Noble Thief

by M. Lynn

  Sara clasped her shaking hands around El’s waist and drew the girl into her lap before resting her chin on the child’s head. “Ayden has been getting work at a farm. He walks there each day. Yesterday, on his way home, he noticed men he’d never seen before. They were talking to villagers, asking questions about a child. We knew they searched for our El so we escaped with only what we could carry.”

  Amalie nodded. “They’re at your house now. We need to get you out of this village and to safety.”

  “Safety?” Ayden scoffed. “There is nowhere in Gaule safe for El. It was only a matter of time. They will always come for her because of who you choose to be.”

  “Ayden.” Sara sighed.

  “No.” He narrowed his eyes. “She puts us in danger with every mission she embarks on. What would you have us do? We will protect our daughter with everything we have.” Amalie didn’t miss the emphasis he placed on the word our. “But what can we do against the royal guard?”

  Amalie climbed to her feet to meet his gaze. “I will make this right. I will protect her.”

  His eyes blazed, but he turned away. That would have to be enough for now. El slipped from her mother’s lap and waddled across to Amalie before lifting her arms.

  In a simple world, Amalie could have picked her up. She could have told her she loved her or that not a day passed when she didn’t think of her.

  That she wondered if every choice in her life had been the wrong one.

  Instead, she turned and walked to the stairs, stopping when she reached them. “I’m sorry. You won’t be able to return home for any belongings. We will get you everything you need. Tuck and a few loyal men will get you to Bela.”

  “Bela.” Ayden’s tone had gone from angry to resigned.

  Amalie nodded. “Go to the queen there and tell them everything.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “El’s father will protect you.”

  She didn’t wait for the surprised questions she knew followed her. Instead, she climbed the stairs. Tuck and Simon would be able to help them. Etta and Tyson would protect them.

  And he’d know.

  As if the secret were already revealed, she could feel his hatred slither along her skin. Her life as the Hood was over as soon as Simon returned to the palace. But she wouldn’t be welcome in Bela.

  Tuck followed her out. “So, I’m to go to Bela?”

  She nodded. “You must keep them safe. I trust no one else. Then… I want you to stay with them.”

  “Will you join us?”

  She shook her head.

  “I won’t leave you, Ames. I’ll get them settled and then join you wherever you are. I’ve told you before, I believe in you. My loyalty is yours and yours alone.”

  She gripped his hand. “I will leave that decision to you. Will and I are taking ship to Madra where the queen will welcome us. Most of the merry men will remain behind to care for the people of the village, but the Hood is too polarizing a figure to do much good anymore.”

  He squeezed her hand. “We will see each other soon.”

  She nodded, wishing she believed his words. “You need to leave. Get them out of here. You know the way through the back alley. I will stay long enough for you to get away. The rest of us can hold off any pursuit.” She walked toward the chapel door to signal her people who waited concealed.

  But as she stepped outside, the silence struck her. Her eyes darted to the rooftops and then the alley up ahead. No one was there.

  “Simon,” she whispered. “Come with me.” She pushed Tuck back inside. “Bar the door. Don’t open it unless you’re sure it’s me.”

  His eyes held an argument, but he only nodded and shut the doors, leaving Amalie and Simon standing alone on a deserted road.

  “They won’t hurt you, Simon, will they?” She glanced sideways at him.

  He grimaced. “I’d like to think Anders won’t, but he has little control over the men he commands.”

  That was news to her. She’d always attributed every atrocity she’d witnessed by his men to him, assumed they’d been following orders. She’d known the captain a long time. He was fiercely loyal to the throne of Gaule, but he operated under no moral code. He’d do whatever he thought was needed to keep them safe.

  Even if it meant taking a child as a bargaining chip to draw out the notorious outlaw.

  Amalie calmed her breathing and pulled her hood up around her head. Her fingers flexed on her bow as Simon drew his sword. They walked down the steps and crossed the street, the only sound was the patter of rain hitting the dirt, turning it to mud.

