Stealing a Princess (A Rise of the Guardians Fanfiction)

Stirrings

The moment Jack had woken up this morning, he had felt a change in the air. Something was going to happen today, he was sure of it. Being more of a night owl, he had had to drag himself out of bed to change into his servant’s clothes. The reason he still wore the scratchy, coarse, wool was because he was still looking for the painting throughout the castle.

So far, there had been no sign of the painting, even with his constant searching of the castle, peeking into every nook and cranny he could find. He was getting frustrated, and had started to wonder if the painting was worth all his troubles.

Staying crammed in a tiny room for most of the day was not one of Jack’s favorite things to do, you see. He preferred to be running wild in the woods, or even shoving his way through a thick crowd of people in the city. Anything was better than staying in the storeroom for hours on end, with nothing to do but count the cracks in the walls and the ceiling.

He needed to do something, or he would go mad. With that thought in mind, he set out to pay a visit to the kitchen in search of a snack. Walking through the hallways, Jack noticed the many portraits of the king and his family.

The king, he decided, looked like a very strict father. He had a severe face, and Jack could see the resemblance between Tooth and the king. They both had the same straight nose, and the shapes of their faces were quite similar, too. In the paintings he passed, the king always wore a serious expression.

Jack could almost feel his eyes following him through the hallways, as if the paintings could sense that he didn’t belong in the castle.

Despite the serious look the king had about him, the queen seemed like a very pleasant woman in the paintings he saw of her, which were few and far in between. With long black hair, she was depicted as a slim, petite, smiling woman.

Her eyes were striking, which explained why he felt like Tooth could see right through him whenever he caught her staring at him.

As he passed by the door to the library, Jack paused to look inside. He had to admit, he was curious about what it was like in there. Poking his head in, he started when he found a stout old man, sitting at a table surrounded by piles of books, staring at him.

“Um, I was… Uh… looking for a… rag I dropped, have you seen it?” He cringed when he heard his own voice. Mentally berating himself for the unconvincing excuse, he tried to look as if he was looking around at the chairs, tables, and stacks of books around the room.

The man snorted, obviously thinking the same. Deciding he had better make a run for it before the man questioned his real reason for entering the library, Jack hastily uttered a goodbye and retreated out the door before the man could say a word.

Had he been looking, he would have seen the man, shoulders shaking with barely suppressed laughter, wave his hand goodbye at his retreating figure.

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Tooth could feel the smooth leather of the pouch containing the necklace bouncing against the hollow of her neck as she hurried towards the library. She wanted to hide it in there, where Imogen couldn’t find it and force her to wear it because it ‘went beautifully with her eyes’ and was ‘simply gorgeous’.

Cursing Imogen’s sharp eyes, she ducked into a hallway when she heard her name being called. Trying her best not to look like she was running away from her nurse, she quickly opened the door and rushed into the library.

Sandy’s head poked up from where he was reading and he gave her a wave; one she returned half-heartedly as she panted, trying to catch her breath. Sensing her distress, Sandy hurried to help her, patting her back comfortingly.