Chapter Four- Friendship Offer

"Friends?" Mahad repeated incredulously. "Why would I be friends with a thief?"

"I have not stolen since robbing your tombs," Bakura pointed out. "I truly want to know you now that I have actually seen you for the first time."

"How do I know this isn't a trick?" Mahad asked, folding his arms.

Bakura retreated into the darkness and dropped the invisibility. "What would convince you that I am sincere?"

"You not hiding would be a start."

Bakura chuckled. "Yes, you have a point." He stepped out of the shadows. "Better?"

"Wait." Mahad spoke a word and a glowing white orb appeared in mid-air, allowing visibility. "Now, that's better."

Bakura looked at Mahad up and down now that he could see better. "You know when I first heard your name and that you were a magician, I had imagined an arrogant old man, but you're actually young."

Mahad sank to the floor to get comfortable and considered his response. He could either not answer, be somewhat guarded, or be open. Despite Bakura offering friendship, the thief hadn't really proved himself worthy of trust. "I am very gifted in magic, he said at last. "I was apprenticed at a young age and I proved able to perform spells that only the older students could do."

"And now you're a royal magician," Bakura said, also sitting.

"Actually, I spent most of my life in the palace. When I was not having lessons in the Training Hall, I performed other duties. One was obviously training for priesthood."

"Clearly, you lead the guards as well as train magic students. You have a full schedule."

"I do." Mahad decided to be guarded in his answers. One thing he would not reveal is his close relationship with the pharaoh. If Bakura learned of that friendships, he could use it for some sinister purpose. "'What of you, Bakura? I only know that you are an accomplished thief and very good at avoiding tomb traps."

"I was born in a village of thieves but when I was a child, it was destroyed. Everyone was killed except me."

"Bakura, I'm sorry. I….didn't know."

"Yes. I know you didn't." What Bakura didn't say was that he knew why his village was attacked: To create the Millennium Items. He knew Mahad had nothing to do with them as the priest was likely a teenager at the time. No, someone else was responsible and he would be an old man by now. Perhaps Mahad knows him.

"So you were raised to be a thief," Mahad said neutrally.

"That's right. I was taught how to steal without getting caught and I also observed other thieves, learning what they did and careful not to make the mistakes they did, if any."

Fascinating, Mahad thought. I'm learning the history of the Thief King and understanding why and how he got this way.

"Mahad, if I present you with most of what I took from your tombs, would that prove that I am sincere about being friends?"

Mahad blinked in surprise. "It would," he said slowly.

"Very well. I will gather it and return here in three days to return it to you so that you put return it to where it belongs." Bakura stood and so did Mahad.

"Agreed. Three days, Bakura." Mahad extinguished the white orb and moved past the traps safely while Bakura became invisible and skirted the traps as well, pleased with the confrontation.

That went better than I planned. I had intended to let myself be caught and brought before Mahad. Instead, Mahad used a spell to learn my identity and name, then used this tomb to lure me to him in hope of catching me. Now, we have begun tentative steps toward friendship and returning what I took will get Mahad to trust me. It won't be long before his Item becomes mine.

Mahad found his guards were feigning sleep and thus had no trouble rousing them. "Let us return to the palace. It would seem our thief will not come tonight and besides, there is no treasure for him to take."

"Yes, Master Mahad," one answered as they stood and followed their captain back home. Mahad dwelled on his talk with Bakura and had to admit that it had been surprising. He had planned to arrest Bakura, not begin a possible friendship with him.

We shared a little of our history with each other and Bakura offered to return most of what he stole from the tombs I had defended in three days. If he does return the treasures, then I will know he is serious about being friends and I will accept his offer of friendship. I should make an inventory list for each tomb to determine what is missing so I can see what is returned.

Bakura muttered to himself as he picked through the gold, jewels, jewelry, and other riches he had stolen. He hadn't thought of returning his loot as a form of sincerity, but now that Mahad and he had agreed on it, it was important for him to remember what he had taken from those four tombs. His offer to return it was a spontaneous idea due to a change in his plans but it would in his favor if he could earn Mahad's trust from it. He picked up a handful of coins and put them in a sack before holding up a necklace and examining it. He tilted his head. Did this come from one of the four tombs? I'm not sure. Heh, I have no trouble remembering traps, which tomb they were in, and how to beat them, but I can't recall which treasure went to what tomb. Bakura gave a grunt before sweeping most of his entire collection into sacks. I'll just give back almost everything I took, but keep enough as I might need it. He looked around him and saw a lot of sacks. Hmm, too many for me to carry or to load onto a horse. Fortunately, I have my monster. He can help me carry them. Satisfied, he laid back and stared up at the ceiling. In just a few days, he would prove that he wanted to be Mahad's friend. A smirk played across his face. Mahad was a gullible fool, actually believing that a thief like him would want to befriend a priest. An older priest would not fall for such a ploy, but a younger one might and Mahad seems to be buying it.

"No sign of him?"

"No, my pharaoh. I intend to try again in a few days. It is possible that having a false tomb ready so soon after he raided a tomb was foolish."

"Not at all, my friend. We all want to end Bakura's criminal ways. Keep watch on your trap and you'll eventually snare him."

"Yes, my pharaoh." Mahad left the room and bit his lip. He had lied to Atem, his pharaoh and friend! He had never done that before. He had always told the truth. Why did he lie?

I lied because I want to know if Bakura really wants to pursue a friendship with me. I find it hard to believe that that is what he sought by robbing the tombs where I set the traps. Well, in three days I will see if he is sincere and if he is not, I will freeze him and bring him in to be judged. That would assuage my guilty conscience.

He looked up from his musings to see Isis up ahead of him. She had a hopeful look in her eyes that faded when she saw the preoccupied look in his eyes. "He didn't show?" she asked when Mahad got closer.

"The guards reported that they didn't see him the whole time we waited," he said, which was true.

"So, now what?"

"I will try again in a few days. It may take time for word of a tomb to reach his ears. Eventually, he will come."

Isis nodded as Mahad headed for the Training Hall to gather his students. Her admission of love would have to wait even longer but she told herself that longer she kept it to herself, the sweeter it would be when she said she loved him.