A Proper Young Thief: Chapter 4: Cornered

A Proper Young Thief

M.K.Barry

Chapter 4: Cornered

Lissa watched, frozen behind the door as Luc struggled to his feet. The other boys were clearly drunk, standing, swaying as they circled Luc. Ghant stood apart from his friends, leaning casually against the table, watching Luc carefully. His back was turned to Lissa, so she couldn't see his face. To her, he seemed like a vulture hanging over it's prey.

Luc finally got to his knees, and raised himself up to look around at the group of savages hanging around him, but just as he straightened up, Ghant reached out with his foot, and making sure to use no more force than absolutely necessary, pushed him down again. Luc fell to his side, and Lissa heard him cry out as he landed on his arm. She felt herself cringe as she imagined his arm twisting painfully back behind him.

“Be a good little noble boy and stay down,” Ghant said.

Luc quickly slowed his breath, hissing in pain between clenched teeth. He turned to face Ghant, looking up at him from the floor, “Idiot,” He spat, “What do you think's going to happen to you when this is over. You could be hanged.”

“I could be, but I won't.” Ghant said. His voice was steady and even. He wasn't playing now, he wasn't looking for fun now, not like he was with her. He was angry now, and apparently had a purpose.

“You think I won't tell anyone? Is that is?” Luc hissed, “You think I'll be ashamed that I couldn't stand up for myself when you had four of your friends grab me and tie me up? Do you think you'll beat me so badly, I'll be afraid to tell anyone?” She heard him give a gentle, derisive snort, “Think again. If you don't let me go right this second, I will see you hanged.”

“I don't think so.” Ghant said. “You see... I've got four witnesses here saying that we were just messing around here, admittedly maybe drinking some wine... and you decided to bother us.”

“That's stupid. No one woul-”

“You saw us running off into the woods, maybe you were upset that we bothered your little Lissa... Decided to deal with us yourself. Or maybe you just wanted our wine.” He gently kicked at a few bottle sitting under the table, which Lissa hadn't seen at first. “It wouldn't be very noble of you, would it be? Your father would probably send you off somewhere, to make sure you didn't disgrace him further. Honestly... A young noble beating up on village boys.” He crouched down closer to Luc, and Lissa could just hear him say, “Isn't that despicable?”

“They wouldn't believe you!”

“Even with witnesses?” Ghant asked, eying his friends. “There's to many people here willing to lie for me, Lord Luc. The words of five respectable young men against one young Lord?” He reached out quickly and grabbed Luc's hair, pulling his head so that he was staring right at Ghant. Luc grunted with pain, but held back his cries. “Besides. What do you think we'll do to your little servant girl?”

“You'll keep your hands off her.” Luc growled.

“Yes, yes. No one touch the little whore in training.” Ghant stood up, “Honestly, the way you protected her, you'd think you actually loved her.”

“You set one hand on her and... and I'll kill you myself!”

Ghant put his hands on his hips and stared down at Luc for a long moment before laughing loudly.

“Well. It looks like I've nailed the issue. Lord Luc loves the little thiefling.” He gave a long, loud laugh, his friends joining him with their drunken chuckles, and slurred, unintelligible speech. Once Ghant stopped laughing, he looked back down at Luc “And here I thought she was just an easy screw for you.”

Lissa reached up, one hand over her mouth to muffle her breathing, another grasping at her throat to try to elevate the constricting feeling she was getting. Luc did love her! She wasn't just a servant to him. Her mother was wrong. However, she couldn't be overjoyed, as she knew she would be. Panic and fear had bullied out anything even close to joy that she might have felt. Luc was here because of her. He was in trouble because he had tried to stand up for her.

And besides. Lord Mintas had plans for Luc, just like he had plans for Lissa herself.

“Now then.” Ghant said. He turned around, took a bottle from under the table, and poured himself a drink. As he stood up, Lissa could see that one side of his face, which she had thought was just obscured in shadows before, was actually blue and purple with bruises. His eye was swollen shut, and she could see a long cut along his lip.

Despite herself, she felt bad for Ghant. She assumed that his father had beaten him up in response to a complaint from a young Lord about Ghant.

He took a drink of the wine, and turned back to Luc. “Here's what's going to happen. My friends here are going to beat you up. You're going to sit there, take it, and then crawl home and go to sleep. Don't worry. We won't hit you where it shows. You can try to fight back. You can yell, scream... But the more trouble you cause for us, the worse we're going to beat you... and you think you have trouble looking after Lissa now?” Ghant chuckled under his breath, “You won't be able to let her out of your sight, not for a second. She leaves the safety of your little house there, someone will be trailing her. She won't be safe, and she won't be just your little whore either... Oh I'm so sorry!” Ghant grinned, his voice heavy with sarcasm, “You're little servant lover.” Ghant snorted and looked up to his friends, “At least he'll have woman who'll serve him on hands and knees.”

“you insufferable ass-”

“Don't you understand? Do you have any idea what we can do to her? We could kill her. She's a servant. No one cares.”

“... And if I cooperate? You'll leave her alone?”

Lissa felt like she was going to cry out, and bit her lower lip to keep herself quite. 'No Luc,' she thought. 'I'll take care of myself. Just don't let them hurt you!'

“She'll be bothered no more or less than she is. Heck, I might even forget about her if I have enough fun here. I mean-” He slipped back into his sarcastic tones, “Had I known that you wanted her, that you loved her, I wouldn't have touched the little whore.”

