The Thief

Chapter 43

"Enough. No time for petty accusations. We have more important matters to deal with at hand." The Queen scolded.

An unhappy scowl passed over Josiah's face before he let out a huff of annoyance and turned his head away. Unfortunately his gaze now landed on me.

He gave me a blank look before curiosity overcame his features which then led to a mischievous almost completely hidden smile.

"You know, I don't recall being informed about this beauty." He commented while turning to face me completely and slowly making his way towards me and into my personal space bubble before I knew it.

The Queen gave Vorn a look and in return he just shrugged and did nothing to help me out of this situation. Josiah had now grabbed my hand and had moved it to his lips all the while keeping intense eye contact with me which had totally startled me.

Before he could kiss my fingers, the Queen spoke, "Josiah, I would like you to meet Skyler Black."

It was like the big hunk did not hear a word she said and proceeded to kiss my fingers anyway. I had never had something like this happen to me so I was totally uncomfortable. I looked over to Vorn for help and the bugger just shrugged and smirked making  not even the slightest move to help me.

The Queen just let out a sigh and sat down, one could tell that she was still very weak.

"General Josiah of the Royal guard." The Queen did not raise her voice but her tone changed into a chilling one which caused Josiah to become alert and rigid as he turned his head to face her. Even though she wasn't addressing me, I even stood up straight and alert.

"This is Skyler Black." The way she said my name was again chilling to the bone.

Josiah having become in tune again with reality scrunched his eyebrows up as his eyes flashed with a familiarity towards my name but it could not decipher where it was from. He turned his gaze back to me.

It was almost like I heard a click in his head as shock graced his features not a minute after. He looked back and forth between the Queen, Vorn and myself before taking a much needed step back from me.

"W-What?! How?" He voiced his shock.

I just gave a guilty uncomfortable smile and looked away.

Next minute both my hands were grabbed by him which again startled me and caused he to look at him.

"Here we go..." I heard Vorn mutter under his breath.

Josiah looked like a child who had just been given a candy. His features had lit up and I could have sworn that I saw sparkles in his eyes with tears running down his cheeks in waterfalls in... admiration? What is with this guy?

"You were the girl who stole from the Palace which nearly resulted in me loosing my job." He spoke those words to me like he was praising me for some reason.

"I'm surprised you did not loose it, would have done the castle a whole lot better. You don't even take your job seriously as it is." Vorn remarked trying to get a rile out of Josiah. This only resulted in the Queen leaning over and giving Vorn a flick on the ears which led to a high pitched sqeak from him.

I would have laughed if I myself was not in my current situation. Josiah chose to ignore them and started blabbering nonsense again.

"I have never encountered someone who can get through my highly trained guards."

"Really Josiah, those losers under your command aren't the brightest in brains and are half the time oblivious to the world around them much like you." Vorn continued his provoking resulting in another flick on his ear by his aunt.

"Teach me your ways Master Thief." He bent down after totally ignoring his brother again and looked like he was about to worship me like some Goddess.

"Enough." The Queen used that terrifying tone again. Josiah stopped mid religious bow with his hands slightly before him in the air.

"Like I mentioned earlier, we have more pressing matters to take care of."

It was like a switch in Josiah's brain and he became focused once again.

We spent another hour plotting and planning on how to defend the city along with its civilians. I added some input as well although it was useless most of the time.

The plan was not flawless but doable with the little time we had left which was pretty impressive.

The Queen ordered Vorn to return to Ivor and order him to get the Western Gate Commander and then to report to the Western outskirts of the city centre. She then ordered Josiah to warn the three remaining gates and rekindle the Generals and Commanding officers to meet at the same place. Unfortunately for me, Josiah insisted I go with him and he got his way.

Before I knew it, I was dragged down to the stables and plonked onto the back of a mighty horse. Josiah hopped onto his one and rode off like a drunk maniac.

My horse panicked and bolted after him. Josiah was a horrible rider although he was a lot better than then Vorn at least. Luckily the dark streets were pretty deserted so no one was harmed in Josiah's confident yet terrifying riding.

We were closest to the Northern gate so we headed there first. General Josiah dismounted before me and before I could dismount myself, a beautiful lady came marching up out of nowhere and stormed towards Josiah.

A panicked look overcame his features.

"Shit, not now!" He mumbled looking all over in a minor rushed panic for a place to hide.

The lady was not having any of this and when she reached him without giving him a chance to escape, she slapped him across the cheek.

It was absolutely deafening and I gapped in slight shock like a fish at the whole ordeal.

Josiah's head was jerked to the side upon impact of the slap. He turned it back towards the lady while lifting his hand to scratch the back of his head with an innocent smile resting on his lips.

"Bella, long time no see?" It wasn't a question but he phrased it like one.