The Thief's Quest

This is the first few chapters of a new story I'm writing. I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter One

The Thief

T

he squalor-filled streets of Amaria disgusted high-noble Darien Dellingdire to the highest. Not only were the filth-covered urchins swarming this part of the magnificent city, the dirt, garbage, and all-in-general filth was everywhere.

     “This had better be good,” Dellingdire muttered to his companion, who was shrouded in a deep cloak.

     “She is,” rasped out the answer. “Don’t underestimate the Thief’s power. She is strong.”

    “In what?” snorted Dellingdire. “Sneakiness?” 

     His companion glowered at him and did not reply. The high-noble wondered faintly if he wasn’t telling because her powers were so great; or if her powers were from a forbidden thing.

     Magic. The thought ran through Dellingdire’s before he could stop it, and he quickly dismissed the thought. Evening thinking of the word was dangerous. 

    “We are almost there,” Dellingdire’s companion assured him. “The stench is getting worse. That’s always a sign.”

      “If this…this girl is so good at her job, then why is she still living in the slums?” demanded Dellingdire.

   His companion gave him another glare. “You really think that the infamous Thief would really want to give up her best way of trade for the life of the snobs that she’s robbed from?”
    “Good point,” Dellingdire nodded, fingering his new pocket-watch; the Thief had stolen his old one, which was the way that he’d thought up the scheme that was going to change his life for forever.

    It had been the market day in the magnificent city of Amaria—the city of the king. Dellingdire had been buying presents for his extended family, which recently had a marriage.

      He hadn’t even felt the slim, sly hands that had pulled the watch out of his royal robes. He’d only heard the man in front of him scream,

    “Sir! I have seen that girl! She’s the Thief!”

    Dellingdire had felt his pocket, and in that moment known that his watch had gone. He turned and glanced all around, but the girl had blended into the crowd. The only way that he even knew she was there was because the man at the vendor had recognized her from before.

    And then the plan had been hatched. He had contacts all over the city, and they’d finally located at least which part of the city the Thief, as she was known all over Amaria, lived.

      The jolt of the carriage woke Dellingdire out of his reverie. His companion frowned fiercely at him before thrusting open the door and stepping out onto the filth-incrusted cobbles.

    Dellingdire followed, making sure that his royal robes did not touch the ground. He followed his companion, barely being able to see his gray-cloaked figure because of a heavy fog that had rolled in from the countryside.

    “The Thief should be around here,” his companion explained. “My informants tell me that she could be in no other place.”
    “Right,” glared Dellingdire. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

    Dellingdire and his companion continued along the streets. Dellingdire could barely see anything, let alone his companion. What he did see of his surroundings disgusted him.

    Finally, his companion’s hand stretched back to stop Dellingdire from bumping into him. Dellingdire’s fierce glare went unnoticed as his companion searched carefully in front of them. The high-noble could see nothing but fog, filth, and squalor.

     “Come out! I know you’re out there!” bellowed Dellingdire’s companion. Dellingdire plugged his ears.

     “Really,” he started, “couldn’t you pipe down a bit? You nearly made me deaf with the last one!”

     His companion’s eyes nearly bulged out of the hood of his cloak as he glared angrily at him. “Will you shut up! I’m trying to negotiate with the Thief, of all people!”

     “I am the Thief’s messenger!” shouted out a voice. “What is that you request of her?”

     Dellingdire and his companion peered through the fog, but couldn’t see anything. But they knew that the owner of the voice, a young boy by the sound of it, was out there somewhere.

     “Yes!” yelled back Dellingdire’s companion. “We have a job offer for her!”

     There was a moment’s silence before the child replied, “I will tell her!”

   Dellingdire muttered, “About time.”

   They waited in silence, the high-noble and his companion. Dellingdire impatiently twiddled with the long cord hanging down from his robe. His companion only sighed. And then, finally, there was the sound of scrabbling children’s feet.

    “The Thief,” announced the child’s voice again.

    “What is it that you want of me?” boomed out a girl’s voice, following the sound of the child scrabbling away.

     Dellingdire’s eyes were bright (finally, she’d come!) as he turned towards where he was sure she was and answered the Thief, “I have a job for you, Thief.”

    “Yes?” she prompted.

