Rubies were the gem of wealth, thanks to the magic of the patron goddess of Ruby, Fortuna. Ruby Court itself was responsible for all the banking in the realm for this very reason. I knew if I was guaranteed to get a good score anywhere, it was here. Lord Carnelian was said to be the richest lord in the land, with only the High King of Gemaria able to boast of a vaster fortune.
And I was staying as far away from that bastard of a king as Elvenly possible.
Without any magic at my fingertips, I was left with only my dagger to defend myself. I pulled it from my thigh sheath and palmed it, fingers tightening at the ominous feeling that was rising in my gut.
Breaking into manors and mansions to steal wasn’t exactly the safest gig. I’d almost been caught before, but had thankfully managed to escape every time. I preferred easier scores, when possible, of course, but I also preferred to target the ultra-rich among us when I could. They could handle the loss, after all.
It wasn’t like Ienjoyedstealing from people, but living on the streets left me with little in the way of options. I couldn’t even try to lift myself into a better position where I didn’t have to steal to eat, as some of my fellow street rats attempted from time to time.
Not when being found would likely result in my death.
No, anonymity was key. And staying anonymous meant staying below the realm’s radar. Only those of us living on the streets truly went unnoticed and unrecorded. While everyone else might consider it the most dangerous way to live, for me, it providedsafety.
I crept forward once more, my eyes roving around the tight hall for anything amiss. As I made my way to an old wooden door at the end of the hall, I took a deep breath. I let it rattle through me, and then slowly reached a hand down to grab the latched handle. Using my thumb to press down on it, I listened for the click and then slowly pulled it open a crack.
Only for it to fly the rest of the way open and right into my face.
“Argh!” I screamed as it smashed into my nose. But I couldn’t focus on that or my now fucked vision, as several blurry figures that seemed vaguely man-shaped grabbed me. I tried to fight them off, but with my nose bleeding and my vision drastically reduced, I only succeeded in landing a single punch before my hands were yanked behind my back, and a punch sent in return sent me into complete, punishing darkness.
I groaned,pain radiating through my head as I slowly tried to lift it. The pounding that occurred when I did had me cease that motion quickly. Instead, I tried to pry open my eyes and see where I was. The sight of cold stone flooring greeted me, and, raising my head a bit, the bars of what appeared to be a dungeon cell appeared. I groaned louder.
Great.Just great.
After years of stealing, I should have known this would happen eventually, but I’d foolishly believed I’d gotten this down pat and didn’t have to worry.
Arrogance before the fall and all.
I slowly pushed myself up from my inelegant sprawl, checking myself over to ensure nothing else had been damaged. My black leather pants were scuffed and dirty, but otherwise had been left undisturbed, thank Erodite.
At least my captors weren’t creeps.
Similarly, my tight black jacket was as expected, and my favorite black leather gloves had been left in place. I’d heard about this style used overseas by female warriors, and copied it myself by cutting the tips off the fingers of each of my gloves. They were ideal for stealing into places and maintaining full range of movement.
Wisps of pink invaded my vision, and I huffed, pulling my braid forward. It was a complete mess now, having gotten rucked up in the scuffle. Looking around the dungeon, no one seemed to be waiting for me to wake up, so I shrugged and set to the task of rebraiding the mound of voluminous, bright pink hair that tumbled free. Said hair made it difficult to remain unseen, hence the braid I wore on jobs like this. I could usually tuck and hide it under my hood, leaving only a few stray pink hairs to hang around my face, which was better than nothing, at least.
My hair, of course, matched my eyes perfectly, as was the case for all Elves. Sometimes, I found myself wishing I had a black-on-black or awhite-on-white combination that would be easier to hide with. While bright colors were extremely common, no one had the same shade of bright pink as I did. Lighter pink shades weren’t exactlyuncommon, but even the lord and lady of Pearl Court were lacking the vibrant pink I had, by all accounts.
Which made staying under the radar a real bitch at times.
The sound of metal creaking slowly over stone had me falling still just as I finished my braid. I arranged myself cross-legged, a tactic to show my captors I wouldn’t be hiding or cowering. I would sit calmly and accept whatever fate had in store for me.
Some would say I’d already lived past my time, and I would have to agree with them. Normally, I would say I wasn’t sure why I still lived, or what the point was.
But right now, Ula was counting on me. Without the right gems to heal her, I feared she wasn’t long for this plane. She had been the one to take me on and show me the ropes when I first found myself scavenging on the streets, desperate and starving. Without her, I would certainly have been long dead by now.
I needed to find a way out of this for her at least. Even if I didn’t much care about my own pointless existence.
An Elven man came into view, boots first. I could tell he was a guard immediately. His militant black and red style was more than enough to go on, so I didn’t even bother looking up until the baton he was holding hit the bars with a loud smash that reverberated through the cell.
I sighed, looking up reluctantly. My eyes widened as I realized he was unlocking the cell door.
“Get up. Lord Carnelian wishes to see you,” the guard spat, his pale red eyes looking me up and down derisively.
Clearly, he thought his lord had no business dealing with me himself. That I was too far below his notice. I had to begrudgingly agree. I thought one of his underlings would likely sentence me, and the unusual demand put me on edge immediately.
I stood smoothly from the floor, my past having given me, if nothing else, the ability to gracefully move and twist. It helped more than anything else since that fateful day I was forced to run. All those dance lessons gave me the flexibility that usually made my work as a thief much easier, at least.
The guard grabbed me by the arm, jerking me forward to a sudden stop before slamming a set of manacles on me. I tried twisting my wrist to testthem as he turned to lead me out of the dungeon, gripping the chain as he pulled me forward with it, but I could already tell that there was no weakness in these to take advantage of.
