Post by Theoren Roullier on Jan 2, 2005 23:32:44 GMT -5
Winters in Ulster were no different than most other kingdom in a temperate climate. Cold and clear at night, everyone already tucked away, snuggled deep down in their beds as the dew began to crytalize into frost over the short grass of the castle lawn and the stars twinkled silently in a dark and velvety sky. The only sound to be heard in Emain Macha on this perfect and normal winter night was the scrape of leather on rope as a black gloved hand tighened around the grappling line holding a dark and cloaked figure aloft outside the window of Kahlan Lothair.
Slipping through the window was easy, even though it was too small for him. Somehow, maybe it was a trick of the moonlight, it seemed as though the thief simply passed through the concrete windowsill instead of squeezing through it. But there was no one to witness the feat. It was almost too easy, he though, his feet touching the ground without so much as a sound. Master thief, head of the best Guild of crooks in the world, and here he was robbing the Queen of the mightiest nation in all the realm. Too easy... he thought, though the sadness in his eyes betrayed the thought.
The figure seemed to slide across the room to the dresser. God, she didn't have a clue she had it, did she? From beneath a concealing hood eyes fell on the handcarved box on the dresser. A gift from Shaine... it had to be. It made this sting all the more.
He had told himself that it was all a ploy. It was the idea of the parasite, after all, to charm Kahlan, string her along the entire time, worm his way into her heart and get close enough to learn where it was in her chambers. Winning her heart had been the hardest and most thrilling part of the game. Check mate he thought, the lump in his throat starting to hurt the more he tried to swallow it. He lifted the box lid.
The diamond within was one of the world's biggest, but few knew what it actually was. In the prescence of such a creature the stone reacted, a pale white glow throbbing in the center, much like the throbbing he now felt in his head. It was a heist, just like any other. He could not on two hands count the amount of women that had fallen victim to the same ploy. Hundreds of them all over the world. He charmed them, left them with a few pleasent memories and empty promises, and then took what he needed. This time would be no different.
The knot in his stomach tightened as he lifted the stone from its resting place and slipped it into the satchel he carried with him. The Set was now complete. He turned around to look at the woman he was, quite literally, robbing blind. She was asleep, for once, one hand resting above her head, blonde waves splayed out all around her pillows beneath an extravagant canopy bed. He moved to her, knelt beside the velvet covered matress, and for many silent moments, watched her.
"It shoulda been jus' like all de others." He whispered to her soft as could be as he took off a glove and stroked her hair gently, so as not to rouse her and alert her to what he was doing. "Love 'em, get what you need, get out." A trembling sigh as he touched her cheek, the fair skin blushing at the coldness of his fingertips as he did. He was holding back a tear. "Looks like I finally got my foot caught in th' door."
It wasn't like the others. He couldn't explain it away, he couldn't rationalize his behavior. He knew what he was doing was wrong, and for the first time in his entire mortal life... it was eating him up in side. And for the first time in his mortal life... he had no choice. Fate had given him a hand that he had to play no matter what, no matter who it hurt, even if it was the one woman in the world he never wanted to bring into his affairs. How horribly ironic, he thought as a tear rolled down over the shimmery tattoo that spanned his face.
'Jus' remember cherie... no matter what happens..." he told her as he laid a kiss petal soft on her lips as she slept, "Mon coeur est a vous, toujours..." And then like the shadow he had become he was at the window, silently slipping back out into the night, and to the culmination of the destiny he had been chasing all these years.
"Je suis desole, ma belle... maybe next eternity..."
Slipping through the window was easy, even though it was too small for him. Somehow, maybe it was a trick of the moonlight, it seemed as though the thief simply passed through the concrete windowsill instead of squeezing through it. But there was no one to witness the feat. It was almost too easy, he though, his feet touching the ground without so much as a sound. Master thief, head of the best Guild of crooks in the world, and here he was robbing the Queen of the mightiest nation in all the realm. Too easy... he thought, though the sadness in his eyes betrayed the thought.
The figure seemed to slide across the room to the dresser. God, she didn't have a clue she had it, did she? From beneath a concealing hood eyes fell on the handcarved box on the dresser. A gift from Shaine... it had to be. It made this sting all the more.
He had told himself that it was all a ploy. It was the idea of the parasite, after all, to charm Kahlan, string her along the entire time, worm his way into her heart and get close enough to learn where it was in her chambers. Winning her heart had been the hardest and most thrilling part of the game. Check mate he thought, the lump in his throat starting to hurt the more he tried to swallow it. He lifted the box lid.
The diamond within was one of the world's biggest, but few knew what it actually was. In the prescence of such a creature the stone reacted, a pale white glow throbbing in the center, much like the throbbing he now felt in his head. It was a heist, just like any other. He could not on two hands count the amount of women that had fallen victim to the same ploy. Hundreds of them all over the world. He charmed them, left them with a few pleasent memories and empty promises, and then took what he needed. This time would be no different.
The knot in his stomach tightened as he lifted the stone from its resting place and slipped it into the satchel he carried with him. The Set was now complete. He turned around to look at the woman he was, quite literally, robbing blind. She was asleep, for once, one hand resting above her head, blonde waves splayed out all around her pillows beneath an extravagant canopy bed. He moved to her, knelt beside the velvet covered matress, and for many silent moments, watched her.
"It shoulda been jus' like all de others." He whispered to her soft as could be as he took off a glove and stroked her hair gently, so as not to rouse her and alert her to what he was doing. "Love 'em, get what you need, get out." A trembling sigh as he touched her cheek, the fair skin blushing at the coldness of his fingertips as he did. He was holding back a tear. "Looks like I finally got my foot caught in th' door."
It wasn't like the others. He couldn't explain it away, he couldn't rationalize his behavior. He knew what he was doing was wrong, and for the first time in his entire mortal life... it was eating him up in side. And for the first time in his mortal life... he had no choice. Fate had given him a hand that he had to play no matter what, no matter who it hurt, even if it was the one woman in the world he never wanted to bring into his affairs. How horribly ironic, he thought as a tear rolled down over the shimmery tattoo that spanned his face.
'Jus' remember cherie... no matter what happens..." he told her as he laid a kiss petal soft on her lips as she slept, "Mon coeur est a vous, toujours..." And then like the shadow he had become he was at the window, silently slipping back out into the night, and to the culmination of the destiny he had been chasing all these years.
"Je suis desole, ma belle... maybe next eternity..."