The Royal Thieves

My breath is coming in short bursts. I cannot keep up this pace much longer but I can hear my pursuers close by. They are running after me and if they can overtake me then I know that they will be able to beat me. They will drag me back to the King's dungeon to slowly rot. 

I am dodging in and out of large white ash trees. This forest is relatively untouched due to it being so close to the King's castle. Nobody dares to come this close to the castle for fear of being caught by the King or his men. The only ones that would dare come this close are the most desperate.

Finally, I can hear the sounds of pursuit falling a little more behind. They are no longer close enough that I fear they will catch me along the next turn. I know that I am fast but I never expected to be able to outrun all of the King's guards. 

Now that I am finally in the clear, I slow down just a little to try to catch my breath. I could keep running but if I try to keep up this pace then I know that I will only get caught in the end. I will collapse and be unable to get away once they catch up to me. I have to be smarter than that. Instead, I will slow down just enough to catch my breath and find somewhere safe to hide.

Looking around, I spot a fallen tree that offers a little bit of coverage for me to be able to catch my breath. Just as I rush over to the spot I hear a crackle in the branches above me. Before I can even make out what is happening, a body falls from the trees above me. It crushes me to the ground. Luckily, most of the ground is covered in a soft moss so although my body feels bruised, I do not think that anything is broken.

I let out a groan as I try to push the body off of me. Slowly, it begins to move and I hear an echoing groan of pain coming from the figure on top of me. As I shove him off I realize that I recognize that voice. It is the voice of my best friend, Hunt.

"Hunt, what are you doing? Are you trying to get the both of us killed?" I hiss to him as I struggle to sit up.

"I am trying to save you if you will let me. I can't believe that you would do something as stupid as stealing from the King. Especially the day before the Coronation of his son. You are smarter than that." He says.

"Apparently not." I say shoving to my feet.

I know that he is only trying to help me but I cannot stop for long. If I am going to get out of here then I have to do it fast. I have to hide before anybody can find me. That is the only way that I might be able to get away with my most recent theft. Nobody in the castle saw me so if I can only get away I have a fairly good chance of survival.

"Why are you doing this?" He hisses back to me.

"Why? It is a job. Same as any other we are given by the Guild Master. I am only doing what I was told." I tell him.

"Is that what you believe? Our Guild Master says that you went rogue. Nobody has heard of this mission so it is your word against his. He has a lot more sway than you do. If you are telling the truth then this changes everything." He says.

"Have I ever lied to you? You have known me since we were small orphans together." I tell him.

"What about the time that you put snakes in my bunk mate's bed and swore that it was not you? Or the time that you hid the Head mistress's favorite cake and swore that you had nothing to do with it? Or the time that..." He trails off with his brows raised.

"Okay, maybe I do not have the best track record but I have never lied to you unless it was necessary to keep you safe. This time, I promise that he is the one that gave me the job. There is no other reason I would do something as stupid as breaking into the castle and stealing this. I say.

Slowly, I begin to make my way out of the forest towards the hidden tunnels leading outside of the city. Only a few others know of the tunnels so I should be able to sneak through them to safety fairly easily. As far as I know, none of the guards know of this set of tunnels. The ones leading out of the castle are heavily guarded but these ones out here are not a threat so the guards do not know about them.

"Fine, let's say I believe you. What now?" He asks worriedly.

"Now, I am going to sneak out of the forest and find a place to hide out for a few days until this blows over a bit. Then, I will bring myself to the Guild Master so that he can explain everything. I have to make sure that I am safe first." I tell him as I finally spot the entrance to the tunnels.

The entrance is hidden underneath a large brush pile. It is a smooth stone door that leads to a set of stairs going underground. I take the torch out of my pack as I enter the doorway to the tunnels. Hunt follows close by as I enter the door. 

If he is going to make it out he will have to come with me for now. Since they did not get a good look at me there is no way that they would just let him go and assume that he is innocent. I do not think he would last long in interrogation either. It would not take long and he would end up spilling all of my secrets. 

Not to brag or anything, but I have a lot of secrets that I would not want to get out. I have been saving up secrets and using them as leverage for years now. Each person's secrets are empowering and have kept me alive for this long. If I did not deal in secrets then I would have been killed by now. Getting caught by the King's guards would not be the scariest things ever at this point.