Jewel Thief
Chapter 1: Necklaces and Thievery
I'm not going to go into a vivid rationalization on what made me do it. All I know is that one moment I was being held back by Ruka, and then suddenly I found myself standing over a pool of blood and a girl lying on the ground clutching her nose.
"You bitch," the girl snarled, red liquid dripping from the side of her nose, staining the collar of her tunic. One side of her face started to swell.
My knuckles felt chafed—it was an odd, but pleasant sensation. It made me want to punch her again.
By now, a crowd of commoners had started to gather around us. Some of them had just returned from their work at the fields, and sacks of hay were balanced precariously on their shoulders. Others, like mothers with young children, took one look at the scene and hurried on, shielding the eyes of the their children from witnessing the gory scene.
"Mikan, stop. Just stop!"
I felt arms encircling my waist and lifting me off the floor. I tried to squirm my way out of his grip, but he held on tight, preventing me from making any sudden movements.
"Ruka, let me go. I need to finish this," I said, fully aware that my voice was hoarse from all the shouting that I had done.
But Ruka's grip wouldn't budge and I could feel him shaking his head from behind me.
"It's not worth it, Mikan. Let's just get out of here."
Just as I was about to make a clever retort, I felt myself being thrown over a broad shoulder and carried away. The girl on the ground had one hand raised to her swollen cheek, and she shot me a murderous stare as I was dragged away. People from the crowd shook their fist at me and shouted obscene remarks towards my direction.
"Ruka, let me down, this instant," I growled, beating my fists as hard as I could on his back. Ruka kept walking, unfazed by the rhythmic thumps I was inflicting on his back. No matter how much I pleaded with him—even to the point when I tried to bargain away my possessions to him—Ruka didn't respond.
Only when we were a safe distance away from the scene did Ruka decide to put me down. Big mistake.
I pounced on him the moment I was given the chance but he sidestepped, and evaded my punch as if he were expecting it all along.
"Have you calmed down now?" he asked, throwing a leather waterbag on the ground in front of me. I grabbed the bag, twisted the cap off, and chugged the water down in greedy gulps.
He was conscious of keeping a careful distance between us. I could see that he was anticipating my every move. His tan shirt stuck closely to his broad chest and shoulders, and his hide pants rippled as he moved closer to me.
"You know I'll have to report this to the king, right? I don't think he'll like hearing about his daughter getting into another scuffle for the second time this week."
"That girl provoked me. I had no choice but to retaliate."
Ruka shook his head. "This is why you aren't very popular with the peasants, milady. You've got to learn to restrain yourself and use reasoning instead of your fists to solve problems."
I scoffed at the thought. "Ruka, she called the princess a 'bastard' and undeserving of the throne because of her—and I quote—'lowly' mother." Mikan huffed as she remembered the scene play out in her head. "If only that girl knew who she was speaking to! Besides, I was never popular with the common people, anyways. They never truly saw me as a rightful heir to the throne, being an illegitimate child and all."
"Regardless," Ruka's tone grew noticeably softer as he continued, "you shouldn't have done that. The girl was throwing empty threats at you, she was harmless. And besides, she couldn't very well defend herself knowing that hitting you would cost her a life in the dungeons. It wasn't even a fair fight."
I blushed at the thought. A wave of shame washed over me. I knew that he was right. "So, are you really going to tell my father?"
Despite my show of defiance, I cowered at the thought of my father finding out what I had done. He had already explicitly made it clear that if I had gotten into another brawl, my already limited freedom would be limited even further. At the moment, I wasn't even allowed to leave the castle without Ruka as an accompaniment. After this debacle, I may not even be allowed to leave the castle at all. Ever.
The thought scared me because I knew my father was not one to throw threats around lightly. Whatever he said, he meant it, and he was not afraid of carrying out his words.
Ruka scratched the back of his head and regarded me seriously. His eyebrows came together. "Well, will you promise me that this is absolutely the last time this will happen?" I nodded vigorously. I even gave him my best pouting face.
"I mean it, Mikan. This has to be the last time."
