{"sf1_id":671096,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Prisoner of the Prince","author":"AllisonTowers","words":4374,"posted_at":"2014-02-22T23:13:00.000Z","tags":["Benedict","Dragon","Fennec","Fox","Jackal","Monarchy","Prince","Raccoon","Regent","Royalty","Rufus","Short","Story Series","Thieving","Towers","allison","break","canon","case","heist","job","prison","servant","slave","story","thief"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/671096-the-prisoner-of-the-prince","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/671096","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=671096\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"A new story in my Allison Towers canon! I started rebooting it after deciding that the Allison's Journal story I posted ages ago wasn't actually that great and was really just self-indulgent BABBLE.\nBenny asked me to write a master/pet story and this is what I came up with. They don't have a master/pet relationship in the canon, more of a brotherly-possible-love-interest, but I hope it still counts :3\nFind enclosed the original drawing by Benedict that inspired the final scene: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11637042/\nEDIT!\nAfter proofreading I made some updates to get rid of some tense inconsistencies and write in some bits and pieces that I forgot last time. Enjoy!\nSpecial thanks to TheMolt for proofreading. http://www.furaffinity.net/user/themolt\nAll characters ©\nAllisonTowers - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/allisontowers\nWith the exception of Benny ©\nBenedict-Blitz - http://www.furaffinity.net/user/benedict-blitz","content":" \"The prince? The real, actual prince?\" I am\nvisibly flabbergasted. This is a new one in my book.\n Rufus has the same old gritty look on his face,\nbut I'm sure underneath he's just as surprised as I am. \"Don't look so\nsurprised,\" he says. \"Sometimes royalty need things acquiring too. God knows\nthey have the money for it.\"\n I excuse Rufus for making my valuable service\nsound like a flight of fancy and leap out of the tower to the roof of the opera\nhouse. It's late afternoon and the streets in the richer quarters are still\nbusy and bustling. I can faintly hearing the chatter of distant citizens, like\na clamouring chorus of insects in the urban undergrowth. I'm heading past the\ninsects, past the Groves and further up the hill to the very top, where the colossal\nviolet walls of the Royal Citadel rise high over the city of Avalon.\n From all the way over at the opera house, the\nplace looks almost like a tiny hunting lodge on the hill. \"I need to find an HQ\ncloser to my clientele,\" I mutter to myself as I bound across dilapidated\nrooftops.\n Corrugated metal turns to shingles of stone\nand slate, until I'm at the foot of the hill where the mansions of the Groves\nline the cobbled street all the way up to the gates of the citadel. I can see\nwhere I'm heading and could reach it easily on foot, but I could save a lot of\ntime by taking a slightly different mode of transport. Behind me there's a\nhorse-drawn carriage wheeling its way up the road towards the archway that\nmarks the boundary of the Groves. That's a pretty typical way for the\naristocracy to get around, but what catches my eye is the royal seal on the\nhorse's harness. They were going to be visiting the palace and if my luck held,\nthey'd be carrying me in with them. I put on a drunk act, stumbling along the\npathway muttering to myself. A little fall onto the road and the horses are\nbrought sharply to a halt. I slur an apology, move on and manage to sit myself\non a shelf at the back. With no windows back there, the guys inside are none\nthe wiser.\n The guards at the palace do their normal\nchecks around the carriage, but they don't find me anywhere. They can't be\ngetting paid much for their work, since they don't even bother to look for any\nraccoon thieves hanging underneath. My tail would pay dearly from the splash of\nall the grimy puddles, but I should be able to keep it out of sight while I see\nto the prince. I'm rushing to the aid of Prince Erron, the younger brother of\nthe Prince Regent, Artemis. He's from the wealthy Crowley family, a clan of\ndragons who've ruled over Avalon since as far back as my limited research has\ntaken me. He's decidedly less mature and less versed in rationality than his\nolder sibling, but aren't all royals at his age? It's cute, in a way.