TBATE-ONESHOTS

Crime and Passion 3

Tessia Eralith POV

I stumbled forward as the thieves guild member pulled me by the rope that was tied around the mana suppression cuffs clasped on my wrists. We were currently walking deep in the forest of the Beast Glades, with thieves guild members walking in a militaristic defensive formation.

I lost track of how long we had been walking, but I knew it had been a while since the sun was starting to set. After my capture, the leader of the group ordered all his members to move into the Beast Glades and leave the area as fast as possible. We had only stopped once ever since we left, and that was so the injured members could be attended to by the emitters they had with them.

True to his word, he also ordered that none of the guards be harmed any further. However, he did threaten them, saying that if they even tried to follow us, he would have me killed slowly and painfully.

I yelped slightly as the member pulling me yanked me by the rope again, and I stumbled forward, almost falling to the ground. I looked toward the brown leather individual with an annoyed glare as they looked back at me over their shoulder. Their brown eyes looked me up and down lewdly, which sent a shiver down my spine.

"Try to watch your step, Princess," They chuckled. "I would hate to see you fall."

I scoffed and narrowed my gaze at him, "Maybe if you didn't pull me like an asshole, I wouldn't lose my footing."

The man stopped walking, and I saw anger flash in his eyes. He turned to face me, "What the fuck did you just say to me?!"

He stomped up to me, but I didn't move an inch, holding my ground and glaring at him with defiance. He approached and stood just inches in front of me, looking at me intently.

"Say it again, you little bitch. I dare you," He said threateningly.

My lips curved into a confident smirk, "Am I supposed to be afraid of you? You're nothing but a pile of shit in my eyes."

His eyes flashed angrily, "You don't seem to understand your predicament."

He raised his free hand into the air and swung it down toward my face. I braced myself for a slap when suddenly, a hand shot in from the side and grabbed their wrist. The man and I both looked in the direction of the hand, and my eyes widened in surprise, seeing the black-leathered individual standing there, grasping their wrist.

His azure eyes shot daggers at the male, "What exactly is it that you think you're doing, Henry?"

Henry flinched slightly, and I saw fear flash behind his eyes. "N-nothing, boss," He stuttered.

The grip on Henry's wrist became noticeably tighter, and Henry grunted, with his hand shaking. "Are you lying to me?" Their boss asked, in a calm, low voice. "It didn't look like nothing."

"I-..." Henry stuttered, flinching, standing there shaking like an idiot.

'Is this seriously the same guy who acted all tough just a moment ago?'

The boss' piercing eyes flicked to me, "What happened?"

Henry's eyes flicked to me like he was daring me to say something. Unfortunately for him, I didn't get intimidated easily.

"Henry here," I gestured to him with my head. "Pulled me by the rope, and I almost fell. I called him an asshole, and he got mad like a child throwing a tantrum and was about to hit me."

Henry's eyes snapped toward their boss, filled with fear. I looked back at the boss, seeing his eyes looking at me almost amusingly.

"A child throwing a tantrum," Their boss chuckled. He looked at Henry, "What a perfect way to describe you." Henry opened his mouth to retort. "Shut the fuck up," Their boss snapped, cutting him off.

Their boss let go of their wrist and punched Henry's face. Henry grunted, stumbled backward, letting go of the rope, and fell onto his rear.

"What did I tell you about the Princess?" Their boss asked casually as he grabbed the rope.

My eyes flicked between Henry and their boss with interest, seeing the dominance their boss was displaying and how Henry backed down quickly.

Henry lowered his balaclava, which yielded him being a male in his late twenties and a patchy brown beard. Blood poured down his nose before he pinched it off, stopping the flow. He sat there for a second, seeming to sulk.

"I asked you a question," Their boss repeated, and Henry looked at him. "I won't ask again."

Henry's fearful eyes flicked to me before back to their boss. "You said she wasn't to be harmed," Henry said.

"And yet, you were about to defy my command," Their boss said, looking at him casually.

Their boss displayed no signs of hostility, no signs of anger; it was like his mere presence was enough to strike fear in Henry. I looked around, seeing the other thieves guild members all looking at us. And I noticed all of them looked at their boss with respect.

"I-I apologize," Henry stuttered.

I looked at the boss, who stood there momentarily, eyeing Henry. After a brief, tense moment, their boss looked at me, "Are you hurt?"

My brows raised in surprise at the sudden question, as I didn't expect it. However, I immediately remembered this man was my capturer, and I looked at him with annoyance.

"I'm fine," I snapped.

Henry and other thieves guild members all looked at me, with several of them narrowing their gazes.

Their boss, however, let out an amusing chuckle, "Good." He looked up to the sky, and I followed his gaze seeing it was getting dark. He looked down at his men, "We'll take shelter for the night and continue in the morning. This way, we can rest up."

The thieves guild members all nodded in understanding. Henry stood up and nodded, looking at the ground like he didn't dare look at their boss.

Their boss looked at me, "Let's go. You'll be walking with me now."

I raised a brow, "Want to make sure your walking bag of gold doesn't get hurt?"

Their boss chuckled, "I'm just looking out for your well-being, Princess." He turned around and looked back at me over his shoulder, "Plus, it'd be a crime to let something happen to that beautiful face of yours."

I looked at him, surprised at his sudden out-of-the-blue remark, and he chuckled before he started to walk off, and I followed him.