Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Stolen ❯ A Thieves Life ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

The life of a rogue is a difficult one. The life of a thief, however, is a completely different tale, told by the tongue of only the dead. The whole world believes one of two myths. The first is that a thief is independent, stealing for only himself; a loner. The other is that all thieves are united in a one huge organization; just one grand hierarchy. Both, however, are falsehoods. The second, which must be admitted to you, is the closest to the truth. Each city and its surrounding area has its own 'pouch'. This is what groups, or societies were called. In some ways they are united, but they are the same as rival kingdoms. It is as a society within a society. The pouch was a way to throw off any who sought to destroy the intricately delicate structure of their world.

Terra shrugged the thought off as she turned her attention back to the crowded, overheated fair grounds. Even though it was cloudy, the heat was unbearable. Curses, she thought, as she tried to keep her palms dry. A slippery grip on a sword hilt or knife was not the best thing that she could wish for. She glanced at the shadow from one of the stalls. Nearly five. Soon the crowds would be heading to the food stalls in search of a late-day meal. Terra smiled. The task they were about to undertake would be fairly simple, although Terra had an uneasy feeling about the number of Daggers in the area. They had brought more then she had anticipated, but it was too late to withdraw now and seek a better opportunity.

She made her way over to the arena casually, stopping occasionally to inspect the merchandise of some of the merchants. Terra laughed under her breath. A third of the so called merchants were nothing but con men trying to weasel any extra silver or copper from the throngs of people, of which most did not have an eye for fake items or real. A few of the things that Terra saw she recognized, since they had passed through her hands on previous occasions whether through trade or through job. She made a few purchases of spice, a little cinnamon for Rena and some dried orange for tea, then made her way to the arena. Choosing a spot near the covered area where the royals sat, she stood at the back of the crowd.

She looked over to the stage. The show was right on time. She saw Jesse and Tarrin fighting a mock duel on the stage. They wore masks so that no one would recognize them in the future. Both were her good friends. They had been friends since the days before they were weaned. The battle would go on for about another five minutes, then Bridrick and Riven would join the two on the stage. Terra started to take note of where all the stationary Daggers were positioned. Two at the west side of the covered area, two on the east, and five along the back curtain. There was one behind each royal and noble, which was about seven, bringing the total to sixteen. Not too bad, she thought to herself. There were however many more wandering around, hovering like hungry vultures, just waiting for an opportunity to protect their charges.

Terra was extremely grateful for the clouds, since the sun would not blind their vision, and the fact it was not raining was also appreciated. She gave her palms one last wipe, adjusted her hat, and headed closer to the tent. She reached it and fixed her eyes on the tree on the south side of the arena. Within a few moments, Brodrick and Riven got up on the stage, and the next mock battle began. Terra looked over to the queen. She was loaded down with jewels, as she always was whenever out at a public gathering, however not as much as in palace events. The one thing that Terra truly wanted, was the ring that Prince, or rather, the Crown Prince, wore on his right hand. The jewel was massive, about the size of a sparrow egg. That was the main purpose of her coming here.

She focused back onto the tree. She couldn't see Lesley hidden in its branches, which was a relief. Then she saw it: the bright yellow flash of a coin falling to the ground. It was time. She knew all on the stage had seen it because they made a point of giving a quick battle cry. To the crowd, it was part of the show, to her, and to others who may not have seen the coin fall, it was a signal to begin. Terra made her way over to the Daggers on the east side. Already she could see others of her pouch distracting the other Daggers, both roaming and stationary. Now it was up to her to give the final signal to step into action.

She approached the Daggers, who immediately blocked her path. "If you would please step back, lad, this is a restricted area."

She gave a quick smile, then turned her expression to that of worry. "A thousand pardons kind sirs, but I seem to have lost my sister in the crowd. I was wondering if you have seen her. She has green eyes and is my height."

The two gave her quizzical looks. "There are many maidens who fit your description. Did she have any distinctions on her?" At first she thought they would merely dismiss her, saying they had no time to be looking at wenches wandering about, but she had forced some fake tears into her eyes, so that probably helped her a little bit.

