"Yes?" Evie said, coming face-to-face with a guard.
"You left something," he said, waving a pair of sandals in front of her.
"Oh, thank you," Evie said, rushing to take them, but he raised his hand higher out of Evie's reach.
"Are you spoken for, miss? You are quite beautiful," he said, looking at Evie flirtatiously.
"My name is Evie. Please give me my sandals; I am rushing home," Evie said.
"But I heard you saying you are called Elara."
Evie exhaled, trying to calm herself. "If you heard, why were you asking me then?" she snapped.
"Look!" the other guard, Evie said, pointing in front of her. The man looked back, his arm coming down, and Evie snatched the shoe, running away. "Can't believe that worked on a grown man," she said as Helga joined her.
Evie looked back at the grand palace one final time. "Goodbye," she said. "I hope to never return here," she added. "Which name can I call you, Helga?" Evie asked.
"You can call me Marie, Your Highness. My middle name is Marie," Helga said.
"Helga Marie," Evie repeated. "What a nice name," Evie said.
"Thank you, Evie," Helga replied, still awkward.
"Let's go now, Marie," Evie said, holding Helga's hand as they walked to the city.
"Let's stop here," Evie said under a shed after walking for a while. She removed the wimple she was wearing and then the wig and handed it to Helga. "Wear it," she said as she removed her braids. "Take the jewellery out." She wore the pendant and put the rings in a small pouch in her sleeves. She turned to look at Helga, who now hid her brown hair under the wig. "See? We look different now," Evie said. "Let's go fast; we need to get rid of these clothes," she said, and they resumed their walk.
They reached the bustling city. There was the smell of baked cookies in the air, the chatters and laughter of children, and the heckling of the hawkers. Evie couldn't believe that outside of the majestic grey palace was just an amazing scene, which she didn't have enough time to appreciate. "Why wasn't I reborn as a commoner?" she said as two girls the same age as Helga and her passed by them, giggling.
"Excuse me, mister," Evie said to a cart vendor selling ornaments.
"Yes? Do you need ornaments? These are beautiful," he said, pointing at them.
"No, thank you. Can you please give me the direction of any pawn shop around?" Evie asked.
"Ooh," the man said, disappointed. "If you can't buy anything, then go," he said, shooing them away.
"Very rude," Evie said, turning away.
"Evie," Helga called awkwardly. "Let's ask that other vendor," she added, but Evie's eyes were trained somewhere else. She followed to find a small boy, about eight years old, sleeping against the wall.
"Do you have money?" Evie asked Helga. Helga nodded. "Then give me a coin," she said. Helga reached into her sleeves, pulled out a small purse, and pulled a coin out, placing it on Evie's stretched palm. "Okay, let's go," she said as they walked to the small boy.
Evie crouched and, with a finger, poked the small boy. "Hmm, leave me alone," the boy said, turning his eye aside, still asleep.
"I will give you a coin if you wake up," Evie said, and the boy opened his eyes immediately.
"Haa!" he sighed immediately he saw Evie. "It doesn't look like you have any coins to me, miss. Go play there," he said, pointing and ready to go back to sleep.
"Oops," Evie said. Burns, she said mentally, and a small rock clinked against the coin.
"How can I help you, miss?" the boy said, jumping to his feet. "I know this town like the back of my hand," he said, staring at the coin in Evie's palms.
"Hahaha," Evie cackled, putting a hand over her mouth. "You are a clever one, aren't you?" she said, tapping his nose. "What is your name, little fella?" Evie asked.
"I'm not little; I am seven years old, and my name is Maximiliano Galego. You can call me Max," he said, extending his hand, looking like a little gentleman.
"Well, nice to meet you, Max. Can you take me to a pawn shop here in the city?" Evie said.
"Yes, miss, follow me," he said, leading Evie and Helga through the corners. "Go to that one," he said, pointing at a small house. "The big ones are thieves. That uncle over there is much better," he said.
"Thank you, Max," Evie said. "You and Sister Marie, I will be back in a moment, okay?" Evie said as the boy nodded.
"Good morning, mister," Evie said to a middle-aged man sitting behind the counter after entering the pawn shop.
"Good morning to you too, miss," the man replied. "What do you have here for me today?" he said as Evie reached into her sleeve to remove the purse and then removed a ring, placing it on the counter.
Ready, cue, she said in her mind, and tears started rolling down her face. "Mister, this ring is the only thing I have remaining of my deceased mother's memory. I really don't want to pawn it off, but my sister, my brother, and I are soon to be homeless. We have nothing in our possession," she said, sniffling.
"Although I don't want to pawn it off, my mother will be sad," she said, looking up in the sky, "if I let my siblings be in the street because I couldn't let go of her memories." She sniffed, the sides of her mouth downwards as if trying to stop her cries. "I really don't care how much you give me for it. All I ask is for you to never sell it. I promise to come back for it," she said.
The man looked at her with so much sadness. "I will give you one gold coin, and I will not sell it," the man said, taking the ring and giving her a gold coin.
Evie's legs almost buckled as she looked at the shining coin. Although the ring was worth more than that, she couldn't believe she got one gold coin. At most, she thought she would get about five hundred silver coins.
"Mister, I know my mother will be sad if I take the money and ask you not to sell the ring, and despite my connection to the ring, I want to be fair to you, too. It's yours moving forward," Evie said. "Do with it whatever you please."
"No," the man said.
"I insist," she said. "Please," she added.
"Okay, miss," the old man accepted, and Evie sighed in relief. She had no bond with the ring; she just wanted to get good money for it. "Thank you and goodbye," she said.
Evie turned to see both Helga and Max with their jaws dropped, staring at her. Oops, I was so occupied in my play I forgot about these two, she said, scratching her head.