The Prince and The Thief

Five

The servant looked around to make sure that no one was watching them. He found it weird that the young man had asked to go for a walk post dinner. If the king knows, he won't be seeing another day in his life. " Your highness, shall we go in now?" he finally asked as the man in front of him stopped walking. "No, I want to stay out for a little longer," he replied to which the servant sighed and then gestured to the guards to keep watching him. The young man now stood few feet away from the guest dorm. The lights of the dorm were switched off, of course because every guard in the palace would be on duty tonight. It was the day before the coronation afterall. He let out a sigh and turned to walk back to his room, much to the relief of the servant. But before they could take another step, the power went off.

The royal guard in front of the prayer room fell to the ground with a thud as something blunt hit him on the head. The masked man who stood behind, dropped the piece of log on the ground and sneaked his way into the prayer room. He knew that his plan was too cliche. But to commit robbery in the heavily guarded palace without anyone noticing was of course impossible. The area surrounding the valuables in the room was guarded by laser detectors. There were also a couple of cctv cameras installed in the room. Fortunately, they were away from the laser guarded area.  The commotion outside as soon as the power went off had helped him so far. He slowly pulled the chair that lay on a corner of the room to reach the cctv cameras and successfully sealed them using the black tape he had already prepared. "Kong!" Tutah's voice from outside startled him. He got off the chair and then stuck his body against the closed door out of instinct. "Did you find him?" Aim's voice could be heard next. "No, Oh my God! What happened to the guard?" Tutah's alarmed voice echoed in his ears. "Sh*t! Someone's here. Let me go alert the others. You stay here! Let me know if Kong comes," Aim could be heard talking to Tutah before the sounds of his footsteps receded. The man inside had his heart in his throat at the moment. The only way he could continue with his plan or at least escape from there was to distract Tutah. But he couldn't do anything right now. Suddenly, the guard who lay on the ground groaned. "Hey are you okay?" Tutah's voice was heard once again. "Water," the guard could be heard mumbling in a weak voice. "Wait here! I'll get it for you," Tutah said and then the sound of him walking away could be heard. He knew that this was the only chance he had. Kongpop took a deep breath and turned on the torch in his mobile phone to look around. As soon as the glass case with the ring caught his eyes, Kongpop barged through the laser rays to reach it, causing the alarm to go off. He knew that he didn't have much time. Kongpop hastily opened the case and took the ring, and then replaced it with a fake one that Bright had prepared before Kongpop got into the palace. He then ran out as fast as he could, removing his mask and shoving it along with the ring into his trouser pocket. He occasionally looked behind to ensure that he wasn't being followed. The next moment, he collided against someone. "Kong, is that you?" Aim's voice could be heard before his large palms landed on Kongpop's shoulder. "Aim," Kongpop called softly, trying his best to breath normally. "Where were you?" Aim asked to which Kongpop gulped. "I  was on my patrol and someone suddenly attacked me. He ran this way and I was chasing him," he lied.  "Someone was in the prayer room. The guard was attacked and now the alarms are going off. The culprit wouldn't have left the palace compounds. Let's look for him," Aim said. "Yeah, I'll go this way and you can go in the opposite direction," Kongpop suggested to which Aim nodded his head and rushed forward. Kongpop let out a huge sigh and rushed towards the room with the power switches. He was about to switch on the power when the voice from behind startled him.

"So, it was you," Aim said, making Kongpop jump. "I knew something was off about you right from the day you joined," he said before moving forward. Kongpop could see Aim's silhouette in the moonlight coming from outside. He knew that getting into a physical fight with Aim would be a bad idea. So he did what he could do best to avoid getting punched. Kongpop threw himself sideways, dodging Aim's knuckles aimed at him before running outside. As he ran into the garden, Kongpop could see the lights in the palace turn on and then he heard sounds of footsteps from behind. The next moment, Kongpop did what he thought of as another cliche act. He pulled the gun from his waist and caught hold of the first person he saw in the garden by the neck, pointing the gun on the person's temple before turning towards the people present there. "Don't move, I'll shoot him," Kongpop shouted. "Your highness," the large man in servant clothes who stood few feet away from Kongpop gasped, making him flinch as he realised that the person he just grabbed is someone from the royal family. But he could care less at the moment. He had to get out of there now. Kongpop moved with the man in his clutches, and made his way to the Southern gate where Bright and Oak were already waiting for him.

