CHAPTER SIXTEEN:

ONCE A THIEF, ALWAYS A THIEF

The afternoon sunlight poured into the pavilion through the enormous columns, leaving beautiful, golden streaks along the ground.

It also made the room unbearably warmer.

Marinette tried not to appear uncomfortable as she brushed away a sweaty lock of hair that had poked out of her braided crown. She shifted around in her wedding dress, and Alya conjured a magic fan to help cool her off.

The pavilion seemed so much bigger without a crowd of people standing inside of it. A private wedding hadn't been Adrien and Marinette's idea, but King Gabriel couldn't take any chances with the Forty Thieves still on the loose.

On the bright side, everyone was dressed in their finest, and Tikki had a self-playing orchestra ready and waiting for the ceremony to start.

It would be over by now... if a couple of guests weren't running late.

Marinette stood beside Adrien at the foot of the altar, watching her father pace back and forth in front of them.

Sabine was glancing between Tom and the empty doorway, as though trying to decide which one bothered her more.

Nino and Alya were using non-verbal expressions to communicate while Gabriel and Nathalie were murmuring nervously to each other.

Master Fu seemed calm and collected, sitting at the bottom of the altar stairs, but something like concern made the wrinkles around his eyes deepen.

As for the kwamis, Trixx and Plagg were playing cards to pass the time, and Tikki and Wayzz were sipping tiny cups of tea.

Marinette loosed a breath of frustration, sick of the silence. "Where is she?" she growled between her teeth.

Adrien took her hand in his and gave her an assuring smile. "Don't worry, Milady," he said. "She'll be here."

Plagg yawned as he fiddled with his cards. "My guess is she wants to make an entrance." He threw his cards down. "Three of a kind."

Trixx tossed her own cards away with a scowl. "Well, could she do it a bit faster?" she complained. "This heat isn't doing my fur any favours."

"Trixx," Alya scolded. "Mind your manners."

Nino wiped his glistening brow. "She has a point, though. What's keeping those girls?"

Tikki drank her tea and glanced over at Marinette. "Maybe she's still getting ready," she suggested hopefully.

"I left her in her room over an hour ago!" Nathalie stated before turning to Marinette. "I must say, it's rather impolite of your sister and her friend to keep us waiting."

"I do hope nothing's wrong," Tom muttered, his steps tapping frantically against the marble floor. He spun to face the king. "Your Majesty, perhaps we should dispatch a search party."

Sabine finally took her husband by the arm. "Now, Tom," she said with an unconvincing smile. "I'm sure she's on her way." She shot Nathalie the narrow gaze of a hawk. "We've waited seventeen years for our daughter to come back. We can wait a few more minutes."

King Gabriel sighed, and it wasn't just from the heat. He looked at Master Fu, who remained silent and impassive but otherwise content to be patient. "Very well," the king said, looking at Marinette kindly. "We'll give her a little more time."

"In that case," Wayzz said with a perky smile, "more tea?"

Marinette started tugging at her gown. She couldn't hide the nagging feeling that was eating away at her bit by bit; the feeling that her sister wasn't in her new chambers at all.

But where else could she have gone?

The Miraculous was there for the taking, all snug and cozy on its lonely pedestal in the middle of the royal treasury.

Bridgette would have rushed for it right away... if the door wasn't barred shut with a gilded locking mechanism.

But locks were like nerves. Apply the right pressure, and they would fall away. All Bridgette needed was a lock-pick.

WHOOSH!

Right on cue, Bridgette thought as she turned to the source of the sudden draft.

Alix beamed triumphantly at her from behind her green visors. "Here's the enchantress's lock-pick," she whispered in a sing-song voice as she held up her prize. "Snatched it from her room without a hitch." She plopped the tiny thing into Bridgette's hand.

The Queen of Thieves stared down at it for a long, agonizing minute. Her fingers suddenly felt as cold as ice.

Even before she ran away from home, stealing had never left her with a guilty conscience. She always managed to convince herself that she was doing it for a good cause. But now, Bridgette could feel all the years of larceny stacking onto her shoulders like bricks.

This was supposed to be her finest moment. Once she had the brooch, the Hand of Midas would be soon be hers, and her ancestors' dream would finally be fulfilled.

But that was before Bridgette had reunited with her family; before she realized that her own dream had already been fulfilled.

Better yet, her little sister was a hero now, beloved by the common-folk and marrying into the royal family. What more could Bridgette possibly want? What if the Hand of Midas really was just a myth?

Worse still, what if Marinette found out what Bridgette was doing? There would be no more forgiveness, even if they were flesh and blood.

The Queen's hand was shaking now. I can't do this.

She didn't realize that she said those words out loud, until Alix rasped, "Say what?"

Bridgette clenched her fingers over the lock-pick... and turned to the door.

Just a quick twist of the wrist, and the iron gates creaked open.

