Thief Prince

by Cheree Alsop

  “Be careful,” King Fayne’s voice cautioned from a corner of the room.

  Andric nodded. Freis' attention turned to the dark gray wolf at his side. The wolf stared at her with the same curiosity in his eyes that was on the Prince's face. There was no hostility there. Freis could tell by their scent that she had nothing to fear from them. The young boy reached a hand through the cage. She hesitated, then touched it with her nose. Colors, never a part of her visual spectrum before that moment, filled her vision. She blinked. “You're safe here,” she heard Andric's voice in her mind, and knew immediately that she could trust him.

  Freis ducked from under my hand, bringing me abruptly to the present. A wave of dizziness swept through me and I almost fell off my chair. Strong arms were suddenly there to support me.

  “She thought it would be too much,” Andric said quietly, leaning me back. “Looks like she was right.”

  I tried to open my eyes, but I was so tired that they felt like weights instead of mere eyelids. My head spun even with my eyes closed. I heard footsteps leave the room. A cold nose touched my hand, the head resting on me knee. It took a great effort, and a bit of courage, for me to move my hand so that it rested on the wolf's head again. This time, no thoughts swept through me.

  The footsteps returned quickly, almost at a run this time. I heard water poured, then a cool glass was put against my lips. “Drink,” Andric urged. I was touched by the concern in his voice and obeyed.

  Fresh water flowed soothingly down my throat, reviving my senses. I sat back and opened my eyes. The spinning lessened.

  I heard the Prince sigh in relief and looked over to see him standing in front of me, the glass held so tight in one hand that his knuckles were white. He offered me the cup again and gave a small, forced smile when I accepted it. He sat back down in his chair, his arms on his knees and his eyes on my face. “Maybe that wasn't such a good idea,” he said quietly, his voice strained.

  I shook my head, then put a hand to it and closed my eyes. “It's alright. We had to know.” I was more concerned with the fact that it was real than with the side-effects. “What does it mean?” I hated how small my voice sounded.

  I heard Andric shift in his chair. “I don't know. I've never heard of anyone who can communicate with animals like that without a bond. No one else I've met has been able to touch minds with someone else's animal.”

  I opened my eyes again, more worried this time. “Is it a bad thing?”

  Andric's brow creased, but he shook his head. “No, definitely not a bad thing. In fact, the possibilities could be amazing.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “We don't know what limits you have, but if the dizziness that comes with it is just a side effect that you can get over with time, then you could communicate with anyone's bonded animal.”

  The thought worried me. If just the rumor that Antorans were able to talk to animals caused such suspicion and fear in the rest of the Denbrian countries, what would happen if anyone found out about me?

  Andric seemed to guess my thoughts. “Don't worry,” he said quietly. “I won't tell anyone. It'll be up to you if you choose to let anyone else know.” He glanced down at Freis' head resting on my knee. “Of course, the animals you talk to might tell their humans, so be careful.”

  I nodded and smoothed the hair on the white wolf's forehead. She closed her eyes under my fingers. Tiredness made it hard to think of the walk down the hall and stairs, then up the other flight of stairs to my room, but I knew I couldn't stay. I didn't belong in the King's wing anyway, and wouldn't want anyone to question Andric's actions.

  “I'd better get to bed,” I finally forced myself to say. I rose slowly to my feet. Freis moved to stand at my side. I wavered slightly, and saw Andric reach for my arm to steady me. “I'm fine,” I told him with a tired smile. I made my way carefully to the door, then turned back.

  Andric was standing by the chair I had just vacated. His face was silhouetted against the window, so I couldn't make out his expression. “You know,” I said to him honestly, “I didn't expect to find a friend here.”

  I turned and left the room. The white wolf stood in the doorway and watched me make my slow way back down the long hall.