    Dellingdire paused. “I need you to steal something.”

    There was a pause. “That’s it?”

     “Well…” admitted the high-noble. “It’s not that easy. It’s kind of…shall we say…special.”

     “You want me to steal the fabled crown?” sighed the Thief.

     “How did you know that?” demanded Dellingdire. He turned to his companion. “She can’t read minds, can she?”

      “Of course not,” his companion snorted.

      “I shall think about it,” answered the Thief. “I will let you know my answer. You shall know it is I and you shall know my answer by the sign that I give you. There will be no mistake what I mean to tell you, and only you will know it.”

      “How is that possible?” breathed Dellingdire.

      Both the high-noble and his companion could almost imagine the Thief smiling.

     “Oh, you’ll know,” shrugged the Thief. “You shall know.”

   Silence filled the air and in that moment the high-noble, Darien Dellingdire, and his companion, shrouded in the folds of the long gray cloak, knew that the infamous Thief was gone.

   She’d departed, off into the unknown world of squalor.

Chapter Two

Down Under

“A

re you really going to take the job?” whispered the small child, holding the hand of the older girl standing beside him, calm and tall, face full of peace and the knowing of what was to come. “Are you really going to trust the high-noble and take his job? And what on earth will the sign be?”

      “I don’t know, Rollin,” whispered the girl, brushing a hand through her shoulder-length brown hair. “But, in a way, I know what I’m going to do.”

   “What, Anna?” whispered young Rollin, eyes looking up at the slender girl. “I would have no idea what to do.”

    Anna’s eyes glanced around the crumbling courtyard before she quietly pulled the child along the outside. Rollin’s pestering questions were getting to her. She still wasn’t quite used to them.

     “Quiet, Rollin,” warned the young girl. “We’re still not quite safe. Not until we’re Down Under.”

        The young child smiled up at the older girl, letting her drag him carefully along, avoiding anything that would reveal them to the rest of the world. The young child could not help but marvel at his guardian’s ways.

   First of all, she moved the most silently of anybody he’d ever heard. She could easily sneak up on anybody without them even knowing it and sneak right away, too, which was even harder in young Rollin’s mind. She was as sneaky as a cat.

     Then, she had quick and nimble fingers. Rollin had always wondered at how they were slightly longer and thinner than usual. But to Anna, they only helped her more in her work: thievery. It was easy for the long, thin fingers to reach inside whatever was holding the thing she so desired and pull it out without the person even knowing it.

     And, she smart. Rollin couldn’t think of one person who was smarter. She could easily plan something, easily think of an escape, easily think of anything. She was the smartest person the young child had ever known. Ever.

    But, most of all, she was fast and nimble. Rollin had many times seen Anna dodging people, easily throwing herself up the side of a wall, grasping onto the almost hidden edges in the stone, and drop down on the other side. It was amazing, watching a professional like herself.

     “We’re almost there,” whispered Anna, eyes surveying the land before her.

   Rollin saw the familiar landscape before him. He could easily see the hidden entrance. Anna quickly ran over, kneeling down. In the thick fog the young child could barely see his guardian’s quick and nimble fingers prying off the fake stone cover that covered the vent down under the city.

    Rollin was so familiar with the place that he didn’t even need his eyes to know that he was descending down the ladder as Anna’s fingers pulled him down—down into Down Under.

fff

Rollin’s bare feet hit the grimy, cement floor below. There was a slight thud as Anna’s nimble figure landed after him, landing next to him like a crafty cat.

   “This way,” she whispered, tugging on his hand and leading, even though he knew the way by heart.

    After they’d descended, he’d watched carefully as Anna had put the disguise back over the opening before coming back down. And, now, they were in the place of Down Under, as Anna had named it when she’d first come to Amaria.

     “I just found it one day,” she shrugged when she’d first brought Rollin to this place. “The name just seemed right. Down Under. It has a ring, doesn’t it?” then she had grinned her grin and shown him the rest of her home.

    Young Rollin would always remember the day that he’d finally gotten his real family. Finally, he had an older sister who cared for him every day and made sure he never went hungry.

    And she didn’t really expect anything in return. She wasn’t any kind of a beast. More like a fairy, in Rollin’s eyes; a beautiful angelic fairy who cared and watched over him faithfully, his fairy guardian.