As the two thieves stepped inside, they were greeted by glistening piles of coins, armour, swords, statues, and royal jewels. The treasure horde stretched out all over the gigantic room; a sum equating to the fortune of ten kings.

But the Queen of Thieves and her lieutenant had their sights set on only one prize: the peacock brooch.

One last prize. One last heist.

The Hand of Midas was better left in the hands of people like Alix, and Kim, and Juleka, and the rest of Bridgette's Seven. They need it more than I do, she finally decided.

"I'm making a new promise, Alix," Bridgette said softly to her companion as they stepped up to the pedestal.

The blue-and-pink teardrops of the Miraculous seemed to darken as Bridgette stared at them. As dark and blue as my soul.

"After this," she said as she reached for the brooch, "I go straight."

"Straight to the dungeon."

Bridgette gasped.

She spun to the door, where a plump, red-haired guard stood with his sword in hand.

Alix cried out and ducked behind Bridgette for cover. Though she was fast, she knew better than to go up against an armed soldier.

The Queen of Thieves quickly looked around for a weapon of her own. Thankfully, a golden sword lay sheathed in a nearby pile of treasure. Bridgette drew it and held it up towards the guard, sinking into a low crouch, ready to defend herself.

The guard grinned at her cruelly. "We've been expecting you... Your Majesty," he jeered before snapping his fingers.

Bridgette heard them before she saw them.

Like wraiths out of the shadows, several archers emerged on the upper ramparts. Their arrows were already nocked and aimed directly at the two thieves.

Bridgette cursed. How did they know we would be here? Why didn't I see them coming?

As she and Alix sized up the soldiers, Bridgette knew it was hopeless. One sudden move, and arrows would be flying. But it was Alix she was more worried about; so young and with so much life and spirit. She didn't deserve this, thief or not. She was only following my orders. Gods damn me, what have I done?

Marinette... I'm sorry.

With a burning pang of shame, Bridgette rose up... and flung the sword aside.

After seventeen years, the Queen of Thieves had finally been caught.

"Something's wrong," Marinette finally blurted out, earning her several perplexed looks. She ignored them and looked up at Adrien. "I just know it."

Adrien looked into her eyes for a moment... then nodded grimly.

He turned to his kwami. "Plagg, you have good nose. Can you find her?"

The little black-cat shot him a bored look. "What am I – a dog? This nose is for sniffing out camembert only."

Alya sighed irritably. "Trixx?"

"I'm on it," the fox kwami stated as she hovered down to the floor. She sniffed loudly as she moved towards the doorway.

"All I need is a strap of her clothes..." Trixx called before sniffing again, "...or a lock of her hair. Or a... a shoe!" She stopped when a pair of clunky, black boots appeared in front of her. "A shoe's good. Found her!"

Trixx looked up with a smile... only to let out a horrified gasp when she realized who else had entered the pavilion.

She wasn't the only one.

Marinette and everyone else in the chamber inhaled sharply at the sight of a smug-looking Lieutenant Roger and his two sentries strolling down the carpeted aisle.

Two prisoners in chains staggered alongside Roger. Bridgette was one of them. Alix was the other.

"Uh-oh," Plagg squeaked, covering his mouth his paws.

"Bridgette!" Marinette cried, tearing from Adrien's arms and rushing forward.

Her sister flinched at her voice.

Roger's two guards immediately stomped over and held Marinette at bay, preventing her from reaching their apparent prisoner.

"Hey!" Adrien snapped angrily.

"Roger!" King Gabriel bellowed in the tone that made enemies quiver. "What is the meaning of this?!"

The lieutenant never lowered his grin as he bowed. "Your Majesty, meet... the Queen of Thieves."

He gave Bridgette a rough shove, and she stumbled forward weakly.

Sabine went deathly pale, and Tom breathed, "What...?!"

Marinette didn't care if her parents now knew the truth or not. She kept trying to force her way to her sister. "Let her go!" she demanded. "She's done nothing wrong!"

The wicked gleam in Roger's eyes as he looked at her was disturbing. "On the contrary," he stated. "My men and I seized her in the treasury." He held out something in the palm of his hand for all to see. "She was after this... again."

Marinette's heart stopped. No... He's lying. It can't be true!

But there it was in the guard's hand: a fan of sapphires encrusted with pink diamonds. The brooch that had belonged to Adrien's mother; Gabriel's wife. The Miraculous whose oracular kwami could answer any question asked.

"No," Marinette croaked, her bluebell eyes staring up at her sister pleadingly. "Bridgette, no. Tell me you didn't."

But her sister's silvery-blue eyes – almost Marinette's but not quite – closed abruptly, and Bridgette lowered her head.

That was all the answer Marinette needed, and she stopped fighting the guards.

Adrien came up behind her, his hands finding her half-bare shoulders. But even that didn't ease the cold pain rising inside her.

"And this," Roger declared, holding a squirming Alix in his other arm, "is the Queen's accomplice."

