Chapter 7: Paying A Debt
1431 Words
-Liana-
I was so shocked when he just got up and left. He wouldn’t help me?! I had no one else to turn to! He had to help me! He had to! So, I got up from my chair, not going to sit there and let him leave, but just as I was about to follow him, I saw a big, bald and scary man, who was so tall he reached the ceiling, standing in front of Jonah. He was so broad, and he reminded me of what a bear would look like, just without all the hair. I watched in horror, as he grabbed Jonah by the collar of his brown jacket, and talked about him owing him money, and how he would take his hand for what he had done.
No! I needed Jonah. He couldn’t hurt him! I jumped over there, grabbing the big man’s arm and looking at him with pleading eyes.
“Please, what are you doing, sir, please put him down!” I said.
“Are you crazy?” Jonah hissed at me.
“Please put him down!” I said.
I had hoped it would work. Usually, no one could deny me anything, but once again I was cruelly reminded, I was not the princess, as the big man shoved me away.
“Mind your own business, filthy pagan!” he spat, just as his, I assumed, friends came to grab an arm each, holding me back.
“Please do not hurt him!” I said.
“This doesn’t concern you! He owes me money, and I know a thief like him can’t pay!” the man said.
“I-I can pay,” Jonah said, giving him a smile, that just showed how scared he was of this Ralph.
“Oh yeah? Even with the interest rates?” Ralph asked.
“Sorry?”
Jonah did not seem to understand, and that just made Ralph smile even more. Clearly, Jonah was in bigger trouble than he thought himself to be. I was unsure if even the money he had just stolen today, could cover what he owed.
Ralph pulled Jonah over to a table, and then nodded to one of his friends, who stood by my side. The friend left go of me and walked over to Ralph. Now only one man was holding me back.
“Hold his arm out,” he said.
Jonah struggled against the two of them, as one of his arms was held out, while Ralph held him trapped and pulled out a knife. Sh*t! It was huge! Could that even be called a knife, or was it more like a small sword, I wondered, as I tried to get free.
“I can pay! I can pay!” Jonah shouted.
No one in the entire tavern cared about what was happening. What kind of people were these men? I looked around, hoping someone would do something. But everyone just minded their own business, and I couldn’t tell them that the princess would have them punished for this, because I was no longer a princess … but I did know where the princess kept all her diamonds and ruby necklaces!
“Wait!” I shouted.
Everyone froze, and the big man, Ralph, turned his head to look at me. He had the knife raised halfway into the air and looked quite annoyed that I had made him stop punishing Jonah.
“I can get you the money and pay you everything he owes!” I said.
“How?” he asked.
I glanced at his friend behind me, feeling nervous with him watching my every move, before I turned to Jonah again.
“Well, I am a thief as well,” I lied. “I know from where we can get your money. I am sure you don’t care where they come from, right?”
Ralph nodded once.
“But I … I will need my partner,” I said.
“Partner?” he asked. “This one?”
I nodded.
“You have poor taste,” Ralph said, half laughing at his own joke, before he pulled Jonah back, holding him by his shoulder.
Jonah just looked scared between us, as Ralph seemed to consider what I was offering him.
“You can really get me my money?” he asked.
“I … have certain skills,” I told him. “Jonah actually works for me.”
That made him laugh, as he looked at Jonah. Jonah did not look pleased at all by what I had said, but it seemed I had been able to lighten the mood, and even made Ralph truly consider my words to be true. He didn’t trust Jonah, even though he told him he could pay, but maybe my words meant something because I hadn’t cheated him of his money. At least … I hoped so.
“Well?”
Ralph thought it over for a little while longer, and then he nodded to his friend, holding onto me. His tight grip on my arm loosened, and I quickly took a step forward, before Jonah was thrown to me. I practically had to catch him in order for him not to fall down on the ground.
“You have got three days.”
“Three days?!” I asked.
“Is that going to be a problem?”
I looked at Jonah, who was supporting himself a little by using me.
“No. Not at all,” I said.
Ralph made a small nod to his friends, and the big men started to leave the tavern. I turned to Jonah, who slowly straightened up some more, and I could see the relief in his eyes.
“That was close,” he whispered.
I crossed my arms, and looked at him annoyed, but he just looked at me with confusion, not looking like he understood why I was looking at him this way.
“This is what you get from stealing,” I said.
“I didn’t steal his money,” he said.
“Then what did you do?!” I asked, annoyed.
“We played cards, and he lost.”
“Did he? Or did you cheat? You are quite quick with those hands,” I said, and grabbed one of them, holding his own hand up in front of him.
Jonah quickly pulled it back and groaned, annoyed.
“So what? I still won.”
“You cheated! That is not winning! And now you have to help me!” I said.
“You don’t see I have got my own problems?” he asked.
“Well, we can fix yours and mine at the same time. Why do you think I offered to help you?”
Jonah looked at me for a little while, his eyes growing big, as if he couldn’t believe I was actually going to help him with his problem. Had no one ever been there to help him? I wondered. Was that why he was so shocked?
“How?”
“You found a way inside my room once, remember?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Help me do it, and you can take all the rubies and diamonds I have. You can even have every emerald and gold and silver,” I told him.
“What? But those are your jewellery,” he said.
“I don’t mind giving them to you, to get you out of this.”
He looked at me as if he didn’t believe me, and I sighed. I was getting tired of not being believed!
“I just need you to help me get inside, so I can talk to my brother,” I said.
“Not this again. You really think he is going to help you?” he asked.
“Please, Jonah, I need to talk to him, and you know how to get inside. You get all my jewelry and I will go find my brother. It is a win-win.”
He didn’t look convinced, and so I grabbed his hand again and held it in front of his face.
“You want to keep your hand, right?” I asked.
He gulped and nodded.
“That is what I thought,” I said with a big smile. “Now how do we do this?”
Jonah sighed and went back to sit at the table where we had been before. I sat down in front of him still smiling and continued to eat the food I had left behind, while Jonah started to think of a plan.
- Writer
