Steal My Heart

Dani woke in the near darkness with a groan of pain. Her head was pounding, and while her leg didn’t feel broken it sure as hell hurt. She had obviously picked the wrong building to use in her escape, but how was she supposed to know he’d follow her onto the rickety old roof like that? Or that the guard would then follow him? But she supposed she shouldn’t be surprised. He had been on her tail the moment she had taken the crown, and the buildings around here were some of the worse off in all of the Rats Nest. At least she had landed on something soft, which was strange.

She looked around in the settling dust, spotting the guard first, laying awkwardly on the rubble from not just the roof, but the first floor. They had fallen straight through to the cellar! How was she still alive? She could only pray that the prince would still be alive as well, or she would be worse than dead.

Dani spotted his crown first, and snatched it up. He had to be nearby, he had been just out of arms reach of her!

Then she spotted his hand, half buried in the rubble, and followed it back to his body. Right about where she had been laying. “Ah shit....”

Reshi was going to kill her! She dug at the debris, tossing aside broken board, the occassional dead rat, and long forgotten clothes as she dug him out. He was laying so still, what if he really was dead? There was a nasty gash across his head, and a piece of broken board dug into his side. Panic and guilt surged through her.

It had been a blur as the roof collapsed, but she remembered him grabbing onto her. Had he been trying to save her? Or just making sure she didn’t escape? Either way, it was her fault he was down here.

She leaned down to listen for a heartbeat, and relief flooded through her when she felt his chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. Thank the gods, he was still alive. Dani looked up above them at the rubble.

They weren’t getting out that way, not easily at least. But at least he was alive. She tied the crown to her belt, and crawled over the rubble to check on the guard. He was still breathing too, but from the angle his leg was at, it was broken. Well, at least he wouldn’t be chasing her. But he also wouldn’t be able to help them get out of here.

“Okay Dani, think.” She whispered with another anxious glance at what was left of the roof. She could hear the other guards outside the building, trying to force open a door that was blocked by a roof beam. It was only a matter of time before they got through and she got arrested.

She looked around what was left of the room slowly. Most of it was filled with debri from the roof and the main floor, but there were still a few clear spots. If she was really really lucky there would be an old smugglers tunnel down here. It was close enough to the docks that it would make sense for there to be one. So she started to run her hand along the bare stone walls, searching for the small symbol that would mark a hidden tunnel.

Dani caught a glimpse of obsidian in the wall, and let out a laugh. The gods may have her on their shit list right now, but they weren’t just throwing her to the wolves. It was possible they were just teasing her with hope, but obsidian wasn’t a common stone around these parts. She pulled a short obsidian key from beneath her shirt, the thin rope that worked as a necklace forcing her to bend close to the wall to insert the key and turn it.

“Please work, please work...” She whispered. “I swear I’ll never steal from another noble again, just work!”

There was a loud thud from above, the roof beam starting to shift. Those damn idiots! What were they thinking? The couldn’t just climb over the wall? Or maybe in through a window? Anything but forcing that door open! There was a faint click behind the wall, and then with the grinding of old gears, an opening started to form.

Above them, the debris groaned again, and she heard the crack of wood. “Ah bloody hell!”

She scurried back to the unconcious prince. With another glance at the debris that was starting to tip towards them with the force of the roof beam, she grabbed his ankles and started to drag him across the floor as quickly as she could. “You could wake up any time now!”

No answer.

“Why won’t you wake up?” Dani whimpered. She had to get him through the door, and fast! She grit her teeth, and yanked harder on his ankles, sliding him through the debris already piled on the floor. Down the small slope it made and into the darker tunnels that honeycombed the land beneath the city. “And why the hell are you so heavy?”

Still no answer.

It wasn’t like she expected one, and this was going much faster than if he had been awake. With his damn questions and his threats. She would see how he liked that!

If either of them lived that long.

His body moved easier on the hard packed dirt of the tunnel, and she was able to drag him a few feet away from the entrance before the debris crashed down, filling the tunnel with dirt. She could only hope none of it had landed on the guard.

Dani closed her eyes tightly, coughing as the dirt clogged the air. She dropped down to the floor beside the prince and slumped against the cold wall. “Gods above and below... that was too close.” She managed to choke out, mostly for her own benefit since the prince was still out cold.

She needed some light. She fumbled around in the debris, feeling rotting fabric and wood, plenty of dirt, and at last, a stone. It wouldn’t work as well as a crystal or glass, but those were both expensive luxuries. With enough magic, a normal stone would work as a glowstone. It wouldn’t be as good as crystal or glass either, but it would give her light.

