Thief of Princes (Kid Blink x Reader)

fifty-nine

𝔜𝔬𝔲 twisted slightly, glaring slightly up at Blink. "Did we have to get this convincing?" You asked, flexing the fingers of your bound hands and slumping back over the saddle of his horse. 

"You know we can't risk them suspecting anything, Princess. If you wanna go back, tell me now," He says, glancing down at you. "This was your idea, I'd like to point out." 

You huffed a soft sigh, shaking your head. "I'm not leaving you." 

He turned his attention back to the road, a small smile on his face despite himself. "We're at the gates now. Get ready," He mumbled to you, barely moving his lips. You went limp, closing your eyes too for good measure. 

You listened as the guards confronted Blind Diamond, heard their gasps as they recognized their prince. He'd changed into his Kozmiran clothes again, and he looked every inch the prince. You were still wearing your obviously Talin dress, which would play perfectly into the plan. The horse turned and you felt the uneven cobblestones that marked the road up to the palace, wincing slightly as you bounced on your stomach. 

The prince entered at a side gate, dismounting and pulling you off of the horse, steadying you as he gave brief instructions to the groom. Then he bent and lifted you over his shoulder. You grumbled in protest, but he shot you a look that made you subside as he set off. As soon as he saw a passing servant he demanded directions to the King before immediately setting off for the throne room. 

He was careful to hold you gently, which you appreciated, even though the indignity still burned. Blink burst into the throne room and you wished you could see the looks on all the faces. And then you could, since he deposited you as carefully as he could on the floor at his feet. "Father," He said, with a deep bow. "Forgive my impudence in barging in." 

The king waved a hand, gaze sharp. "Forgiven, Louis. But pray tell, what brings you back? I was under the impression you'd defected." 

"Never." The pirate stood tall, chin raised slightly. You found yourself almost believing him as he nudged your form with the toe of his boot. "I was only retrieving what was mine." 

Gross. 

But the king actually seemed willing to listen, just as Blink said he'd be. 

"I'm his heir, he's got no-one else. And... he knows I'm scared of him. He won't hesitate to believe I'm trying to please him," Blink said as you lay wrapped in your bedroll next to his last night. 

"He better not," was your only thought. Your entire plan rested on that fact. 

"How did she escape in the first place, then?" The king raised a perfect eyebrow at his son, fingers drumming the throne. It was as if you weren't there, the courtiers in their chairs on the sides weren't there. Just the two of them. 

"I'd taken her to my room after the ball," Blink began. "She wasn't acting right. I think someone slipped something in her drink-- one of the servants maybe, or the younger noblemen. They were all eyeing her, you know." He smirked a little down at you, and you obligingly gave a pretty blush. "And I couldn't have my princess being whisked off by someone else." 

The king gave a conceding nod, and the prince continued. "She was falling asleep so I left her on the bed and went to find a medic or someone to tell me how long this would last." The king's eyebrow lifted again at this display of courteousness, but Blind Diamond forged on. 

"I couldn't find anyone, so I went to see if she was awake yet. The windows were open and she was missing. I thought she might have been faking sleep, so I went to go find her. Eventually I tracked her down to the wharf. She'd been taken by that uncle of hers- they'd left a ship there and were trying to make their escape over sea. I chased them to Talin's port city, where the girl and her uncle left the ship. I followed and sent my crew after the ship. I tracked them through the elvish capital, where I saw your guards. They were obviously not going to catch them after they'd stolen elvish horses, so I took my own and followed. From there it was an easy matter to recapture her and... dispatch of the problem." Blink smirked again, folding his arms over his chest with a casual tilt of his head. "Took the other horse as soon as I could and brought her back. Obviously it took a few days, but she's none the worse for wear." 

You were, in fact, extremely bedraggled. By design, of course. But it served to only make you more pitiful looking, which could only help your cause. 

"Well." The king seemed to accept the story, for now, at least in front of the rest of the courtiers. "You could have made it slightly earlier, I'm having to hold court without you." He leaned back in his chair and Blink hauled you to your feet, cutting the ropes that bound your legs with his knife and pushing you in the direction of a servant who'd materialized slightly behind him. 

"Take her to my quarters and have her clean herself up. Lock her in the bathroom if you've other things to do." The crown prince turned back and took his seat next to his father with a couple long strides, watching coolly as you were taken from the room. 

*

His bathroom was heavenly. The towels were amazingly soft, the water was perfectly warm, and the wardrobe was directly attached. The only design flaw you'd found so far was that there wasn't a window, which was the only reason you'd been allowed privacy. The only way out was the heavy, wooden, locked, door. You took a long shower, wrapped yourself in one of the fuzzy towels, and regarded your clothes with distasted. To ensure the charade, you'd muddied and ripped them up and while it had never been your favorite outfit at least it was something.

With a sigh you entered the wardrobe and began examining your options. Eventually you selected a simple tunic of the prince's that fell just past your knees. Obviously, you salvaged your underclothes from the messy pile, and carefully dressed yourself. Then you went through the rest of his clothes and organized them a bit better, because otherwise you'd be bored-- and terrified-- out of your mind. 

*

You'd finished sorting the clothes by type and color and were going through the socks by the time he finally arrived. "You may enter," You said formally, as the knock came, standing up and moving away from the sock basket in case it was somebody who wouldn't get it. Luckily, it was the prince, and although he raised his eyebrows, his attention seemed entirely occupied by the fact that you were wearing his tunic. 

"You- uh-" He stammered, and you almost saw a blush on his face. 

"I wasn't about to put those back on." You waved at your clothes on the floor with a scrunched nose, enjoying his moment of surprise all too well. 

"No. Of course not." He swallowed, eyes skimming you. "It looks great." 

"Be as that may, I'd like some of my own if that could be arranged?" You asked with a raised eyebrow. 

"Oh. Yeah. I had them bring your clothes in from the last time. You're not leavin' my sight again," He smirked at you, recovered at least mostly from his surprise. You noticed now he was carrying a trunk, which he brought in and set in the wardrobe. "I'll uh, leave you to change. Then, um, the king has accepted my offer to have a private meal in my rooms so... you know what that means." 

He ducked out of the door and you couldn't help the small smirk that twitched across your lips at his sudden discomfiture again before you started examining your options.