A Thief's Shadow

The Phantom's Demise

As the sun rose slowly into the frozen air, it illuminated the path of yet another approaching carriage. If the latest carriage was at all like the previous, it would bring nothing but misery. Cal rubbed his eyes in despair as he shuffled up the steps leading to the King's hall. The lion of a man looked the part, wearing golden furs as he prowled around his chair, glancing up with a snarl when he heard the clatter of Cal's shoes on stone tile. "Shut the door behind you! Quickly you useless boy." Two months. He had been able to enjoy two months of freedom, if following the General's orders counted as freedom, devoid of the King's miserable company.

"Make sure it's locked. I don't want any more visitors today. None! They are nothing but complaining cowards. Do they ever try to protect themselves from thieves? No! They just let their precious little objects get stolen then come to me and expect me to get them back. They think it's my fault that filthy thieves live in this world and act as if it's my fault that they continue to exist. Do they do anything to help out with the matter? No! Don't you see how foolish they are?" Thiago at last halted his prowling and turned his glare to Cal.

"Yes sir. They are foolish, sir." He found the King's argument entertaining considering the man did nothing but order others to carry out orders for him. The man had no real responsibilities aside from trusting the General to carry out everything necessary to keep the kingdom in order.

"Clearly your little mountain heist didn't do its job." Interesting. Only two months ago, that mountain heist had been 'ours'. Cal had long since learned that the King only took accountability for actions that were profitable. "You understand the hand language of the prisoner. Bring him to me and we will find the other locations of his filthy brethren."

Cal nodded and relaxed the marching walk that he had developed after his last long trip under the General's watchful gaze. Thiago knew nothing of the protocols of elite knight behavior, and Cal intended to take full advantage of that. Though the Nicks provided hilarious company on their various trips – most of them consisted of guarding the ambassadors as they made trips to Nero's kingdom – Cal had actually begun to miss the company of his dear, idiotic king. He may despise the man, but at least he could easily manipulate him.

The corridors leading to the silent prisoner's latest abode were the coldest part of the palace, but the clean frost was preferable to the warm stench of the dungeons. With one gloved hand, Cal unlocked the door to Smiley's room. He stepped inside to find the masked man staring out the window, watching the latest carriage inhabitants demanding audience with the King.

"Good morning sunshine. You get to have a chat with his highness. People are still stealing and so on. Be prepared for a lecture. You'd think he'd learn by now that a screaming competition with a mute makes no sense. Nice room. Did they give it to you after the mountain massacre?" The prisoner nodded and stepped into the hallway ahead of him. Cal didn't bother locking the door; Smiley didn't have any valuable items to keep safe. The point of locking it was merely to keep him in. "So they've been treating you well aside from being stuck in a room?" The prisoner nodded once again, falling into step next to Cal.

As much as Cal was a master of one-sided conversations, he didn't enjoy them, so the rest of their journey back down to Thiago's throne room was silent. Only the click of their boots against stone interrupted the silence, forming a steady beat for the song stuck in his head. Cal opened the door to the throne room, and they faced down the lion once again.

Piercing blue eyes met with the silver glare of the silent one. "You are a liar. Thievery continues, and the crime level is barely lower than before. So tell me, where is your base?"