  Amalie paused as a thought came to her. “Where are all the people who live here?” Her eyes darted to the buildings on either side. No movement at windows. Not a sound of a closing door. Nothing.

  Simon spoke the words she’d been thinking. “They’re gone.”

  She lowered her voice. “We feared a trap at Sara and Ayden’s house, but they never expected us there.” She shook her head. “Calden.” He’d even revealed this plan to Anders.

  Before another thought came to her mind, shouting drew her eyes to the far end of the street where horses barreled toward them. Armored men poured from the alleys and appeared on rooftops, their bows drawn.

  Amalie’s heart thudded in her chest, but she dared not lift her bow. She widened her stance and lifted her chin to meet the eyes of the man riding through the center of the throng. Anders couldn’t see her face underneath her hood, but she could see his, eyes blazing in triumph.

  Simon lowered his weapon and stepped forward. “Captain.”

  Anders sneered. “Look here, men. Simon, the great protector of Queen Catrine has allied himself with the Hood.” He leaned down. “We’ve been searching the kingdom for you, magic man.”

  The venom in his voice wasn’t new. There was a time when Anders was the top guard for the king, commanding men from the comfort of the palace. But Catrine hadn’t wanted him involved in her reign so she sent him to a roving unit, meant to keep peace in Gaule.

  All they did was terrorize the kingdom instead.

  The guards lined up in a half circle around their new prisoners as Anders jumped down, his feet crashing into a puddle. He splashed his way forward, flicking rain out of his face.

  Amalie no longer cared what happened to her. The person she loved most in the world was hidden in the chapel behind her, and she’d do whatever she needed to keep the promise she’d made. She would protect her.

  She would save her.

  Simon’s muscles flexed as he prepared to use his magic to fight. But Amalie knew even he could not take on so many men. She placed a hand on his arm just long enough to feel him relax. And then she did the only thing she could.

  Her fingers shook as she gripped the edges of her hood. “I am who you want.” She lifted her voice. “I am the Hood.” She pushed the heavy fabric off her head and raised her gaze.

  Captain Anders froze as a slow smile spread across his face. “This is a surprise. I imagined it was one of your guards. How do we know this isn’t a ruse? That the real Hood isn’t getting away as we speak?”

  She shook water out of her eyes and raised her bow, knocking the arrow and drawing the string in one fluid motion. Before anyone could react, the tip of the arrow was embedded in the thigh of one of the men hidden in a nearby alley. He howled in pain and dropped to the ground.

  “You’ve underestimated me because I was a lady of the court.” She lowered her bow. “It protected me once, but I suspect it will protect me no more. I will come with you, Captain. Under one condition.”

  “You are in no position to be making demands.”

  She scowled. “Release my people. I know you’ve taken them.” She’d expected a dozen to be waiting for her.

  “I have done no such thing.”

  “Lies no longer do us any good.” She lifted a brow, trying to quell the fear blossoming in her chest. “You want the Hood. I understand that, Captain. But I knew you once, and I don’t believe you want to kill my people. At lea
st not without questioning them. You’re holding them in case I didn’t appear.”

  Anders studied her for a moment before turning away. “Take them both into custody. Then search the chapel.”

  “No.” Amalie thrashed as three guards grabbed her. “Simon, stop them!”

  Beside her, Simon bucked and fought but there were too many. He went impossibly still as the hilt of a sword struck him in the head.

  “Please,” she yelled as a hand pushed her to her knees. “Leave them alone.”

  Anders only glanced at her in pity. “All those associated with the Hood are a threat.”

  Seconds later, guards dragged Tuck from the chapel unconscious. Ayden wasn’t far behind.

  “Sara!” he screamed. “Sara!”

  Amalie met his defeated gaze, and she tried to jump to her feet and run into the chapel. A hand yanked her back.

  “They killed her.” Ayden’s entire body shook. “My Sara is dead.”

