The Princess Thief {CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN}

chapter five | among thieves

Another somewhat short chapter. I wanted to get this up by Christmas, but a day late isn't too bad. I hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Elidor kept his face neutral, all emotions hidden as he and Teena waited for the large, partially-drunken man to finish counting the gold coins they had managed to take during their quest into the castle.

He silently hoped that no one had spotted him take the wrapped circular object from Teena's bag. The orb was currently hidden under one of the floor boards in his cabin. He always made sure to move his bed over the secret compartment so no one would be the wiser. The other thieves in this tiny village weren't as trustworthy as Teena. They were always ready to steal from each other, even if it meant a stab in the back, which was how they handled most disputes.

With a satisfied laugh, the man let the coins fall noisily in the open chest next to his chair. The chest was close to overflowing with the golden coins and jewelry stolen from travelers who dared go through the forest road. It was the only road leading to the closest village and the people had no choice but to chance an encounter with a band of robbers living secretly within the sanctuary of the trees.

"Tell me," he started, "where did you go to find this much coin?"

"The royal castle of Mordrivale," Teena replied.

His eyebrows rose and an amused smile grew on his round, sweaty face. "Oh, really? How did you manage that?"

Teena shrugged. "It was pretty easy, although I doubt we'd be able to do it a second time."

"And why is that?"

"Elidor bumped into the princess," Teena answered, her expression of disinterest. "We used her so we could escape."

For a moment, Elidor wished she hadn't said that, but they both knew Teena knew better than to lie. She only made that mistake once. Something she still regretted.

The man jumped up, startling the two.

Elidor had to stop himself from reaching for his dagger hidden in his boot. The man was most certainly slow, but he had plenty to order around to give Elidor a beating just for drawing the blade.

"You had the princess of Mordrivale in your hands and just left her there?" he exclaimed.

"It was either that or get thrown in the dungeon," Elidor spoke up.

He avoided the man's glare.

"Ah, he can still speak! I would've thought your last beating from Carson might've left you a mute."

Elidor still carried a few of those scars. He'd stopped one of Carson's friends from killing a particularly wealthy and taunting traveler. The older man wouldn't stop announcing his high position and threatened to have the nearest authorities come and deliver justice. He only managed to escape thanks to Elidor.

Carson and a few of his friends then dragged Elidor back to the thieves' village and beat him for everyone to see. Only with help from Teena, was he able to get back to his cabin.

She nursed his wounds that night, refusing to leave his side. "You know you'd be a better thief if you didn't get in their way," she'd scolded him.

He chuckled, regretting it immediately. "Then I'd be no better than them," he replied.

After that, he only went out on thieving runs with Teena.

"Perhaps you would've been better off in the dungeons!" the man practically screamed, drawing Elidor out of his thoughts. "Do you have any idea how much money a princess could bring us?" He sighed as he sat back in his chair. "Very well. There's nothing to be done about it now. Go get some rest and leave me be. I've had enough of this."

"You are very lucky he left it at that," Teena said as they left the building.

"I honestly thought he was about to call in someone to kill me on the spot," Elidor replied.

"He might've if we hadn't just brought back all of those coins. You can thank me for that later."

He grinned.

Of course Teena would've thought to take more than just the orb. He just assumed they would come across other travelers on their way back to the thieves' village, but no one seemed to be in the traveling mood. That or they had business elsewhere.

"I assume you don't need me to babysit you again," she teased.

"I'm sure I'll recover from a verbal beating on my own just fine, thank you." He glanced over at the group gathered around the large bonfire. He caught the scent of freshly cooked deer. "Looks like they had some luck while hunting."

"Yet you're just going to go to sleep, aren't you?"

Elidor chuckled lightly. "You know me so well."

She grinned. "I can bring you some food, if you like."

He shook his head. "I'll be fine. I still have some bread from this morning."

"You know, if you don't want them to keep giving you a hard time, you could at least try to participate."

Elidor shrugged. "I don't do so well when I try to 'participate' with them."

Teena groaned. "Why are you so difficult? Alright then, if you're so certain, just go get some sleep. We'll figure out this princess business later."

~*~*~*~

Elidor let out a tired sigh as he leaned back against his cabin door. He stood there for a few silent moments, letting his eyes adjust to the dark, single room. Only the moon, though partially blocked by the large forest trees outside, provided some light for him to navigate.

He fell onto his bed, letting his feet hang over the side so the dirt on his boots wouldn't ruin the sheets. He almost considered not even changing into something to sleep in—to exhausted from the long journey.

If only that one night had been the end of it. Now he had to figure out a way to recapture the princess. On purpose!

"Agh!"

In a fit of frustration, he pushed himself up, grabbed his pillow, and flung it across the room as hard as he could. He wished the harmless, soft item had damaged the wall, even if just a little bit. He almost threw his boots next.

"I'd be better off in her father's dungeons," he complained to no one.

Teena would only tell him otherwise. She'd say something along the lines of him being one of the few people among the other thieves she could tolerate, as it was the same for him.

With another sigh, he kicked off his boots and pulled off his shirt, leaving him in his pants. Sleepily, he crawled under his blankets, even covering his head. He didn't want to bother crossing the entire room to retrieve his pillow, so he just laid there, thinking, plotting, anything he could think of to get through what was to come, before he drifted off into a deep sleep.