Pirate; The Seavey Pendant

14. A Helping Thief

Cinnia was shoved onto the couch along with Adorno.  Though still recovering from the shock, she turned angrily, ready to face her captor.  A tall, lean man who seemed to be about ten years older than Cinnia leaned against the begrimed stone wall with his arms crossed.  Underneath dark eyes and long eyelashes sat a somewhat crooked nose and thin lips, which curled up into a smirk.  His blonde hair reached his shoulders and his square jaw was covered in light stubble of blonde hairs.  His eyes were fixed on Cinnia’s face, and she couldn’t read them.

Kieran, having not been grabbed, came running in through the door, with a short sword--presumably coming having been hidden in his boot--in hand.  “What the—“ He said with a glare, his body tensing into a fighting stance.

     Their captor’s gaze turned to Kieran.  Calmly, he said, “You should lower that, my friend.  I don’t know who you are but I can guarantee you that if you were to fight me now, you’d never live to even hear my purpose for doing this.  I’m the best there is.” His smile grew even larger, “I won’t hurt you.  Now go close that door.”

     Kieran glared at the man.  Cinnia spoke up, “Just do it, Kieran.  A guard could walk by in any second and glance in.”  Sighing in defeat, Kieran did as he was asked, but kept his sword ready.

The captor turned his eyes back to Cinnia and Adorno.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a rolled up piece of paper.  With his two hands, he unrolled it, showing yet another one of the wanted posters that had been hung up around the city.  “I’m quite interested in knowing how you two managed to pull this off.” He said.

      “Who are you?” Cinnia said with a glare, refusing to answer his question.

     The man raised an eyebrow at her, “Why, darling, I’m one of the most wanted man in this city.  Or so I was, until you two showed up.  You’re not from here are you?  I’m Airic.

     “What have you done to deserve such a title?” Adorno groaned from beside Cinnia.

     “I’ve taken things from people,” He said and began listing them, “Gold, jewellery, contracts, lives...Anything necessary.”

     “And what do you want from us?” Cinnia asked, shuddering at the thought of the mentioned lives this stranger had stolen.

     “I want you gone.  I have a reputation to uphold and clients to keep.”

     “Yeah, well we were trying to leave just before you so kindly invited us into your home.” Adorno hissed with sarcasm.  He was barely sitting on the edge, leaning forward in a hostile form.

     “Now, now, no need to be clever.  And it’s not my h—“ Airic began, but Cinnia interrupted him with, “But why not simply find a way to turn us in for the reward?”  She was suspicious of Airic’s intentions.  If was in search for wealth, wouldn’t turning in two of his hostages for a thousand gold pieces a head be a sure, one-way ticket into it?

      His dark eyes found hers, and Cinnia found she couldn’t read into them.  Despite his curved smile, his eyes portrayed no emotion to suggest what he was truly feeling—or meaning.  “Well, darling, just because I’m a thief doesn’t mean I’m heartless and completely apathetic towards others.  I can’t go around turning in my own sort, what kind of person would I be?  You support your family, hmm?” He said and looked back at Kieran and Adorno, “I already told you; you can’t attack me and expect to win.  I’ve dedicated my life to expecting surprises.” He warned them.  Cinnia glanced over, and saw them both looking at their feet sheepishly yet angrily.

     “Alright,” Cinnia began, “Since you want us out of here, how about you help us do that?”  Her suggestion was met with groans and ‘no’s’ from Kieran and Adorno.  “Well what else do you suggest we do?  You saw how many guards there were,” She glared at her friends.