Boelik Read Online Free

as he locked his
gaze onto something. “And I think I may have just found her.” He
walked his horse over to the side of the crowd and held out his
hand.
    “ No, no,” a woman’s voice
said, bashful. She was obscured from Boelik by the prince’s steed
and the crowd. “I’m quite fine here, thank you.”
    “ Nonsense. You shall be my
bride and have the most wonderful jewels to accent your beautiful
frame and never go hungry in the winter. Does that not sound like a
good offer?”
    “ I’m sorry. I’m not
interested in jewels, and I love my life here.” The woman was quite
firm now.
    Mar’s face darkened. “I’m afraid you do not
have a choice, my dear. You will be my
bride, and you will love your life with me.” The rat that
masqueraded as a prince began trying to pull the poor woman to his
horse’s back.
    Forcing his way through the crowd, Boelik
growled at the man. “Leave the woman alone.”
    “ And who commands me?” Mar
challenged, glaring at Boelik, who removed his hood, careful not to
drop the pelt draped over his shoulder.
    “ I do.”
    “ You?” the prince sneered,
not letting go of his woman but turning his steed enough to face
Boelik, giving him a good view of her. She saw him as well. “You
look like a mere robber. I would bet that you have stolen from half
of these people.”
    “ You're wrong!” Olea cried,
tugging her wrist in vain to break free of Mar’s iron grasp as she
looked with pleading eyes to Boelik. “That man is fair and honest
and kind! He has stolen nothing from the people here!”
    “ Oh, nothing you say?” Mar
said, his cold eyes boring down at her. “Because it sounds to me
like he has stolen your heart; I think I shall just have to take it
back.”
    Casting Olea aside, Mar trotted his steed
over to Boelik and leaned into his face. “You are undeserving of
such a beautiful woman. She will be mine, you filthy lowlife,” he
hissed. “And then if still she is not content, I will put her to
work in the kitchens until she appreciates the life I gave
her.”
    Boelik’s lip turned up in a snarl as fury
pulsed through him, and in an instant his fist had met Mar’s face,
the pelt dropping from his shoulder. As Mar jerked back Boelik
snarled, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I mar that pretty face of yours? Maybe
you should say that again so that I can make it look like it should , you vagabond.” Boelik was
quivering with anger, and Mar was staring at him, wide-eyed with
rage, his hand on his jaw.
    “ How dare you hit me, rat!” he yelled, jerking his horse
forward and attempting to grab Boelik. But, without thinking,
Boelik stepped backward into the crowd as Mar grabbed his beige
cloak and the navy one underneath.
    As they pulled free of him and floated to the
ground, Boelik felt a breeze around both arms. In another instant,
a woman began to scream and Boelik slowly looked down at his left
arm as if in a dream. Then, as he realized what was happening,
everything sped back up to reality.
    Bo glanced over at Olea, frightened for a
moment of what she might think of him. But before either got to say
anything, Mar yelled, “Monster! Men, kill this beast!” and Bo was
off running to the woods, the knights on his heels.
    “ Wait!” Olea screamed after
them, stumbling to a run, picking up Bo’s things on the way. She
ran after the knights and the man she thought she’d known, hoping
to stop the absurd hunt. “Wait!” she yelled again, bursting through
the hole that the men had made in the crowd and up to the
forest.
    Olea made it into the woods following the
horse tracks, discarding Bo’s belongings by the edge. “I can’t
carry these things fast enough, Bo, I’m sorry. They’ll be there,”
she muttered as she continued to run. She followed the trail of
destruction the horses left behind in the forest at a pace she knew
she couldn’t keep, hoping with all of her heart that Bo wouldn’t be
caught and quartered before she got to him.
     
    ***
     
    Bo’s heart pounded