\n \n He doesn't see me snoop up into the deck chair\nnext to him. He's sat on a back porch of the manor house, overlooking a huge\nportion of the grounds, while he sips fine wine and orders around his personal\nservant. Something about that servant catches my eye - the twinkle of his huge,\nweary eyes or perhaps his height. He can't be more than five feet off the\nground, including his great ears. Fennec foxes don't grow tall, but their whopping\nsatellite ears make up for it. He wears a little raggedy suit that looks like\nit has never been replaced in the history of the city and he carries a silver\nplatter with a plethora of different snifters, tumblers and decanters on it for\nall manners of different alcohols. His wrists are quivering under it.\n \"What are you doing, boy? The brandy is all\ngone! Get more!\" Erron's sharp demands are followed by a sharp clip around the\nfox's ear. He keeps the tray's contents balanced like he had a knack for it.\nLike he's used to being slapped around. Right now, I just want to get this guy\nout of here. I don't want him to have to suffer being Erron's slave any more. I\njust want to...protect him from this. What am I thinking? Attachment during jobs\nisn't something that's normally encouraged in my line of work. I suck it up and\ntap Erron's shoulder.\n \"Ah, Allison Towers I presume?\"\n \"Erron.\"\n He frowns. \"You call me Your Highness.\"\n \"Then you can call me Mister Towers.\"\nIntimidation isn't my style, but it sometimes gets me a higher fee. And\nbesides, this dandy's not exactly in my good books right now.\n \"I could say a single word and send you to\nprison, Mister Towers.\"\n \"Then I guess you'd have to wait to hire my\nservices,\" I remark, with a cheeky grin.\n He huffs. \"Wait here.\"\n He wanders off into the mansion just as his\nservant returns. I can't help but speak to him.\n \"Hey,\" I say softly.\n He squeaks and looks up at me, eyes as wide as\nthe platter he carries. \"U-uhm...hello...\"\n \"Don't worry, I'm just here to do a job for\nErron.\"\n \"Master tells me not to talk to people...\" he\nmumbles, shuffling his feet uncomfortably.\n There was a silence. \"Do you like working for\nhim?\" I ask. Silly question, really.\n He replies without missing a beat: \"It is an\nhonour to be in the service of our great prince, His Highness-\"\n \"Forget the scripted response for a minute,\nErron's not here. Do you like it here? Just between you and me.\"\n He doesn't say anything else. I swear I can\nsee the words in his throat ready to burst out, but his lips are tightly\nlocked.\n I break the silence again - just one last\nquestion.\n \"What's your name?\" I ask.\n He looks bewildered. \"W-why?\"\n \"I'm interested!\" I chuckle.\n \"You wouldn't be interested in me...\" He looks\ndown at the brandy swimming around in the decanter, as if watching bitter\nmemories in its surface.\n \"Humour me.\" I give him my warmest smile and\nhe quickly glances back through the French windows to check for his master.\n \"Benedict. Benny.\"\n \"Benedict. I like that,\" I say. It's the\ntruth, too. That's a nice name.\n \"No,\" he suddenly says, after another pause.\n \"No?\"\n \"I don't like it here. I'm the worst treated\nin the whole citadel. I just needed to come to Avalon and I had no money and I\nmet a sea captain offering me a place on his ship if I agreed to be an\nindentured servant and when I got here, he sold me straight to Erron...\"\n \"Indentured servant? So you have a contract?\"\n He nods. I sigh inside - maybe this means one\nday he'll be free from this.\n \"When does your contract expire?\" I ask.\n He sighs. \"Never. It was supposed to expire\ntwo years ago, but he just paid off the sea captain and now I'm stuck here in\nthis-\"\n I wink and shush him abruptly as Erron comes\nstriding back onto the patio. He drops a book on my lap. It's thick and\nleather-bound and nearly gives me two dead legs.\n \"Have you offered our guest a drink, boy?