This choice: Strike a deal! The bandit gets his body back and in return you....! • Go Back...Chapter #4Dealing with the Devil by: swapped4u   You tug on the reins and force your not-so-loyal steed back the way you came. The bandit stops yelling in your voice when he sees you coming back for him. You have to think fast if this is going to work out in your favor.
"Here's how this is going to work," You say, still on horseback. You pat the pocket with the mirror in it. "You get your body back. In return you fix my cart and say, I dunno, give me twenty gold for the trouble."
"What!?" The bandit sputters. "You're trying to make a deal? Who do you think you are, peasant!"
"Seems like you're the peasant." You give him what you hope is a devilish grin, though you're not quite used to where all the muscles are in your new face. The bandit frowns.
"And you're the bandit," He says. "What's stopping me from running back to town and sending the Guard after you? You forget I'm the one who knows where we were headed."
"You'd turn your own men in? Just like that?" You say, shocked at his heartlessness.
The bandit scoffs.
"They're hardly my men," He rolled his eyes. "Just....associates."
This is not going as planned. You squinted against the hot summer sunlight. The mirror felt warm in your pocket. Too warm; magically warm.
"And I'll tell you one thing," The bandit said. "You've got more moxy than any of 'em put together. You can think on your feet. Hell, you tried to extort me! That takes guts."
You're not sure whether you should be thanking him or telling him to shut up. You settle on silence instead.
"So how about this," The bandit pointed. "That mirror of yours, peasant, it can swap any two people's bodies?"
"I'm....I'm honestly not sure." You say. You didn't even know it was in your cart just a few moments ago!
"Say that it does. Say you could use it to, say, slip in with the Guard and help yourself to their weapons," A smile starts to spread on the bandit's face. No, your face. "Or use it to infiltrate the Royal Family."
What he was saying was a crime, surely! Though none such crimes exactly came to mind. This seemed to you much stronger than some illusion spell, a parlour trick. This was powerful magic. The brutal, uncaring, faces of the Royals drifted to your mind. What you wouldn't give to take them down a notch.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying, dear peasant," The bandit stretched almost casually. "That you and I are about to become partners."
"Partners? With you?!" You exclaimed. "As if! You just want the mirror. You've probably thought up a dozen ways to slit my throat here and now."
The bandit's face fell, but only for a second. A second was all you needed for confirmation.
"That settles it. I'll be partners. But the mirror stays with me. In this body!"
"Fine. Partners," The bandit said, bitterly. "I guess I should know your name. Or my name since you've apparently decided I'm going to be stuck in your body."
"Johnathon," You say. "What's your, I mean, my name?"
"Peter." He says. You nod.
"Alright then. Now what's our first move?"   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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