Steal My Heart

“You won’t be able to take it off.” Wulfram raised his hand, looking at the bracelet with a mix of trepidation and curiosity. What he had just done was rash, and he wasn’t entirely sure of the ramifications. But he needed her help, at least for now. He could hear the guards on the other side of the rubble, but who knew how long it would take them to dig through. If it took as long as the last time there was a landslide, he’d be long dead before they got through. “The crown you tried to steal is almost as old as the kingdom itself, and has many secrets. If you had kept it, it would have killed you. With this spell however, it simply binds us together.”

“It what? I don’t want to be bound to you!” The woman stomped her foot and glared at him, a move that was spoiled by her almost falling as pain flashed across her face. He curled an arm around her, gently easing her to the ground.

“I didn’t want my crown stolen in front of dozens of people, or my mothers birthday to be spoiled. Now lets see to your back and leg.” His whole body ached, his head and side worse of all. He was certain she was hurting and scared, and they would both need to see a healer after this.

“I don’t want you touching me either!” She tried to pull away, but he held her tightly. It didn’t take her long to stop struggling. Her shoulders slumped like a marionette with her strings shut, and her voice grew soft. “Reshi was right... my stupidity will be the death of me.”

He felt a pang of compassion for the woman. She had bit off more than she could chew with her little stunt. He moved so that he could look her in the eyes, keeping his voice even and calm. “You cannot bandage yourself. I swear I will not harm you.” He raised the wrist with the bracelet on it. The gem glowed faintly, the pale blue of her magic, and her eyes. “These make sure we cannot harm each other without harming ourselves.”

A small lie, but a necessary one. She was scared and uncooperative, and he needed her cooperative to get them both out of here alive. After that, well, he would deal with what happened afterwards later. He was certain the bracelets didn’t actually have that kind of effect, but the history was vague at best.

She looked down at the bracelet he wore, then down at her own, the gem glowing with the deep amber gold of his own magic. “Why the hell would you do that? Are you insane? What if I decide to just say fuck it and kill you anyways?”

Wulfram couldn’t help but snort out a laugh. “Madam, if you think you can fight me I invite you to try. After we get out of these tunnels. Now, let me bandage your back. I swear not to stare but you will have to remove what’s left of your shirt.”

He looked around for a moment, finding his vest in the dirt. She had already started tearing her own shirt to make bandages, but what she would have left wouldn’t be enough to cover her properly. She stared at him, her lips pressing together, face pale beneath the dirt and grime. “You want me to what?” She asked flatly.

“Remove what’s left of your shirt. You can turn your back to me if you want but the more you argue the more likely you are to pass out. At which point I’ll bandage it anyways.” He wanted to pass out himself for that matter, but he knew he couldn’t. They had to get out of here, and with that fall and the blow to the head... well, he had seen soldiers take blows to the head, go to sleep, and just never wake up again. He would not have that happen on his mothers birthday.

The thief glared at him, but turned away and pulled off her shirt. He bit his lower lip, frowning at what he saw. The wound wasn’t deep, but she had torn away a good bit of skin when the roof had collapsed. It looked like claws had raked across her back. More than that, he could see her bones, she was skinny. “Thank you. Please pardon me.”

He took what was left of her shirt, and the bandages she had already torn off. The fabric was thin and dirty as the rest of them, but they would have to do for now. He began to bandage her, careful of touching areas that might be... sensitive. “You can wear my vest once I’m done. It might have a bit of a hole in it, but it will at least preserve your modesty.” He kept his voice calm. It wouldn’t do to let her hear concern for her in his voice. But he had to ask his next question. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Huh? Just a few hours ago, why?” There was confusion and irritation in her voice, and he could see the tension in her shoulders.

A few hours ago? He resisted the desire to ask when she had last eaten before that. “Never mind. What’s your name?”

She was silent for a long moment, and he wondered if she was going to tell him the truth, or tell him anything at all. Finally she let out a sigh. “Dani. What’s yours?”

The question took him by surprise. He wasn’t used to people not knowing his name. He was the crown prince! Everyone he had ever met had known his name, and many more that he had never met. “Wulfram. You didn’t even know my name?” He wanted to ask what rock she had been living under, but knew that would not help him achieve his goals right now. So instead he secured the bandage, and draped his vest over her shoulders. It was big on her, but it would do.

“Why would I know your name? Alright, I know you’re the prince and all but... it isn’t like I’d be meeting you on the street!” She pushed her arms through the sleeves of the vest, and buttoned it up to cover herself. She paused as the pale light glinted off the silver embroidery. “Gods above... is this real silver?”

