The Princess and the Thief

Khai - [Winner]

I stopped my horse and looked down at Thebes with a smile as the sun began to set. Did Arius really think he could keep me away from here?

Thebes was a beauty compared to Abydos, which is where my hideout was. Abydos was sad and gloomy. After all, a great number of the first kings were buried deep in those lands.

Thebes however… It was the light of Egypt.

It was the capital, the place where the richest of men lived. It was the place where all the fun happened.

And it was the place where the Pharaoh and his family resided.

I turned to Nui. “Miss this, don’t you?”

Nui shrugged his shoulders, but when he tightened his grip on the reigns, I knew he was getting angry at the memories that were going through his mind.

Nui had insisted that we bring all our men with us. But I refused to do such a thing. It was a dangerous risk to have so many of us banished men in one place at a time, other than at our hideout.

Plus, I was positive that Nui and I could kidnap a girl with our eyes closed. We were excellent at working together and when we were together, everything became that much easier for us.

“Come now.” I said with a smile. “We mustn’t look so depressed!”

Nui mumbled something and I rolled my eyes.

I tugged at the reigns of my horse and she jumped forward. “We’re going around from the back!” I yelled. “We’ll leave the horses far away.”

Nui followed closely behind me. “Yes, I understand.”

When we arrived at the place we chose to leave our horses, we demounted and tied their reins to a lone tree that grew in the middle of the dry desert. Then we made our way to the palace.

Getting in alone was easy. The both of us getting in together would be even easier.

The Egyptian army was one of the best armies that existed, but they were only good at dealing with large battles and fighting off another battle.

When it came to guarding a palace, they were as good as a goat would be at it.

Make a loud noise at one side of the entrance, and the guards are gone from the door. It was as simple as that.

So it didn’t take us long at all to get into the palace.

But when I got in, I knew that I was going to have one challenge.

This princess slept in the same room as her brother.

Taking her without waking up the brother was what the challenge was going to be.

But of course, it was nothing that we couldn’t handle.

“Stay down here.” I whispered to Nui as I gripped onto the mud brick wall and pulled myself up. Climbing walls like this was so easy for me now and the pain I felt as my nails dug into the mud brick was so insignificant that I could keep doing it till I reached the balcony.

I jumped over it and looked through the curtains. As expected, she was fast asleep with her brother sleeping closely next to her. But the fact that his back was to her was going to make this all the more easier.

I pushed the curtain aside and looked around, taking in the luxurious room and making sure that there was nothing in my way.

Then I stepped inside.

I walked over to her bed and looked down at the little princess.

She was fast asleep.

I couldn’t help but notice her beauty as she slept. She didn’t look like a child though, as she slept. Instead, she looked very much like a grown girl in her sleep too.

I took a deep breath before I leaned forward and slowly put my arms under her armpits. Then in one, swift move, I scooped her up into my arms and carried her as a parent would carry their young child. Her head on my shoulder and her legs around my waist.

“Papa I’m tired…” I heard her say, sounding drunk from sleep.

“Shh…” I whispered as I carefully stepped back, away from the bed.

When I reached the balcony again, I looked down. Dropping her would be a bad idea.

I took another deep breath and climbed over the railing, with only one arm to help.

“You’re going to jump?” I heard Nui hiss.

I ignored him as I dropped myself off the balcony.

I landed right on my legs and cursed when I felt a sharp pain resonate through me from bottom up.

But I was strong. The pain wasn’t strong enough to keep me down.

But it impact was strong enough to wake the princess up.

She gasped as she tried to push away from me.

I looked at Nui, who grabbed her from the back and tied up her hands as I threw my hands over her mouth before she could scream.

When Nui had finished with her hands, he used another, thicker cloth to cover her mouth.

She tried to fight away but a pampered little princess against two full grown male criminals meant that she was not going to get away from us.

But suddenly, I heard a voice from above me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

I raised my head and looked up at the balcony.

The prince had woken up.

Hmm, I guess he’s a light sleeper.

I turned to Nui and nodded my head.

He immediately picked up the princess and started to run off, not struggling at all, even though she was still trying to fight him and letting out muffled shouts.

“Guards!” I heard the prince yell very loudly as he himself tried to climb over the balcony.

I laughed and smiled at him. “Tell your father I said hi!” I grinned at him before I turned around and rushed after Nui.

Catching up to Nui was not a problem.

And escaping with the princess was even easier.

When we reached out horses, I climbed onto mine and Nui threw the Princess onto mine aswell.

She sat in front of me, her back to me so that I could keep a good hold of her.

And the second she was in place, I got my horse to gallop off as fast as it can and thus started our journey back to our hideout at Abydos.

Our first part of our plan… we had succeeded. We were the winners.

Nui and I laughed our way home.

But honestly, I couldn’t help but feel a little bit sorry for the frightened little Princess who was in tears during the whole ride.

But a Thief has got to do what a Thief has got to do.

Khai - [Winner]