The King's Crown by Gavin Johnson (best classic books to read txt) 📕

sir!” John said excitedly. “Well congratulations young sir, you have a job!” Nick exclaimed. John couldn’t believe his luck. Given a job at a heartbeat? now that is luck!

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John wore long grey overalls, underneath, John had a white and red striped shirt. John also had a black top hat on, covering his brown hair. Finally, there was his polished black shoes. The three tried to contain their laughter, but couldn’t help make some muffled laughter. “Hey, laugh all you want, but this job pays well! Look at this!” John threw a bag filled with gold coins, and the kids’ eyes nearly popped out of their heads. “Whoa! That’s so much, maybe we won’t need to sell the wagon after all!” Jack exclaimed. “Speaking of the stage coach, did you get any buyers?” John asked. “We won‘t need to sell the wagon, not with how much money you are rolling in!” Jack said, counting the shining gold pieces. “I get paid every other month, so we still need to sell the wagon Jack,” John informed him. “Damn,” Jack muttered. “Anyway, take the money and buy some goods, I’ll meet up with you after work,” John said, handing the bag to Isabella.

The kids waved goodbye and went into the gigantic city. “Listen guys, I am going to go and try to sell the stage coach, you two have to buy the goods on your own, let’s meet up in front of the hotel, okay?” Jack said. Both girls nodded in unison. With that, Jack went down the road, pushing past people as he went. Isabella returned her attention to the sack of coins. Suddenly. there was a light tap on her shoulder. She spun around. To see two dirty, large men towering over them. “Uh,” Isabella begun. “Oh, I am sorry, please, allow me to introduce myself, I am Hue,” said one man, the taller and thinner one. “And I am Horace,” added the other, the thicker and shorter one. “Hello?” Isabella stammered. “Ah, I see you have some trouble where to spend your money,” Hue said, looking at the sack. “Yes, well, we were just on our way to a market, so nice meeting you! Bye!” Isabella said, she was eager to get away from these creeps.

“You know, we know the perfect place to buy goods, delicious goods, and save a ton of money!” Hue exclaimed. “Oh really?” Claire said, her eyes lit up. “Yes, the perfect place, but, we must tell you in...private, we can’t have people flooding into this place, or the owner would be forced to bring up change, we can’t have that now, can we?” Hue whispered, looking around nervously. “Oh, ok,” Claire said, nodding. Hue motioned the girls to follow, Isabella was still having doubts, but went along, because she couldn’t loose Claire, she might be lost in the city forever! Or so Isabella thought. The four trudged into the nearest alley. Horace scoured the area for any eavesdroppers. No one in sight, he gave a thumbs up, signaling the clear. Hue then returned his attention to the girls, and his expression turned from jumpy, to arrogant. “Alright, give it!” Hue ordered. Isabella was startled by Hue’s sudden change in tone. “What?” Isabella stammered. “the money, give it to us! Now!” Hue demanded. Hue made a swipe at the bag, but Isabella snatched it back.

“Claire! Run!” Isabella screamed. The two dashed out of the alley, into the sea of people. Hue and Horace came lumbering after them. Isabella kept bumping into people. Though that did not slow her down, and Claire came right behind her. They quickly navigated street after street. Isabella soon began to grow weary, and began panting. “Look, Isabella! An alley, we can duck in there!” Claire exclaimed. “Good idea Claire!” Isabella said through pants. The two made a sharp curve, and went into the alley. Isabella smiled, they were finally going to get away. “No!” Isabella shouted. Unfortunately, the alley turned out to be a dead end. The two girls couldn’t turn back because now, Hue and Horace had caught up to them, breathing hard, faces tomato red. “Now, about that money!” Hue said, taking a menacing step towards them. Hue reached out, but suddenly made a gurgling sound, and his hand retreated. Hue fell face down, and in his back, was a blade of a spear. Horace saw this and gasped, he staggered back, and then made a gurgling sound, same as Hue, his eyes grew large. He also fell face first into the gravel. In his back, was a hatchet.

Standing in between them, was a tall, muscular young man, who Isabella found quite, “Charming.” “Are you two all right?” He boomed. Isabella and Claire squeaked, “Yeah.” Another boy, just as handsome and strong as the first, came to his side. The first had somewhat long, blond hair that fell naturally fell a little past his ears and boots that reached up to his shins. He wore a leather, baggy shirt, and dusty brown pants. The other boy was shorter than the first, and a bit more brisker than the first, who was tall and lean. He had a sweat stained tank top, and long pants. He had short black hair. Also, he had leather shoes on, and bandages covering his hands. The blond hair boy carried the spear, and the black haired boy carried the hatchet.

