;; At Your Service -- Emma-thesavior
"Protect the royal family at any cost."
The number of times he heard those words seemed almost endless. After the former queen--Regina--had attempted her hand at a curse to throw them all into another world, the palace guards had been doubled. Dean had been young and wide-eyed when he'd joined the palace guard. Barely into his early twenties, now that he thought about it.
Now, he understood his place in the world. Or...he thought he did. Dean originally thought he would spend his entire life standing at a door, sword at his hip, escorting the royal family wherever they went or simply making sure they left and entered the castle okay. They were respected among the kingdom, but everyone knew Regina was still out there.
He'd been quite resepcted among the other guards for quite some time. Until... Until he was made an outlaw. He discovered a corrupt knight, working for Regina and trying to get into the castle to kill the king and queen--not to mention the princess. Naturally, Dean had to defend the king and queen and, so, a fight ensued and ended with bloodshed and a lifeless body on the ground. Dean had been the one standing over it. Once he was discovered, he was made and outlaw and people were out for his life, now.
If you betrayed a fellow knight, you were as good as dead. Dean knew that, but he knew he was innocent. Guilty of murder, yes, but innocent of trying to kill the royal family himself.
Now, he lived on his own. Running from guards and keeping his head down. All but tonight, that is. It was hard to earn a living as an outlaw, so he thought that sneaking into the palace might be a good plan to earn a bit. A few crown jewels would earn him plenty of food and a nice place to sleep for a few weeks. At the moment, it seemed like a good idea.
The guard fell limp in Dean's arms and he set the other down. Did he kill the other? Oh, no. Simply passed out, but Dean couldn't afford being caught at this point. The hood cast a dark shadow over his face and his leather boots barely made a noise on the castle floors as he approached the princess's chambers. He kept a sword at his hip--his sword he earned from being part of the king's guard. Once at the door, he pushed it open quietly and saw it was dark inside. He peered inside and didn't see the princess in sight and he crept in, shutting the door behind him.
The former knight approached the vanity with the large mirror. He saw a jewelry box atop it and he took it in his hands, opening it. Pearls, emeralds, rubies, sapphires--it was marvellous. And perfect. He took a small leather bag he had kept tied to his sword sheath and he opened it, dropping a ring, a few necklaces and lone jewels inside before tying the bag off and tying it back to the sheat of his sword.
Now to get out of the castle...