"I swear to it," I said slowly. "What do you want me to do? Draw my own blood to seal the deal?" I felt around my waist for the hidden dagger and made a show of trying to retrieve it.
Ruka waved his hands out in front of him as if to stop me. "No. Your word is fine. I have faith that you'll stick to it."
I relaxed under his gaze, no longer on predatory mode. I stared down at my tightly knitted dress and found ugly splotches of mud staining all sides of the fabric. My lady-in-waiting, Misaki, would definitely not be pleased once she saw me in this state.
"Could you just tell Misaki that I fell down on a puddle of mud?"
Ruka grinned mischievously. "I will. But I don't think Misaki will be very convinced with that, considering that this is the fifth time this week you've 'fallen' into a puddle."
I didn't think Misaki would mind anyways. I always attired myself in dresses that the scullery maids wore in hopes to disguise my identity when I went out in public.. For the most part, the commoners never gave me a second glance as I had been hoping for all along.
"Come on, let's go get our horses and ride back," Ruka suggested. I trailed behind him like a lost puppy.
We walked to the outer edge of the market square, passing by busy workers who were tending to all kinds of livestock; greasy old men yelled at the top of their lungs to attract customers to their shanty booths displaying an array of vegetables; and families milled around inspecting each booth for favorable prices. Overall, it was a typical day at the market.
We passed a group of men and women bargaining for the best deals on a sack of potatoes. I could see a paunch old man in the middle of the crowd—the owner, I supposed—shouting arbitrary prices into the air and waiting to see if anyone in the crowd responded to the offer. I tried to squeeze my way through but Ruka caught the sleeve of my dress, forcing me to turn around.
I glared at him. "I just want to see what's happening."
I demanded him to let go, but he refused by telling me that it was past my curfew and that my absence would be noted. He reminded me that my father would be further displeased if he realized I had broken curfew yet again. My shoulders slacked as he started his litany of punishments.
"Okay, I get it," I mumbled sullenly.
I looked back at the crowd one last time, a wistful look in my eye. I never really got out much of the castle and when I did, I loved going to market. What seemed mundane and boring to some people like the act of browsing the vegetable booths seemed magical for me. There were rows and rows of those booths. The most exciting part was when the dealers started bargaining with prices; things always got interesting when that happened.
I peered into the growing crowd and a brightly-clad woman caught my eye. She didn't seem like a commoner—at least, she was not dressed like one. The skirt of her gown was round and full, and her bodice shimmered with tiny jewels. Her outfit accentuated her fine features, notably her violet eyes. She looked so out of place there amongst the drudgery and sludge that I wondered why she was there at all. She looked more like a princess that I ever hoped to be.
She stood on the outskirts of the crowd, watching the dealer waving his hands frantically in the air to announce that the sack of potatoes had been sold for a fine price—fifteen bronze pieces!
I narrowed my eyes. A boy, about my age, with swarthy skin approached her from behind. The malicious glint in his eyes told me that he was up to no good. Slowly, he reached around her neck just as I realized what he was about to do: he was going to steal her ruby-encrusted necklace in broad daylight. It all seemed so absurd.
Before Ruka could subdue me, I reached for my dagger tucked away under the hem of my skirt and flung it towards the thief's direction. The dagger sailed through the air but didn't quite hit its mark. Instead, it grazed his forearm and he sucked in an audible breath, using his other hand to squeeze his arm. From my vantage point, I could see him mouthing curses and looking around for the perpetrator. His jawline was taut.
"What the—" the thief exclaimed, clutching his forearm in agony.
The richly-dressed woman in front of him screamed, and for a minute, the crowd looked around and hesitated. Seeing the dagger on the floor and blood rushing down the arm of the dark-skinned boy, people began panicking and shouting. Pandemonium ensued.
Somehow, amidst all the commotion and people running amok, our eyes locked. Looking closer now, I could see that his eyes were a penetrating shade of crimson. I would have remarked that they were beautiful—mesmerizing, almost, but at that moment, they were anything but mesmerizing. They were positively murderous.