  The words sank like a stone in Amalie’s stomach. Sara, the woman who’d spent the last year keeping Amalie’s daughter safe had paid for it with her life.

  Amalie ripped her arm free and twisted to kick the man who held her. She tried to draw her sword, but he knocked it from her hand.

  “Where’s El?” She tried to get to Ayden, but the hard hilt of a sword struck her gut and she fell back. Mud splashed her face, and she wiped it away.

  She tore her eyes from Ayden just in time to see a final guard leave the chapel with a little girl draped over his arms. Amalie cried out as a guard yanked her to her feet.

  The guard holding El handed her to Anders. “Dead, sir.”

  “No!” The air left Amalie’s lungs, and she gasped for breath. Everything crumbled around her until she no longer recognized where she was. Every part of her ached. She’d failed.

  When a guard lifted her off the ground, she no longer fought. When he put chains on her wrists, she held them still for him. As they loaded her into the back of a wagon, all she wanted to do was join her sweet girl in peaceful slumber.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  “Are you sure this is the right place?” Tyson scanned the small cellar below the derelict chapel.

  John’s troubled eyes traveled the dirt floor before something caught his attention. He reached toward Edmund and grabbed the torch from him before crossing the small space and crouching low.

  Tyson followed him. “What is it? What do you see?”

  John looked up, meeting Tyson’s eyes. “Blood.” His brow creased. “Fresh blood.”

  “They were here.” Tyson didn’t know whether to feel relieved or alarmed. They’d traveled days to the village but seen no sign of Amalie other than a camp in the woods where a few men corralled horses. They hadn’t approached it, not wanting to be delayed.

  Edmund blew out a breath. “Well, that’s better than what we had before.” They’d first gone to the house John claimed was where Amalie would have gone, but it was swarming with soldiers.

  Tyson rubbed the back of his neck. “That depends on whose blood this is. They wouldn’t kill her, would they? She’s still a noble lady of Gaule. My mother wouldn’t stand for it. She loves Amalie.”

  John straightened. “She did. Once. But there have been years of strife between the queen and those on the Leroy lands.”

  Tyson hardened his jaw and repeated his words. “My mother wouldn’t kill her.” She knew it would destroy her son, but that wasn’t the true reason. There’d been a time when Amalie was like a daughter to the queen. When she’d lived in the palace after they convicted her father of treason. Those times seemed like a distant past from a far-off land.

  Edmund pulled Tyson away from John and lowered his voice. “You forget who has been searching for her. Amalie is a known friend of magic folk and my father hates us most of all. He’ll have no mercy for her. Her crimes only give him the excuse he needs to make an example. Especially here on the border where the battle with magic has caused much strife. Your mother would stop this were she here, but my father has always preferred asking forgiveness rather than permission.”

  Captain Anders had long been a problem officer in Gaule. There was a time Tyson thought he’d be banished for disobeying the crown. But Anders always managed the wriggle out of whatever situation he put himself in.

  Still, he knew Amalie.

  John’s voice intruded on their private conversation. “The Captain has been searching for the Hood since she began her mission. It’s an obsession for him. Many of his men have died while trying to find her and the rumor is the queen has lost confidence in him for his lack of results. He’s lost everything. He’ll want to make a spectacle of this, no doubt.”

  Tyson’s fists clenched at his sides as he thought of what Amalie must be going through. Why had she come here? Willingly walking into a trap. “That means we still have time.”

  John nodded. “Exactly.”

  Tyson walked toward the stairs. “We’ll find them. Edmund, I need you to go back to the camp in the woods. If anyone got away, they’ll return there for supplies. I need any information you can gather.”

  Edmund didn’t argue. “Where will you be?”

  Tyson glanced at John. He didn’t trust the man and wouldn’t let him out of his sight, but he also needed him. “We’ll go to the house where it seems like the royal guard has set up post. We can monitor their movements. Eventually, they’ll lead us to where we need to be.”

