Robber Royale: Fairytale of a Thief and a Scoundrel

The Raid

 "So." He said.

They'd been riding long enough that the sun was now peeking through the trunks of the trees. She rode behind him, holding around his waist and chest, her body right up against his back, her legs up against his. Some of the others had headed off in separate directions to wrangle themselves some horses, and Fox had instructed Trake to get one for Gaelian as well, as it just made sense for safety and speed. But for the moment, he was thoroughly enjoying her companionship...in all ways.

They were going to ride as far and as fast as they could get away with, then let the horses loose when they got to where stealth became more important than speed.

"Who is this person we need, to break the curse?" He continued. The first real talking that had taken place since they'd begun with the sun that morning.

She was quiet for a time before answering. "They're no one really. Well, not to anyone else anyways."

Huh. Alright. "No one huh? Then what do we need them for?" When she hesitated to answer he continued, "It's not something untoward is it, like we need a body part of theirs to put in a potion? Or 'their life for mine' sort of a deal?"

He imagined the smile he heard in her voice as she answered, "No, nothing untoward." Though he also noted a sadness in her tone, and when she didn't offer anything else, he let it drop.

"Tell me about us then."

"Us?"

"Yes. What's our story? You said you 'let' me teach you archery, what else did we do?"

It was getting warmer, and she removed her cloak before speaking, shoving it into one of the saddle bags. Then...she told him, all about how they'd met in the training grounds by chance one evening, and then met there on purpose every evening thereafter.

It was strange, like hearing about someone else's love affair, in fact, at times he felt himself getting jealous...as absurd as he knew that was. Yet, he enjoyed hearing it.

He could tell she was editing, telling him only things that were funny or easy. Sometimes she would skip over something, mentioning it but not going into detail like 'the ball' or 'the moonlit walk'. Other times she would begin to tell him something, then stop, ending it lamely and moving on quickly, like the time he took her out fishing 'and...well...we didn't catch anything'.

He began to suspect she was editing out all the good parts, the romance and intimacy, and entertained himself by mentally filling in what she was leaving out, figuring she was just embarrassed. Or perhaps, she didn't want to put any pressure on what their relationship was now. Then again, perhaps he was just imagining things and there simply wasn't anymore to tell, and their relationship really was more of a friendship than anything else.

After a while she just stopped, prompting him to say, "Go on."

"That's it." She said quietly.

"That's it?" He was confused, then realizing belatedly he added, "Ah...then came the curse."

This time she simply nodded against him, he noticing how close she had shifted during their ride, fully against him now, her head resting against his back.

A sadness fell over them and they rode in silence for a time before he added, "Forgive me, but you searched for me for five years...Seems like a lot of dedication based solely on a few moonlit walks and some lessons."

He heard the smile in her voice as she answered, "You were a very good teacher."

She loved his laugh, so unreserved, just breaking out in its fullness. She rested her forehead against him, her hands holding to his sides, able to feel as well as hear it, relishing the moment.