\"\nErron booms, looming over Benny and smacking him again. \"Offer him a drink!\"\n I wince and wave off the offer, looking into\nthe book. It seems to be a book of myths and legends; it's got a new variation\non the Fountain of Youth and even descriptions of famous cryptids. Erron\ndirects me to a page deep in the bowels of the book, with the top corner folded\nover. Typical princely disregard for such a gorgeous tome! I just stare at the\npage...I don't even know if I was dreaming or awake, this is so ridiculous.\n \"The Philosopher's Stone, Erron?\" My face\nscreams weary disbelief.\n \"Imagine it, Towers! Lead, tin, iron, turning\nto sweet gold in my fingers!\"\n I laugh. \"You don't think this thing really\nexists, do you? It's a fairy tale!\"\n \"I did my research before I enlisted your\nservices, Mister Towers. I think it's out there. There's a web of rumours and\nspeculation and they all seem to point to a place on the far coast, a ruin.\nIt's in there, Allison! I'm sure of it!\"\n \"The far coast? That must be hundreds of miles\naway, I can't go that far!\"\n \"I think you'll find it a meagre distance when\nyou hear of the fee,\" he says, giving me a poor excuse for a sly smile. I have\nto admit, that ticks me off a little. I'm a raccoon, we practically invented\nsly. He leans in and whispers right into my face: \"Immunity.\"\n The word reverberates around my brain for a\nwhile and I fear I can't hold my poker face. I don't know if he'd even notice\nthe change in my expression - god only knows how much money he's lost at the\npoker table. I can't go for this, can I? Chasing a legend across the whole continent\nis unthinkable, but the thought of an easy retirement and a peaceful life at\nthe end of the road is enticing, to say the least. Immunity. That's the ultimate\ntreasure of the thief world. I catch Benny's gaze again. He'd never get a\npeaceful life out of this arrangement, just more abuse. Since when did I\ndeserve it over him? I hadn't exactly been living an honest life.\n Come on Allison, shake it off. Morality isn't\nmy concern. I make a living my way, just like Benedict makes a living his way.\nWell, Erron's way... Anyway, I deserve a good turn like this.\n It comes down to that one key question again.\nHow can I say I deserve a break when Benny's living like this?\n Something clicks somewhere in me and a\nresponse breaks from my lips, almost without my input. \"No deal, Erron. Chase\nfairy tales on your own clock, not mine.\"\n There's no way I can hang around now, so I\nmake a swift exit. I don't even know where I'm going right now, but I skulk in\nthe shadows for a while and manage to cross the citadel. I take to the roofs at\nthe first sign that the guards are after me. The rooftops go high enough to get\nme up and over the wall and down a tree on the other side, where a high grassy\nhill takes me straight down into the Market District. From there, I half-walk\nand half-sulk my way through the streets and by the time the stars are out\noverhead, I'm knocking on Rufus' door.\n \n \"Where's the party?\" he says, looking bemused\nat his late awakening.\n I push in past him and throw him his fedora\nfrom the rack. \"We have a job to do, Rufus.\"\n \"The prince's job?\" he says, still bewildered.\n \"No, I turned that down. This is a personal\njob,\" I mumble, knowing what was coming next.\n \"Hey, you know the deal, Allison,\" he says,\nraising his voice a little. \"I help you with the jobs for clients and take a\ncut, but what you want to steal in your own time is your business. What exactly\nis it you're looking to steal on this 'personal job'?\"\n My hands go in my pockets so he can't see my\nballed fists. \"Well, it's...a person.\"\n He gives me a look like he was about to get me\nsectioned. \"Allison, you're a thief, not a kidnapper!\"\n \"You don't get it, Rufus!\" I cry,\ngesticulating wildly just out of frustration at his lack of compliance. \"We\nneed to get this guy away from Prince Erron's employment, it's terrible!\"\n The jackal just laughs at me. \"First you're\ncalling me in for a personal job, then it turns out to be a kidnapping, now I\nfind out you're planning to kidnap a Royal Hand!