Once Upon A Time Frozen Over: Shards of Secrets (Book One) [COMPLETE]

CHAPTER EIGHT - THE THIEF

Present Day

East Village

The house he had been scoping for the past week was finally vacant.  The owners had gone out for the day — now was his opportunity.  He quietly climbed through the open upstairs window and began ransacking the home to find anything of value.  He rummaged through the dresser drawers, grabbing every bit of jewelry and trinkets, and quickly stuffed them into his brown leather satchel that was draped across his chest and shoulder.  He slid down the banister to the first floor and scanned the living room.  He swiped a brass candle snuffer and a pair of gold theater glasses, that were on the side table next to the sofa, and put them in his burlap sack he had also brought with him.  He also took a silk scarf that was draped over the sofa arm and threw it in his sack along with his other treasures.  He slipped into the dining room and sifted through the dining hutch, taking all the silverware and gold candle sticks.

Realizing he was taking longer than his allotted time, he ran up the stairs and back to the window he came in through.  Before he climbed out, he spotted a crystal unicorn on the chiffonier in the hall.  He threw his bag of loot out of the window to the soft grass below and grabbed the crystal unicorn.  He climbed out of the window and jumped down to the ground, making a perfect landing on his feet — so perfect, he didn't even scuff his brown leather riding boots.

His tight, neutral pants hugged every curve of his muscular legs and buttocks.  His turquois vest and cream shirt were unbuttoned slightly to reveal his chiseled chest.  He stood up and threw his head back, making his flawless, layered, black hair fly out of his handsome face, revealing his best smolder yet.  He turned around, his smolder melting into a look of disappointment.  

Staring back at him were three men dressed in black leather armor and long, black capes.  The one in the middle was a dirty, tall and chubby bald-headed man, whose face was covered with brown scruff.  He was holding the burlap sack in one hand and a gold candlestick in the other.  "I've been wantin' one of these to add to me collection," he said in a gravelly voice.

"Edgar, Lance, Berwix!  What a surprise!  Good to see you again.  Edgar, have you lost weight?" the thief commented with his crooked smile.

"No time for games....We've been looking for you, Rider," said Berwix, the man on the left.

"You know what you did.  All this is ours and it still won't pay off what you owe us," said Lance, the man on the right.

"Guys...why don't we talk about this over a drink at the tavern," Rider persuaded, his arms outstretched, slowly backing away.

Berwix snatched the crystal unicorn out of Rider's hand, "We're not gettin' a drink with you, Rider — as a matter of fact, you're never gonna have another drink again...because this is your last call."

"Well in that case...I'll drink to that," Rider said, grabbing his flask of whiskey on his belt.  He took a quick swig, placed the flask back on his belt, and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.  Before his hand left his mouth, he put this pointer finger and thumb in between his lips and whistled.

Just then, they heard galloping behind them.  They turned around and were knocked to the ground by a great, white stallion.  Rider caught the crystal unicorn in midair while grabbing the reins of his horse, flinging his leg over the saddle and pulling himself up onto the horse.  He leaned down, holding tight onto the reins, and snatched the burlap sack, unknowingly snagging his lucky pendant on his belt,making it fall off. 

"Good boy, Max," Rider said, patting the horse's neck as they galloped off into the forest.  

"Rider!" Edgar screamed.

The men mounted their horses and raced after him, taking a short cut to intercept him.  Since they had two snare traps left over from the night before, they placed them in the path and covered them with leaves.  They then tied a rope between two trees across the path, hoping he would ride into it, throwing him into the snares.  They hid behind the trees, waiting for him to ride up the path.

Rider, still galloping at full speed, effortlessly jumped over the rope, dodged both snares and rode deep into the forest toward his hideout. 

The men came out from behind the trees, astonished that Rider missed every trap.  "No!" Edgar shouted, cutting the rope with his sword.

"Angus will have our heads for this!" Lance wailed.

They rode off to the manor, where their cohorts were waiting.  They reluctantly opened the doors to the manor and walked down the long, torch-lit hall and into the immense meeting room.  They threw down their weapons on the large, wooden table where all the men were gathered.  

Angus, sitting at the head of the table, stroking his bushy, red beard and mustache, said in his thick DunBroch accent, "Where's that Sassenach, Rider?  I wanted his heid on a golden platter an' served with me favorite ale."

"We lost him in the East Forest, sir.  We'll continue our search for him tomorrow at sunrise," Edgar pleaded.

Angus angrily stood up, causing his chair to fall backward to the ground, drew his dagger out of its sheath and slammed it into the table, making it stick straight up in the wood, "I don't have time to wait for the morrow!  I want Rider deid an' I want him deid now!  No one betrays the Blood Gang an' lives to tell aboot it.  No one gets away from us!  We kill our enemies an' bathe in their blood.  Ye had one job an' one job only — to kill Rider — an' ye failed.  No one fails a job in the Blood Gang.  That 'appened once afore an' that can never 'appen again.  I should have ye three daft idiots murdered for this!"  

"You may be second in command, Angus, but you would still have to get orders from the boss to do that," Edgar jeered.

"Aye...but I have," Angus replied as he nodded his head to the men standing guard at the doors to the meeting room.  They grabbed Edgar, Lance and Berwix from behind, pulling their arms behind their backs and slit their throats.  "Men, grab yer weapons...we ride now  — unless you'd prefer to join the likes of them," he said, pointing to the bodies now lying in a pool of blood.

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Author's Note:

Hello fellow Oncer's!  A week is too long!!  So much death and darkness...beautiful right?! 

I don't know about you, but the Once version of Flynn Rider sounds pretty nice to gaze upon.  What a bad boy!  I can just hear the song "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred playing in the background while Flynn is flinging his hair around!!  Maybe we found a Captain Hook type for the series????  Although I prefer the more sweet, good boy type!  

Angus is such a fun character to write!  I just love Scottish slang!  And in case you didn't connect it, Angus is the very same bushy, red bearded assassin that killed Kristoff's dad!  Oooo so eeeevviiillll!!!

Next chapter we will see more of Kristoff's past and how he got Sven!!  Also, BONUS....we get more Angus action!   

Tune in next Sunday at 8:00pm EST for Chapter Nine!  

Stay Frosty my friends!