Chapter 6 Theif

Otis's POV

Turns out, extremely good hearing wasn't the only perk of being a donkey. Actually, scratch that. There were no perks to being a farm animal, especially one trapped in a cart with two men who I'd just found out were in cahoots with Richard.

Richard. That bastard. I knew he had something up his sleeves. Right from the time at the alley, I could tell.

But this wasn't the time to think about it. We needed to get the fuck away from here.

“Fuck it. Grab them. Prince Richard will soon be here!” one of the men snapped.

Oh, no, you don't.

I lunged forward and kicked him in the abdomen. My hooves connected with a satisfying thud. Before his partner could grab me, I twisted and kicked him too. He doubled over, clutching his stomach.

Well. This donkey body was surprisingly flexible.

“Otis, run!” Raina shouted.

“I'm trying!”

She'd grabbed a metal spring from the cart and was swinging it at the men with the desperation of someone who'd decided subtlety was for people with better options. The spring smacked one man's shoulder. He yelped and stumbled back.

“That's for trying to kidnap me!” she yelled, hitting him again.

“Raina, less hitting, more running!”

“I'm doing both!”

I bolted off the cart, nearly tripped over my own legs, recovered with what I hoped looked like a deliberate manoeuvre, and raced after her. Raina sprinted through the marketplace, shoving past people who barely spared us a glance. A woman carrying a basket stepped aside. A man selling apples frowned. Someone actually complained that we were disturbing the peace.

The peace? We were being hunted!

“Does nobody care that we're fighting for our lives?” I shouted.

“Stop yelling and run!” Raina called back.

“I am running!”

“Then run quieter!”

As if I could control the volume of four hooves clattering over cobblestones.

We cut down a narrow lane and ducked behind a merchant's cart. Raina grabbed my forelock and hauled me beneath its canvas cover. I squeezed in beside her, folding my legs as best I could. A wheel creaked under our weight.

“Move your backside,” she whispered.

“I'm trying to fit four legs into a space designed for sacks!”

“Then stop having so many legs!”

I stared at her. She stared back. For a few seconds, we listened to the footsteps and shouts fading through the marketplace. Then we turned to look at each other.

Raina's face was smudged with dust. My forelock hung over one eye. She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh.

“Don't,” I warned.

That only made it worse. She snorted, and I let out an unwilling bray that sounded suspiciously like a laugh. Within seconds, we were both shaking with silent laughter, trying not to make enough noise to get caught.

It was ridiculous. We were fugitives hiding under a cart, and I was laughing with the witch who had turned me into a donkey.

Then approaching voices cut us off.

An older man was arguing with a younger one nearby. The old fellow had a round belly straining against his vest, and he was jabbing a finger at the boy, who looked around my age and furious enough to bite through wood.

“Three years!” the old man barked. “Three years you've been my apprentice, and what have you learned? Nothing! You're lazy, vulgar, and good for absolutely nothing.”

“I have learned how to put up with you. But now you're just crossing the line, sir.” the boy muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Master.”

“You won't be getting your freedom. You don't deserve it. And for that filthy mouth of yours, you'll sleep outside tonight and tomorrow. No food. No shelter! Perhaps hunger will finally teach you some respect!”

The boy's jaw tightened. He looked like he wanted to punch the man, but instead he turned and stalked toward our cart.

I held my breath. The men hunting us were getting closer, their boots scraping over the road. Raina clamped a hand over my muzzle before I could say anything.

The apprentice stopped beside the cart. He glanced back at his master, who was still ranting, then muttered, “You know what? Fuck it.”

He swung himself onto the driver's bench and seized the reins.

The old man's head snapped around. “What are you doing with my cart?”

“Taking a little drive!”

“Get down! That's my cart!”

“Then you should've treated your apprentice better, you old potbellied tyrant!” the boy shouted, laughing as he flicked the reins. “Consider this my final lesson in customer service!”

The cart lurched forward.

Inside the canvas cover, Raina and I slid into each other with a pair of undignified grunts. Outside, the old man thundered after us, shouting threats that grew fainter with every turn of the wheels.

“Come back here, you ungrateful little parasite!”

“Put it on my bill!” the boy called over his shoulder.

I clapped a hoof over my mouth. Raina buried her face against her arm, shaking with laughter again.

Fortunately, the men searching for us hadn't noticed we were inside. Their voices drifted away in the opposite direction, and I finally let out the breath I'd been holding.

We were safe. For the moment.

“Wait,” I whispered. “Where is he taking us?”

“Quiet,” Raina whispered back. “Even your whispers are loud.”

“Sorry.”

She gave me a suspicious look. “How did you know those men worked for Richard?”

I lifted my chin. “It's a secret.”

“Of course it is.”

“This was your fault anyway. I warned you about that cart!”

“Because you thought they might be donkey hunters?! You had no actual reason to suspect them.”

“And look how that turned out!”

“No. Look where we are now. We're safe. Because of me.”

I glanced around at the dark canvas and the rattling wheels. “We're hiding in the stolen cart of a maniac apprentice who's run away with his master's property. You call that safe?”

Raina shrugged. “I side with the boy. Three years of apprenticeship, and the old man still treats him like dirt. He did the right thing.”

“Loyalty matters,” I said. “The boy made a commitment. He should honour it.”

Raina's expression changed. Before I could ask why, she grabbed me and slammed me against the cart's wooden side.

My breath left me in a startled bray.

The witch was small, but she was alarmingly strong. She had one hand around my neck, and I was suddenly very aware that I had no arms with which to defend myself.

“You think loyalty is easy for everyone, don't you?” she hissed. “Because you're royal. People bow, people obey, and everyone licks your boots. You have no idea what it's like to work for someone who treats you like you're nothing.”

“I didn't say—”

“Oh, I'll show you loyal.”

She shook me once, then slapped me on one side of my face and the other. Stars flashed across my vision. I was beginning to suspect that being a donkey had not improved my ability to defend my dignity.

“Abusive, vulgar woman!” I muttered, blinking rapidly. “Whoever marries you is going to spend the rest of his life in danger!”

“Keep talking,” she warned. “And I'll show you real abuse.”

I wisely shut my mouth.

The cart suddenly slowed, then stopped.

Raina released me. I listened. Footsteps approached the back of the cart, light and careful.

I nudged her. “Stop. Shh.”

She went still. The footsteps paused right behind us.

Oh, shit. We'd been found.

The canvas curtains flew open.

The apprentice stared straight at us.

For one terrible second, none of us moved.

Then the boy sucked in a breath so violently that Otis wondered if he was trying to inhale the entire kingdom.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

The scream came out so high-pitched that a nearby bird shot out of a tree.