My mind was racing at a million miles a hour and I knew I had to do something. Then, I remembered. This alleyway was used by loads of thieves, and if I was right, there'd be a sword hiding underneath a barrel to my right. I threw caution into the wind, and lunged for the barrel just as Roden raced into the alley. The sword was there! I grabbed it, and thrusted the blade at him. The sword cut his cheek.

"You fight well," Roden said as he parried my blade. "For a girl."

"And you fight almost as well as my grandmother, may her soul rest in eternal torment," I said as I swung my sword. I can't believe he'd said that! The blades crashed over and over again until finally, Roden had disarmed me.

"You're coming to the castle dungeons," Roden said, and he gripped me by the upper arm.

"I'd rather die than go anywhere with you!" I screamed, hoping that somebody would hear me and come help me, but nobody did. They all knew I was a thief and that my past was finally catching up to me.

Roden rolled his eyes, "Calm down, there's no executions scheduled."

"Let me go!"

"I can't! I have to keep the city safe."

"So you pick on a poor, defenseless girl like me?"

Roden pointed to the bleeding cut on his face. "Trust me, you weren't defenseless."

I fought as hard as I could while Roden dragged me by my wrist through the streets. I even tried to bite him but he jerked me forward before I could do any real damage. When we walked past Ms. Hamilton's orphanage, I saw Ms. Hamilton and Mellony standing at the window surrounded by the other girls. Mellony had a smirk on her face. I bet she ratted me out to the city guards, I'd never been caught until now.

I scowled at her with all my might, and then tried once again to escape from Roden. He didn't let me go until we were in the castle dungeons. He pushed me in, and locked the door, dangling the key in front of me. I grabbed at the bars and growled at him. "You can't hold me forever!"

"No, I can't," said Roden. He shrugged. "But I can keep you here until you've decided not to be a thief anymore."

"I hate you so much," I snarled. I was starting to cry.

"Your name is Mellony, right?" He said.

"No, it's-" I said. I thought about lying to him. "I'm Vivian."

"Well Vivian, you can go home this time tomorrow if you promise me you won't be a thief anymore."

I rolled my eyes at him and spit on his boots as he walked back out of the dungeons. I would never ever give up being a thief, I loved being a thief. But I wondered if I just loved not getting caught. I sat down in the corner of my cell and cried. I once had so many goals, but being an orphanage girl wasn't easy, I felt like the whole world was against me, and I didn't know what to do. I wanted to change my life, but I didn't know how.

I was so lonely in that moment as I cried in my cell for what seemed like hours. I even wished that Mellony was there to keep me company, and I hated Mellony. I decided in that moment that I'd do whatever it took to be better, even if I had to give up being a thief.

Thank you so much for the reviews! they motivated me to get caught up on my homework so i could write! this one is a little shorter, but I think it's okay because I wanted it to be a 'less is more' kinda thing. i hope you enjoyed it, and i owe you guys one more chapter because 1 review= 1 chapter guaranteed. thnk you guys! cant wait for you to read what's next, and i hope you review again :) have a good day!