The Theif

Ben had held a little ceremony for himself the next morning, and Milena had made sure that he wasn't alone. Since then, so many things had happened. The money from the treasury was finally being put to some use, going into the funds for the ever growing army, and almost immediately being spent on weapons, ammunition, and gunpowder. Although the uniform was important, it wasn't as vital as the other equipment, and since the target still hadn't been met, it had taken a back seat, though it would help with protection.

It had been over a month now, and the treasury, though far from full, was beginning to regain some of its wealth, the Queen not taking any chances.

Hobson was, as expected, in an extremely solemn mood for some reason when Milena came to see him that morning, and she knew it could only be bad news.

Sighing, she walked up to him, knowing it would only be a matter of time before he caught her attention anyway, "What is it Hobson?"

The small man jumped slightly at her sudden appearance, having been lost in his own world , "Your Majesty! I um… Good morning!"

She rolled her eyes. She hated small talk, "Yes, good morning Hobson. Now what's the bad news?"

"Bad news?" he asked, trying to hide how nervous he was, "What bad news? Who said anything about bad news?"

She tilted her head to the side, "You did, by acting nervous and upset."

He stared at her for a few moments before he gave in, dropping his hands to the side, "We… There was… a break in."

Milena's eyebrows rose, but she remained silent.

Hobson started to sweat, "There wasn't much damage. A broken window… or two… And I think a few suits of armour might need to be sent down to the blacksmith's, but that was all! It won't be very expensive to fix… but…"

"Yes?"

The man swallowed, "They stole around five hundred thousand gold coins."

The way he looked at her made her feel like he was telling her that someone had taken Scythe's Warhammer, or her mother's guild seal, but it was something as insignificant as money? Money that could easily be replaced? She almost burst out laughing.

"Are you serious?" she asked, frowning at him as she repressed a smile, "Is that all?"

He returned her gaze, "But, your Majesty, that is quite a serious amount of money! How could we-"

"It can easily be replaced, Hobson," she explained to him, "Sure, it might take a bit of time, but we still have another six months before our deadline."

"But-!"

"Hobson!"

The blithering man withheld what he was going to say, biting the inside of his lip.

"I would like you to find the culprit behind this crime and bring them to me. They are not to be harmed in any way, or treated with any disrespect. If I hear that you, or anyone else has tried to influence said person or persons to admit to this crime, or anything else," pause for effect, "I will personally skin you, or them, alive. Do I make myself clear?"

"Cr-Crystal, your Majesty!" he stuttered, eyes wide in fright before running off towards the nearest doorway.

As soon as she was sure the dreaded man was gone, she let herself fall to the floor, laughing until her lungs felt like they would burst.

She had been waiting to do that for so long! His reaction was priceless! Whoever it was that had taken that money, before she punished them, she would have to thank them for giving her such an opportunity.

Avo, she loved being a Hero Queen sometimes.

Logan was 'looking' at him again. He could just feel those dark eyes boring into him as he looked over the map.

It had been the same story ever since Milena's Birthday ball, but every time Ben tried to catch him doing it, the prince would look away, and quickly move on to yet another strategy, and then, inevitably, lead them into an argument. Not that he'd ever admit it.

The Major had talked to Milena about it, but she refused to get involved, saying that her brother's business was his own, and if he wanted to know why Logan was staring at him, he should ask.

Of course, there had always been that sense that confronting him would only make matters worse, but Ben knew that if her didn't ask soon, he was going to explode.

"What?"

Logan blinked, mouth slightly open.

Ha! Caught you.

"Excuse me?" the Queen's brother asked, his tone rising as though he were insulted to be talked to in such a way.

Ben wasn't buying it. They'd been practically shouting at each other for the best part of half a year now. There was no way such a trivial thing as 'what' could provoke the infamous once tyrant's anger.

"You've been… examining me for about a month now, whenever you think I'm not looking," the Major said, turning his gaze to meet the Prince's, "And don't you go acting all insulted. I've said far worse to you since we started these meetings."

Things that probably should never have been said in a prince's presence.

Logan considered him for a few moments, his face blank, giving nothing away. Mind you, he almost always looked like that.

