SGE His Guarded Heart (Prequel to His Darkened Heart)

Chapter 17 Captured

"Everybody keeps telling me I'm something or the other; a soldier, a henchman, a thief. Usmere! Sexcarsten! Aric! But I don't know what you expect from me. I don't know who I am. I haven't known for a long time now."
——————————————

Chapter 17 Captured

Krushem pried open his eyes to find he was in bed in a room. He was still in the same room and in the same bed except the lit candle that'd sat on the table beside the bed had long since burned out.

When he tried to shift his body, he felt something press against him. He glanced down and found that a blanket had been draped over him where Elaine had once laid. He looked around but he could see no sign of the witch. She must've disappeared at some point while he'd slept.

For a moment, Krushem considered the fact that he might've just imagined Elaine that whole time because he could still hardly believe her saving him. But his wrists were still bandaged tight, and he found that the cup beside the bed was once again filled with water.

Krushem tried to sit up in bed, but it took a great amount of energy for him to even prop himself up with his elbows, and his wrists stung in pain.

Just as he'd managed to prop his back against the headboard of the bed, he heard the sound of footsteps and then he heard the doorknob turn. He fixated his gaze on the door, expecting for Elaine to come in.

But then the door burst open, slamming into the wall. The sound made Krushem jump and he stared startled as a tall, imposing figure ventured into the room.

It wasn't Elaine but a man. The man was tall and his muscles bulged through his shirt. His hooded gaze landed upon Krushem and then a look of intent flirted across his face as he deliberately stalked towards the bed.

"Wh—who are you?" Krushem blurted, wanting to move but his body was still weak.

The man drew closer and Krushem glimpsed his crooked teeth and hooked nose. It was only when the man raised his hand that Krushem saw the flash of steel.

The man was holding a knife.

Krushem raised his arms, palms out in a gesture of peace. But the man kept coming, prepared to strike.

"Big Jones sent me," The man vehemently spat, and spittle flew from his mouth, the droplets landing on his shirt. "Boss says you didn't deliver all he asked for from that Sharmaria Crypt, so he wants you to pay up with your life."

It took Krushem a while to process the man's words. He'd sworn he'd delivered all the pieces of King Sharpner's armor to Big Jones last night but how could he be for sure when he'd been so eager to get out of that damn crypt? It wasn't Krushem's fault Big Jones hadn't checked the delivery before paying him.

Big Jones wasn't a man who could be double crossed without consequences. Given he ran a lucrative business selling stolen valuables, he wanted everything to be in check. He wanted to know he could trust the thieves he assigned for the job.

But Krushem hadn't ever messed up a damn delivery on any thieving job, even while being drunk off his ass sometimes. If something was missing from King Sharpner's stolen armor, it had to be the fault of someone else. Most likely Big Jones' lackeys had accidentally lost a piece of the armor or stolen it for themselves.

Big Jones just wanted someone to blame and here he blamed Krushem, the very thief who'd stolen the damn armor for him.

But to kill Krushem for supposably not delivering the whole package was just abundantly absurd. Who in the hell did something like that?