Princess Of Thieves

You Don't Look Stupid

It was early morning in the town square of Liena, a small town about a day’s ride outside the port city capital of Rinali. Despite the early hour it was filled with people of all ages waiting outside of a small tent.

Its bright colors had faded over time and wear, and it was covered in a thick coat of grime with patches scattered about covering holes and tears in the hope to keep out the wind and stave off the cold. A long twisting line of grim-faced dirt-covered villagers stood solemnly outside of it. Apart from the stomping of feet and occasional cough, it was unusually quiet in the foggy morning. A wide range of feelings coursed through the air; relief, fear, distrust, and hope. 

The ones that Jaxon openly displayed were annoyance and disgust. His uncle had given him a task, a quest of sorts, to prove himself as the true, rightful heir to the throne of Rinali. 

Even though his uncle never successfully completed his own quest to the throne he had inherited it from his younger brother - Jaxon’s father - when he was killed some four years ago. But, a band of thieving rebels took the opportunity to arise causing mass chaos among the villages and towns while the new administration was settling in. 

They had been ravaging towns, destroying homes and crops, and taxing the people relentlessly for protection against it for the past four years. Obviously, the king had sent many spies to infiltrate and destroy them over the years but they had always either been snuffed out immediately or, joined them. After feeding them many lies and false leads of course.

This time Jaxon’s uncle was determined to find them out once and for all so, he sent in his most reliable, and most secret weapon, his nephew. Which is how Jaxon was dressed in scratchy thin clothes standing in a secluded alleyway way too early in the morning getting ready to approach the hostile rebels that had murdered his father.

***

Jaxon waited impatiently in a dank alley for Ariana - one of his personal guards who was sent with him on the mission - to retrieve him and tell him the updated plan of infiltration. Three kids raced passed him, one clearly chasing the other two if the muffled screeches and whispered threats were any indication.

“Alexander Abel, I swear to all the beings above that when I catch you-”

“Weston, help!” ‘Alexander Abel’ exclaimed ducking behind the other boy, offering him as a sacrifice to the angry auburn-haired girl. 

The young boy yipped as a kick aimed at the boy behind him’s legs nearly pulled his feet out from under him and he only stopped himself from toppling to the muddy ground by grabbing onto Jaxon’s arm who had been too stunned to move out of the way. His vise-like grip nearly pulled the stitches out of the arm of Jaxon’s shirt and Jaxon was sure that he would have bruises there for the coming weeks.

“Excuse me, sir,” the girl said, smiling sweetly up at Jaxon before turning her flaming eyes back onto the two boys who were now cowering behind him, “I just need to murder somebody.”

Alexander continued to use the other boy - ‘Weston’ Jaxon thought he was called - as a human shield and ducking and weaving around the alley to escape the girl.

“Lexy, Lexy, Lexy, no. Lexy no. Lexy please-!” the last word broke off at a high pitch as he scrambled behind Jaxon and tried to climb up his back in an attempt to escape the mud-splattered girl. Jaxon stumbled forward in surprise, his hands reaching up to try and break the iron hold the boy now had on his neck. 

The four of them stumbled around bumping into the brick walls until someone finally managed to pry the boy off. He stumbled to the ground gasping for breath as someone - Gardin he realized - rubbed his back. Silas, Ariana, and Fred were restraining a kid each.