"But I am insulted, Major," he finally said, making one of Ben's eyebrows to rise, "I am insulted by how much my sister appears to enjoy your company. I am insulted that she is blatantly ignoring the more, shall we say, respectable suitors because of your relationship. I am insulted, Major Finn, by the rumours that have spread through the kingdom regarding your relationship."

Ben nodded slowly, thinking over the whispers he'd heard since that night. Luckily, though, there hadn't been any more here-say about them 'sleeping together'. If there had been, he was sure Logan would be far more insulted, and would probably have attacked him by now, "And you're only taking to me about this now?"

You had to admit, it was kind of amusing.

"You've had an entire month to be 'insulted' by these rumours, and you just let them? I've been in this room with you almost every other day since the ball, and yet all you've done is stare at me."

"We were busy with-"

"Planning?" Ben laughed, "You know that nine times out of ten, our 'planning' involves an awful lot of shouting and useless hours of talk. What's the real reason?"

The Prince scuffed his foot, his eyes moving onto the map.

He was nervous. By Avo, he'd actually made the great Tyrant nervous! This had gloating rights…

"I was scared."

He blinked, "Scared?"

Logan nodded, "Milena… Ever since I returned from Aurora, I have never given her reason to be happy. If anything, I've been taking them away.

"First, it was refusing to be the brother she had known, then, it was the suffering I inflicted upon my people, and finally, it was taking away the one boy – young man, almost – she had called a friend."

"Elliot."

He nodded again and finally turned to face him, "I was afraid that if I confronted you, I would be taking away yet another piece of happiness."

Ben stared at him, contemplating what he should say, "So… what did you think would happen?"

"I feared that…" Logan started, but reconsidered his words, "You make her happier than she's been in many years. I feared that if I had confronted you about your history, you would leave, or ignore her."

He couldn't believe it. This man would starve his curiosity, leave his questions unanswered, just so that his sister could be happy?

It was moving. But it was also ill advised.

"That's not an excuse."

Logan frowned.

Smirking, Ben continued, "You obviously don't have much experience with men taking an interest in her, do you?" It was a rhetorical question, but the Prince looked like he was going to answer anyway, so he pushed on, "I know it's important that she's happy, and I'm pretty sure she is, but it's your job to make sure she's safe.

"Since your father is… absent, it's up to you to make sure that the man she's with – me – is a good, reliable person. You have to make sure he's not going to hurt her in any way, that he's not going to push her into anything she's not ready for, and that you'll kill me if anything bad happens to her. Things like that, you know?"

"I… I think so," he replied, frowning, "And are you?"

"What? Oh no! I'd never do anything to harm her," he explained, turning back to the table, "I wouldn't listen to any of those rumours either. Most of them aren't true."

He could almost feel Logan's eyebrow rise, "Most?"

Ben cringed. Damn, I've been caught!

Milena examined the boy stood before her as she sat in her less than comfortable throne. She shuffled slightly, trying to find a soft spot, but it wasn't working.

Groaning, she stood up, scaring the boy in front of her, before walking down the steps.

The child was named Harold, and he was the son of a butcher, though too proud to live at home. He was a self-proclaimed pick pocket, and was probably only about ten years old. His boots were too big, sleeves too long, and she was fairly sure there were the remains of several meals on his shirt. He was also shaking.

Sitting down on the third step, she patted the ground next to her, "Come here Harold, you look like you're going to fall over in a minute."

The boy hesitated, glancing cautiously at her and Hobson who was stood next to throne where Walter would usually have been, only, the old man had decided to check on the army.

Looking over her shoulder briefly, she lowered her voice to a whisper, "I don't trust him either. He's too fat for a butler, don't you think?"

Harold laughed slightly, though he stopped when he looked at the man, and slowly came to sit next to her, holding his knees in his arms.

"So," Milena began, in a slightly louder voice, "I've been told that you seem to have taken five hundred thousand gold coins!"

He nodded abashedly, "Yes mam."

"And from my treasury, no less!"

Another nod, "Yes mam."

"Would you like to explain why you need so much money?"

He gulped, "Well, you see… It's my mum, your majesty."

"Yes?"

"My dad, he beats her and… and she's too scared to get the guards involved, so I was gunna use the money to get me and mum away from him, you see."

Milena frowned, "Yes, I see. What does your mother do, Harold?"

