The Prince of Thieves Encounters an Unexpected Problem
"You can't treat me this way!" snarled the man in black indignantly. "I'm the Prince of Thieves!"
"Thebes?" asked one of the guards, pausing. "I thought Thebes was ruled by a queen," he said thoughtfully.
"It is," responded the other guard. "And I thought she only had daught--"
"THIEVES!"
Their prisoner had had quite enough of their misunderstanding.
"Prince of Thieves!"
"Yes, we know," the first guard said, rolling his eyes. "Thebes--"
"Thieves, you morons, with a 'v.' Thief, theft, thieves, Prince of Thie-vuh-s."
The guards stared at him blankly.
"Bloody Thebes," he muttered darkly. Maybe if he explained it clearly and very slowly. "I am not from Thebes. I am a thief, a thief as in someone who steals things. Only plural. And I'm the prince of them."
He paused. Nothing.
"I suppose you could call me the Prince of Burglars only with more finesse. Much, much more finesse."
He waited for the comprehension to slowly leak into their brains. This was a mistake.
While waiting for the dim-witted guards to fill in the blanks, what he should have been doing was Escaping. That, or just Running the Hell Away. However, fledgling artisans often have their priorities skewed, and this one seemed resolutely determined to ensure his reputation didn't become hopelessly misinterpreted in what could end up as a frightfully embarrassing way. No one wanted to wind up with an alias like "The Flaming Prince" again when all they wanted was a simple "Prince of Flames."
So when the two guards finally put two and two together and came up with "a young man wishing to rob the palace blind" instead of "a royal emissary from Thebes that got turned around quite by accident" and subsequently hauled him off to the dungeons, he was taken entirely by surprise.
"Well," he lamented in reflection, woefully watching the guards report back to their superiors from inside his delightful new prison cell, "this sucks."
At least they hadn't thought to double-check where they'd left the key. Or that he was carrying anything valuable... like priceless royal family heirlooms.
___________
*Prince of Flames = The Flaming Prince is a reference to Van Von Hunter, which I don't own.
"Thebes?" asked one of the guards, pausing. "I thought Thebes was ruled by a queen," he said thoughtfully.
"It is," responded the other guard. "And I thought she only had daught--"
"THIEVES!"
Their prisoner had had quite enough of their misunderstanding.
"Prince of Thieves!"
"Yes, we know," the first guard said, rolling his eyes. "Thebes--"
"Thieves, you morons, with a 'v.' Thief, theft, thieves, Prince of Thie-vuh-s."
The guards stared at him blankly.
"Bloody Thebes," he muttered darkly. Maybe if he explained it clearly and very slowly. "I am not from Thebes. I am a thief, a thief as in someone who steals things. Only plural. And I'm the prince of them."
He paused. Nothing.
"I suppose you could call me the Prince of Burglars only with more finesse. Much, much more finesse."
He waited for the comprehension to slowly leak into their brains. This was a mistake.
While waiting for the dim-witted guards to fill in the blanks, what he should have been doing was Escaping. That, or just Running the Hell Away. However, fledgling artisans often have their priorities skewed, and this one seemed resolutely determined to ensure his reputation didn't become hopelessly misinterpreted in what could end up as a frightfully embarrassing way. No one wanted to wind up with an alias like "The Flaming Prince" again when all they wanted was a simple "Prince of Flames."
So when the two guards finally put two and two together and came up with "a young man wishing to rob the palace blind" instead of "a royal emissary from Thebes that got turned around quite by accident" and subsequently hauled him off to the dungeons, he was taken entirely by surprise.
"Well," he lamented in reflection, woefully watching the guards report back to their superiors from inside his delightful new prison cell, "this sucks."
At least they hadn't thought to double-check where they'd left the key. Or that he was carrying anything valuable... like priceless royal family heirlooms.
___________
*Prince of Flames = The Flaming Prince is a reference to Van Von Hunter, which I don't own.