  Edmund grabbed his arm. “I will return to you at dawn.”

  Tyson placed his hand over Edmund’s. “Be careful.”

  “You too, Ty.” He hesitated. “I know how much you love her… but don’t play the hero. Don’t sacrifice yourself.”

  “Edmund, when Stev was a prisoner in Madra, did you worry about your own safety? When you almost died for him, did you think your sacrifice was worth it? Would you have given everything you had to break him free?”

  Edmund released him, but didn’t step away. “I hope she deserves you, Ty.”

  Even after everything she’d done, that didn’t seem to matter anymore. Amalie tried to break him, yet it changed nothing. “I love her, Edmund. I’ve spent most of my life loving her. That isn’t something she has earned or something she can lose. It just is. There’s no stopping it. It’s like my magic, a force inside my soul that I have little control over.” He gave Edmund a sad smile. “Be safe, my friend.”

  Stepping past his greatest friend, he considered his own words. Over the years, he’d tried to gain some level of control over his feelings for Amalie, lessen it somehow. Sometimes he didn’t want to feel anything at all.

  But he was wrong. When he’d let her push him away. When he’d thought she was lost to him. And again, when he left only days ago, planning to never return. His entire life, he’d had people around him to show him what it was to be cared for, to know someone would always come to save him.

  It was time to show Amalie what she’d never known. She was not alone. She never had been.

  John followed him from the chapel into the half-deserted town. Many of the buildings were still fire scorched and crumbling from the battles years before. Some of the residents had retreated to Bela and others had fled into the interior of Gaule in fear of La Dame. Many never returned.

  Neither man spoke for a long while until John’s voice filled the space between them. “I didn’t know.”

  Tyson didn’t look at him. “There are a lot of things you didn’t know.”

  “The things you said to Edmund…” He sucked in a breath as if the words hurt to say. “I hated you. When I was a prisoner and then after Amalie set me free. You had everything. You were a prince of two kingdoms and Amalie loved you. Your life seemed easy compared to that of a beggar boy who had to scrounge for every scrap he received.”

  “You know nothing about me or my life,” Tyson growled. “I had to run from the palace when my own brother was king because having magic once meant death in this kingdom. The person who was supposed to get me out—who
I later learned was my sister—was arrested and imprisoned. Then, La Dame took me. I spent weeks as her prisoner, doing her bidding while my brother was locked in her tower. I fought a war, thinking none of us would survive it, so La Dame didn’t take control of Gaule and Bela, so people like you didn’t become prey to her whims.”

  He kicked at a rock on the ground, the toe of his boot sticking in mud. “Easy.” He scoffed. “There is nothing easy in this life, John Little. The people in the villages don’t own hardship or strife. But you don’t get that. Neither does Amalie. Gaule is falling apart, yet she thinks only those she wishes to serve have troubles. What about the men she sticks her arrows in? Or the queen who lost the father of her child to an outlaw?”

  “Simon?” John’s jaw fell open.

  Tyson didn’t answer him. He turned the corner onto another empty street. Those who lived in this part of town were safe in their beds with no idea of what happened in their village that night.

  Tyson, John, and Edmund had left their horses behind, choosing to venture into the village on foot to draw less attention. The guards had known Amalie was coming, but Tyson had the benefit of surprise.

  They took the better part of an hour to reach the seemingly sleepy house. It backed up to a courtyard shared by four other houses. A man in a simple tunic and brown trousers sat in a chair out front, his eyes closed as if asleep.

  But Tyson knew better. “One guard on the porch,” he said. “Where are the others?”

  John pressed himself into the shadows across the street. “They already have Amalie. They think no one will come for her.”

  “Do you think she’s in there?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  Tyson snapped his eyes to John. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter?”

  “We can’t go in there for her. We’ll have to wait until they bring her out.”

  Tyson’s shoulders dropped, and he rubbed a hand across his face. John was right, and Tyson couldn’t use his magic to get in without risking everyone inside the building.