He sniffed, "She likes to do gardening a lot. 'Specially flowers. Tulips are her favourites," he thought for a moment, a finger tracing the outline of a stain, "And she makes the best mashed potatoes in all the world!"

"I'm sure she does."

Harold turned to face her, eyes filled with fear, "Please don't send me home! He never touches me, but it hurts when he hurts her!" He clung to her arm as tears slowly started to fill his eyes.

Smiling, Milena put an arm around him, "Don't you worry, I would never do that to you. And I think there's a distinct lack of flowers in the castle gardens. Do you think your mother could help?"

The child's face lit up immediately, "Oh thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

He almost ran off, but she kept a hold of him, "Wait a minute!" When the boy was settled, she grinned, "You do realise you're going to have to give back the money you stole."

He nodded.

"And you're never to pick pocket or steal anything again, yes?"

Another nod.

"Good. Now, after we send off for your mother, I need to show you to someone."

Giving her a confused look, Harold rose with her and took her hand as they left the throne room, leaving a baffled and speechless butler next to the throne.

"And I say that Bowerstone should have soldiers on every street!"

"But that would thin them out and make their forces less effective against-"

Logan's cries became silent as a knock came from the door. It was soft, yet loud enough to command their attention.

Ben could recognise Milena's knock anywhere.

"Come in," the Prince said, pulling the hair that had fallen in front of his eyes back over his head.

Slowly, the door opened, and the Queen of Albion stepped in, with a young street urchin in tow.

"Good afternoon gentlemen," she said politely, "I hope I'm not disturbing anything."

The Major could see the playfulness in her eyes, "Nothing that can't wait. Is there something you wanted?"

Milena's smile brightened. Whispering something to the boy to make him smile and nod, she turned her gaze towards him, "Major Finn, so kind of you to ask! My young friend and I need to talk with you a moment."

Returning her grin, he looked at Logan, who gave him a nod, "Of course."

After leaving the room, he glanced at Milena from the corner of his eye as she led them out into the courtyard at the front. Once they'd reached the bottom of the stairs, she dropped the boy's hand and crouched down in front of him.

"Do you remember I told you I was going to show you to someone?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, Harold, I would like to introduce you to Major Benjamin Finn of the Swift Brigade."

The boy's eyes widened in awe as he looked at the soldier. It made Ben grin.

"How do you do Harold," he said, holding out his hand, "It's nice to meet you."

The boy put his small hand in his and stared at it after they shook. It looked like he was never going to wash it again.

"So, what did you do to make the Queen drag me out to see you then?"

The question was innocent enough, but Harold turned his face away in shame.

Looking over to the young lady next to him, she explained that he'd stolen about half a million gold coins.

He blinked, "Well, I've got to say, I'm impressed."

Harold gave him a shocked look, "But… but it was wrong!"

"Yes it was, and I'm glad that you know that," he crouched down so that he was looking up at him, "But not only did you steal that money, you stole it from the Queen's treasury! I mean, there's got to be at least ten guards between it and any exit."

He nodded again.

"You have to have been really scared when you snuck past all of those servants too."

Another nod.

"You must be even more brave than I am! I could never do something like that."

"Really?" the boy asked, starting to brighten up.

"Really. But you're not allowed to do something like that, otherwise you could get in some very serious trouble. You were lucky it was Queen Milena that caught you. She's a very nice lady."

"Yes she is!" he exclaimed, "And she'd saving me and my mum from my dad! She is awfully nice!"

Ben was about to reply when a woman cried out from behind him, making him turn around.

"Mummy!" Harold shouted, and ran past them, straight into the woman's arms.

Smiling, both Ben and Milena stood.

"You know, that's a great thing you've done there," Ben said quietly.

Milena shrugged, "It was the right thing to do. And besides, he gave me a chance to threaten Hobson."

"And I missed it? Damn. I would have given my rifle to see that."

An - I know, I know, I said I'd update sooner, but I ended up getting flooded with things I had to do, so don't blame me!

I thought this would make a nice chapter. Things needed to calm down a bit after the previous chapter, and I noticed that Logan hadn't turned up fro a while, so 'the talk' seemed like a good place to go.

I have started the next chapter now, but I am making no promises as to when that's going to be published. I'm still suffering from the whiplash of my writers block, so don't expect anything too soon.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and until next time!