     The long tunnel finally widened, showing a grimy cavern full to the brim with things; things from beds with mattresses, pillows, and blankets to rugs, a fire-pit, and a whole little cupboard just full of food. Rollin knew from experience.

     The first time he’d ever seen it he’d gaped at it, his stomach rumbling. He’d never seen so much food in all his life. And at that moment he knew that his fairy guardian wasn’t also the best person in the world, but she could actually feed him. The idea was wonderful.

    “I’ll make a little something,” started Anna, breaking the silence, “while you get ready for bed. It’s very late and…and I need time to think.” The slim girl, more often known as the Thief, moved quickly around the kitchen, not banging pots and pans like some people that Rollin had known before joining the girl, but moving gracefully.

      Like the fairy she is, Rolling thought to himself with a smile.

     The young child got ready for bed like he’d promised his fairy guardian.

fff

   Curiosity killed the cat, Anna thought to herself briskly as she pulled out the ingredients for a peanut butter sandwich for Rollin. It should’ve been curiosity killed the Thief. She slapped the bread pieces together, the sides slathered in peanut butter slapping roughly together. Taking the crown isn’t going to be easy, Anna told herself, grabbing a plate off the shelf. But that’s almost the reason I want to do it—it’s said to be impossible.

      Anna smiled to herself and took Rollin’s sandwich to him. After he’d eaten it and fallen asleep, the Thief started towards one of the many escape routes out of Down Under.

      She grabbed a cloak off the pile sitting by the door and slipped out. The entrance the Thief had taken she’d taken for a reason—it was small and always went unnoticed where it went out into the normal world, going away from the safe dark of Down Under.

     The infamous Thief of Amaria was on the prowl.

Chapter Three

Firework Answer

T

he second night since the high-noble and his companion had gone to the Thief had passed. There had been no answer from the Thief, and now Darien Dellingdire was started to get nervous. He paced his paced his apartments in the royal palace mercilessly, and wouldn’t even let in his own personal servants when they’d begged with him for hours to let them in.

     There was a knock on the door that so startled the high-noble that he knocked over a beautiful vase full of his wife’s most precious lily and orchid flowers, the rarest kind that come from far overseas in foreign countries, with his toe. His wife was going to kill him.

    “Yes?” Dellingdire yelled, rubbing his injured foot as he jumped up and down in an effort to get the pain driven away.

     “Don’t you want to watch the fireworks?” came the sweet voice of the fourteen-year-old princess. “And, besides—Father thinks you’re ignoring him. Your companion set me to get you before my father has your head chopped off.”

      Oh, wonderful fellow, snorted Dellingdire sarcastically as he limped over to the door and threw it open.

     Before him, Princess Keesha did not look impressed. Dellingdire knew that her father’s nobles, or their sons never impressed Keesha. Dellingdire sighed; he himself had a quite nice boy, a little cocky, maybe, that vied for the princess’s affections.

      Keesha’s dark eyebrows were raised. “Well, are you coming or not? Father’s not always going to be merciful to disobedient and ugly nobles.” With that she strode off down the heavily carpeted hallway, with Dellingdire tripped behind her and trying to hide the fact that his foot really did hurt horribly.

    Dellingdire followed the commanding, bossy figure out of the princess out onto the huge balcony overlooking the city. In reality the balcony was really the top of one of the roofs of the palace. It was huge, and full of nobles, high-nobles, and the king, family, and entourage.

      The princess’s shoes clacked along the ornate, brightly painted roof tiles as she strode towards her family. Fireworks shot off in Dellingdire’s ears as he hurried to keep up with her. He looked down to the city below and saw banners, streamers, and flowers everywhere.

    Of course! How could he have forgotten? It was the Festival of Heart, the time when the people of great heart in the past were remembered, their stories retold by storytellers, drawings, and fireworks. Dellingdire loved the storytellers mostly, because for him the fireworks were too loud. But they were magnificent.

      Right now the fireworks were going off rapid fire, telling the story of the first king and how he had heart for the people. All of a sudden the biggest firework that Dellingdire had ever seen before blew off into the air.

