The Prince and the Thief

Chapter Eight

"She was stoned to death."

"What?" I cracked my eyes open to be met with Anciano sitting on the edge of Vic's bed. Vic groaned as he tried to lean up in his bed. "How's Mikancha?"

"We haven't told her yet. It's her mother." My eyes widened. Mika's mother was killed. Stoned to death. That's awful. How could you tell a ten year old that her mother died? Then again, Vic for the sake of saving everyone at the hanging had to watch his mother swing from a noose. "Ranké. She is suspicious that Kellin is the one they are looking for." Vic looked at his lap.

"Even if they are......I can't give him up now." Anciano motioned toward me.

"What's so special about him?" Vic locked eyes with me. I felt my pulse stop. He could tell on me. I was ease dropping.

"I don't know yet. He just is." He smiled a little. "I need to wake him up now. You should leave." Anciano nodded to Vic before leaving out the door. Vic leaned back on his pillows. "Listening in. That's bad Kellin."

"What's going to happen to Mika?" I pushed the quilt off of my body. All the humor drained from his face.

"She will be with her dad."

"That's it?!"

"What do you expect? We can't bring back the dead." He sighed, looking down at his hands. "No matter how much we wish." I grabbed a new bandage, coming to sit next to him. I started taking the old one off.

"I know you miss them." He hissed when I started cleaning around his wound.

"You don't have to do this."

"What if I told you......" I bit my lip. "That my father buried your people in unmarked graves."

"What?!" He shot up from his position, groaning in pain. I pushed him back down on his bed.

"Stop."

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I'm sorry." I whispered. I put the bandage over his wound, finishing the changing. It wasn't probably the smartest thing to bring up but I felt like he had a right to know. "Maybe you can find your mom." He grabbed my hand before I could leave.

"Thank you." He pulled me into his arms. I cuddled up to his chest. His voice sound so sad. I was hoping he would be able to have some closure. "I have to get up and do some chores."

"You're hurt. You're staying here and resting." I ordered. He laughed.

"It's kind of adorable how worried you are about me." I rolled my eyes. His cockiness was back. He tilted my head up, kissing my cheek.

"So you're not going to kiss me again?" He tried to suppress his smile.

"Again? When did we kiss in the first place?" I moved to straddle his waist. He raised his eyebrows, smirk on his face. I leaned forward to connect our lips. He smiled into the kiss. He placed his hands on my hips. There was a knock on the door and he sighed. I stumbled on the ground when I tried to get off his bed. I looked towards the door where Anciano was standing with a small smile on his face. Vic chuckled.

"What are you doing on the ground my dear boy?" The old man stepped into the small room.

"I t-tripped." A blush made its way to my cheeks. I had no idea whether he saw where I fell from. I'm hoping to god that he didn't. All the humor drained from the room.

"Kellin. I need to ask you a favor." I pushed myself off the ground, brushing anything off my body.

"What's the favor?" Anciano glanced at Vic who had his eyes narrowed.

"We noticed that you have become very close to young Mikancha."

"So?" I asked cautiously.

"With recent events. We need someone to explain to Mika-"

"I'm not going to tell Mika that her mom died! Are you crazy?!"

"Listen! No te atrevas a hablarme así!"(Don't you dare talk to me like that) Vic jumped in front of me, holding his side.

"I'll talk to him. He doesn't understand everything. Please Anciano." He begged. The old man walked out of the room. I let my hand run across Vic's back. I felt small bumps on his skin. They were healed scars. Vic turned around giving me a serious look.

"What?"

"Don't ever, speak like that again. You're going to get in so much trouble if you talk to him like that."

"Why do you have scars on your back?" His face became guarded.

"It's none of your business." He grabbed me by my shoulders. "Please talk to Mika. She trusts you." There was small taps on the door.

"I can't. I can't crush her. Vic you can't make me."

"Kellin?" Mika's voice made my heart fall. Anciano sent her here. Vic mouthed a 'sorry' before he went to sit on his bed. Mika came up and wrapped her arms around me. I pushed the little girl back, kneeling in front of her. She made a weird face. "What's wrong?"

"Mika..." I paused, looking in her eyes. How could I crush her? "Your mom, she..." She frowned.

"She's dead isn't she?" I nodded. She blinked a couple times. "Is her body here?" I glanced at Vic. He shook his head.

"No."

"Okay." She shrugged. I was taken back.

"What?"

"I can't cry or mourn. I have to blow it off." I looked between Mika and Vic.

"This is what you guy do? Just forget about them." Mika nodded.

"Just look on the bright side. I still have my dad." She skipped off. My jaw dropped. I stood up, pointing where the little girl disappeared.

"You can't make a child shove their feelings to the side!" Vic was calmly sitting on his bed. He was watching my every move.

"She still has her father."

"What did you do huh?!" His eyes flashed angrily.

"I didn't have a bright side. My family died within a month of each other." I covered my mouth.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"It's fine." I stood in between his legs, placing my hand on his shoulder. I opened my mouth to reply. "I really don't want to talk about family right now. We'll go see your mom soon okay?"

"We don't have to do that. I mean-"

"Shut up." He chuckled. He stood up on his feet, stumbling slightly into my arms.

"What are you doing?"

"Anciano needs my help." He kissed my cheek.

"Are you sure you can stand by yourself?" We laughed.

"Wanna help me?" I smiled.

"Yeah."

"You're amazing Kellin." He pecked me on the lips. I was still a little worried about Mika. I was going to look for her after I helped Vic.