The Royal Thief

Chapter Fifty-four: Honor Among Thieves

Sorry for the very late and possibly terrible chapter. I had problems writing it, and it had problems being written. Also, lots of hints dropped in this one, so comment your theories if you think you've figured something out!

Also, the whole Joshua and his honor thing was supposed to have been a theme throughout the whole book, but it kind of got left out. Basically their entire relationship will need major editing when I finally have time to do that.

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"Do you know her? I mean, really know her."

"Of course. There aren't many people who spend all year at court. You meet everyone eventually."

"What's she like?"

"Morane, you've talked to her."

"Hardly." I leaned against him, squeezing my eyes shut. Leading a double life of Thief by day and rebel by night was hard, and it was taking its toll in wide yawns and bleary eyes.

"Don't you sleep at all?" Luca asked, wrapping one arm around me.

"Sure. While Caer's teaching." A moment later I added, "He's our history tutor."

"Yes, I know him."

"You do?" I wouldn't have thought a historian and a knight would have had much contact with each other.

"Of course. I told you, you meet everyone eventually."

"I don't know everyone," I pointed out, shifting around on the damp grass. It had been nice of him to join me in my exile a few feet outside the boundaries of the training yards and Joshua's glare, especially when it was such a relatively nice day for training. It was warm, but not for once not hot enough to give sunburn to a plank of wood. I wished I could have used it. "We didn't know each other."

"We could have. We knew of each other."

"But we never talked. That's what counts."

"No, I never tried to talk to you," he admitted. "I don't know if you know this, but you have something of a reputation."

"I know," I said, glowing with pride. "Caer told me. He also said it wasn't a compliment, but I don't think he knows what I consider a compliment."

"I don't think anybody knows what you'd consider a compliment," he joked, nudging me.

"Something like being told she's an unbearable nuisance, I would imagine." Joshua's shadow loomed over us.

"Am I really?" I gasped theatrically. "Oh no, I assure you, you're the unbearable one here."

Luca choked back a laugh, belatedly turning it into a cough at Joshua's glare. "Ah-- hello. Where were you last night?"

"Doing... accounts. Sorry, were you looking for me?"

I was still getting over the weirdness of Joshua doing normal things like keeping accounts and having friends and one of those friends being Luca, so I decided to back out of the conversation. Didn't sound like anything interesting to eavesdrop on and anyway, it didn't do to let Certus wait too long for me at the entrance to the royal wing. I'd learned the hard way that he'd just leave me to show up at the guards with no escort and no other way to get past for a good twenty minutes, which they'd spend staring straight ahead and ignoring me, until he sent a different guard to come get me-- which was a shame, because butting heads with Certus could be a highlight of my day, if I played it right.

Trotting up the hill towards the castle, I began to plan how to test him this time. I had tried picking his pocket a few times since the first day and never gotten away with it. It seemed his claim of being born and raised in the lower city was true, though I still wondered how he had become a second-class royal guard, then. Perhaps I should pry about that today.