Dani gripped the stone with both hands, concentrating on it as she channeled magic from her body and into the rock. The pounding in her head grew worse, and her muscles trembled as she forced more and more magic into the stone until it started to glow the same soft blue as her eyes. She gasped for breath in the dirty air, and sweat made the dirt cling for her face unpleasantly. The dim light struggled in the dirt clogged air, but it would be enough.

It would have to be.

She set the rock down on the floor next to the prince, and started to check him for broken bones. She removed a jagged piece of wood from his side, and grimaced at the blood that stained it before she tossed it away. As she pulled off his vest, she sent a silent prayer to whatever god might listen to an insignificant idiot like herself to please let the prince live.

This wasn’t how this was supposed to go!

This was supposed to be an easy way to make a good amount of money. She knew selling the crown wouldn’t be easy, but at least she could have sold off the raw materials to the right buyer. But no, he just had to chase after her.

“You’re a pain in the ass, you know that? Why did you have to follow me? Is the crown that important? Or I know, maybe you just didn’t want to look like an idiot by getting robbed by a girl.” She muttered to herself as she pulled off his thick quilted vest, and then his shirt. Gods he was heavy! And damn...

She couldn’t help pausing a moment, looking down at his naked torso with appreciation. There wasn’t a bit of flab on him! she gave herself a little shake, and started to rip his shirt into long strips. Filthy as it was, it was still bound to be cleaner than hers. That and he could go around without a shirt and no one would bat an eye.

Well, maybe they would. The gods had sure as hell blessed him.

She started to bandage the wound in his side. It wouldn’t help much, but it should keep the worse of the dirt out of his wound. She also took the chance to check him for broken bones.

“You are one lucky sone of a bitch.” She spoke softly, and shook her head at how few wounds he had. Granted she had been damn lucky too, not that she had checked herself for wounds. But even a dumb thief like herself knew the crown princes life was worth more than hers.

The thought made her stomach twist, but she did her best to ignore it as she secured the end of the bandage. Next she started to bandage the gash on his head. That one was a bit more awkward, and as she worked he started to wake up. His forehead wrinkled first, and he let out a groan, eyes opening to the gloom of the tunnel.

Dani froze, her heart rate spiking as he turned his gaze on her. This was the man that could easily kill her if he wanted to, that could have her dragged into a dungeon and tortured, or thrown into a gibbet. She shifted back a little, bracing herself to run if need be.

The prince sat up slowly, gingerly, like someone expecting pain when they moved. He winced as he found the pain he had been wary of, and lightly touched the bandages that covered his wounds.

“I am surprised that you didn’t try to slit my throat, or run with the crown.” His voice was rough and carried an undercurrent of pain. But he wasn’t yelling or threatening. Not yet.

“I ain’t a monster.”

He turned his gaze fully to her, frowning in the pale light of her glowstone. She couldn’t read his expression, she didn’t like that. It meant that she couldn’t tell what he was going to do, or if he still planned on taking her in. Finally, he spoke. “No. I suppose you aren’t. You’re more of a mouse, trying to steal scraps off the table under the cooks nose.”

Dani snorted and pushed herself to her feet. She stumbled and nearly fell back down as pain shot through her leg. She braced herself against the wall, forcing herself to breath slow. Not broken, but it still hurt to stand on.

“Are you alright?” The prince stood as well, letting out his own hiss of pain. But at least he managed standing better than she did.

The question surprised her. She looked over to him, her breathing a bit ragged. She shrugged a little, intending to literally just shrug off the questions. That turned out to be as bad a mistake as many others she had made today. The movement sent pain screaming down her back, and she let out a stream of curses learnt from many a year listening to Reshi and the sailors talk.

“I’ll take that as a no.” The prince touched the bandage on his side again, silent for a long moment.

Then he knelt and picked up the glow stone, moving closer to her. “Where are we?” He shone the light over her back, the soft blue light glistening on blood.

Dani flinched as he came closer, and straightened from the wall. She couldn’t let him see her as weak. “I’m fine. We’re in one of the old smugglers tunnels.” Speaking of which.. she looked to the caved in entrance and let out a groan. “Ah shit.”

“What is it? Also, you’re a terrible liar. We’re going to have to bandage that.”

“We? We’ll have to bandage that? Why do you even care?” She stared at the pile of debris in front of the entrance, but didn’t dare try to dig into it in search of the obsidian key. Reshi was going to be so pissed when he found out she lost it. He had given that to her before he even taught her to steal. It was meant to get her out of trouble if she needed a quick getaway.

“Well for one, I am also not a monster.” Irritation leaked into his voice as he continued to speak. “For two, you bandaged me when you could have easily ran. And three, you seem to have at least some idea of where we are, while I have none. Also, that doesn’t seem safe to be near.”

He grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back as the pile shifted, rocks rolling down the wooden planks. She could almost hear voices outside. The damn fools were probably walking on the rubble!

Dani stumbled back, glaring at the debris and the people behind it. Losing that key was going to make things considerably harder. “It would be safer if your people weren’t crawling all over it! I used a key to get us down here, but it’s buried under the rubble. I was too busy dragging your heavy ass to safety to grab it before the building came down. There was a guard... I hope he’s okay.”

“The guard that followed us. I hope so as well. He’s a good man. Is the key necessary to get us out of the tunnel?” The prince stepped closer to the rubble, tilting his head as he listened.

“No, but it would have made it a hell of a lot easier. There are a lot of tunnels that you need a key to get into. Those ones I know most of, the deeper ones though? It isn’t safe to go too deep, there’s all sorts of nasty things and people down here.”

She started to rip the bottom of her shirt, even as filthy as it was it would still work for bandages.

It would have to, she had pretty much used up his shirt bandaging him up. Now that she was aware of the pain, she could swear it hurt more. Before she had stood up she hadn’t noticed it at all.

“You won’t be able to bandage yourself. The blood is coming out of your shoulder blade area. Please, let me help.” The prince turned away from the rubble, facing her fully in the cool light of the glowstone.

“Are you still going to throw me in the dungeon? Or the gibbet? How can you even do that to people?” She tore more of her shirt off, unwilling to meet his eyes.

“For now, you’ve earned yourself a reprieve from punishment. I can’t just let you get away with it so yes, you likely will be thrown in the dungeon at the very least.” He spoke so calmly about it, coldly. She turned to stare at him, tempted to punch him in the face.

“I could just leave your ass down here.” She offered, glancing down the hallway into the inky blackness. “You don’t know the way out. We could see how long it’ll take your guards to dig you out.”

“You could, but you’re not that much of a monster.” He actually smiled, as if this was all some sort of joke. “Lets make a deal.” He glanced down to the crown on her belt, and held out a hand. “Give me the crown, we’ll use it seal the deal.”

“How are we going to use the crown?” She untied it from her belt though, curious in spite of herself.

“Just a little bit of magic. Nothing harmful, and you’ll get to keep some of your prize.”

Dani looked at him suspiciously. But he could easily overpower her and take the crown anyways, especially with as much pain as she was in right now. “What’s the deal?”

“You help me get out of these tunnels, you keep half the crown as reward for saving my life, and I maybe don’t throw you in the dungeon. I’ll even promise not to throw you in a gibbet.” He spoke calmly, a smile playing at his lips as he waited patiently for her to hold out the crown. Every little thing about him right now seemed to speak of confidence and control. He was a prince, even covered in dirt and grime. A prince with a plan that she suspected wouldn’t be all that good for her.

But she could sense the magic in the crown now. It felt old, subtle. The type of magic she very much preferred to steer clear of. “You can’t just shake hands like a normal person? And you maybe won’t throw me in the dungeon?”

“Yes, maybe. After all, it’s your fault we’re down here. And no, a handshake isn’t sufficient in this case. You may not be a monster but you are a thief, and you might get the insane idea in your head about abandoning me down here. I want assurances that that won’t happen.”

Dani wasn’t stupid enough to ask why he didn’t trust her. Hell, if their situations were reversed she wouldn’t trust him either. She didn’t trust him now! Which was why she still hesitated. But there was still that fact that if he died, she would die too.

She was well and truly screwed.

Reluctantly, she held out the crown, the blood red gemstone centerpiece shining in the pale blue light. His smile grew, and he grasped the crown, speaking two words that resonated with the magic of the crown. “Lef ibdon.”

His eyes flared gold for a brief moment, and an answering glow filled the gold on the crown. The glow spread, her own blue magic seeping into the crown to mingle with his magic.

Dani let out a yell, trying to pull her hand away, but it was like it was glued in place.

“You lousy asshole! What the hell?!”

“Relax, it’s just an assurance, for both of us.” The metal and gemstones of the crown started to flow apart, crawling up both their hands to form two almost identical bracelets: miniature versions of the very crown she had tried to steal, only the gemstones on hers were a rich amber, and the gemstones on his were a pale blue.

“An assurance? What kind of magic is it to give us both an assurance?” Dani yanked her hand away from him as soon as it was free, and tried to pull the bracelet off her wrist. But she couldn’t even get her fingernails beneath it. Great, she wouldn’t even be able to sell it! Not that she wanted anything to do with it now. Her grand risk had failed so spectacularly that she was sure even the dead would cringe at her failur. Not only had she not gotten the loot she had been trying for, she had lost the smugglers key, nearly died, and now whatever this was!

This day couldn’t get any worse.