“Come with us,” the blond boy said, waving his hand towards himself. “You can wash up, rest, and eat at our place.” “Isabella nodded and said, “Thank you.” “Oh, by the way, I am Clarke, and that there is Edward,” The second boy said, pointing to the first. Edward waved. Isabella waved back, blushing a bit. “I’m Isabella, and this is my friend Claire,” Isabella smiled. Claire sheepishly waved towards the boys. “So, are you gonna come with us or not?” Clarke grunted. Edward shot him a dirty look, but the girls still agreed, after all, they had saved them from the robbers. While walking down the streets, the four began to talk. The boys began to talk about their lives in the village, and what they liked to do in their free time. Isabella soon discovered that she might have hints of strong feelings for Edward. Then, an image of Jack flashed in her mind, reminding her that the last time she felt this way before was when she first saw him, before the quest. Though Edward was very nice, and Isabella couldn’t resist his hospitality. At Edward and Clarke’s house, Isabella bathed in a gigantic wooden tub of hot water. It felt great to get off all the grime and dust that she had on ever since they were trapped in the spider’s cave.

After the bath, Isabella grabbed a silk towel, and wrapped it around herself. Then Clarke came out. “Here,” Clarke grunted, shoving a pile of clothes at her. “When you come in, you can get something to eat.” Isabella nodded. With that, Clarke nodded, pivoted his foot, and left. Isabella quickly got dressed, and rushed inside, to see a cleansed Claire scarfing down some divine looking food. Isabella sat and ate. It was all so delicious, she found her self holding back, trying not to eat to much, or she would surely receive a stomach ache. Edward just stared, watching the two eat. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Edward blurted out, “I know why you are here!” Isabella almost choked on her food. Claire stuttered, “W...what do you mean by that?” “Haven’t you heard? The kingdom of Ken-yang is in chaos! The king is close to insanity because of his missing crown! He’s literally giving half of how much gold he has for anyone who finds the crown, the lands are practically crawling with pedestrians!” Edward exclaimed. Isabella thought, “So That’s why Og had gone through so much trouble trying to kill us in the deserted town, we must have been the only people who saw him, the only ones standing in his way!” “Also, I know you are from the kingdom of Ken-yang,” Edward added. “What? How’d you know?” Isabella said, shocked.

“Everyone at Ken-yang has some kind of fancy clothing, even slaves! Forgive me if I am wrong, but were you slaves there?” Edward said. Claire started to speak, but Isabella elbowed her softly, telling her she will handle this. “Yes, we both were slaves, working in the castle,” Isabella lied. Edward nodded. Then, he replied shyly, “I want in, we both do.” “Huh?” Isabella said. “We want to help you restore balance to your shattered kingdom, it’s friend vs friend, neighbor vs neighbor, brother vs brother! People of Ken-yang can hardly leave without raising suspicion!” Edward explained. Isabella pondered a bit, then looked at Claire for her decision, she shrugged and nodded. “Okay, you can come,” Isabella decided. Edward smiled and gave her a huge hug. Isabella blushed. “Good, we’ll leave tomorrow, but until then,” Edward gestured to one of the bedrooms, “I suggest we get some sleep.”
Chapter 14

Isabella lay in her staring up at the roof. Everything about Edward and Clarke’s hospitality was great, though the beds were slightly uncomfortable. She couldn’t sleep, so she thought. She thought about her crazy life, her master(who probably has a new worker by now!) her friends, like Jack, Claire and John, even Clarke and Edward, they all had been so kind, and stuck by her ever since this quest began. Ever since she ran away with Claire, she had been reborn, became the new Isabella, knowing there was more to life than scrubbing dirty floors in the royal castle. Suddenly, her eyes felt heavy, she turned, and her eyelids dropped. In her dream, she was queen of Ken-yang, lines of militia men bowed. “Long live queen Isabella!” They cheered. She turned, and there sat Edward, in golden, colorful robe. He smiled. She smiled back. She turned to her other shoulder, there was another boy, shorter and gruffer than Edward, he wore the same clothing. He smiled. It was Jack! She was in the middle of the two boys she cared deeply about!

Isabella’s eyes snapped open, she sat up. Her heart felt like it was going to smash through her chest. Four words then puzzled Isabella for the rest of