Chapter Text
Leon is the beloved ruler of the Carvajal kingdom, but one day he goes on a diplomatic trip. He leaves in charge his second wife and queen Lucia and his trusted cousin and adviser, prince Johny.
As years pass, however, prince Johny tries to convince queen Lucia that no news from the king means that he’s dead and that she should marry him to give the country a proper king. Until prince Guille is ready to take over, of course, he amends when Lucia reminds him that the kingdom has a heir, prince Guillelmo.
Leon, in fact, had three children from his first wife. Eva, the oldest, has married Mateo, the king of a neighbouring country, so she is not particularly involved into the Carvajal kingdom’s affairs. Guille is the heir, but he is still ‘training’ as it was expected Leon would reign for a long time before passing him the throne. He spends a lot of time away from the castle with Camilo, his father’s best friend, learning how to govern a country and lead an army. Then there is the youngest, Valentina, who lives in the castle, feeling trapped and sad most of the time, the only friendly faces around since Johny basically took over being Lucia, Chivis, her nurse who now works in the kitchen, and Renata, her handmaiden. And Guille when he is around…and not making eyes at Renata.
Anyhow. Prince Johny is hounding Lucia to marry him, but she deflects, waiting and hoping for Leon to come back. The last ‘excuse’ to delay is that Valentina still needs maternal guidance and between caring for her and ruling the country she has no time for marriage. Cue Johny suddenly in a hurry to marry Valentina off, inviting suitors at the castle.
Among all of this, the kingdom is suffering because Johny keeps raising the taxes and Alacran, the sheriff and Johny’s right hand, terrorises the poor people who can’t pay. From stealing their meagre possessions to violence to jail, nothing stops Alacran and his men from getting their hands on what they deemed as ‘theirs’.
The people’s only hope is Hood, a mysterious figure who steals from the rich and gives to the poor. Most people have stories of having seen the hooded figure leaving foods or money to those needing them. Alacran hates Hood with passion and has a personal vendetta against the man who is the bane of his existence.
Except that it’s not a man. It’s a girl. A girl named Juliana Valdes. She was living near the kingdom’s borders, but she moved closer to the capital hoping to find respite from the harsh economic conditions that made almost impossible to survive there. Except that the situation wasn’t any better. If anything, it was even worse, because Alacran showed up once a year where they lived, but there is a daily threat. She still can feel him pressing his body against hers, his words in her ear, the bruising hold on her arms, until her mother threw their last savings at his feet, begging him to spare her. She still remembers him leering at her from his horse, a threating promise of ‘next time’. Soon after that they moved.
Juliana knows that she and Lupe had been lucky to find people willing to help them, because their situation would have been even worse. At least her mom had a job, they had a roof above their heads. Still the injustice of everything made her blood boil. And she had always been hot-headed (her mom blames her father for that) and one she snapped. She saw some of Alacran’s men manhandling an old lady, pawning at her until they found what she was hiding, before pushing her on the ground. Then she saw them putting their loot in the bags on their horse before going to drink at the tavern…and probably leave without paying too. Without thinking about it twice, she passed by the horse and flicked open her butterfly knife, quickly slashing the leather strips holding two small bags and stashing the bags in her shirt. Quickly scurrying away, she found an hideout and checked the content. Recognizing the old lady’s belongings she decided to return them to her. The rest she decided to leave it to Perlita, the kind tavern-owner who took her and her mom in, and who was always helping others, including giving a bowl of soup to anyone who asked, even if they couldn’t afford it.
This is how her career as a criminal began. Putting to use what she learned from her father. How to go unnoticed. How to break into a house. How to use a variety of weapons. Unlike her father, however, she makes a point of only stealing from people who are clearly well-off enough not to suffer, or even notice, that something is missing. And if that someone is Alacran or his men…even better, because they are stealing in the first place.
Hood quickly got a reputation for being an outlaw on the side of the people…who gladly looked the other way if they saw something happening. But only two people know about Hood’s identity. Barbara, the local witch and the one who patches Juliana up when she gets hurt. Juliana doesn’t believe in magic, but she has no idea how Barbara knew her secret the first time they met. And Perlita, who quickly puts together the money she got from Juliana to pay food for those who couldn’t and the news about someone stealing from Alacran’s men. She often lets Juliana knows who are the most needy people so that Juliana can leave something at their home.