Page 17 of Glass Hearts
“Whatever do you mean, my prince? I am just conducting business with this young lady. It’s always good to remind the young lasses to stay safe.”
“Ah, merchant, so you mean to tell me you aren’t warning her for her thievery of our magical glass hearts?” Oliver’s face falls at Sylas’s reply, knowing he can’t protect me anymore.
“Please spare her, my prince; she means well and did not know. Ladies and their jewels, am I right!?” Oliver stammers.
“It’s okay, Oliver, stand down. I will have a nice, quick chat with the Prince. It’s all a misunderstanding.”
Prince Sylas says nothing to that as he leads me out of the shop. Probably so they can call the enforcers to throw me in their dungeon. Fuckity fuck.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’tThe Shadow,” Prince Archer says with disdain. Yup, they are not happy. They all look pissed. Well, except for Prince Grayer, who is grinning like he is receiving a present at this very moment.
Before they can try to fully cage me in, I think fast and kick at Prince Sylas’s knees. He falls onto Prince Koi with a grunt as I take off running. Prince Grayer could have captured me, but he kept his arms crossed with a grin. I don’t have to be an idiot to imagine they are chasing me.
“Stop that girl!” one of them shouts. But when the community notices it’s me, The Shadow, nobody goes to aid them. Some even purposely impede the Princes, with expertly placed merchant carts.This is my domain, boys. With satisfaction, I continue to run.
The quickest way to get to the townhouse without having to run into any enforcers is through the forest. So, I make a beeline for the edge of the tree line and continue running. As I run into the thick forest, my bandana gets caught on a branch, getting yanked off roughly. Double shit. But there is no time to retrieve it as I hear them gaining on me. My short legs are no match for the tall behemoths that like to stay fit like the Princes. Heck, this is probably like a tame warm-up to their regular workouts.
Time for Plan B. I call to a few animals that are in the forest with a request for aid, the best I can do whilst trying not to catch my feet on stumps and roots as I run. I can also feel my connection to Petra, the crow, so she must be close by.
For the most part, I can call upon any animal. But they still may choose whether they will either help me or leave me to my own devices. Blessedly, I feel the animals confirming the bond and the task. Which has me stopping abruptly, palms raised in surrender. This visibly confused the Princes, and they stopped a few feet from me, the silence broken only by their heavy breathing. Though I am now realizing they are also probably shocked to see my full face, too. The vain part of me wonders if they like what they see.
I can barely catch my breath as I puff out, “Please. For-the-love-of-chocolate, stop making me RUN.”
“Well, Sunshine, it was you who started the running.” Prince Koi smirks, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Here.” I throw the pouch of necklaces to Prince Sylas, who has kept an angered, furrowed brow on this whole time. “Check it. Your precious little necklaces are all there. Let’s call it even, yes? You go back, find lovely brides, and forget what happened here. Everyone is happy.”
“Now, why would we do that, little thief?” Prince Archer sneers.
That is a good question. What do all men favour in importance… Ah yes. Their delicate egos.
“Would you really want to imprison me? After all, you would have to then tell the entire court and council how a female stole from right under your unsuspecting noses. They may even question whether you are fit to be kings. You must need to be observant and all that, no?”
In the corner of my eye, I can see the snakes I called upon wrap their bodies around each prince’s feet. Not tightening just yet.
“Listen here, little thief-” It looks like Prince Sylas is about to advance on me. So naturally, I panic.
“Tighten now, snakes! Petra and crew, fly at them or something!” I shout in a panic. Luckily, my familiars do just that. While the princes are flailing and trying to get the snakes off them, a few other birds fly down to join Petra in pecking at them.
“Please don’t actually maim the princes; they are too pretty for that! Also, Petra, please monitor them. Fly directly to me if it looks like they caught where I have been heading.”
And for good measure, I also yell out a ‘SORRY!’ to the princes as I make my hopefully final escape.
Koi
“Get off me! Damned birds!” The snakes, thankfully, have loosened their hold and slithered away. “I really don’t like birds,” I mutter as the last of the birds leaves us to wallow in defeat. The birds never aimed to do damage, barely pecking, but to distract as the maddening woman escaped.
“She bested us again! What a fun little game my Duchess has us playing. And by the gods, did you see my future wife’s face?! She is a stunning creature, just like I thought she would be. Freckles! I can’t wait to kiss each one. There must be many to kiss along her body, too.” Grayer goes on, looking the happiest I have ever seen the fucker.
“She is not your future wife,” Sylas says gruffly, but he still looks upon the space where she had escaped.
The truth is, Grayer is not wrong about her beauty. She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever set my eyes on. She truly looks like sunshine, even with her flushed face from running in the cold evening forest air. Grayer was also not wrong about how good she looked in her gear.
I think we are all reeling a bit, but in different ways, from our second encounter with the little shadow.
We each grab our glass hearts to wear once more. The instant connection has me breathing a sigh of relief. I blame all the alcohol at the ball for not noticing its missing presence.
It doesn’t escape my notice that Grayer adds his fire heart to his new necklace that holds our little thief’s black glass orb.He pats it down on his chest, over his heart, and smiles. He has never looked more content. This is going to be bad when he realizes we really can’t have her. How am I going to mend his broken heart?
