Chapter 2 MAGICAL SEEDS

JACK

The sounds of banging against the wooden door is what rouses me from my slumber. I blink the sleep from my eyes, and uncurl myself from my sleeping corner.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Open up in the name of his Majesty, the king!" A male voice yells outside.

I let out a groan and stretch out my limbs, then brush the lint out of my dark hair. I cannot find the strip of cloth I always tie my shoulder-length hair back with, so I let it be and go ahead to yank the door open.

The daylight filters in through the dank wood, and I pull the door open wider. Two guards stand in front of the cottage, menacing and rigid.

"We are the royal guards. Submit your taxes, you are far behind on your payments." One of the guards says stoically.

I resist the urge to grimace at them. They always insist on introducing themselves each time they come for taxes, despite the fact that their attire definitely shows that they work for the king.

I straighten up and tell them the same words I said during their last few visits,

"If his Majesty be so kind as to give us one last chance to pay what we owe, we would be-" "Shut that trap, will you?"

One of the guards cuts in, exploding in my face and spraying me with a fresh wave of spittle combined with stale breath.

I shrink back, wiping my face with the hem of my shirt. The other guard took a step closer, looming over me intimidatingly. It would be actually intimidating if he isn't an inch shorter than me.

So what he is basically doing is, bringing his face closer to mine. Nothing scary about that. The only scary thing I see, is his sword.

"Are you playing tricks on us, kid? This is the third time in a row you have refused to pay up your taxes!"

"We have not earned enough to pay our taxes. My aunt is very ill and-"

My attempt at a calm conversation is trampled on by the guards when they shove past me and try to pry the door open.

"We have no time to listen to your bastard talk, brat! Where is your aunt? Step out here and face the royal guards! Explain yourself and stop cowering behind a lousy, flee-bitten riffraff!!"

Feeling the heat of anger surge under my skin, I shove my way to the door, standing with my back against it. I glare at them with defiance.

"She is too ill to step out! How much do we owe anyway?!"

One of them shoots back angrily, "Twelve copper pieces!"

I dig my hand into the the innermost pockets of my well worn pants, and dig out the last copper pieces I have to my name. I hold it up in my palm, announcing with a pained edge to my tone,

"This is six copper pieces. It is all we have. Take it for now and leave us in peace. I will get the rest ready for when next you come by."

The second guard holds out his hand and I shove the money in a little too harshly. It is a real pain to see my hard earned coins in his meaty palm.

They carefully count it, and glare back at me.

"This is just half of what you owe! We will be back tomorrow for the rest of it. Make sure you have it or you'll be sorry, brat!"

They spit at my feet and storm away. I burn holes in their backs with my simmering, angry stare, before moving back into the cottage.

I find aunt standing in the middle of the room, huddled in blankets. Lines of worry are etched deeply into her face.

"It's alright now, aunt. They're gone. Come sit down." I say.

I move to guide her back to her bed, and realize that she was trembling just from standing up for a short time. I swallow the ball of pain rising in my throat.

"Jack, take the donkey to the marketplace and sell it for 30 copper pieces. We can pay the royal guards what we owe and also cover next month's taxes."

She suggested quietly. I glance up at her in alarm, about to vehemently refuse when she spoke again,

"The donkey is not as useful to us as the cow, so we can sell it. I don't want those guards harassing you over some debt."

I stare at her, realizing that I had only been lucky to stop the guards from breaking into the house today. Tomorrow, they could harrass aunt instead.

I look over her weak body again. She cannot withstand a fright from two hulking guards, and she also needs more medicine for her illness. I can buy some for her if I sell the donkey for a fair price.

I decide that selling the donkey is the only option left. So I agree.

In the marketplace, the familiar smell of dust, bread and horses filter into my nostrils. I walk further into the area that had more promising customers, tugging the donkey forward with the reins in my palm.

It clops after me, and clumsily staggers into a stall of fresh apples. The trader yells profanities at me, checking his stall for damage, but I already have three juicy apples in the satchel around my hip.

With a smile, I lead the donkey further away and feed it an apple.

"Good boy." I praised. "Now, we have to get you a generous buyer."

I have to hurry and sell this donkey, and head to the pawn shop where Adam and I will sell his stolen trinket for a few copper pieces.

I devour the last two apples in seconds and raise my voice to the market, joining the cacophony of business calls and yells,

"A fat, well-fed male donkey going for only 30 copper pieces! A good bargain for your money's worth!"

"Come take a look for yourself! Healthy donkey without fleas! Only 30 copper pieces! Where else can you get such a meager price?!"

"Take this in exchange for the donkey."

A voice materializes too close to my ear. I startle and jump away, spotting the crooked, shifty man at my side, holding out a... satchel?

I stare back at him, wondering if he is one of the few lunatics that regularly escapes the loony house and starts to roam the kingdom.

"It is an excellent bargain, lad." He adds through a grin.

I finally respond in the best way I can,

"No will do, sir. I only accept copper pieces in exchange for my donkey."

The man chuckles, opening the satchel to reveal some round green seeds? I look back at his face, wondering if I should just walk to another part of the market. Preferably one where there are no crazy men with satchels.

"Oh, listen, boy. These seeds are magical. When you plant them, they create something utterly marvelous! And you will never go hungry again."

Probably seeing that I am not convinced, he digs around in his pockets and produces five copper pieces.

"These seeds are priceless, but since you also want copper pieces, I will give you these fine copper pieces in addition to my magical seeds. For your donkey."

I begin to shake my head,

"I do not-"

"-You shall have no regrets, my boy. Those seeds are worth more than your donkey!" He cut in, a bit more urgently.

He shoves the satchel and copper pieces at my chest, and I instinctively move my hands to catch it. That is my mistake.

Seizing my moment of slight distraction, he pulls the reins out of my loose grip and climbs over the donkey.

My eyes widened, as I yelled,

"Hey!"

He flicks the reins hard, and the donkey breaks into a gallop, charging down the marketplace at full speed. He rides the donkey straight towards the kingdom gates, leaving me in his dust with a satchel of pathetic seeds and five copper pieces.

I can barely believe what just happened, wondering what kind of explanation I could give to aunt for getting our last hope of getting money, swindled away.

Then all of a sudden, I overhear yells and the gallops of multiple horses. People scream and hurry out of the way just as castle guards break into sight, on horses.

"Capture the intruder!"

"He broke into the king's vault of magical items!"

"He's headed towards the kingdom gates, on a donkey!!"

The sound of a whip whistles through the air, followed by the scream of the unlucky commoner who takes the hit. The violent guard with the whip thunders,

"Get out of my way, peasant!"

Their horses charge forward, and they yell anger-packed instructions at each other. Someone exclaims,

"He stole the magical seeds! We must get back them back at all costs!" I freeze, glancing down at the satchel of dull, green seeds in my hands.

Magical seeds?