Emma Steeg
Chapter 7: In Which I Become A Secondary Thief
Chapter 7: In Which I Become A Secondary Thief
I know what you’re going to say, Scout. That even though I couldn’t stand Kovate now, we’d eventually fall in love and live happily ever after?
Well its not that kind of story. That’s not how it works.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. Where was I?
I had to laugh at his dramatic introduction. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
“A little.” he straightened. “Now how about you give me my bag back, I’ll go back to being a thief, and you can go back to being a housewife in training?”
“You’re not very good at convincing.” I commented before I got a wicked idea. “See ya!”
I took off, my basket bouncing on my arm and my shawl catching the breeze of my speed. I had no idea where I was going, only that I had really upset Kovate, who was scurrying after me.
I ended up on the Star-side forest that ran the border between Trifecta and the Starlands. Going into the forest on either side was strictly forbidden, but here I was. I could hear Kovate yelling my name, but it was distant.
He had lost me.
I sighed in relief, pushing my way through the moongroves I had somehow ended up hiding in. I looked myself over, picking the stray branch from my clothes.
I settled on a cluster of small ferns, curious of the leather bag I still clutched in my hand. Kovate was a thief, and from the weight and jingle of the bag, a good one. Why had he been so determined to get this back? Surely he could get more?
Perhaps it was pride thing.
I tugged open the drawstring and dumped the contents into my palm. I gasped as it overflowed, spilling on to the ground below me. Not just coins, but jewels, rings, silver chains, even a small lump of gold.
And the boy had looked hungry.
I picked up the jewels and things that had fallen from my hand out of the grass and looked them over. Each treasure was perfectly cut and polished, like they had been grabbed just before a jeweler had set them. The coins were of several different kinds, copper, silver, even gold. I recognized the markings that made them from different places, Trifecta, the Crosslands, and the Starlands. The rings were mostly opals that shimmered like rainbows when they caught the sun. The silver chains were empty jewler’s settings, necklaces waiting for the stone that would make them unique.
I found one that I recognized from Trifecta. One of the more expensive and durable settings for a Trifecta tribute stone, but no stone had been set.
I poured the treasures back into the bag, save for that necklace. Almost on instinct, I pulled the ruby I had found in the ravine from my pocket. There had been other rubies in the little leather bag, but somehow this one seemed different. It caught the light more, showing off veins of orange. I pressed into the necklace and bent the clamps over it. I didn’t have the tools a jeweler would, so the sharp metal dug into my thumbs when I pressed on it. Once I thought it was secure, I latched it around my neck.
I felt strange. Money and fancy things weren’t something I had ever gotten. These sort of things were reserved for the rich and royal. I was not the rich and royal. I wore cotton and leather, not silk and jewels.
Yet here I was with silver around my neck and more worth than I’d ever had before, or would ever have again.
Now Scout, I’d like to say that I ran home. I’d like to say that I saved Trifecta from its poor slump.
But I was only fourteen moons old.
What would you say if your friend came home one day richer than anyone you knew? What if they had stolen it all?
No one would ever believe that a poor girl like me just had all this. They’d never believe Kovate existed, they’d say I was the thief and lock me up for good.
In a way, I suppose I was a thief. A secondary thief perhaps. I had stolen what was already stolen.
There was no time for reflection however.
I heard the whine of horses, several of them, getting closer. On some instinct or whim, I tucked the ruby on the silver chain under my shirt and tugged my shawl up so that it hid the necklace completely. I jammed the leather bag into my basket from market, and the lid shut with a clack just as four white horses reached me.
Now Scout, I could tell you that I resented the rich and royal. I envied what they had, and detested the fact that they thought nothing of the lesser man. But when you’re born into the lower class, respect for those above you is beaten into you from birth.
So I dropped to my knees in front of the great decorated horses, whose riders were even more so.
A description Scout? Think of any picture of a royal you’ve ever seen. Each horse and rider was adorned in gold and silver and silk, and clearly more used to it than I was. They looked down on me like I was the oddity. As though I was as strange and foreign to them as they were to me.
“Arise!” the most important-looking rider ordered. I stood. “What business do you have here commoner?”
“I was running, sir?”
“Why were you running?”
“I was being chased.”
“By who?” He looked bothered with me.
“A thief, sir.”
That got me an odd look from him and his fellow riders. The other three men looked more important than a merchant, but less important than this fourth man in front of me.
“What is your name, girl?”
“Avaká, sir.”
“Do you know who I am?”
“No sir.” I frowned, shaking my head.
“I am King Peter of the Starlands. And you, child, are trespassing.”
I gulped. This was King Peter? He looked very powerful, as though he could command the very air around him. I noticed he wore black leather gloves.
“For-Forgive me sire. I meant no disrespect.” I said nervously. While he and King Francis were the reason for Trifecta’s suffering, anyone will tell you not to offend a king of any sort if you wish to keep your head.
“Where do you hail from?” he asked, his tone staying even where mine had not.
“Trifecta.”
He raised an eyebrow. “The middle land?” I nodded, not keeping my eyes down as it occurred to me later that I should. “You could prosper far better if you allied yourselves with my kingdom.”
“Begging your pardon, sire.” I began hesitantly. “But my people are folk of simple living. We have no desire for the complications of war.”
I was worried ti was a bad idea to even remotely hint at the mention of the Crosslands and King Francis. But King Peter seemed impressed rather than angry with me.
“Well said. You are a clever girl, Avaká.”
“Thank you, sire.”
He looked up towards the setting sun. “The day draws to an end. Grand Duke!”
“Sire?” one of the other riders asked.
“Help the child onto your horse. She’ll be spending the night in my castle, and I’ll return her home in the morning.”
What? Me? Spend the night in the castle? In the Starlands?
“But, sire, I wouldn’t want to impose.” I stuttered, cursing the break in my voice.
“Nonsense.” he waved me off. “I’m not going to leave a young girl on her own in the dark. I’d be a terrible man.”
The Grand Duke steered his horse over to me and held out his hand. I looked at it nervously.
“We aren’t intending to hurt you miss.” he assured. I hesitated a moment longer before I took his outstretched hand and let him pull me up.
Have you ever ridden a horse Scout? Did you feel tall? Important?
I didn’t. I felt high, like the ground was miles below me and I was sure to fall. I felt small, like I didn’t belong riding behind a Grand Duke who was following a king who was taking me to his castle.
And I was right.