  Chapter 13

  I slept late and was the last one to breakfast the next morning. Andric had arranged for the Crown Princes and Princesses to have a private breakfast in a small, sunlit room on the second floor overlooking the practice grounds. The grounds were empty, and I realized I had slept through the morning practice. By the time Kimber showed me to the dining room, the others had already started eating. Bayn and Freis rose and greeted me with slowly waving tails, sniffing my hands in welcome. I felt the other Crowns' curious gazes on me as I made my way to the last empty chair.

  “Welcome,” Andric said to me with a formal bow. The other Princes rose and bowed as well, but with less formality. I hoped the traditions would be discarded soon, if only so their little slights wouldn't be quite as noticeable.

  Andric sat after the rest of us and smiled at me. “I was just explaining to the others the arrangements we've made for your comfort here.” His food sat untouched before him. “You're free to do whatever you’d like while you are here. The only thing I ask is that you take at least one ride through the city a day to see the state of things.” Kenyen and Danyen rolled their eyes at each other. Andric must have caught the look, too, because he spoke a bit sharper, “You will have the opportunity to do anything you would like for entertainment. Everything in my castle is at your disposal, the dance hall, instruments, horses, hawks, painting, sculpting, the forge, needlework and materials, writing implements, and the library. I have also arranged for any activities you might desire to do, so horse racing and some of my best warriors are available to practice with.” His eyes tightened just a bit. “All I ask is that you work with the animals under their handler's supervision, and that you try not to wound any of my warriors when you duel.”

  Danyen turned to Trevin and said in a voice loud enough to carry, “Well that defeats the purpose of practicing.”

  Andric's jaw clenched as he fought back a reply that probably wasn’t fit for a princess’ ears. I hastily turned to Kaerdra who sat on my left side. “Would you like to paint with me after breakfast?” The Crenan Princess was renowned for her artistry, and I hoped it would be enough to give me a break.

  She hesitated, studying me; then, finding no reason to doubt my offer, she nodded. “I would enjoy that. It's been a while since I've had the pleasure to do something befitting a princess.”

  Andric ignored the obvious jibe. I was thrilled when the other girls offered to come as well. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad morning. I knew I didn't imagine the look of relief on Andric's face when Landis tactfully asked if they could have a tour of the forge. Andric winked at me when nobody else was looking, and I smiled despite the blush that colored my cheeks.

  After breakfast, Kimber showed us up two more flights of stairs, down a long hallway, and into an eastern-facing parlor that was lit up like gold from the rising sun streaming through the wide glass windows. Easels already spread with canvas were waiting beside little jars of paint; several of the jars held colors I had never seen before. Kaerdra and Brynna were the most eager to begin, and picked positions closest to the windows. The rest of us took what was left and began to paint goofy pictures of each other.

  By the time we were done, Kaerdra had painted two beautiful masterpieces of the sun rising over the stone and brick town, Brynna had artfully created a very good likeness of her own palace back home, and Tisha had painted one of Ayd's hawks. Nyssa and I exchanged rueful smiles about our own attempts, which looked like children's finger paintings next to the others.

  When they saw my effort to paint Trae, which ended up with his head so big he looked like he would tip over at any moment, they tried to be civil and polite. But Nyssa's endeavor to paint a ship on the ocean, which would have looked better if a fish spit up on her paper, had us all ho
lding our sides and laughing.

  Everyone was smiling and joking by the time we made our way downstairs. We changed into riding clothes, and then met the boys in the small dining room for a quick lunch. Andric wasn't present, and I found myself watching the door for a sign of either him or the wolves while we made plans to ride out that afternoon to fulfill the Prince's request.

  It was nice to see how the morning’s activities had lightened everyone’s mood. We ate a pleasant lunch of bread, rich, creamy butter, light cheeses, pieces of beef and turkey breast, and an assortment of dried fruit topped off with cold milk. We munched eagerly and I listened to them chat while we ate.

  The Princes, it turned out, had also had a good time at the forge. Landis started to describe the sword he had asked the smith to make, and the others chimed in about the weapons they were having created as well. The Smith told them he would shape the swords for each them, but they would have to do any detail work on their own.

