The Abused Princess' Second Chance

10 hours later 

Gabrielle slowly opened her eyes, her head pounding from being hit. She slowly sat up, placing her hand on her forehead. She looked around her to see she was in a badly lit room. 

The floor of the room was dark brown, the walls of the room had dark tan paint on them that was chipped off revealing the drywall underneath, and the ceiling of the room matched the walls. 

'Where am I?'

She looked around her, seeing paint dust and dirt scattered throughout the floors. She looked on the other half of the room seeing a dark brown doorway that was covered by a hanging black blanket. 

She slowly stood to her feet, her pounding headache making her instantly dizzy, she stumbled, quickly catching herself. 

'I have to get out of here.' 

She slowly walked to the door, her footsteps creaking against the floorboards. She walked up to the doorway, hearing men whispering to themselves. She listened in. 

"So what do you want to do with the girl," A man asked. 

"Well His Majesty is offering a million gold pieces for her safe return but I figured why stop at a million. He obviously loves her enough to cough up a lot of money, we can just ask for more," Vincent plotted. 

"Oh come on Vincent I mean a million gold pieces is a lot of money… Besides that girl didn't do anything to us. I say we just return her, get the money, and finally leave Thieves Forest for good," Another man chimed in. 

"Auggie you've always had some good in you and I try to respect that but a million split among the five of us only leaves us with two hundred thousand per person. That's way too low," Vincent objected. 

"Have you forgotten this isn't just a million it's a million gold pieces. I mean one gold piece is worth five thousand silver pieces and ten thousand bronze pieces. It's a lot of money. Two hundred thousand gold pieces can set us up for life," Auggie pointed out. 

"Kingdom Florian is one of the richest kingdoms in the world. They have way more than a million gold pieces. A million gold pieces doesn't even break the bank. I mean to Kingdom Florian it's like chump change," Another man chimed in. 

"Brucer is right. The way His Majesty is willing to spend so much on her, we can really push it. We are in control right now, we have all the power. I mean we can ask for anything and I'm sure he'll give it to us, even the kingdom itself," Vincent asserted. 

"Yeah but what if His Majesty doesn't budge," Auggie questioned. 

"He will… The way he loves this girl, he'll be willing to do anything for her, and if he doesn't want to pay, we'll just take her to a Kingdom that does. I mean the way he's in love with her kingdoms will jump at the opportunity to buy her. Just think about it, with her we can't start war. We have the ultimate cash grab, the ultimate power. Kingdom Florian can be ours, this world can be ours. We have everything in the palm of our hand," Vincent prattled, rubbing his hands together. 

"Yeah but it just don't feel right messing with an innocent young woman like that. I mean she's probably scared out of her mind and…"

"Stop thinking about it Auggie," Brucer interrupted, "She'll be alright, it's not like we're going to kill her or something. We're just using her until we get what we want and then she can go home." 

Her heart began breaking as she gave a half hearted laugh. 

'If they only knew,' 

She left the room, standing in front of the doorway. She looked at the men, examining each one of their appearances.

All the men were muscular, around 5'10 and ranged in ages between 25-38. Each man had different scars and burns from fighting. 

Auggie was the second oldest, the tallest, and the most muscular. His reddish orange hair was styled in an angular fringe, on his face was a stubbly beard and he had a deep scar on his cheek. His eyes were thin almond shaped and light brown colored. He wore a white shirt, dark blue pants, and black lace boots. 

Vincent was the leader of the group. He was oldest of the group, and had hairy muscular arms. He had a small scar on the top of his pinkish thin bow lips. His face was bare and his eyebrows were straight. He had a chipped front tooth that he regularly covered with a closed smile. His hair was dark brown and styled in a French Crop. His eyes were downward turned and red colored. He wore a white shirt with a blue open vest, dark blue pants, and gray shoes.

Brucer was the second youngest in the group and was the least muscular of them all. He had bare arms that were covered in scars and a bare face. His eyebrows were angled, and his eyes were deep set and olive green in color. His hair was styled in a Ceasar Cut and was black colored. He wore a green shirt, black pants, and brown shoes.

The two other men's names were Dom and Zander. 

