Thief of Hearts

Chapter Two by: Lady Pax

Regular disclaimers apply.

~+~

The young woman stood in front of the great mansion/castle in awe. Never…never in her span of life had she seen any structure so damn BIG. Sure, she had seen King Treize's home in pictures, and from the town seeing as it towered over the hills guarding the small village, but she never imagined it to be this large!

"Oh my g—" Before she could finish her statement, the driver of King Treize Khushrenada's car – who was also oh-so-conveniently a guard – pushed her forward quite roughly. "Ow! Hey!" she growled. She whirled around and faced the driver/guard. "Be gentle with me…" she said in a silky voice, leaning closer to him and making her eyes enormous and watery. She rubbed her hands together in an impression of being shy and nervous. "I am a lady after all…you can't be so rough…"

"But apparently you can be rough with them?" said voice. The woman jumped and turned to face the King.

"Do you have a problem with that, King Khushrenada?" she asked condescendingly, her voice barely above a snarl.

Treize took her shoulder firmly, and steered her alongside with him towards the castle gates. "What would you say if I did have a problem, thief?" he asked, not looking at her but at his home instead. From the few guards near the King and thief, it seemed like one of the 'talks' a father and son, or mother and daughter had of the 'birds and the bees', or of the creation of the world.

The girl didn't answer, she just took her shoulder away from his grasp and stopped. Treize stopped as well. "Yes?" he asked.

"Why did you take me here? If you're planning on torturing me, I don't know what good it would do. I have no secrets anybody would find interesting."

Treize arched an eyebrow, but closed his eyes and turned away, then began walking towards the gates. "Who said I was intrigued by you because of the secrets you hold?" he said. "I'm a king aren't I? I can be interested in anything I want. I can take any fair maiden from her home and bring her here, without warning. It is my birth-right from being born in the royal blood of Khushrenadas." He paused, looked at her, and smiled slightly when he saw she was following him. "Speaking of fair maidens… You reek of sewer water and rubbish."

"I resent that!" the girl said when she reached him. "You try living on the streets, and see how well you fare! Oh great King Khushrenada! You wouldn't survive outside of these damn walls a single day, much less your whole life!" She said the words with distaste, and she spat at Treize's shoes.

The butt of a gun hit her sharply between the shoulder blades, making her lunge forward with a cringe and small noise of pain. "Do not speak to the King in that manner!" a guard yelled.

Treize squared his shoulders, sighed, and pushed the girl through the gateway and into the castle. "Do not do that again, men," he said lowly, glaring at each of them, "unless I give the word."

"Y-Yessir!" the two guards standing there said, clapped their feet together and saluted. Then they walked to the back to the car to park it in the 'imperial parking-lot'.

~+~

'Tis it! Chapter Three by: Lady Pax, as well! ^_^