Short Story: The Terrible Thief

The day had finally arrived. The King held a Ball this time every year, and everyone with wealth or power in the Kingdom attended to pay their respects. Fortunately for me, this meant the guards were so busy with these guests, none of them would notice if say, a thief disguised as a noble, snuck in and allowed a few things to disappear.

I'd been planning this heist for months now, and it was initially going off without a hitch. My disguise had fooled the guards, and with the nobility were too distracted by their wealth, I could pass undetected. After dodging a few chatty guests, I found an unguarded door. I slipped through and quickly shut it behind me. If all went well, I'd be swimming in gold coins for the rest of my life.

The hallway before me was dark; the only light provided to me was the moonlight. I peer over the corner to check for guards, and luckily, there weren't any. The halls had several doors, each of them I visited to see what I could plunder. Inside, each room held different valuable loot, such as silverware, coins, jewels, vases, paintings, and other luxuries. I collected a few small treasures and moved down the hallway to find other rooms.

As I moved from room to room on this floor, I grew suspicious of my success. Something was wrong; all of this was too easy. I put the items I was about to steal back and rechecked the hallway. No guards on patrol. Not even the sound of footsteps. I began walking through the halls and up the stair to search. Once again, no guards.

I eventually reached the top of the castle, the area I figured had to have a few guards. I was met with the sound of hushed voices at the end of a hallway. Just before I hid in a nearby broom closet, I caught a glimpse of two figures wearing black hoods inside of a large bedroom, branding daggers. I could hear one of the voices hissing at the other, "What do you mean she's not here?! This is her room, right?!" another voiced whispers, "Calm down, we'll find her. She's probably hiding somewhere in here." Assassins? Here? Everyone of importance was downstairs at the Ball, what were they doing here?

I felt a tug on my cloak. I jerked my head to the side, only to find a young girl, no older than five looking up at me. Her cheeks were stained from her own tears. She whispered, "Can you help me, mister? Bad men are after me.." She was most likely the King's daughter and the assassin's target. They must have either killed or bribed the other guards to allow them to pass. I couldn't believe it; this was the 4th time this year I've had to end my heists early to save a young girl's life killers. Why did this keep happening to me? Heroes for hire do this for a living, yet I end up doing this for free when that’s not even my job.

As much as I desired to leave, I couldn't just leave a child alone to die by the hands of murderers. I loathed the nobility, but not enough to let this girl die. I whispered to her, "Yes, I'll take you to the Ballroom. Stay quiet, and I'll keep you safe." She nodded her head and stayed as quiet as she could. I picked her up into my arms and creaked open the door ever so quietly. I could hear them moving around in her room, probably searching for the young girl. As soon as the opportunity presented itself, I snuck down the hallway, making as little noise as possible. Once I was at a safe distance, I ran down the stairs until we reached the unguarded door. I set the girl down to her feet. I then kneeled to her level and whispered, "Go out and tell your father about the bad men. You're safe now." The young girl nodded. Before leaving, she gave me a big hug and said, "Thank you, mister."

Once she walked through the door, I waited a few seconds and walked out the same door and quickly moved to the exit. Yet another heist that ended in low profits and a young girl saved. Maybe I should become a hero for hire. At least I would be getting paid for saving all these lives.