"Big misunderstanding!" Alix argued defiantly before shrugging. "It's a slap on the wrist and a community service kind of thing, you know?"

Sabine kept moving her lips like she was struggling to breathe. "Bridgette... What is going on?"

Her eldest daughter finally looked at her...

... but it was her youngest daughter who answered. "I'll tell you what's going on, Mother."

Tom and Sabine gaped at Marinette, who was now glaring at Bridgette with her chin dipped, and her fists were clenched at her sides so hard, they turned red.

Marinette pointed at the Miraculous. "That is the real reason Bridgette came back to Agreste," she stated lowly, her voice thick with hurt, "all so she could find the location of the "ultimate treasure". That was all that mattered to her."

Bridgette opened her mouth, like she was about to retort, but she gave up with a grunt.

Meanwhile, King Gabriel looked more surprised than Marinette had ever seen him, Nathalie seemed very likely to feint, and Nino, Alya, and the kwamis were staring at Bridgette with dismay.

Only Master Fu wasn't frazzled by this new development. He walked over to the group with his cane, glancing between the two sisters.

"A life of lies and deceit leaves a dark stain on the soul, Marinette," the Guardian said sadly, "one that cannot be easily concealed or washed off."

Marinette bit her lips hard. Oh, now he tells me?

Tom was blubbering silently to himself, until at last he spoke, "My daughter... Our daughter..." He looked at Sabine. "... is the leader of the Forty Thieves?! Why this...! But...! This is...!" He stopped and let out a disheartened groan, running his broad fingers through his brown hair.

Sabine's steel-like eyes hooked on her youngest. "Marinette, did you know?" she asked carefully.

The young blunette meet her mother's gaze with regret. "I thought I could change her," she explained. "I had to try."

Bridgette let out a sad laugh. "The old man's right, Marinette," she said. "You can change my clothes, but you can't change who I am."

"Bridgette..." Sabine said.

The Queen of Thieves offered her mother an impassive shake of the head. "I'm sorry, Mother, but I'm not the Bridgette you once knew."

Roger stepped up, puffing his chest out. "And the law is crystal clear on what must now be done," he declared, that smugness fresher than ever. "No criminal is free from the king's justice... no matter whose blood they share." He added that last part with a dirty look directed at Marinette.

Suddenly, all of that cold anger inside Marinette turned into icy terror. The king's justice. She knew all too well what that meant.

The worst criminals got the worst punishment. The memory of a hard, stone block against her neck, and a sword hovering above it, made Marinette's insides turn hollow.

"No..." she said, unsure who she was talking to.

Adrien turned to the king. "Father, please," he said firmly. "Isn't there another way?"

King Gabriel saw Marinette's distraught look, as well as the appalled, ash-ridden faces of her parents. He lowered his head with a deep sigh. "I'm afraid there is not," he confessed. "However, for the sake of your bride-to-be..."

He straightened and gave Roger and his men a hard look. "Take the prisoners to the dungeon."

Alix blinked. "Dungeon?" she repeated.

"For life," the king clarified.

"LIFE?!" Alix bellowed.

One of Roger's goons clasped a hand over the pink-haired girl's mouth, and he dragged her thrashing, gagged form out of the pavilion. Roger followed with Bridgette in tow.

Marinette caught Bridgette's dismal expression one last time before she was hustled roughly through the open doorway.

Then, her older sister was gone. Taken away once more.

Tikki flew up to Marinette, her bulbous eyes sad and her antennae drooping. "I'm sorry, Marinette," she murmured. "There are some wishes that even I can't make come true."

Marinette sniffled, but the tears came anyway.

The dungeon. For life.

Bridgette was to pay the price for her betrayal by living out the rest of her years in a dark cell alone. It was better than facing the executioner's block, but it still had the same outcome: Marinette would never see her sister again. And Tom and Sabine would lose their eldest daughter for the second time.

Already, Marinette's mother was struggling to hold back her cries, and Tom was trying to comfort her.

Marinette couldn't take it anymore. Bridgette had done this to them. Marinette had trusted her – she fought for her, for Astruc's sake – and the Queen of Thieves repaid that kindness by doing what she did best: ruining her sister's wedding.

Marinette swallowed hard and she turned to face Adrien, her dress heavy along the floor now. "I'm so sorry... Adrien," she said, her voice shaking. "I didn't... I didn't want any of this to happen."

The prince's eyes, so green and gentle and sad, held her in place until her heart finally caved in. He reached for her, but he was too slow.

Covering her face with her hands, the broken-hearted bride took off down the aisle.

"Milady!" Adrien called.

"Let her go, my boy," Master Fu said softly. "She's not ready."

Tom said something too, but his youngest daughter was too far away to hear it by then.

The sunlight through the columns danced off Marinette's gown as she ran out of the pavilion.

The rays had never felt so cold.