she went to put it away.”

“Tch. You better not be lyin’ to me. You know what happens when a slave lies to their master…”

Heavy footsteps trudged off in the direction of the supplies carriage.

*Soft Whistle*

Oooh, that’s the signal! I jump out of the bean bin and return to where Thirty-Two had been, but he has left. Only Twenty-Six is still there.

“Good job! Now, do you remember the second game?”

“The one where you tell me a place to hide in, and I stay there for a long time?”

“Yes, yes, so you remember. Good. So take these,” she says handing me a makeshift sack of stale bread rolls and a skin of water. “Do you see that cave over there?”

“The one with the really really big opening?”

“Yes, that one. Go there and hide for two days, ok?”

“That’s a long time…”

“Yes, but you are a big girl and you can do it! Also, if you do this, you might get an extra extra special reward, ok?”

“Oh, special reward! Ok!”

“Alright. Now remember, who are you hiding from?”

“The commoners?”

“Yes, yes, now go! Go!”

“Ok…” I say as I turn towards the cave.

She mumbled something as I quietly walked off. She probably thought I wouldn’t hear, but I have reeealy good hearing. It was something like “…painlessly or be free.”

Why is she acting all weird and stuff? And this is the first time I’ve actually played this version of the game for reals. Oh, well. For the reward I will do my best!

Alright, closer and closer to the cave. Ahh, finally made it to the enterance, gotta go in.

It’s a bit dark, and kinda cold in here… Oh, well, let’s just keep…”

*Cling* Ah! I made a noise! You can’t make noises with this game, or your reward won’t be as nice. “Oh, but what’s this?

I heard someone shout something about a “runner.”

Oh, no! the commoners see me! I better just run for it until I find a place.

*Cling-cling, cling-cling, clang, crrring, cling cling*

They are catching up, I can’t lose the reward! Into the cave. I just gotta make it depper into the cave.

*bang*

Ouch! My shoulder! It hurts, it hurts!

*bang* “Ahh!” Oh, I don’t think anything else happened, but I managed to glance behind me. The loud sound came from these weird sticks the commoners have. Oh, please stop doing that, it scares me, and it made me hurt so bad!

Oh, finally, the cave. They are still chasing me, though. Why are you doing this? Isn’t it just a game? Usually they kick me around, but they’ve never done this before! It hurts differently…

Hmm? The cave is getting… bigger? Oh, my shoulder hurts so much! Twenty-Six, I want you here so badly!

*Cling cling, clang clink, crrring, clang*

Oh, is this the end? But they are still coming! Hide. Hide. That’s what I need to do. Let’s look around… There is a weird hill in the middle of the room, and… There is Jewelry attached to it? Why would a hill need Jewelry? Never mind, focus. Focus. Oh, there these really big egg-like things that are partly broken, that might wor—

Ouch!

*Waaa* My shoulder hurts so much!

Think, think now, cry later, reward first. Think.

Oh, one of them is wedged under part of the hill, but there is just enough space for me! If I crawl through the little space between the egg-thingy and the mountain, the opening should be in the back. The commoners will never be able to find me there!

*huff, huff, crrrring, crrring, clink, clink, crring, huff*

Ok, made it! And just in time—I hear the commoners coming. Oh, why did they stop? They are talking, let’s listen reeealy carefully:

“Dude, seriously, let’s get out of here! Do you have a death wish?”

“The man’s paying us a fortune to watch a fight like this, and she’s the only one that fits the bill, we can’t give up now! Besides, it’s been asleep for years; we just need to be quiet.”

“Fine. She’s over there.”

“Huh? How do you know?”

“Look at the footprints and marks from the chains, dumbass”

“Shut up. Ok, Let’s go”

“No us, I’ll watch from here, thank you.”

*Sigh* “Fine, pussy”

*crunch, crunch, crunch*

Oh, no, they know where I am! My reward! And please don’t hurt me, I don’t like getting kicked!

“Here kitty, kitty. Come out now, and I promise it will be all right.”

No, no! I can’t lose the reward! Maybe—maybe if I just stay here they will go away. Yeah, I’ll try that. Go away please!

*Sigh* Alright then, we’ll do this the hard way.

*Tap tap, tap tap* *Tink, tink, tink*

“Damn you, dragon eggs! I knew I should have sharpened this dagger. Guess I’ll just have to use the acid. If she’s smart she’ll get out of the way before it ruins her too much for the fight, hehe.”

“Uh, Berrit… Berrit… Beritine. Beritine!”

“Hey, keep your voice down, dimwit!”

“Berritine…”

*Munch*

“Good grief. I gotta get out of here!”

*Shoof, Shoof, Shoof, Shoof*

Huh? Did they leave? Maybe—Maybe I’m safe! Go pri—Ouchie! My shoulder! *Sniffle*

*Rumble*

“Ah!” The mountain. It’s moving… Aaaaand, it’s moving me, in the egg. It blocked off the opening—so dark! But then—it feels kinda warm, despite how late it is… My shoulder hurts so much, and I’m so tired. Twenty-Six, I miss y…

*Zzzz*