Look Into My Eyes

Chapter 2: The Thief and The Stranger

Xavier had finished making the pan for Rapunzel.

It was made of obsidian, lined with teal paint around the rim and was emblazoned with a brown brick tower, looking small in the emblem of Corona: a sun with wavy rays, symbolising the swaying arms of the citizens of Corona once victory had been deemed theirs, which did often happen.

The pan was really good at representing all the hardships Rapunzel had managed to overcome. Sure, Varian and Cassandra had been forgiven by the princess many years ago, but they remained the two hardest forces Rapunzel had to overcome. They'd been driven by love and hatred, the two strongest emotions known to man, so of course they had been hard to defeat.

It hadn't really helped that Varian and Cassandra had been two of Rapunzel's friends.

On another note, the tower showed that Rapunzel had broken out of confinement which, as well as her turning Cassandra and Varian to the side of good, showed Rapunzel was strong, in both her will and personality.

What better queen could Corona get?

Xavier was happily thinking of all the things that had happened since Rapunzel was deemed Queen, when he suddenly heard a rustle from the room he kept his personal belongings in.

The blacksmith stood still.

Surely it was just a creature? Maybe Varian's raccoon, Ruddiger?

But Xavier couldn't take any chances.

He burst into the room to find a boy holding a necklace.

The boy was beautiful with deep emerald eyes framed by golden glasses, and bright blonde hair that looked like it was spun from sunrays, with one half shaved, with a ponytail and the rest of it, put to one side almost like a waterfall. He had pierced ears, and a slight smirk. He wore interesting clothes: half made of green cloth, half made of metal.

However, this isn't what Xavier looked at when initially meeting Hugo.

"Hey! That's my grandmother's necklace! It was the only thing she left for me in her will! You can't steal that! Her spirit will haunt me for eternity for not keeping the last bit of her safe!" Xavier pleaded but the blonde wouldn't listen.

The thief, however, didn't listen and bolted when Xavier was in the middle of speaking, the necklace in his hands.

"Stop! Thief!" Xavier yelled frantically after the boy as he ran away from Xavier's blacksmith shop, glad that Xavier wasn't the type to use a hammer as a weapon.

The boy in question was a nineteen year old thief called Hugo Rottenwage, an orphan who'd been raised by the boss of the most dangerous thievery business in Vooruitgaan, who'd recently moved to Corona due to "personal reasons".

Hugo had come with her and as one of the only people willing to move with her to a completely new city where they'd have to start from scratch in terms of where they'd live, Donella had requested that Hugo work for her.

And who was he to refuse?

She'd raised him up from nothing and given him shelter and food. Yes, it wasn't all too good in standard. But at least he had somewhere to stay, somewhere to eat. Plus, it was always better to work in numbers. To work by yourself means to make yourself more vulnerable. And that's never good in the world of theft, especially if it's what you depended on to live.

Due to their arrangement, Hugo and Donella met up quite often. At least Hugo thought it was as he knew she didn't meet up with her other minions as much as she met up with him.

Hugo supposed that the reason she did this was because she didn't trust him.

She'd never said it out loud, but her piercing grey eyes gave it all away: her eyes glaring into his, a second too long to be comfortable,the questions she'd ask, the way she asked them clearly showing how she doubted his loyalty to her.