\"\n I lean on a table to steady myself. I don't\nknow what's going on, but I was shaking. \"Not a Hand, it's Erron's personal\nindentured servant, long overdue his release. It's barbaric and unfair!\"\n \"Well, you know the deal,\" he holds his\nground, folding his arms. \"I don't do your flights of fancy.\"\n I snap. Flight of fancy? This guy is living\nlike a prisoner, being trodden all over. The Regent probably doesn't even know\nhe's there, least of all the kind of treatment he gets. And Rufus is just going\nto sit here like nothing was wrong? I jump on him and press him against the\nwall. \"Listen, Rufus! You were nothing before I cut you into the fencing\nbusiness. My reputation put you here and a bad word from me could put you back\nin the gutter where I found you. You do this one job with me and then we'll go\nback to your precious deal and I'll leave you alone. Understand?\"\n He nods and collapses on a chair when I let\nhim go. I go back to leaning on the table and squeeze the edge to get some\ntension out. What is going on? This isn't me. \"I've seen you get obsessed with\ncases before, Allison,\" he says, speaking softer now. \"But this is different. I\nhope this isn't gonna become a thing. You can't act like this, you're burning\nup inside!\"\n I turn to him. \"Then that just shows you how\nserious I am about getting this guy out of there.\"\n Rufus extends his hand and sighs. \"One job,\nthen we're done here,\" he says. We clap hands and bump fists and that means the\ngame is officially on. \"Let's party.\"\n \n \"Window cleaners? At one in the morning?\" The\nguard raises an eyebrow as he stares at the moustachioed raccoon and his jackal\nassistant, complete with buckets, sponges and a ladder.\n I put on my best fake accent. \"Well, with all\nthe important guests His Majesty receives during the day, we agreed that it\nwould be better to clean the windows at night, so as not to mar his public\nimage, as it were.\"\n The guard raises his other eyebrow, but I\ncould see he can't be bothered to go consult anybody on this. \"Okay, come in.\nJust...stay where we can see you. Remember you don't own the place.\"\n We're in the citadel. I can't help grinning.\n\"Oh, I can't wait to get a chance to knock out one of those idiot guards!\"\n \"You seem to be in a better mood!\" says Rufus.\n \"Well, I think it's the buzz of being out on a\njob again with a good friend. Don't get to go co-op very often!\"\n \"Try to keep it under control, buddy. I know\nhow you raccoons get when you're excited!\"\n We prop the ladder up against the balcony of\none of the upper windows and I skip up the rungs while Rufus holds it steady. Prince\nErron's room - jackpot!\n He has a double room with two windows and two\nbalconies. I can see him asleep and I can even hear him snoring obnoxiously,\nbut no sign of Benedict. I decide it's best to let sleeping dragons lie and\nsignal down to Rufus. \"Next window, let's go!\"\n I jump across to the next balcony and let\nRufus steady the ladder before he joins me. I can see Benedict inside and it\nwasn't pretty. He's sleeping on the floor, in a basket. A basket.\n \"Erron!\" I growl to myself. \"He's\nanthropomorphic just like you, you idiot. You don't get to treat him like a\nferal.\"\n \"Steady, Allison. We'll get him out,\" Rufus\nreassures, getting out a sponge and passing the bucket to me. We had to clean\nthe windows a little, to make our disguises look a little more realistic, if\nthey could be called that.\n Squeeeeak.\nSqueeeeak.\n I glance over and Rufus is staring at me.\n Squeeeeak.\n \"Allison, you wanna wake everybody up? Put the\nsqueegee away!\"\n \"I'm just trying to make it look realistic!\"\n \"Alright, give me the squeegee.\" I reluctantly\npass it over to him and he drops it right off the balcony into the bushes. I'm\ndespairing now. \"What's the problem? Nobody's gonna suspect a squeegee they\nfound in the bushes. It's not like it's monogrammed or something!\"\n I shuffle a little and turn back to the\nwindow.\n \"Really, Allison? A monogrammed squeegee?\"\n \"Don't look at me like that, Rufus,\" I sigh.\n\"I have to have some way to tell what I've stolen and what's honestly mine! Now\ncome on, I need to slip this window.