"What?" Kongpop asked seeing Bright give him a weird look from the passenger seat. "Who is he?" he asked several moments later, making Kongpop's eyes grow wide on realising what he had just done. He turned on the light in the car startled and turned to his right. Kongpop gaped at sight of the man in front of him as the confusing line from his grandmother's story rang in his head, Once upon a time, there lived a prince who was as pretty as a flower."Kong, who is he?" Bright asked again, breaking Kongpop's thoughts. "I don't know," he replied shaking his head, while his eyes remained fixated on the beautiful man in front of him, whose face reflected fear and confusion. " What do you mean by you don't know? You just kidnapped somebody from the palace and you don't even know who he is?" Bright said making Kongpop turn to him. "Kidnap? I didn't kidnap him," he retorted. "Oh then where you eloping?" Bright asked, his eyebrows raised. "Seriously P', I almost got caught and I had to point a gun at this man to make sure that no one hurts me and to be frank, I didn't even realise that I took him along with me until a while ago," Kongpop replied. Bright didn't look convinced. "Who are you?" He asked turning to the stranger. "Arthit," he replied, after moments of hesitation. "Arthit who?" Bright asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "I am Arthit, the king's son," he replied. The next moment Oak braked the car making everyone jerk forward. "Did..did you just kidnap the crown prince?" Oak asked, his eyes almost out of the sockets. Kongpop couldn't just understand what was happening. He stared blankly at Oak before turning to look at Arthit as if expecting a response. "I..I am not the crown prince," Arthit replied before gulping hard. "But you are the king's son..wait!" Bright's eyes lit up in sudden recognition. "Oh my God!" he gasped before covering his mouth with his right palm. He then pointed his index finger at Arthit, his face reflecting disbelief. "You are...you are that dead prince, aren't you?" Bright asked, making Kongpop and Oak turn their heads to look at Arthit. The prince nodded his head before looking at the three faces that were staring intensively at him, each showing varied expressions. The moment was broken as the sounds of police vehicle sirens could be heard from a distance. "Let's go," Bright said, as Oak started the car and drove off the lone road.

"You should go to the Demon's island for a while. I have arranged everything. My cousin Tew will meet you there," Bright instructed as they approached the boat jetty at the eastern coast. "Isn't that the haunted island?" Arthit asked, looking at Kongpop who pressed his lips into a thin line while Bright and Oak burst into laughter. "It's not haunted," Kongpop replied, wondering whether he should explain any further. After a second thought, he chose not to and stayed silent while glancing sideways at the man who was now nodding his head.

"Take him back to the palace," Kongpop said, as Bright accompanied him to the speed boat he had arranged. It was almost midnight and therefore there was no one around, making it easy for them to escape. "Are you sure? What if he betrays us? We will be in jail for the rest of our lives," Bright said. "I don't think he'll do that," Kongpop said, looking towards the back window of the car, where Arthit sat gazing back at him. "You met him few minutes ago and you already trust him?" Bright asked surprised. He knew that Kongpop wasn't someone who would trust anybody that easily and therefore what he just said confused Bright.  "Take him back P',"  Kongpop said before turning to leave. He stopped in his tracks the next moment he heard a voice from behind. Kongpop turned to see Arthit running towards him. "Wait, take me with you," he said, startling Kongpop. "What? No. You must go back," he said before turning again to walk towards the boat. "Please," Arthit said, grabbing Kongpop's hand.  "I think that's a good idea," Bright said, earning a glare from Kongpop. Suddenly, sounds of approaching sirens could be heard, startling them. "Go just go now," Bright said, pushing Kongpop and Arthit towards the boat before rushing towards the car that Oak had already ignited. As the boat moved few feet away from the river bank, loud gunshots could be heard from behind making Kongpop's heart drop. He was hell worried for his friends. But there wasn't anything he could do, other than hoping that they were safe. Kongpop blinked away the tears filling up his eyes as he turned away, while Arthit watched him silently. The boat sped through the river, into the dark, carrying the prince and the thief, neither of them uttering a word.