Lily Rose: Legendary

Chapter 24: Setting a Trap

James ran to catch up with me.

"I thought your father trusted me," I said as he walked beside me. "I thought he respected me--respected my judgment."

"It's not that he doesn't trust you--"

"Are you so sure?" I shot back. "I hid my real identity, The Jackal tried to recruit me, and I know a lot about The Jackal. If I were the king...I don't think I would trust me either. That's why I work alone."

"But you can't do this on your own."

"You're right. But the king and his men aren't going to help," I snapped. "In fact, they are probably going to make everything worse. With all those big, strong men, how will we find The Jackal? It's not like he's going to be like, 'Oh no! It's all the king's horses and all the king's men! Now they will take me to jail all over again!'" I folded my arms. "Your father doesn't understand who he's up against. He didn't even let me finish talking."

"I'm sorry," James replied. "He can be really stubborn sometimes."

"The stubbornness will be his downfall," I mumbled.

"What?"

"It's a quote from on of the stories my father used to read me: 

'The unhearing ears will bring shame.

The pride will cause loss.

And the stubbornness will be the downfall.'

It was the ending of Written in Stone: The Tale of Kings, Pride, and Death. It's a story about a king who wouldn't listen to his people. Instead, he listened to his advisor, who was manipulating him. The king was too stubborn and prideful to admit he was wrong and ended up dying in the end."

"Oh. A tragedy," James said. "You don't think that will happened to my father...do you?"

I bit my lip, wishing I had something encouraging to say. 

"We just have to be careful," I finally said.

He nodded, but he looked just as reassured as I was.

As reassured as mice in a cat and mouse game.

The mice almost always lost.

Almost, always.

I hung on to that thread of hope as we walked side by side through the forest.

"So, what else did you want to tell the king?" James asked after a few minutes of silence.

"We don't know where The Jackal is," I began. "The only way to find him is for him to come out and expose himself."

"How do we get him to do that?"

"By setting up a trap."

"A trap?" James asked. "How?"

"Isn't there a ship of coming from the Cassandora?"

"It's arriving the day after tomorrow."

"The day of the ball," I mumbled. "That won't give us much time, but we can make it work."

"Wait, what are we doing?"

"I'll explain it all at once," I replied. "Let's go talk to your father."

"I don't know, Lily. He didn't seem very open to listening--"

"Then we'll make him listen," I snapped. "This is important. Perhaps our one chance to catch The Jackal. I know he'll go after that ship."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because there is something he wants from it."

"What?"

"You'll see," I replied. "Now, let's go talk to your dad."

A/N Sorry for another quick chapter! But I just love being dramatic! Thanks for reading! Don't forget to comment!

Ciao,

SiSi