   The blue sparks flew off, creating a word that was mind-blowing to Dellingdire. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He ran forward, to the edge of the balcony, straining his eyes against the midnight black lit up by the fireworks.

     The word was still there, huge and stretching across the sky.

     Yes.

     That one word changed everything. Dellingdire shook his head as the Thief’s words came back to him: “I will let you know my answer. You shall know it is I and you shall know my answer by the sign that I give you. There will be no mistake what I mean to tell you, and only you will know it.”

     Dellingdire had his thief.

n

  Keesha watched the high-noble curiously. What on earth was he looking at? Surely he’d heard King Ian’s story before; surely he’d heard the fateful words that had changed the young man’s life forever; “Yes.” Everybody knew the story.

     Though, she had to admit, they hadn’t done the “yes” at last year’s Festival of Heart. She shrugged it off. It was probably just a coincidence. But the thought gnawed at the young princess—why on earth was the noble so entranced by those words?

      Keesha glanced up and noticed something that put dread into her heart—Mikeal was coming her way. He was the cocky son of the one-and-only Dellingdire, who she already so despised that she would’ve hated the boy if he’d been nice.

     Escape was the primary thing on her mind. Keesha glanced up towards the ornate spires on the very top of the palace. Yes, those would do. She quickly fled into a crowd of nobles and their families, easily losing Mikeal as she reached onto the tiles that stretched all over the palace.

    Keesha pulled herself up, climbing higher and higher. Before she knew it she’d reached the spires. She glanced down once. Everybody on the balcony looked like tiny ants compared to her. She quickly pulled herself up onto the roof.

     The fireworks look like fairies’ trails from up here, full of magic golden dust and the promise of tomorrow. Keesha hugged her knees to herself and looked out over Amaria, covered in the faint glow of the fading fireworks.

      So this is what it must be like to be free, she thought to herself, smiling softly. To do anything you want, when you want: to be alone, to have freedom.

     Keesha’s dark eyes scanned the horizon. It had a faint glow of its own that she’d never really noticed before. It really entranced her, as she watched it. And, as she watched it, she didn’t even hear the creeping figure behind her jump down one of the many chimneys.

      If only I could be free, the princess thought to herself. In the very faint distance was the sea, wide and open and beautiful blue. If only I could get away and make it that far, I’d know that I had what it took it make my own way in the world, instead of just being given the kingdom by birthright.

      She sighed to herself, her eyes softening. But of course I’ll never even get the kingdom, will I? My brother will. I’ll be married off. What a horrible, boring life. Why couldn’t I just have freedom? Why couldn’t they just let me go out into the world? That do I even mean to them? Nothing, that’s what.

       Keesha shook her head. No—my beautiful dreams are just fantasies. I shall never get to see the ocean, unless I’m done up in a carriage and being shipped off to be married. If that happened, I’d hope that we got overtaken by pirates.

     And she didn’t notice the shadow smiling softly at her before it really did slip into the chimney’s depths.

Chapter Four

Throwing Gems

T

he Thief held herself carefully in the sooty chimney’s depths. Her hands had rags on them so that they wouldn’t slip against the soot-incrusted stones on either side of her as she carefully climbed down. Just as planned, the fireplace was inside of one of the old libraries at the top of the palace.

     Anna dropped nimbly into the empty grate, landing without a sound. She poked her head outside of the fireplace’s relative safety, and then pulled herself out of the sooty depths. She slipped the hood of her special cloak over her head and took off silently through the palace, a coil of rope and a rough bag dangling at her side, banging on at her thigh through her rough kilt.

     The infamous Thief of Amaria carefully glanced out of the room before flying off down the hallway on her quick feet. She avoided all guards and people, and when she came across them she either waited until they were gone or used to the walls to her advantage.

       She encountered her first guard in the hallway outside the door. She smiled to herself—he wasn’t moving, so she’d have to use the wall. Going into a corner, Anna pushed herself up the side of the wall, bracing her body carefully, her feet on different sides of the walls that separated out of the corner as she boosted herself up higher and higher towards the ceiling.

     Then, using her rope, she snagged one of the old torch handles on the roof, swinging herself over the guard’s head and landing, light as a cat, on the ground, the rope trailing down after her. The guard didn’t even notice.

