The thief

Chapter 2

I wake up in the middle of the courtyard sprawled out on the ground. When I turn over and begin to feel the pain on my face and my entire body I remember what happened. I run my fingers through my thick wad of hair and slowly get up off the ground. 

I look in my pockets for the five gold and all of the gems that I had stolen earlier today in hopes to sell them. Everything in my pockets is gone. Including the loaf of bread that had gotten me into this situation in the first place.  

When I went to grab the bread from behind the food cart right behind the man who owned it, a guard walked out of the guard barracks and saw me trying to steal. If you're wondering how they knew I was Rowan, they didn't. They all just assume that any teenage boy with dark brown hair that's stealing is named Rowan. 

The only true way of knowing whether or not the person they caught is Rowan, is by checking the neck for the scar going diagonally down the left side. Which is why I try my hardest not to get caught. 

A couple days ago is when I started to get sloppy. I don't know what happened to me but now it seems like anytime I steal something I manage to get caught. I haven't been thinking straight.  

I notice that my stomach won't stop growling. I would go and steal some food, but some days I kind of just want to buy it. I don't know why, but I just like the feeling I get when I buy things, instead of just stealing them. 

I head down to the "Parishing Hearts" where I plan on getting the money I need for some food. When I walk through the door I am overwhelmed by hot air filled with the stench of body odor and blood.  

I look in the middle where I see two men, one as large as a boulder who looks like he could knock down a whole tavern with one fist. The other one is nowhere near as large but still looks strong and is obviously faster than the other. 

I watch as the two men brawl. The larger one hits the smaller man in the face with a right hook. Small tumbles backward as he spits out some blood from his mouth. Large doesn't hesitate to nail small right in the ribs causing him to tumble into the ground. The pub owner walks up to the fight and grabs hold of Large's arm. He lifts it up over his head declaring large as the winner. I hear some boos and cheers as I watch Large grab some money out of the left bucket.  

I get ready to talk some trash on Large and start screaming "My mom could beat you!" And "That was definitely fixed because you wouldn't be able to beat a doll up in a brawl!" Large juts his head out at me and walks up toward me.  

"Hey, I'd shut up unless you want your head pounded!" He spits out at me. 

I begin to laugh, "Wow, do you see me right now? i am just trembling with fear." I said, mocking him. 

He took a swing at my head but I ducked before he could make contact with my face. "You wanna brawl? Is that what you want?" He questioned. 

"I'd love to, thanks for asking." Out of the corner of my eye I begin to see people placing bets on who was going to win. If Large won, he'd get three fourths of the money from people who placed bets on me winning. If I won, I got three fourths of the money from people who bet that Large would win. 

Me and Large began to make our way out in the middle of the pub. As soon as we got there, Large punched me right in the ribs causing me to teeter backwards. He put up his left fist getting ready to punch me in the face, but before he could I blocked him with my hand and kicked him in the gut. "Woah, did you see that? i am like lightning." i said jokingly, beginning to get cocky. As soon as i got the sentence out, he punched me directly in the right side of my face. i guess me being like lightening was just a one time thing. 

I leaned sideways and grabbed onto my face to make sure everything was in the right place. Without hesitating, I punched Large right in the jaw and then took my leg and swept it underneath his causing him to lose footing and fall over backward.  

He slowly got back up to his feet but before he could even become stable again, I punched him in the ribs twice in a row on each side. As he stood there trying to catch his breath I kicked him right in the crotch, causing him to tip over backwards with a large bang.  

After a couple seconds the pub owner walked over to me in astonishment and grabbed hold of my arm, declaring me the winner. 

I went over to the bucket and only grabbed a quarter of the money out because that was all I needed. The rest of the money would go to the people that placed the bet on me winning. Which wasn't very much people. 

I went up to the pub and ordered some cabbage stew. Sure it wasn't that great but as long as it filled my stomach. 

As I was sitting there eating I noticed that Large was sitting at the end of the bar table. He was sitting there staring at me the whole time I ate. At first I thought it was because he was planning my murder but I noticed that the whole time he looked at me he was smiling. I don't know what his deal is and I don't want to know. 

I get up, pay for my food and walk out the door without looking at him once. As I walked home I felt like someone was watching me. I kept turning around to see if anyone was behind, but there was nothing. I also thought I was hearing footsteps.  

I decided that I was just being paranoid and kept walking. After a while I turn into a back road and walked back behind all of the houses. When I got to an abandoned building, I grabbed hold of the broken down side and started climbing up the rigid corner. When I got up to where a large hole was in the building I hopped inside, landing on my floor.  

I looked around and walked up to the roll of blankets known as my "bed" and lied down on top. As I slowly began to fall asleep I looked out of the wall hole and saw that the sky was completely full of stars. As I layed there thinking about everything that had happened today, I never even realized that today was the day that everything began to fall apart.

So was I right? Did it get better? Haha are you excited to see what happens with him and the princess? I'll give you a clue, they encounter each other again somewhere on the streets;)