  Trevin spoke in a low, gravelly voice that I assumed was a decent representation of the Smithy by the grins on the other boys faces, “The final touches are what make a sword your own. Learning every nuance of your sword during the forging process is as vital as the hours upon hours spent practicing with it. It'll be an extension of yourself if you let it, but you must know every inch as well as you know your own hands in order to trust it fully.”

  The others laughed, even Kenyen. I was surprised to see him in a rare good humor. He turned to Nyssa. “So, how'd the painting go?” That started the girls off laughing again.

  Then an idea occurred to me and I blurted it out without thinking. “How about we switch activities tomorrow?” The laughter stopped and everyone turned to stare at me. I could feel my face turning red, but didn’t let them cow me into taking back the suggestion.

  “I'm not very good at painting,” Landis said finally, breaking the silence.

  Brynna scowled. “Me, in a dirty forge? Never.”

  “What, afraid your sword won't be any good?” Trevin teased. I stared and he winked mischievously at me. My astonishment grew when he continued, “It’s sad you Princesses are only good for the women stuff.”

  Brynna bristled, Nyssa beside her. “I can make a sword better than you.”

  “Yeah,” Nyssa chimed in. “Then we'll have a duel.”

  Trevin’s eyes widened and he exchanged a worried glance with the other boys. “I don't think we need a duel.”

  “Yeah,” Danyen protested. “That's going a little too far.”

  “Afraid our swords'll be better than yours?” Kaerdra asked, the challenge in her voice unmistakable.

  Kenyen stood up and shook his head. “This is silly. We won't fight you. It wouldn't be proper.”

  Brynna snorted. “Since when are you worried about proper?” She sighed dramatically. “It didn't stop you last year in the garden.”

  Kenyen's mouth fell open with the rest of ours. “Nothing happened!” he protested, looking at us.

  Nyssa shrugged. “I don't believe you. You're going to have to prove it.”

  Kenyen sputtered. “I. . . uh. . . Who's going to train you?”

  “Kit,” the three girls said together. They turned and looked at me expectantly. I glanced at Tisha who stood to one side and she gave me a small shrug.

  I immediately began to regret my suggestion to swap activities. I looked back to see the boys watching me as well. Their looks of apprehension would have made me laugh under different circumstances, but now they made me nervous. I had really gone too far this time. “Alright,” I finally breathed.

  “Yeah,” the three girls cheered; Tisha nodded her head once as if she had known I would do it.

  “Fine then,” Kenyen said with a worried frown. “We'll give you a month.”

  “That will be fine, since we’ve nothing better to do,” Kaerdra replied dryly.

  A tap at the door followed by a steward's entrance into the room broke the growing tension. “If you please,” he said with bow. “The horses are ready.”

  Landis groaned. “Not more horses.”

  I followed him out of the room with a small chuckle. I wasn't the only one still sore after the long journey.

  I was the only one who had raced yesterday, and surprisingly, I felt pretty good despite a few aches. With Trae recovering, I was surprised to see that Drade had given me the dark brown horse Prince Andric usually rode. Tereg sniffed me thoroughly and then accepted me without any problems. I swung up and realized that I was getting more comfortable in the saddle.

  “Stinky, smelly horses,” Nyssa muttered behind me.

  “I always smell like a stable after riding one of these things,” Kaerdra agreed. Her horse, a light brown one with extra-long, shaggy hair, crow-hopped to one side and almost dumped her off. She shrieked and clutched frantically at his mane.

  Landis urged his horse up to where Tisha and I sat on Pantim and Tereg. “You'd think the animals could understand them,” he said quietly with a wink.

  Tisha and I laughed when Nyssa's mount shook itself and she had to grab at her saddle to stay on.

  My heart rose when Falen rode through the gate of the courtyard toward us. His hand was still wrapped from the battle, and I suddenly felt guilty. I hadn't thought once how the other soldiers were doing after the Breizan attack. They had defended us with their lives and they deserved better. I promised to ask him how they were before the day was out.