     Anna knew for fact that the fabled crown was kept in the middle of the throne room, which was only used during the ceremonies and monthly hearings, neither of which was very often in the young urchin’s eyes.

     Soon, she knew that she was outside the very door. Four guards were posted outside, huge, foreboding, and powerful looking. It didn’t faze the Thief of Amaria. She only smiled to herself and grabbed something small out of her pocket.

     The Thief threw it in a way that the direction of the thrower could not be detected from the throw. The small item clattered across the floor. There was a slight pause. Then,

     “What was that?”

     “You should go check it out, Bartholomew—we shouldn’t leave our posts. Somebody might be trying to steal the crown. So we’ll stay here. And get back quickly, Barthy.” There was a chuckle accompanying the end of that.

      The guard trundled off to what Anna had thrown onto the floor. The young thief smiled to herself as she heard the inspecting guard exclaim in happy surprise.

     “It’s a diamond!” he cried. “A diamond! On the floor!” the guard’s footfalls signaled that he’d run back over to the door. “Look at this! Do you think that it’s the Princess Keesha’s?”

     “Let me see that!” yelled another of the guards. “Well, it certainly looks like a diamond. But it might be glass. We’ve got to get this reported. Bartholomew, you take the diamond to the royal jewel-keeper, while the rest of us stay here and keep watch.”

     And so off trundled the first guard. Anna couldn’t help but snicker quietly to herself. This was all too easy.

Chapter Five

The Quest

K

eesha jumped off the roof only when she’d seen about everybody go back into the palace. The fireworks had long since stopped. Only her parents and a few of the highest nobles were left on the balcony. They were talking about the stars, she was sure, from the high nobles’ pointing fingers.

    Keesha smiled to herself, taking to the shadows by the side of the palace’s ornate wall. She quickly tiptoed past them back into the palace. Just as she started towards her room, she heard loud shouting come from towards the throne room.

n

 Anna couldn’t believe it. She’d even managed to touch it. But somehow they’d known; they’d set a trap. The second that she’d held the fabled crown in her hands, the lights had flipped on and all around her were more guards then she could handle.

    And, striding arrogantly between the center of them, was a boy around the young princess’s age—and her own, but she didn’t want anybody to know that. The Thief was glad of her cloak that hid her features, and the pants that she had on instead of a dress.

     The boy strode up right in front of her. He flipped his own hood off his head, revealing pointy and sharp features, a little too sharp. His gray eyes seemed to actually pierce like steel. With a flip of his head he sent his light brown hair flying.

     Skip the dramatics, Anna thought with a frown that was hidden in the depths of her thick hood, which she was very thankful for at the moment. Get on with it. Are you going to kill me or aren’t you? Make up your mind; I’m not going to wait much longer.

      “So,” he chuckle, “we’ve got our thief, haven’t we? And not just any thief—the infamous Thief of Amaria.” Quicker than lightning he flipped out his sword and with the tip of the thin fencing sword threw Anna’s hood off.

   She glared at him. “Ha. And what’re you? A puppy in wolf’s clothing?”

   The boy’s nostrils flared.

   At just that moment the door of the throne room flew open. In burst a girl with long, straight and flowing wavy brown hair that passed her middle by at least a foot. Her brown eyes locked with Anna’s in surprise. Her tanned skin made her look like a foreign princess in the Thief’s eyes.

    The tall, slender girl strode through the crowd and elbowed the boy out of the way, coming to stand right in front of her.

    “Who are you?” she demanded. “And what’re you doing here?”
    “It’s very obvious,” the boy snorted. “She was trying to steal the crown. And, as both of us know, she’s been beaten to it.” He glared at the Thief.

    “Shut up, Mikeal!” the girl commanded.

     “You’re only a princess!” he spat. “I could one day be king if…”

   “If what?” she glared.

   Anna glanced up and was about to throw her rope when the boy’s head whipped around and he grabbed the rope, throwing it across the room. The princess’s eyes widened in surprise, and she turned in anger onto the boy named Mikeal.

      “She’s…she’s…”

      “A thief!” he finished for her. “And not just that—the infamous Thief of Amaria. Wouldn’t you know? I’m the one who set my treacherous father up!”

     “It was you?”

