Of Ashes and Stars

Chapter Five

Jasper in fact did not feel better in the days to follow. But that's not his main problem. His main problem is the fact that people in court were slowly finding out that there was an assassin in the castle. And more news was yet to come.

While Jasper slowly got worse, Prince Brian was on the search for the two most wanted thieves this city has ever seen. Reese and Austin. People know them, know how they look. No prosecutor throughout the kingdom had ever caught them. He was going to be the first to do so.

Meanwhile, Reese and Austin walked around the main market, not a care in the world as they browsed through everyone's products and services. "Hm... what do you think of meat stew and bread for dinner tonight?" Reese asked Austin, leaning his arm on his shoulder.

"Didn't we have that last night?" Austin replied.

"I offer fresh bread and goat cheese with the stew as well," Reese bargained.

"Fine but we don't have money."

"Who said anything about money?"

Austin gave a sly smile to his dearest friend and gave him a subtle nod. A new vendor had showed up today, selling exactly what Reese and Austin needed for dinner. Reese suddenly disappeared to whoever wasn't watching, Austin heading towards the stall consisting of this new vendor without stopping. "Hey there! Would you like some fresh bread and goat cheese? Made from our family-owned farm!" the vendor called out.

"Sure! My friend and I were looking for dinner. I believe that your bread and cheese would be a great addition to our meat stew," Austin replied, getting closer to him.

11

As Austin got closer to the vendor from the front, Reese snuck into the stall from the back, hiding behind tall crates full of bread and cheese. While the vendor gave his presentation to Austin, Reese took the chance of distraction to fill his worn leather satchel with two small wheels of goat cheese and a couple of loaves of bread. "Wow! This sounds amazing! How much for a small loaf and small chunk of goat cheese?" Austin asked.

This was Reese's cue to leave. Otherwise, he would get caught. "12 dominions," he heard the vendor reply as Reese left the stall. Mission accomplished. He chuckled and kept walking, not noticing the awaiting prince standing in front of him until he walked into him. "Watch where you're going!" he exclaimed, looking down and stepping to the side to avoid eye contact with the prince.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching. I've recently moved here and got robbed on my first day here. Do you have anything to eat?"

Reese pondered this for a few seconds. While he did just steal a couple of loafs of bread, and while the two made the best thieves, food was hard to come by these days. Security was going up, making it more difficult to steal food. But he did know how it felt to starve for days in a row. "Yeah, sure. Here," he pulled out the biggest loaf in his bag and handed it to him.

For a few seconds, he made eye contact with the young prince's emerald green eyes. They looked like the emeralds that adorned the rooftops of the city, worth more than Austin's and Reese's life combined. "Thank you," the prince smiled. From what Reese could tell, this man was more than capable of buying all the loaves of bread in the world with just his coat which was adorned with threads of silver and gold, contrasting the dark blue cloth.

The thief cleared his throat and walked over to his waiting friend who was snacking on a most likely stolen apple. "What was that about?" Austin asked, throwing the apple core over his shoulder as they walked away.