dnf oneshots

3. cat burglar

PART 1

Royalty AU
George is supposed to be crowned king. It seems fate is on his side when cat burglar Dream arrives in the Castle to steal the crown from him. But fate also seems to have it out for him. [angst]

CW// swords, arrows, injuries, blood, fighting

My head was pounding. I remembered running from the royal guards, darting in between the trees with Spirit, but not much else. 

I was sitting on a chair in the middle of a dark room, my hands bound behind me and my legs tied. My head was hanging, still pounding. I groaned quietly in pain as I forced my head up and looked around. 

It was so dark. I could barely make out the chairs and tables pushed to the walls of the room. A singular lantern hung above my head, far above, in the peaked roof.

Wait... peaked roof.

Shit. 

I knew immediately where I was. The timing was impeccable. A loud voice came from the corner of the room, saying, "Greetings, thief."

"I prefer cat burglar," I muttered.

A tall man in fancy regalia appeared from the shadows I sighed. I could tell by the jacket that this man was royalty. That, and the crown that sat on his head. 

"Doesn't matter what you prefer," the man said, stepping closer. "You stole an artifact of ours, and you will tell me where you hid it."

"A crown isn't an artifact, it could be classified as jewelry."

The man frowned and drew a sword from his hip. He pointed the tip of the blade at the base of my throat. 

"You will tell me where it is," he repeated. 

"Actually I won't," I told him, mimicking his accent. "Because," I said loudly as he pushed the blade closer to me, "I don't know where it is. Didn't your gaurds check my satchel?"

"Repeatedly," he mumbled, putting the sword back. "Where might it be?"

I shrugged. "It could've fallen when I was knocked out." 

"My guards would have noticed. Are you accusing them of being hard of seeing?" His hand closed around the handle once more.

"No. It was just an idea." 

The man sniffed. Then he spun on his heel and marched out of the room. "You're welcome!" I called back sarcastically. 

I sat alone, muttering nonsense under my breath, for a few minutes. But then the door slammed back open, and in walked two of the guards that were chasing me. I could tell they were the same guards by the scaly armour that no other kingdom has. I guess scales are good protection.

"Oh, hey again, guys!" I said cheerfully. "How are you? Haven't seen you in a hot minu- oh, okay." They cut the binds on my legs and hoisted me up. "Where are we going?" I asked, intentionally being overly cheerful to annoy them. But their faces remained blank. 

They dragged me out of the room and through the hallway. Paintings of past rulers lined the walls. As we passed a room, I caught sight of the man was in that room, threatening me rudely. I frowned. 

We passed another room. And another. Every so often, people were in the rooms, most often dressed in dark blue regalia, similar to the man's clothes. 

Another room. The boy in this one made my breath hitch. 

He was in the doorway, watching me intently. He brushed his dark brown hair out of his eyes nervously. The guards were moving me along so fast I couldn't catch much else.