     Everybody turned to the doorway. Dellingdire couldn’t believe the scene before him. His plans were all spoiled. His so-called “infamous Thief” was caught, standing in the middle of the whole palace guard. And his own son was to blame for it.

    “You didn’t even know,” Mikeal sneered. He turned to the guards. “Take him away!”

      “You were my companion the whole time?” the high-noble demanded. “How could it have been you? Could I have been so blind as to not have even known my own son?”

    “I guess so,” snorted Mikeal. “I don’t ever want to see you again!” he looked away from his father.

    Anna couldn’t believe how she’d been set up. And she was only the pawn! Her thoughts turned to young Rollin, still back at Down Under, not even knowing what had befallen his caretaker. What on earth was going to happen to him?

      Just then another door on the opposite side of the room burst open and in came a kicking and screaming Rollin, held between two guards. Anna covered her mouth with her hands. Mikeal only smiled evilly in a way that made the Thief want to kick him.

     Mikeal turned to Anna with an evil smile. Just then the king also came through the door that Princess Keesha had come through. He was smiling, too, the same smile that Mikeal had. He come over and patted him on the back.

     “Good job, Mikeal,” the king nodded. “It’s just as you predicted.” The king glared at Anna. “And so you’re the might thief? Bah! You’re just a girl. Surely not a person like you could do anything so great as your reputation.”

       “I can,” she spat. “I could get away right now if I wanted to!”

       “Oh, and what about poor little Rollin?” Mikeal chuckled evilly. “I guess you went and forgot him, didn’t you?”

       Anna struggled against what she should do—escape, and have Rollin get killed possibly? Or stay, and have him live? Anna knew she couldn’t do anything while she was captive.

        Mikeal seemed to see it in her eyes and walked up quickly, putting his sword to her throat. “If you so much as move your eyelashes, I’m going to cut your throat and have Rollin be put to cleaning the castle’s toilets!”

       Anna froze.

       “Now,” started the king, stepping forward. “The meaning for our having the Thief of Amaria here in the first place.” He strode towards his throne and then sat down. His eyes locked on the young thief’s. “You have a way to get out free, with Rollin, too, untouched.”

      “I wouldn’t trust you, you rat!” she yelled.

      “Shut up!” warned Mikeal.

      “Anyways,” the king continued. “Really, Dellingdire wasn’t our main goal.” His eyes grew harder. “It was you.”

      “Why?” she demanded. “Just let me go!”

      “No,” answered the king. He got up and started to pace. “Even if you had succeeded in taking the fabled crown, what you would’ve taken would’ve been worthless.” He kicked the crown with his foot and sent it skidding.

      “Worthless?” Princess Keesha’s face went pale. “What are you talking about, Father?” 

        “He’s saying that what was lying there was a duplicate,” answered Mikeal. His eyes were reminding Anna more and more of pure evil. “The real crown was taken, stolen, not three months ago.”

        A gasp broke out, one huge wave of everybody in the room.

        “And now, dear thief.” The king turned abruptly towards her. “The only way we’d be able to catch you was on a job. We created that job, and now we have you. And what we need you for? To find the crown, of course.”

     Anna let the words sink in.

     “If you find the crown and bring it back, then you and Rollin will be both be set free.” The king looked away. “However, that’s not all of the quest.”

      “Excuse me?” Anna’s eyes blazed. “First you say the impossible—recover the crown. Then you say there’s more? What more could you possibly want?!”
       The king sighed. “The whole King’s Armor has been taken.”

        Nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Everybody knew what the King’s Armor was—the magical armor that had protected the lands of the kings for nobody knew how long. It was the only thing magical that was allowed.

       “And so you want me to retrieve it?” whispered Anna.

       “Yes,” he answered.

        Anna’s voice was hard. “And how do you know that I just won’t abandoned Rollin to you?”

       Silence. And then…

       Keesha stepped forward. “I shall go with her. I’ll make sure she completes the quest.”

      “NO!” shouted the king.

      “It’s alright,” assured Mikeal. “I’ll go, too, and make sure that nothing happens to the princess.” He glared at Anna. “And make sure that the mission doesn’t go awry.”

        “It’s settled,” announced the king. “Don’t return until you have the crown and all of the armor.”