I rubbed the back of my aching skull before blinking away the darkness. When my eyes were free from soot, I garnered some semblance of where I was. It seemed I had fallen down the chimney of a grand looking hall.
"Thief!" a man shouted.
"Who?" I jumped up and swapped a glance over my shoulder. "Me?"
"You're outnumbered," said the man in the fancy tunic – with an even fancier dagger strapped to his hip.
My eyes wandered around the hall and I quirked the corner of my mouth. Guards in finely polished suits of armour were positioned throughout the room. "I hadn't noticed."
"Guards!" the man grumbled. "Seize him."
I danced away from the approaching rhythm of their clanking suits.
"Don't you want to know where they are?" I piped up and the sneer on the man's lips wavered. The guards halted at his raised fist.
"I don't know what you're talking about," he gritted out.
"Really?" I frowned and tapped a soot-covered finger against my chin. "I was sure I saw their portraits on your desk earlier. Your wife... little Lord Jr..."
"Check the nursery," he ordered a guard. He marched forward and pointed the finely edged blade at my throat. "You so much as hurt one hair on their heads and I will throw you to the wolves."
"Tell your guards to back off and no harm will come to your family." I grinned down at the blade, arms held high, then again met his gaze. "Honest."
"What's to stop me from killing you right now?" The tip of the dagger poked against my throat and I fought the urge to gulp.
I kept myself composed and hardened my stare. "My absence will be noticed. If I'm not back by midnight tonight, you'll never see them again."
Calculation plagued his heavy gaze and he dropped his arm back to his side. He placed a hand against his temple and turned his back on me – to the ticking clock above the fire's mantle.
Shoulders drooped, he ordered, "Let him go."
The guards at my back parted and I turned on my heel toward what I sincerely hoped was the exit.
"Watch your back, thief," the man threatened from behind. "Next time there won't be any talking."
"Oh?" I asked over my shoulder with a cheeky grin. "But my mouth is my greatest asset."
Before he could respond, the guard returned, a mother and son at his side.
The man furrowed his brows, looked between them and me, before understanding finally marred his features. "You never had them."
I winked and brought out the dagger hidden behind my back. "Nice knife," I said and twirled it between my fingers.
"Guards!" he sputtered and grabbed at the empty air by his hip.
"You should never turn your back on a thief," I chided and tossed the blade from hand-to-hand.
"Grab him!"
But it was too late – they'd never catch me again.
