Of Knights and Thieves
Chapter II: Take from the Rich
The trio squatted together against the grey wall, hiding behind a large barrel. Being the daring of the bunch, Miku reared her head around it's wooden, bloated body to discover a guard still protecting the door. She snaked her head back and turned to face the twins.
"All right, you two know the plan, right?" Miku asked.
"Yes, yes, of course! You, Len?"
Len nodded dubiously.
"Okay, then. Here goes nothing."
Miku inhaled, and she closed her eyes.
"HELP! HELP ME, PLEASE! THEY'RE AFTER ME! OH, GOD, HEEEELLLLP!"
The guard jolted, his armor clanking and spear dancing about from hand to hand. Frenetically, although clumsily, he ran towards the direction of the "distressed" cry. The comical scene drew a snicker from Rin.
"I can hardly how the fool fell for such a trick! What a bloody idiot!"
The teal girl chuckled at her own insidious work. She has always been an expert at tricking people and bringing mischief ever since she was just a child; one may even call it a blessing or a curse depending on the situation.
"Now's our chance. Let's move," she instructed.
The crafty girl guided them around the corner, which lead them to a tall red door nearly as massive as the castle itself.
"Well, goodness me! Look a' the size of this thing!" Rin remarked.
"We're not here to sightsee anything. We've gotta hurry before the guard comes back," Miku urged.
The tealette approached the mountainous door and tried to pull on its golden handle ring, but to her dismay, it did not budge.
"What the?"
She tried to pull it again but no luck.
"I can't seem to open the bloody thing! Not even a crack!"
"What? Stop your playin', Miku, and open the damn thing!" Rin barked.
"Maybe the door is just too heavy? How 'bout we all try to open it together?" Len suggested.
"Hm...guess we could try that," Miku agreed.
The two blonde siblings scurried to the hanging handle and gripped each of its curved sides.
"You both ready?"
They nodded eagerly, yet the handle trembled from Len's nervous palms.
"One..." Miku began, "two...three!"
In unison, they strained to open the weighted door after a few attempts, but their efforts were fruitless.
"Gah...this door must...weigh a ton!" Len panted.
Rin gulped lungfuls of air, feeling her chest tightening after each inhale. She stared at the ground before raising her eyes to meet a keyhole sitting in the middle and pointed.
"Hey," she huffed and pointed, "you two see that?"
Miku's eyebrow crinkled in befuddlement as she peeled up her head with strands of hair stuck to her sweat-covered forehead.
"See what?"
Her curious eyes followed the path of her finger and found the key's companion. After studying it, she looked over to her friend with discontent.
"And where on Earth are we gonna find a key?"
A small simper slipped onto the other girl's face as she wagged her finger.
"Ah, my dear Miku! Surely, you forgot that yer ol' pal Rinny here is a master at picking locks!"
Rin plucked a thin thread of her own hair and pulled it through her teeth to sharpen it. She strode towards the door, slid it into the keyhole, and jiggled the strand.
KER-CHIK!
A satisfying click can be heard as the door slowly creaked ajar. Miku and Len just looked at her with astonished expressions. The girl just hummed in triumph.
"After you," she gestured.
Still stunned, the tall girl staggered to the door and peaked through its crack. To her surprise, there were no other guards in sight. She was only greeted with an empty hallway, its sleek floor dressed with a red carpet.
"All right. Coast is clear," Miku said.
She slipped through the door's slit and beckoned Rin and Len to follow her. Once they were inside, a buttery and delightful scent sauntered through the halls and brushed pass their noses. Rin sniffed the delicious aroma and sighed.
"I think I can smell pies...cherry pies, if I'm not mistaken...with a hint of the richest vanilla extract there is! And," she sniffed the air again, "oh, chocolate cake! I haven't had one in years!"
"You can tell all that just by using your nose?" Len inquired.
"Well, she is a rat, so of course, she'll nose of a rat," Miku ridiculed.
Len laughed, earning a cold glare from his sister.
"Well, I wouldn't shoot off my mouth so much, Miku. Wasn't it your idea to steal from the royal family? I'd say you might be lower than a ra-"
"NO! NO! NO! ALL WRONG!" a voice boomed.
Miku, Rin, and Len almost felt their hearts leap from their throats and instinctively clung to the wall.
"B-But Monsieur-"
"The Vanilla Créme au Laít needs VANILLA extract, NOT! PEPPERMINT extract! Putain de crétin! CAN'T YOU READ THE FUCKING LABEL?!"
Len shrunk back from the berating the poor man was enduring.
"Oh, dear," he whimpered.
Miku decided to inch closer to the corner and peered her head from behind it. She observed countless chefs cloaked in white feverishly preparing dishes and placing them on a counter along with other culinary cuisines.
"Oi, Miku" Rin called in a hushed tone, "What do you see in there?"
"An opportunity to steal," she said with a smile before turning back to the twins.
"Here's what we'll do. There're no chefs on the other side of the room. We'll crawl underneath the counters, put as much food in the bag as we can carry, and hightail our asses outta here."
Rin and Len nodded in agreement. The thieves stooped their bodies and ran next to the wall. Miku paused against the door with her arm outstretched to halt her friends' movements. She curved her head to make certain that the chefs were distracted with their backs turned to their cooking. After careful consideration, she gestured the two to trail behind her silently. Once they arrived under the tan counter, the three hastily shoved the dishes into the sack ranging from ham glistening with honey, ten steaks, stuffing, a chocolate pound cake adorned with strawberries, a few cherry and banana pies, and last but not least, a silver pitcher of brilliant red wine. Rin clutched its metallic handle as Miku tied the mouth of the somewhat stuffed sack closed.
"Let's go before they catch us."
And with that, the hungry thieves sprinted, their silent fleeing footsteps escaping from the kitchen and out of the castle. Thankfully, the guard had still not returned.
—
"Ah! Ha! Ha! D'you think that guard eva came back?" Rin slurred, the wine melting into her voice.
"Hmm. Prolly not. 'Ey, Len. Wanna try?" Miku asked, thrusting the pitcher to the boy's face.
"Erm. No, thanks..."
"Oh, c'mon! It's jus' a li'l juice! You'll love it!"
The scent of the ruby alcohol emerging from the jug entangled his nostrils, and he backed away.
"Really, I'm all right..."
Rin's drunken howling filled the air.
"Virgin lips! Virgin lips!" she chanted.
Shortly, Miku joined in, gaining a blush from the timid Len. The joyous atmosphere flitted in the air. Their laughter was carried deep into the shrouded woods and fell into a sickly green twitching ear. A disgruntled snort lumbered from its spear-shaped nose as it clutched the holy of its sword.
"It's about that time," the gruff voice mumbled.
And that's the end of chapter two, my kiddos! Chapter three is on its way! (๑ᴖ◡ᴖ๑)