“I will concede the point.” He felt the corners of his mouth twitch upwards, and stood. He offered her his hand. “And yes, it is. Lets get moving, after all, the sooner we are out of here the sooner we can go our separate ways.”

“The sooner you can throw me in the dungeon you mean. Maybe.” She picked up the glowstone he had left on the ground. Then actually took his hand, standing unsteadily. He realized he had forgotten to look at her leg, but she seemed to be standing fine on it, and he couldn’t see any blood. “But you’re right. I don’t want to be down here when the sun goes down. Unless it already has.”

Wulfram looked around, the light of the glowstone barely penetrating the darkness of the tunnel. As far as he could tell, there were no windows or holes for light to come through. Unless it was already night, but then he would be able to smell the cooking fires. No, there was no way he had been out that long, and all he could smell down here was dirt and something he couldn’t quite identify. “I’m not sure I see why you wouldn’t want to be down here when the sun goes down. Does the light even reach down here?”

“No. But I don’t want to be caught by the type of folk that slink around down here looking for prey, or some undead. It’s why I don’t sleep down here if I can avoid it.”

Wulfram looked at her in shock. It was cold down here, and apparently dangerous! What kind of situation did she have to be in where she would need to sleep in smugglers tunnels? “You sleep down here?”

Dani shrugged slightly, the movement bringing with it a wince of pain. “Sometimes. It’s better than sleeping in the rain if I can’t afford a room.” She started down the tunnel, and he stared at her back. He couldn’t imagine sleeping in the close confines of the tunnel, or worrying about people finding him while he slept, or- wait. Had she said undead? He gave himself a firm shake, and fell into step beside her. For the most part, the tunnel was wide enough for them to walk side-by-side.

“Do the smugglers dabble in necromancy?” If they did, he would make sure he found them and put them in the gibbets. Or let the Quietus priests have them, they were the ones that guarded the sanctity of the dead. He wasn’t sure which punishment would be the most humane, but desecration of a body was a crime that deserved harsh punishment.

“Not as far as I know. But these are big tunnels. They connect to the crypts, old storerooms, the cisterns, and who knows what else. There’s even rumors of a den of vampires down here somewhere. But that’s probably just a scary story. Lots of stories about down here.”

“I can’t say I’ve heard any.” The most he had heard about were the old Quietus crypts beneath the city, and there of course had been suspicions of smugglers tunnels, but this was the first he had found proof. But vampires? Undead? He hadn’t heard about any of that. “These tunnels sound quite extensive, are you sure you can get us out?”

She looked at him with a scowl, and let out a snort. “I can get us out, it’s just going to take longer without the key. If we’re lucky we’ll run across a smugglers hold with some good stuff in it. Sometimes they even have rum and dried meat.” She seemed to perk up a bit at that potential, her stride getting a little bit more sure, her limp a little less obvious. “But these tunnels are pretty damn big. I’ve explored down two levels myself, and out to the smugglers cave. I know they go deeper but some of those tunnels are flooded or maybe even cursed. I ain’t that interested in treasure hunting to risk my neck.”

“Two levels? And they go down further?” That could be a problem. But no, she had to be mistaken, there was no way the tunnels went down so deep! He looked around at the roughhewn walls, and shook his head. No, the dungeon itself only went down two levels, three if one counted the old oubliettes. “Madam, Dani, you have to be mistaken. If the tunnels were that extensive I would know about it.” He kept his voice carefully gentle, but she still turned around to glare at him.

“Obviously you wouldn’t, because you didn’t. I’m sure of it, I’ve gone down that far and could’ave gone down further if I wanted ta! Maybe ya don’t know as much as you think ya do outside yer pretty little palace.” She jabbed a finger at his chest as she spoke, a fire in her eyes.

Wulfram stopped, looking down at her with stunned amusement. He should probably at least pretend that he didn’t think she was adorable when she was angry. But she barely came up to his chest, was skin and bones, and practically swam in his vest. Not to mention her accent apparently slipped when she got really mad. He tried his best not to smile, it would likely only make her angrier.

“Well then, you will have to show me some day. Perhaps that’s what I will do instead of throwing you in the dungeon, make you show me these tunnels you are so knowledgeable about.”

She just glared at him, her hands fisted at her sides. At least her anger pushed away the fear of him. But after a minute or two of staring at his bemused expression, she turned around and started down the tunnel once more. He could just barely hear her muttering darkly. “Show you, ya fuckin’ dandy. I know these tunnels like the back of my ‘and! I could lose ya down ‘ere an’ they’d never find you!”

Wulfram rubbed his mouth, falling into step behind her as he struggled not to laugh.

She was just too cute when she was angry.