The Princess Thief {CURRENTLY BEING REWRITTEN}

chapter sixteen

I am so sorry this took forever for me to update. I had a mixture of a lack of motivation, no time with my schedule, no WiFi whatsoever, and just so much travel. BUT, this is Month 11 on my trip(I'm in Uganda now), which means my travels around the world are about to come to a close in less than 30 days.
IM GOING TO BE BACK HOME IN THE STATES AFTER A YEAR!!!
I'm so excited and I got a burst of motivation and ideas. Please, let me know how you're liking The Princess Thief.
Whats your favorite scene so far? Your favorite character?
Anyway, enjoy this chapter! I'm off to finish the next one.
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Brenna took advantage of the lack of guards and looked everywhere she could think of.
    No sign of an escape route.
    When she finally gave up on any daring escape attempts, she took in her surroundings in a more observing way. Elidor had lived here, yet there was nothing here that seemed personal to him.
    No.
    He wouldn't have had anything private here. Elidor was a thief. And regardless, this wasn't a home to him. He'd made that much clear already. The distaste towards him by the rest of the thieves proved that as well. All that remained of the room's former occupant was the cot.
    And a series of old notches in the wall.
    Brenna ran her fingers along the odd markings. They didn't seem to make up any words, yet they seemed to mean something.
    "Elidor has all the luck."
    She jumped, swallowing the building scream. Spinning around, she frowned at her surprise visitor and promptly turned her back to him.
    How did he get up here so fast without her hearing the rising platform?
    "What? No royal quips, Your Majesty?"
    "Go away."
    "Your orders don't work on me. Good luck trying to order us about. But I do have a welcome gift for you!"
    She crossed her arms, determined not to rise to whatever bait he had in store for her. "I don't want anything you have to offer."
    "Are you sure? I thought certainly a princess would want her own necklace back."
    She spun back to him to find her amulet dangling from Carson's hand. She hadn't even realized she'd lost it.
    He smirked. "Unless...you don't want it back? Perhaps you are warming up to joining us after all."
    She pressed her lips in a tight line. "Why would you even offer to give it back to me? I thought thieves were possessive of the things they stole."
He shrugged. "We got off on the wrong foot. And I like to think of myself as a gentlemen at least sometimes."
Brenna eyes him suspiciously.
He chuckled when she didn't make a move to retrieve the necklace. Instead of pocketing the royal amulet, as Brenna expected he would, he placed it on the small table by the cot. "Don't say I never did anything kind to you, Princess."
"That remains to be seen," she retorted, earning another amused laugh from the thief. "I take it you haven't found Elidor yet."
"What makes you day that?" Carson asked.
"Gathering from everyone's thoughts they've made so vocal, I doubt his return here would a quiet one."
"You're not wrong. There's plenty of people here he's made enemies of."
"Including yourself?"
"My sister has a higher understanding of him that I...don't understand. He's certainly not my favorite person in the world."
    "Why do you hate him so much?"
    Carson frowned. "It's none of your business."
    "Am I allowed to ask about anything?" Brenna inquired, suddenly curious about Carson's reaction. "Why else would you come here if not to talk?"
    "Perhaps I just wanted a place to get away for a little bit."
    "Where's Teena?"
    "My sister is fine," Carson replied. "A bit angry with me for locking her in her room, but I can handle her little outbursts."
    "What about your leader?" From the level of how mad he seemed—Brenna also recalled how he wanted Elidor whipped—Teena might have been in danger of bodily harm.
    Carson seemed to read her mind. "I wouldn't let anyone hurt my sister. Least of all our own father."
    Brenna's eyes widened.
    Father?
    How could anyone be with a man like that and have children with him?
    "How—?"
    "Our mother didn't really have much of a choice," Carson admitted, much to her surprise. "They might have started out infatuated with each other, but a thief will always have his true love."

            Brenna studied Carson once more, trying to understand him somehow. What had happened between him and Elidor to have such a rift between two thieves who used to live together? If they hated him so much, why were they so determined to get him back? Unless it was some odd thieves code—once you're in, you don't get out.

She spotted the discoloring along his jaw. "What happened to your face?"

He stiffened. "You ask too many questions," he replied harshly.

Brenna furrowed her brow, trying to find the pieces she was missing.

Before she could question herself, she stepped forward. The movement surprised Carson and he stumbled back a step.

"What are you doing?" he asked, the bravado from earlier gone.

"Trying to understand," she simply replied in a tone she'd so often heard her own mother use.

"There's nothing to understand."

"I think I understand enough." If the slightest thing went wrong, he was punished.

Carson remained silent.

"How can you stay when that happens."

"Where else could I possibly go?" He swiftly walked out of the room, leaving Brenna alone once more.

She had to escape. Somehow, she had to.