“Wait.” The Princess hissed, frowning as she poked
her head around the corner before pulling Ba-Khu-Ra behind a statue where she
could occasionally see the doors.
“What?” The frustrated thief hissed back. It had
looked like a clear run to the open door at the end of the corridor.
“That’s the treasury.” The Princess snapped at her,
gesturing towards the doors. “That door’s not supposed to be open and there are
supposed to be guards there. No one
goes in there at this time of night. Not unless it’s an emergency.”
Ba-Khu-Ra scowled. So she was right and things up
to this point had been too easy. Then she realized something else and glowered
at the Princess. “You cheated!”
“What?” Honest shock crossed across the girl’s
features.
“You knew we couldn’t get inside without being
seen!” Ba-Khu-Ra snarled, trying to keep her tone down, “You cheated!”
“I would never cheat!” The Princess shook her
head, anger sinking in, “I assumed you’d have a plan for distracting guards.”
Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t believe her. The girl’s whole
life was based on lies, why wouldn’t she tell but another one? Still the game
was not over yet, and she was determined to get her gold. She edged down the
corridor towards the open door, the Princess following with a speed and silence
that the thief had come to expect.
As she got closer she could hear voices coming
from the treasury, along with the sounds of a lot of coins being moved.
“Gods below…” She heard the Princess hiss and
quickly glanced over at what she was staring at. Her lips pursed as she realized
that there was no space to hide behind the next statue because there was a pile
of bodies stacked up behind it. She couldn’t tell if the guards were breathing
or not, but it was obvious that they would not be stopping the thieves any time
soon.
“Shut up.” Bakura hissed at the girl, wheeling
around to glower at her, “Unless you want us to get caught.”
“I need to alert the…” The Princess trailed off at
the smirk on Ba-Khu-Ra’s face, “What?”
“You alert the guards, you lose and I get to tell
everyone your little secret.” The thief reminded her.
“But…” The Princess scowled, flashbacks of the
last time someone had snuck into the palace and the guards hadn’t been alerted
in time playing through her mind. “What do you suggest then? Because if you
want to win we have to get through that
door without getting caught.”
Ba-Khu-Ra considered her options. She could just
call Diabound and use its powers to walk through the walls. That would get her
in, but the Princess had specifically said ‘through the door’ and she did not
doubt she would use any technicality possible to avoid paying out.
“Stay here.” She snapped at the royal brat before
edging towards the door, carefully taking note of the numbers inside the great
chamber even as the amount of gold and jewels within dazzled her. Seven men
answered to one woman. She would be impressed at the level of organization she
could see going on as the woman directed the men to the more valuable but small
objects if they weren’t interfering in her own plans.
Instead she scowled as she tried to work out how
to enter the room via the doors without being seen. The Princess may claim that
she never cheated and never lost, but she was no slouch at games herself and
this was the one game that she had grown up learning how to play. She was not
going to lose here.
She retreated back to the statue where the
Princess was waiting, as per instructions. Just as she had followed Ba-Khu-Ra’s
rules all the way down here. The thief was actually surprised though, this
time, that she hadn’t gone running for the guards.
“Well?” The Princess asked, looking like she was
contemplating something herself.
“Follow my lead exactly and be silent.” Ba-Khu-Ra
informed the girl, “There’s a way in.”
“Alright.” The Princess nodded, following the
commoner’s lead as she emerged cautiously from their hiding place and edged
towards the door. They were halfway through it, literally in the doorframe,
when a shout went up from the woman and all of her mooks turned to look at
them.
“Uh oh…”
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