\"\n It was surprisingly easy to shimmy the window\nopen. I love beautiful old buildings like this, they're so easy to break into.\nI drop in as silently as I can, but I don't think anything will wake up Erron\nover the sound of his raucous snoring. Benny's eyes are already open, of\ncourse. With ears like that, it's hard to miss anything!\n \"M-mister Towers?\" he whispers, cowering in\nthe basket.\n I crouch by his side. \"Hey, Benedict! How's\nthings?\"\n \"Okay, I guess...are you here to steal\nsomething?\" he asks, propping himself up on his elbows. I can see a thick metal\nshackle around his wrist, fixing him to the wall.\n \"We're here to bust you out!\" I can't say I'm\nnot excited, this being my first prison break and all.\n Benny gapes for a moment, shocked. \"I can't\nleave, master will...I'll get beaten up for sure!\"\n \"That's not a worry, Benny,\" I say, reassuring\nhim as much as possible. \"We're getting you far away from here and Erron will\nnever find you! Just let me unlock this shackle.\"\n There was a light in his eyes like his dream\nhad just come true at last. Rufus cleans the window and keeps lookout while I\nget my trusty set of lockpicks from one of the utility pouches inside my\nwaistcoat. With a bit of fiddling, I feel the pin click and the shackle drops\nto the floor with a clatter like the lump that just dropped in my stomach. I\ncan hear rustling outside the bedroom door and to my relief, Rufus heard it\ntoo. Benny stays in his basket as Rufus plants himself near the window, drawing\nthe guard in when he comes through the door. He takes a few steps and then I\ngrab him from behind, wrestling to keep my paws clamped over his nose until he\ndrops to the floor limp with a very satisfying thud.\n \"You enjoy that way too much,\" Rufus whispers,\ngrinning and beckoning Benny to follow him out of the window. He takes a few\nsteps, then he turns back and picks up his basket.\n \"You wanna take that with you?\" I asked.\n \"It's all I've got,\" he said quietly. \"I guess\nyou get quite attached to stuff and it's the only place you get to escape.\"\n I sigh as I nod to him. I'm glad I'm here,\ngetting him out of here. I stare at the dresser to take my mind off it while\nRufus helps him get the basket out of the window. There's a pretty nice looking\npocket watch on the dresser, with a big Royal Seal set in gold and a long\nornate chain. Well, I might as well make a profit! That can go to the monarchy\nfanatics overseas and they'll pay a truly royal price for it. Putting it in my\npocket, I hop outside and shut the window.\n We take a shadowy route back towards the tree\nwhere I escaped the first time, since the guards at the gate won't appreciate\nour suspiciously early exit. It's going to be quite a task getting there. We leave\nthe bucket and sponges stashed away in some bushes so we enough free hands to\ncarry the ladder and Benny's basket. Benny takes a last look back as we cross\nthe wall and sighs happily, hopping down the hill to the Market District.\nThere's a real spring in his step as we lead him back down to Rufus' house. I\nthink even the hardy jackal was pleased we'd freed this guy.\n Rufus quickly goes back into his house, probably\ndesperate to get back to bed for his beauty sleep. I stop him at the door.\n\"Rufus. I'm sorry.\" He looks down at what I'd put in his hand, confused. \"You\ncan have this, I 'borrowed' it from Erron back there. Should compensate you for\nthe work and for putting up with me earlier.\"\n He smiled. \"Thanks, man.\"\n \"You could sell it overseas and get a big\nbuck, man. There's loads of merchants out there who-\"\n \"Allison. You may have got me this fencing\njob, but that doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing,\" he grins, winking.\n\"You need my help, you got it.\"\n He closes his door and was gone. I turn to\nBenedict.\n \"What are you gonna do now?\" I ask, still\ntrying to overcome my concern now I know I have to leave him to make his way in\nthe city.\n He looks a little scared again. \"I don't know,\nI'm sure I can find something. Some new job or place to stay that's a little\nnicer than Erron's place. And Allison...thank you.