Zander was the middle age of the group. He had rounded icy green colored eyes. He had a stubbly chin, and bare muscular arms. His face was covered in freckles and he had a long scar on the side of his face. His hair was dark mahogany brown colored and styled in a low taper fade. He wore an white shirt with an open orange vest, brown pants, and black shoes. 

Dom was the youngest of the group. His muscles were small but the most toned of all of them. He had bare arms that had scars throughout them. His eyes were almond shaped and brown green colored. His hair was copper colored and styled in a short mullet. His lips were dry and cracked. He wore a brown shirt, dark blue pants, and brown shoes. 

"Looks like Sleep Beauty is finally awake," Zander chuckled. 

"You're wasting your time…" Gabrielle mumbled, gluing her eyes to the floor, "His Majesty does not love me." 

The men erupted in laughter, staring at Gabrielle. 

"Isn't in love with you," Burcer scoffed, "You must think we're idiots."

"It's true," She protested, "He's not in love with me at all. You would've been better off taking Lady Hattie instead of me. She's the one who holds his heart." 

"Lady Hattie," Dom laughed, "Lady Hattie has run away to the Thieves' Forest 4 times and not one of those times has His Majesty ever put out a decree to find her."

"If you ask me it seems like he hates her," Auggie interjected, giving a chuckle. 

'Is that where I am, Thieves' Forest…' 

She looked up at them, seeing Vincent walking up to her. 

He stood in front of her gritting his teeth. 

"I don't know what game you think you're playing but we aren't buying it for one second. We may be thieves but we aren't stupid. Anyone with half a brain can see that His Majesty is clearly in love with you, so don't try to play us anymore," Vincent growled, running his fingers through her hair, "And I can see why he's smittened. You are quite the sight for sore eyes." 

She slapped his hand away, turning her head to face the wall. 

"There's no game," She mumbled, "Ansel doesn't love me." 

"And I'm telling you that any fool can see that he does," Vincent disputed, grabbing her by the arm. 

She looked at him, seeing a horrorish gaze in his eyes.

"Why do you think we're stupid," He roared, jolting her closer to him, "We aren't the idiots you think we are." 

"Enough, Vincent," Auggie injected, walking over to him, "You're going to hurt her." 

"So what," Vincent growled, looking at Auggie, "She thinks we're dumb. I oughta teach her a lesson right now."

Vincent raised his hand getting ready to strike her, being quickly stopped by Auggie. 

Auggie held Vincent's wrist, looking directly in his eyes. 

"Control yourself. The way His Majesty loves this girl, hurting her will be a death wish," Auggie reasoned, watching Vincent snatch his wrist away. 

"You're lucky Auggie was here to save you," Vincent snarled, pointing his finger in her face, "Next time you might not be as lucky." 

He let go of her arm, pushing her away from himself. 

"Alright who's ready for dinner," Auggie cheerfully asked, trying to shift the mood. 

"I wouldn't eat anything from you guys even if you paid me," Gabrielle snapped, storming back into her room. 

"Well nobody was offering you," Vincent shouted at her. 

"Why can't you be nicer to her," Auggie asked, annoyance wrapped in his voice. 

"Why should any of us be nice to her," Dom scoffed. 

"Maybe because we kidnapped her to make a quick buck. You guys seem to forget we're thieves not abusers. There's no reason to be cruel to her. She's a scared young woman just trying to get back home to her love. Stop making it more difficult for her," Auggie fumed, looking at the group.

"I think you're too soft," Zander sneered, "We're her kidnappers! We can do whatever we please." 

Auggie walked over to Zander, staring directly in his eyes. 

"I think if you try to hurt her, I'll show you why I'm the muscle of the group. Leave her be and stick to the plan. We aren't here to abuse her, we're here to make money. Nobody hurts her do you understand," Auggie warned, refusing to break eye contact. 

"Alright, let's cool off," Vincent reasoned, getting in between Auggie and Zander, "We're brothers and we're sticking together. Nobody touches the girl." 

"Oh, and why should I do what you say," Zander snapped. 

"Because I'm the oldest and the leader of the group. Whatever I say goes! We aren't touching the girl," Vincent commanded. 

Zander turned his head away, scoffing and Auggie left, going into the kitchen to make dinner. 

"Auggie is going to ruin us," Zander noted, looking at his brothers, "Mark my words. Auggie and his soft heart is going to get us in trouble."