  The Captain bowed low to our group without dismounting. “We have several options for today's ride. We can view the older housing district, take a trip to the mines, or go to the house where Prince Andric is working to refinish a roof before the next snowfall.”

  “Which one is the closest?” Nyssa asked, shifting uncomfortably in her saddle.

  Danyen gave a snort. “Who taught the Prince how to refinish a roof?”

  Falen turned an unruffled gaze on the Prince of Tyn. “King Fayne wished for his heir to be sympathetic to his people’s needs, so Prince Andric was trained since he was young in hands-on tasks like roofing or fencing to judging the proper punishment of a citizen who has committed murder. After the passing of the noble Queen, the Prince carried on with his father's wishes and trained in every form of labor required of his people.”

  “What happened to the King?” Trevin mused out loud.

  Falen threw me a quick glance, but he didn't reply to Trevin's question. He turned his horse instead and started toward the gate.

  “Where are we going?” Kenyen demanded, a bit agitated at the Captain's refusal to answer the question.

  “You doubt the good Prince's ability, so you’ll have the chance to join him if you'd like,” Falen said over his shoulder.

  The rest of us fell in behind him at the mercy of our reinless horses.

  ***

  The house they worked on was small and cozy, and in between two even smaller houses. As we drew near, I smiled at the sight of the Antoran Prince working beside his countrymen. Andric climbed down from the unfinished roof to meet us. He wore a short-sleeved shirt and rugged pants, and had put his cloak aside despite the cold winter air. There was sweat on his brow and his cheeks were flushed. He smiled at us in welcome.

  “There was a fire here while we were gone,” Andric explained, indicating the house behind him.

  “It seems that the trip was hard on more than just us,” Kenyen commented darkly.

  Andric nodded, ignoring the other Prince's scowling countenance. “A spark from the fire somehow made it to the roof; luckily, they were able to stop it before it spread to the other houses, but the house has been uninhabitable without repairs. We’re rebuilding the roof and repairing the fireplace so this doesn't happen again.”

  Now that he was closer, I could see that the Antoran Prince's face was smudge with soot, and he had ashes in his dark brown hair. My heart gave a little jump and I frowned at myself.

  “Is something the matter, Princess Kit?” Andric asked.

  I looked into his perceptive dark eyes an
d shook my head quickly. “No, I was just imagining losing everything to a fire in the middle of winter. That would be hard.” I tried my best to make my tone sincere.

  “It would be hard,” he agreed. A covert glance showed that he didn't believe my little fib, but he brushed it off. “The Kasan family has been living with friends and family for the past few weeks, but they deserve to have their own place back.” His expression grew troubled. “We're running low on building supplies, so we'll have to hope that we don't run into any more fires this winter.”

  Falen spoke from the position he had taken beside the Prince. “And if fires happen, accommodations will be made available. We have very giving citizens.”

  Andric nodded. “Very much so.” He turned back to the house. “We're currently swinging the rest of the lumber to the roof, then we'll cover it with straw for insulation, tying it to the wood for support and to keep everything in place.”

  “What's that?” Landis asked. He pointed to a large wooden contraption that looked somewhat like the depictions of dragons I had seen in the books in Father’s library. It had two main front support beams and a long back beam that went to the ground where it met the planks that were attached to the front two. Two boulders the size of small cows rested on the back to weigh it down against the weight of the wooden beams that were being levered up to the roof by a system of pulleys managed by three well-muscled men. The entire contraption pivoted on a large base that squeaked as it swung around toward the house.

  “My father and his men designed it long ago to make building a lot easier. It saves time and backs,” he concluded with a hint of a proud smile.

  “It's neat,” Kenyen said begrudgingly, he dismounted and walked closer to get a better look. He began to question the three men who worked the contraption, and Danyen walked over to join them.

  The rest of us followed Andric to the side of the house where piles of wood and straw lay ready to be hoisted. He looked up at the roof and then back at us, and I could tell he was a little unsure of what to do. He opened his mouth when a shout behind us made everyone turn. We jumped out of the way just in time to dodge a pile of wood that came loose from the pulley system.