"Oh, you would have seen her. Her hair is a distinct red. You could almost say, the color of blood!" On the word blood, two knives protruded from their chests, having shot from their hiding places in Terra's sleeves. The two Daggers uttered no sound as they dropped to the ground. Some of Kagome's other comrades, however, did not have the same luck as her. As soon as one mans scream pierced the air, all became alert, and the scene burst into chaos. About five others fell before they tried to re-group around the tent, but by then it was too late. The four men from the stage had already jumped onto the platform below and slit the throats of five Daggers who were protecting the royals. Now Jesse and Brodrick were battling the remaining two, while Riven and Tarrin were both stripping jewels off the nobles.

Terra stepped over the two corpses in front of her and headed straight to the Prince. Screams from the fleeing crowds filled the air. This was going to be a piece of cake. The poor thing was sitting in his chair paralyzed with fear. As she came to his side, a movement made her stop abruptly, and quickly draw her blade. Not a moment too soon. Had she not stuck it in front of her face she would have been split in two, for she had stopped the path of another sword. She looked at the face of her attacker, and at first did not recognize it. Then she saw it to be the Prince's younger brother. She was surprised he was also not paralyzed with fear. This moment of surprise was however a costly one. It was time enough for him to have drawn a knife from his sheath with his other hand and strike at her face.

Whether it was bad aim, distraction, or miracle she didn't know, but he made a mere cut below her left eye. It stung for a moment, but then she clenched her teeth and pushed against the sword with all her strength. For a princeling, he was quite strong. He marveled her more by the minute. By this time, Nathan and Conner had joined in under the covering. "Connar, take over for me with this one." Terra gave a quick gesture toward the stumbling younger prince and continued her approach to the other. When she reached him, he jerked his head toward her.

"My guess is your life is precious to you, is it not?" she asked with a smirk on her face. Before he had time to do anything, she pointed her hand to his. "The ring."

He stared at her dumbfounded for a few moments before regaining his speaking abilities. "You would not dare kill the crown prince. Every person would be out hunting you." His own shock was finally wearing away. He placed his hand over the ring protectively.

"No, you are right, I would not kill you if I didn't have to. But I would be willing to cut off your hand to get what I want. As I said, the ring."

He glared at her momentarily."Anything else is yours. Leave me this ring at least."

"Your request is touching, yet risky, since you are asking it of a man who may very well kill you. I came for the ring, and I shall not leave without it." She saw him glance behind her. She was suddenly very grateful for the time she had taken to learn to read peoples emotions through eyes. Spinning around, she stopped the rapier of her would-be assassin. She then jumped and planted both feet into his stomach and kicked him back, landing safely on her feet again. She then spun back and put her cold blade over the princes chest and convinced him that he should remain seated in the chair he was trying to flee.

The relief that had been in his eyes moments earlier had vanished and now he glared at her with hatred. Slowly he slipped the bauble off his finger and held it out to her. She took a knife from her side sheath and slipped the tip through the loop of the ring. She sensed his muscles tense. With a quick flick of her wrist the ring flew through the air and landed in her hand, which was already free of knife. The Prince had intended to slice her hand off. No sooner had her left its former position, the prince had slashed the air were it had once been. He lost his balance as his attack hit air and he ended up swaying in the chair as a look of astonishment crossed his face.

"If I were you," Terra drawled slowly, "I wouldn't try that again on a man who could take your life as his trophy." With that she slid her positioned sword across his chest. It cut only through the top layer of silk, but the fear of cut flesh made the Prince shrink further into his throne. Terra pocketed the ring, spun on her heal, and walked away from the tent.

When she was out form under its cover, she gave a shout. "Finish off!"

Terra looked around and saw her men finish whatever capturing of goods they were doing, then making a dash for the back alleys. Picking up a quick pace, she ran too, after making sure all the men had gone. A smile of pleasure crossed her lips, since there was still much chaos going on, people running to and fro, that it provided them with an opportunity to blend in with the crowds. The whole episode had taken less then seven minutes, which was fortunate since the Daggers had no time to re-group, attack, or send for and bring help.

Terra ran through the alley and made her way to the roofs. She paused only to wipe the blood running down her face from her earlier wound and was grateful to see that the bleeding had already stopped.

