1 Little Rat

The Sunny Kingdom is darkened by a metaphoric cloud. The king and the queen with big frowns on their foreheads had their eyes on the helpless and irresponsible man which explains how the guards couldn't protect the so precious coins.

"How much we lost ?"The king's cold voice made the man responsible for the treasury to desire to be somewhere else, only not in front of the king.

"Your majesty, we lost 10,000 coins." He had his head bent as if he waited for his death order.

If only the thief would not steal just from the palace! The Golden Palace lost gold in one day more than in the war that happened a few years ago. The war bought the whole kingdom to the brink of destruction. Now that the resources were filled, the little thief woke up to drain the riches the palace collected.

All people were curious to see who the thief was. Little did they know that the little thing was roaming around working at many places to support her little sister.

Ilona is dragging her feet after a long day at work. The streets are empty. At this hour just cats and dogs pass the streets in search of food. She stops in front of the paper glued on a shop's wall.

// Bounty of 3000 coins of gold over the head of the Little Rat! The palace will honor the one who will catch the thief with a position in the noble class.//

'This is all their little brains could come up with? Little rat ….' She sighs. Her curly hair is coming on her face as the breeze blows stronger. She raises her hand to put the hair behind her ear.

With fast steps, she continues her walk to ward the house she calls home. Her sister is probably studying late again.

No matter how many jobs she took on, her stamina was still the same. That is Ilona's asset that her sister doesn't seem to have. She is her opposite. A studious girl wearing dresses and perfume with a gentle personality. A perfect sister from Ilona's perspective. She loved her a lot.

After their parents' execution, the little sister was the only thing she could call family.

As the wind intensifies she quickens her pace and makes a left turn. The dark street goes down and on her right side, a small but well-built house is seen.

Ilona sighs again when she sees the light in her sister's room.

'She is reading again…Doesn't her brain hurt?' She scratches her head and opens the door with fresh air. Nothing matters as long as her little sister enjoyed but a little scolding is necessary.

"Anise! How many times have I told you to sleep early and to not read at the lamplight?" The little sister gets out of her room and jumps on her.

"How was work today?" She hugs Ilona with her breasts. The short big sister is again reminded of her height and growls.

"Get your boobs off me! "Anise is used to her personality and knows that this is just how she was. No matter how nasty Ilona talked to her, she never meant harm. Ilona loves her as much as she loves her.

"Are you tired? Let me make you some tea. Sit!" The blondie spins in front of her as she prepares the tea and the fire. The pot is put on the hob grate in the fireplace. They use this fireplace to cook and make tea.

Since the seasons were nonexistent, the cycle was depending on the winds. Today can be summer tomorrow can snow. So having wood for the fireplace was a continuous necessity.

Ilona takes off her vest and goes to the bathroom where they had a tub. The water is warm and she can clean herself peacefully. Anise usually leaves the water she washes in to her so water waste was not an issue. The water in the well grows slower recently because of the summer weather. So being careful will give them the upper hand in whatever the weather brings.

She lets her pants drop on the ground and her shirt is tossed next to them. Her body is toned, having powerful legs that carry her in all her jobs, and her hands are strong too. The shape of her abdomen looks like a chocolate, that's what Anise compares it to. Every muscle of her body is put to work, which is why her silhouette is so well-defined. One particular thing along with her height makes the girl mad: her B-cup breasts. Did Anise take all the good features of their mother? What she took was just from their father.

She looks in the mirror and sights.

'Pathetic ….' No boy will ever like an iron lady in his arms. The good thing is that she is not dreaming of a prince on a white horse. So, she is safe. No worrying about this matter. What made her mad was that she wanted to look a little more feminine since she wanted to look good in dresses. The guys teased her that she looked like a boy dressed in women's clothes, although she was a girl. Since then, she renounced wearing dresses.

"Cold!" She lets herself go under the water. Whatever, as long as she can wash and go to sleep. The cold water is probably good for her strained body. The muscles will heal tomorrow faster.

She let her long red hair fall on her shoulders. Ilona dives under the water letting the water cover all of her. No air …

She stays like this for a while as an exercise and slides off the water parting her hair. She exhales and sighs.

This night she has to meet with her team.

Stealing ….. For her taking from the castle was just payback. Her parents used to be generals in the army, but they were framed and the king executed them in the middle of the city. How can she not hate them? Her parents would never do something like steal information and pass it to the other kingdom. They accused them of contributing to the war. As the information was in the hands of the Blackfield Kingdom they destroyed half of the army hidden in the mountains preparing to destroy one of their cities.

Ilona sighs again and covers her body with a towel. It was no use thinking about it. The dark past with her taking care of her sister in time of war makes her feel fear again. The hard years are now over, with the thin glass wall of peace the two kingdoms created. She is aware that from a little dispute, the war will break again, which scared her more than anything.

She wipes her hair and steps out of the bath with her towel around her to dry her hair at the fireplace.

As long as her sister was safe everything will be ok for her. Anise was the reason she still fought every day to survive. If the girl were to die her life would have probably no meaning.

Anise comes with a brush and puts a chair next to Ilona's.

"Let me brush it! You know I like your red hair. It reminds me of mom's." Ilona turns so the sister can brush her hair properly.

She lets her head drop and her eyes pierce the ceiling.

'She still misses mom… I will never be able to fill that gap…' Ilona feels empty herself. Acting like a mother and a father was and will always be hard. When their parents died she was fifteen. But even now at twenty years, the weight feels still the same. Ilona knows that for her sister that is five years younger than her, must be hard to live without her parents. However, Anise never complained about anything and supported her in whatever she decided was best for both.

As Ilona listens to her sister, she feels her eyes closing. Anise stories her about what she did at school with an enthusiastic voice. Well, Ilona just listens wondering what is like to go to school. She abandoned her studies right after her parents died. She wasn't dumb but didn't have any qualification to work as a doctor or you name it. That's why she was struggling to help around, working on a few coins.

"Your hair is done. Ilona?" Anise finishes braiding her hair and takes a look at her sister's face. "You fell asleep. No wonder …."

The little sister doesn't want to wake her up knowing how much Ilona struggles to fall asleep. She fetches a blanket and covers her.

"Good night …." Anise goes into her room after blowing the lamp. The fire is cracking and lights in the darkness, a warm and cozy feeling as you watch it rising in red flames. Ilona shifts a little finding a better position.

The two hours pass and Ilona still sleeps. The girl needed to be somewhere in the middle of the night. She put the meeting in the night, after all. Did she forget? Or is her fatigue more than she could handle?

The room starts to cool down as the fire is not bursting as before. As the dark gives a feeling that the house is abandoned, a ray of the moon gives hope that the two souls sleeping will be able to live longer in the old house.

Ilona promised to not move somewhere else just for the sake of keeping alive the memory of their parents.

Ilona fidgets more and when she realized that she overslept she jumps off the chair. She arranges the blanket and looks at the clock on the wall. The lamp lights it well.

…..00:30….

"Damn it! "She dresses in a hurry and leaves with the lamp.

As she runs on the narrow streets, the cold air makes her shiver.