“Wait.” The Princess hissed, frowning as she poked her head around the corner before pulling Ba-Khu-Ra behind a statue where she could occasionally see the doors.
“What?” The frustrated thief hissed back. It had looked like a clear run to the open door at the end of the corridor.
“That’s the treasury.” The Princess snapped at her, gesturing towards the doors. “That door’s not supposed to be open and there are supposed to be guards there. No one goes in there at this time of night. Not unless it’s an emergency.”
Ba-Khu-Ra scowled. So she was right and things up to this point had been too easy. Then she realized something else and glowered at the Princess. “You cheated!”
“What?” Honest shock crossed across the girl’s features.
“You knew we couldn’t get inside without being seen!” Ba-Khu-Ra snarled, trying to keep her tone down, “You cheated!”
“I would never cheat!” The Princess shook her head, anger sinking in, “I assumed you’d have a plan for distracting guards.”
Ba-Khu-Ra didn’t believe her. The girl’s whole life was based on lies, why wouldn’t she tell but another one? Still the game was not over yet, and she was determined to get her gold. She edged down the corridor towards the open door, the Princess following with a speed and silence that the thief had come to expect.
As she got closer she could hear voices coming from the treasury, along with the sounds of a lot of coins being moved.
“Gods below…” She heard the Princess hiss and quickly glanced over at what she was staring at. Her lips pursed as she realized that there was no space to hide behind the next statue because there was a pile of bodies stacked up behind it. She couldn’t tell if the guards were breathing or not, but it was obvious that they would not be stopping the thieves any time soon.
“Shut up.” Bakura hissed at the girl, wheeling around to glower at her, “Unless you want us to get caught.”
“I need to alert the…” The Princess trailed off at the smirk on Ba-Khu-Ra’s face, “What?”
“You alert the guards, you lose and I get to tell everyone your little secret.” The thief reminded her.
“But…” The Princess scowled, flashbacks of the last time someone had snuck into the palace and the guards hadn’t been alerted in time playing through her mind. “What do you suggest then? Because if you want to win we have to get through that door without getting caught.”
Ba-Khu-Ra considered her options. She could just call Diabound and use its powers to walk through the walls. That would get her in, but the Princess had specifically said ‘through the door’ and she did not doubt she would use any technicality possible to avoid paying out.
“Stay here.” She snapped at the royal brat before edging towards the door, carefully taking note of the numbers inside the great chamber even as the amount of gold and jewels within dazzled her. Seven men answered to one woman. She would be impressed at the level of organization she could see going on as the woman directed the men to the more valuable but small objects if they weren’t interfering in her own plans.
Instead she scowled as she tried to work out how to enter the room via the doors without being seen. The Princess may claim that she never cheated and never lost, but she was no slouch at games herself and this was the one game that she had grown up learning how to play. She was not going to lose here.
She retreated back to the statue where the Princess was waiting, as per instructions. Just as she had followed Ba-Khu-Ra’s rules all the way down here. The thief was actually surprised though, this time, that she hadn’t gone running for the guards.
“Well?” The Princess asked, looking like she was contemplating something herself.
“Follow my lead exactly and be silent.” Ba-Khu-Ra informed the girl, “There’s a way in.”
“Alright.” The Princess nodded, following the commoner’s lead as she emerged cautiously from their hiding place and edged towards the door. They were halfway through it, literally in the doorframe, when a shout went up from the woman and all of her mooks turned to look at them.
“Uh oh…”
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