Love & Thieves (Book 2) ✓

𝓒𝓱.6 ~ 𝓐 𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓟𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓼

Once, when she was eight years old, Jezamine spent the whole day pickpocketing the wealthy. Filling her hidden pouch with valuable items - watches, jewellery, coins - anything that would be worth value to her.

Pleased with her collection of goods, she planned to show Caine her loot and make her father proud. Except things hadn't gone to plan that day, all thanks to Kaleb's intervention...

Kaleb persuaded her to steal sweets from the Candyman in the Town Square. Making a bet that she wouldn't do it because she didn't know how to have some fun. Wanting to prove Kaleb wrong, she and Kaleb both stole a bag of candy and dashed for the mill factory. The foolish act caught the attention of the Guards and the pair ran until their lungs hurt and the Guards were no longer in pursuit of them. Barely escaping. The Guards continued to search for them, while Jez and Kaleb took the long route back to the Guild. Laughing at the small adrenaline rush of the chase and the handful of candy they managed to steal.

They didn't make it far...

Caine saw the whole scenario and was not impressed, catching up to the pair in no time. Grabbing their shoulders with a forceful grip, Caine led the both of them back to the Guild. Ordering them both to dispose of the candy before they reached the factory. They never did get to taste the sweets. The leader's disapproval and anger radiated off of him in waves.

Much similar to how he was now...

Caine sat across the table, anger radiating from him as he stared at Jez with an unreadable expression. It scared her now as much as it did back then. His silent anger. The silence was excruciating, she would rather him yell at her. Usually, Caine would lose his temper and explode like a ticking time bomb, his voice could be heard echoing through the entire factory. But right now, he was quiet.

He had not taken the news of Jezamine's failure lightly. She knew he wouldn't of, hoping Kaleb was right about him being pleased about the crown.

Remembering back to her and Kaleb's punishment for stealing the sweets - the cane across the back of their hands until they were bloody and raw. Afterwards they did chores for a month. Never stealing anything that wasn't a part of the mission ever again. She wondered what her punishment would be this time now that she was no longer a child...

"Where are my jewels?" Caine asked again, his tone calm considering his eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.

"Everything was going to plan until the King announced the jewels have been embedded into a crown..." She answered, waiting for his response.

Caine remained silent for a moment, his face changing from disapproving to greedy in a matter of seconds.

"A crown you say?" He grinned showing his blackened teeth.

What do you know? Kaleb was right after all...

"This news put a change to my plan, so now I have to rethink how to steal the crown." Jez explained.

"Hmm..." Caine said deep in thought.

She didn't push him, instead she waited patiently for his response. Kaleb stood near the door in case Caine lost his temper just as he promised. The Leader of Thieves was unpredictable with his mood swings, his obsession with the Royal Jewels have driven him insane.

"You said you and the young Prince connected at the Grand Ball? You can use this to your advantage and get back inside!" Caine exclaimed with a grin. "How you get back inside is up to you. I won't be helping you from here on in. It's all up to you now."

Jezamine knew her father wouldn't help her anymore after setting up her disguise for the Grand Ball. This was her mission, reminding her of how Caine sent Kaleb to watch over her.

"Do you care to explain why you sent Kaleb to watch over me?" Jezamine asked daringly but the man didn't answer her, his mind was set on the mission.

"You have until the next full moon to steal the crown..." Caine finally spoke. "If you come back empty handed a second time, there will be consequences daughter."

Jez felt relief spread throughout her body, releasing a breath she had not been aware of holding in. She was not going to be punished!

"But for your failure, both you and Kaleb are on cleaning duties tomorrow morning." Her father added.

She had spoken too soon...

Cleaning duties meant cleaning the multiple rest rooms, and the dishes after the Guild members have eaten dinner and breakfast. It wasn't the cane and she wasn't going to have her head placed on a spike... Jezamine was grateful for the small punishment. Kal on the other hand, was not as pleased with the news.

"Why do I have to be punished?!" He asked the Leader of Thieves angrily.

Caine all but laughed in Kaleb's face as a response, the sound filling the small Meeting Room.

"I sent you to make sure she didn't fail..." Caine answered. "You also failed your job, therefore you will be joining Jezamine in the punishment."

Kaleb didn't dare to speak after that, knowing he was walking a fine line with Caine. After they were both dismissed and left the room, Kal let Jezamine know his thoughts on the matter.

"This is all your fault!" He spat in anger at her.

"My fault!? How was I supposed to know about the jewels and the crown!?" She asked, irritated by his accusations.

"If you just did your job properly I wouldn't have to play babysitter to you all the time!" Kal yelled.

His mood swings were as bad as her father's, wondering what happened to the kind person she witnessed in the carriage?

Kaleb may as well be like the brother she never had, with their pointless bickering and their rivalry, which was similar to siblings fighting for their parents full attention.

"I never asked you to come with me!" Jez yelled back.

In a huff, Kaleb grunted and stalked down the hall and out of sight, and Jez did the same, stalking to her own quarters. She was tired after the Grand Ball and needed to sleep if she was going to come up with a plan to steal the crown.

Jezamine cleaned herself of makeup and changed out of the gown, throwing herself onto the small bed with a sigh of relief. Eventually she stared up at the blank ceiling, Jez came up with multiple ideas to steal the crown and get back inside the castle. After awhile, she let her thoughts wander freely, daydreaming of her time spent with the Prince at the Grand Ball. She drifted off to sleep with her mind on Alexander and his golden eyes staring into hers as they danced together...

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Kaleb knew it wasn't Jezamine's fault, but she was the one who had to deal with his anger when he snapped. His anger was towards Caine and his stupid punishment for failing after bringing him good news. Kal swore the Leader of Thieves loved punishing people and inflicting pain on others.

He would apologise to Jezamine in the morning, then again maybe it was best if he let Caine think they were fighting with one another. It kept his reputation as Jezamine's rival to keep her safe. If Caine knew that Kaleb was doing everything in his power to make sure Jez inherited the Guild, he would probably kill him.

Caine was a cunning and manipulative man, and everything and everyone had a place in his secret plots. They were all pawns to Caine, including Jezamine, his daughter. Maybe even Arianna, her disappearance was still unknown.

Taking off his boots and suit jacket, he fell backwards onto his bed staring up at the ceiling. Kaleb had a sudden idea of how to get Jezamine back inside the castle but she wasn't going to like the idea. So he decided to keep the plan to himself and only tell her half of it. What Jez didn't know wouldn't hurt her. He hoped she wouldn't hate him too much for what mischief he was going to cause and hoped his foolish plan would actually work.

Tomorrow morning there would be a mountain of dishes to wash up and floors and toilets to clean. Kaleb wasn't looking forward to the punishment. Caine was becoming more and more cruel each day, and Kal feared what he would do to the thief who committed the tiniest of mistakes...