\"\n I dump my disguise in Rufus' front room and\nset off back towards my den in the woods. It's a long walk, but nice and calming\nunder the stars. It strikes me after a while on the woodland paths - I did a\ngood thing tonight. A professional thief, doing a good thing to help someone\nout. Maybe there's hope for me after all.\n \n I don't see Benedict again until the following\nnight. I'm staying in my den and keeping my head down, since I'm sure Erron\nwould have his guards out looking for me all day. An unconscious guard in his\nbedroom and a monogrammed squeegee in the bushes don't exactly make a clean\nfootprint.\n It's not that interesting hanging around my\nden all the time, but it gives me time to plan new heists or tinker with new\ngadgets in the workshop. The sun is just going down when I light the fire and\ncurl up on my couch. It's the perfect relaxing evening by the fire, with the\nrain pattering down on the windows and the rumble of thunder in the distance. I\ndon't know why storms sooth me, but they do.\n Knock\nknock.\n What? I don't get visitors very often, what\nwith my den being hidden deep in the forest. I open the door and see\nnothing...until I look down. Lo and behold, on my doorstep there's a soaking wet\nfennec fox in a raggedy suit, dragging a wicker basket through the mud behind\nhim.\n \"Benny? How did you get here?\" I cry.\n \"The jackal showed me the way...C-can I come\nin?\"\n I break down inside. \"Yes, come in! Come in!\"\nI usher him in and set to work getting him dry. I get rid of his suit and wrap\nhim in towels and a red tartan blanket from the couch. His ears are drooping\nlow and dripping. It's a cute sight, in a sad way. All I can think to do now is\nget him sat in front of the fire and get him a mug of the lavender-infused tea\nI keep handy for these evenings. He has his feet up on the table to warm his\ntoes when I get back to the couch and I give him the mug. He looks at the brown\nliquid for a minute and takes a little sip. Straight away his eyes light up! I\ndon't know whether to be happy or sad. I can tell from his great gulps that he's\nnever had tea before.\n \"How long have you been with Erron?\" I ask,\nwhen his mug was empty.\n He sniffles a bit and looks up at me. \"I don't\nknow...years. I was a teenager when I got to Avalon and I'm an adult now, even\nthough I don't look like one.\"\n \"Well, height's not something you fennec foxes\ndo very well. At least you're cute!\"\n He squeaks happily and blushes a little.\n\"I...meant to ask earlier,\" he starts shyly. \"Why save me? Erron offered you\nimmunity, isn't that better than freeing me?\"\n I stare at the flickering fire and ponder my\nanswer. \"No,\" I say. \"I'm always plagued by these sudden morality crises and\nwhen I saw you there being treated so badly, I thought...why should I fuel this\nguy's fire? He doesn't deserve whatever he wants from me. So I did something\nelse. I thought it was my turn to do a good deed for once! And about the\nimmunity, it's just the antithesis of the thief life. What would be the point\nin doing what I love if the risk is all gone? I could just walk into a museum\nduring the day and insist on taking anything I want knowing they can't do\nanything. That's no fun!\"\n He giggles. \"You saved me so you could keep\nhaving fun?\"\n \"Not so I\ncould keep having fun. I saved you and I\ncan keep having fun!\" I ruffle the fur on his head and he nuzzles his little\nmuzzle into my hand. He looks a little embarrassed after that.\n \"I should leave, you've done enough for\nalready...\" he says awkwardly.\n \"You know I'm not going to let you go anywhere\nin this storm,\" I say. \"You can stay here tonight. I'm gonna go to bed now\nanyway.\"\n He nods and to my surprise, he brings his\nbasket over in front of the fire.\n \"You don't have to sleep in there, you know. I\nhave a spare bedroom, you're welcome to it if you want!\" I offer.\n He sighs and looks back at his basket.\n\"I...can't. Not yet.\"\n I sit down by his side while he curls up under\nmy tartan blanket. The poor guy just doesn't know any different than this. I\nsuppose he needs some time to recuperate from it all. I put my hand on his side\nand pat him, feeling the soft rise and fall of his breaths, and I smile. Maybe\nhe'd get his peaceful life after all."}