“You leave her alone.”

“You're not in a position to barter.” Ghant said. “We're not bartering at all, actually. I'm threatening you. If you don't cooperate, We will hurt Lissa. Badly. We'll break her every way we can, and we'll keep beating on you until you're afraid of your own shadow.”

Ghant's friends snickered, circling Luc like clumsy beasts. Ghant drank the rest of the wine in one gulp, and slammed the cup down on the table. “You cooperate, and this never happened. Everything goes back to the way it was. Keep a careful enough eye on Lissa and she might just be safe.”

Lissa wondered for a moment if Luc knew that he was to be married to a woman in Rawlins. To the deformed daughter of a man who owned a brothel.

When Luc was silent for several long moments, Ghant finally said, “I think he's got the message.” He looked at his friends, and backed away, “Have fun.”

Lissa saw the first kick coming, cringed, and looked away, but couldn't block out the sound. Luc was kicked into something -a chair perhaps- which fell down on top of him, the clatter was accompanied by a loud cry. There was another kick, the sound thick and hallow. They hit him over and over, what was first loud cries of pain turned into grunts as Luc lost the energy to cry out.

It was sickening. He couldn't even defend himself... And even if he could, would he?

Lissa took a chance and looked out the crack in the door again, One of the boys had broken away from the group, and found a large, discarded bottle in the corner. He took the long, slender neck in one hand and turned it into a glittering, green glass club.

'They're not going to kill him' she reminded herself. She turned away and looked at the floor, her eye running along a piece of rotten wood that lay near her. She reached down, and gently lifted it with one hand. Bugs scattered out from under it and ran into the darkness. She recoiled, but held onto it. With one hand, she reached up and fingered the pendent hanging around her neck. The pendent, the house... Being in this room while someone she loved was being beaten on, and all because of her.

The drunken friend lifted the bottle in the air. The others parted, giving up their kicking in hopes of abetter show.

Lissa ran out from the room, her makeshift club grasped in both hands, and swung widely as the bottle came down. She struck the boy, and heard a feral cry as the bottle was knocked form his hands, and shattered against the wall. The boy fell to the ground, his hand cradled in his arm.

“The bitch broke my hand!” He screamed.

Lissa ran to Luc, dropped the club, and fanatically tried to untie him. He coughed, and blood splattered onto the floor.

“Lissa?” He whispered.

“We need to run.” She said as she finally loosened the rope. She threw it to the side and started to help him up. His eyes glazed over for a moment as he looked at her, and she worried that he would pass out. He smiled softly at her, then focused past her.

“Ghant!” he cried.

Lissa turned around in time to see Ghant standing just behind her, the club in his hands aimed at Lissa's head.

Ghant swung. Luc pushed Lissa down to the floor. There was a loud, wet sounding crack as the wood shattered, the echos filling the room. Luc reeled back and fell against the hearth, his head smacking against the edge of the stone.

Then everything was silent. Ghant held the makeshift club in the air where it struck Luc's head, staring wide-eyed at the corpse. His friends, suddenly sobered by shock and fear, stood still staring. One fell to his knees, his hands raised to his face.

“You killed him.” he stated flatly, as though he might have been stating what a lovely, or alternately, miserable day it was. But that was enough to bring everyone out of the shock, and back into the reality where a man had just been murdered before their eyes. The boy on his knees starting shaking, sobbing into his hands. “Ghant, you killed him! You killed him! You-”

Lissa made to stand up, to go over to Luc. But felt something hit the back of her head.

She hadn't even known she was unconscious until she woke up. She wasn't out for long. The others were still there.

“We killed Them! We're going to be hanged, we're-”
“No!” Ghant snapped. The cool tone was gone from his voice. He was very obviously panicked, and sounded like a scared child. “No.” He repeated. “She killed him.”

“What do you-”
“We were all here, us and Luc, having a few drinks. Stupid, sure. She came in, and attacked us, killed Luc, broke your hand, then we stopped her.” The panic in his voice didn't subside. “We're all witnesses, they're both dead... No one has to die.”

“They already did!”

“No.. It.. They don't matter.” Lissa heard something, likely the club, fall to the floor. “No... It's ok.” he said, much like a child trying to make a broken dish go away. “It'll be fine. They're already dead, we'll be fine... Everything will go back to normal.”

“How can it be normal! Ghant, we killed them! We're murderers!”

“NO!” Ghant yelled, “We're not. They are, and they're dead!”

Lissa heard footsteps, and the door to the house opened with a long, loud whine. “come on... Let's go for help... It'll all be alright.”

Someone whispered, “Come on.. Get up. Ghant is going to take care of this... It's going to be alright.”

“No...” Came a sobbing voice, “No... It's never going to be alright ever again.”

“Get up at least! Do you want to be hanged? We need to go with Ghant.”

There was a moment of shuffling, and Lissa heard a soft, weak voice saying, “Hanging would be better.” before the door was closed with a loud creak.

As soon as she was alone, Lissa pushed herself up from the floor, and reached her hand up to the back of her head. Sobbing, she felt along where she had been struck. There was blood, but she couldn't feel a cut. She didn't know if it was her own blood, or Luc's. She crawled over to the corpse by the hearth, gently reached out to stroke the blood-matted hair, then fell back, kneeling on the floor, sobbing into her bloodied hands.

-M.K.Barry

Chapter 3: It's Called Desperation Chapter 5: Sunset