As soon as she was a dozen streets away, she dropped lightly back down to the ground, and started to walk casually away. Along the way, she met up with Jesse and Lesley. The news of the brawl had not yet reached this part of town, which showed just how fast their work had been. As they walked, they discussed the weather to appear casual.

"Looks like there's going to be a storm," Lesley pointed out, nodding towards the bright blue sky.

"Yes, the clouds are going to come soon," replied Jesse. They smiled at each other. Jesse and Lesley were almost like brothers. Both of their parents died when they were very young and the two boys had joined up together to survive. Jesse was incredibly tall and lean with blue eyes and light brown hair. He was outgoing and fun, but could be serious when the situation called for it. Lesley, on the other hand, was much shorter than Jesse, though everyone was, but also had brown hair and blue eyes. He was quiet, shy, and serious, although underlying his calm appearance was a good sense of humour and fun spirit.

When they reached the Mugs Inn the trio entered and headed to the back of the bar, to the kitchen. Entering it, they went down the back stairs to the wine cellar. The cellar was filled with wine and ale barrels, some as tall as a man. They went over to one of the medium-sized barrels at the back of the cellar in one of the far corners. Terra pressed one of the thousands of small boards that made up the wall of the barrel. There was a small click and the lid of the barrel swung open, revealing a narrow passage, where the three had to duck slightly to get through. After the first turn, there was a flight of stone stairs leading downwards to another door.

Already they could hear excited voices and laughter from the other side. Jesse knocked trice and then that door opened too. The "interior," as everyone called it, was a small underground town, having winding passages, shops, tradesmen, craftsmen, families, etc. The tunnel eventually led to an opening from a cave where they had some fields. In short, it was small town below the bustling city above them. They got their light from a small pipe cut in half that ran along near the top of the ceiling , filled with a gas that burned and was always lit, providing light like sun.

All the men that had returned so far where all gathered at one of the tables that had been set up near the door for this occasion, pouring out their pockets. Jesse, Lesley and Riven, the one who had opened the door for the three, and Terra headed over to the table where they were greeted with excited voices.

All the men stepped aside to give Terra passage to the table. She looked at all that they had gotten. Not bad. She looked around at the faces of her comrades and her own face broke out into a smile. "Gentlemen, you have done well. I am proud." A murmur of approval ran through the crowd.

Suddenly, a voice from the crowd spoke up. "Sure, for a day of a pick-pocket." All heads turned to the speaker, most faces either astonished or snarling. Thomas stared Terra straight in the face. She stared at him. Every time...

"Thomas, this is a great amount, more then enough to let us live in luxury for months to come. I could not risk sending more men to the fair grounds then I did, then there would have been too much commotion. If something went wrong, we would have lost far too many-"

"Aren't our lives meant to take risks, Terra? We shall never take steps forward if we don't take some! Others will rise above us. Your leadership will soon no longer suffice."

"Hey, leave it be, Thomas, just leave it be. This has been a great haul," Jesse snapped, giving Terra a reassuring glance. Thomas was one of the only men who could talk to her in the way he did, since he was her fathers cousin, and could thus not be killed for such comments, as would any other man who had the nerve to do so.

Terra looked through the crowd of faces. “Hold on a moment. Where are Conner, Tarrin, and Brodrick?" she inquired. Everyone looked around.

"Oh, are you meaning to tell us that three of our men are missing?" Thomas drawled out. Had she not been in such a hurry to the door, she would have murdered him.

"Jesse, Lesley, Riven, come with me," she called over her shoulder. She ran out the door, up the stairs and through the passage. After they were all out of the barrel, the door shut behind them. She was heading over to the other side of the cellar when the door to the kitchen swung open and light poured in from atop the stairs. At first she thought that it was the owner, the Mug Man, coming down for some ale, but then the silhouette showed it could not be him. As soon as the person took one step down, Terra saw that it was Brodrick. He had a very grim look on his dirt streaked face.

"What's the matter?" she asked. He stepped down some more and Terra saw that Tarrin was with him, and they were carrying down a body. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they lay it down in front of her.

"Oh my lord." The whisper berley escaped her lips. Tears started to well up in her eyes. Conner had a stab wound right through the heart. Very neat and precise, almost no blood. "Is he...dead?" she asked, knowing the answer already. Tarrin gave a solemn nod.