The Royal Thief Unbound

     “Are you insane?” Thalse hissed, pulling Veifira away from the crowd.

     Veifira looked at the people behind them pointedly. “How else do you think I was going to get your attention? There’s basically a line to talk to you.”

     “Not like that.” Thalse shook his head. “Anyway, you have my attention now. What do you want?”

     “Let me help you,” Veifira repeated. “What were you hired for? I want to help you.”

     “Oh, so you’re done being negative and jumping to conclusions about me?” Thalse asked, pretending to be surprised. “You got it all out of your system?”

     “I apologize for earlier,” Veifira said. “I guess… I’m still jealous about how much better you are at all this,” she lowered her voice, “stuff, you know, than me. How much better you are at everything than me.”

     Thalse nodded, satisfied.

     “But you already knew that, right?” Veifira continued. “You just wanted me to say it.”

     “Yeah, pretty much.” Thalse smirked slightly. “You know that your sister isn’t in any imminent danger, right?”

     Veifira tilted her head to the side. “How did you know that was my concern?”

     “You know I can literally see the gears turning in your mind.”

     Veifira sighed. “Right, the mind reading. That ever get tiring for you, just knowing everything?”

     Thalse ignored her. “And just what do you think I was hired for?”

     “You said security, but I don’t know, it’s hard for me to imagine this place doesn’t have enough of that,” Veifira responded, looking around. There were uniformed guards posted at every entrance. And, if it came to it, Veifira would not be surprised if the guests were able to protect themselves. After all, there were powerful representatives, like Queen Fyora from Faerieland, and warlords, like Lord Darigan from Darigan Citadel, present. They were leagues stronger than the guards stationed around the building. “Or even needs it.”

     “You’re not wrong,” Thalse said. “To be honest, security isn’t really the word for it.”

     “Then what is the word for it?”

     “Infiltration,” Thalse responded simply.

     “Infil-,” Veifira began to say, but Thalse cut her off.

     He straightened up and smiled broadly. “It was wonderful speaking to you, Princess Veifira. I look forward to having more discussions during the conference. Enjoy your dinner,” he said, before locking eyes with someone behind her, King Hagan of Brightvale. “Your majesty,” he said, stepping forward to join him. “I hope our hospitality is to your liking…” As he walked by Veifira, Thalse whispered, almost imperceptibly, out of the corner of his mouth, “Meet me at midnight on the roof.”

     Veifira stood there for a moment, processing what had just happened. That was the frankest conversation she had ever had with Thalse, even with his sudden change at the end. Were they really going to work together? The mentalist thief never worked with anyone and only kept Vatalyn as an acquaintance, maybe a friend.

     A gentle tap on her arm roused her back to reality. Veifira whipped around to see Astael, lines of worry on her sister’s beautiful face.

     “Everything alright?” Astael asked, her clear voice navigating the fog of Veifira’s thoughts.

     “Umm, yeah,” Veifira replied. There was no need to alarm Astael, and it’s not like Veifira had much of an idea of what was going on, anyway. “You hungry?”

     Astael nodded, wrapping her arm around Veifira’s and leading her towards the dining hall. “I haven’t eaten since we left, and I barely got to try any of the hors d’oeuvres between all of the talking. Did you have any?”

     Veifira chuckled, remembering how she was shoving tarts and chips into her mouth while she was speaking with the prince of Roo Island earlier. “I did, yeah. I tried some.” Some was an understatement.

     As they entered the dining hall, a host came to greet them. “Representatives of the Lost Desert?” he asked. “Right this way, please.”

     The two were seated at a table with the representatives of Shenkuu (the Emperor of Shenkuu and his eldest daughter, Princess Lunara), Altador (King Altador and Finneus), and Roo Island. The seat next to Prince Orithian was empty. The notecard from earlier detailing all the representatives had said King Roo would be attending, but he was noticeably absent.

     “Oh, my father isn’t in attendance,” Prince Orithian rushed to explain. “He would much rather host Dice-A-Roo than dabble in politics. It seems I’ll be on my own for the next few days.”

     As the others introduced themselves and began to exchange pleasantries, Veifira zoned out, pretending to study the menu, but instead she was surveying the dining hall for a particular someone. She found him at a table near the front; Thalse was sitting with Grand Elder Kyruggi and the representatives for Haunted Woods, Darigan Citadel, and Virtupets. Shortly after, waiters and waitresses began to make rounds to take food and drink orders.

     “Is this seat taken?”

     Veifira looked up, startled that she hadn’t noticed anyone approach. But before she could say anything, Prince Orithian exclaimed, “Lord Vatalyn!”

     Vatalyn was standing behind the vacant seat, smiling before sitting down in between Prince Orithian and Veifira. “I hope I’m not being an inconvenience; it was getting quite stuffy over by my assigned table.”

     “Not at all,” King Altador answered. “I have such great relations with your father. It’s the bond between the leaders of two port lands. It’s a shame you rarely appear alongside him.”

     “It is a shame,” Vatalyn replied, although he didn’t look like he thought that was a shame. There was a hidden smirk to his words that Veifira could pick up on.

     Veifira was about to say something to him, but a waiter arrived to take the table’s order. After he shuffled away and conversation resumed, Veifira turned to Vatalyn.

     “What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice low so others couldn’t hear, but with a smile, so no one would suspect anything.

     Vatalyn ignored her question. “What did Thalse say?” he asked instead, keeping his voice quiet as well, even though his body language was friendly.

     “He said I could help,” Veifira replied simply.

     “Really,” Vatalyn said, amused. It was more of a response than a question.

     “Is that so hard to believe?” Veifira asked. Their waiter came by and set starters in front of everyone. The cheese-stuffed mushrooms she ordered looked delicious. Vatalyn casually reached over and took one of her mushrooms, popping it into his mouth.

     “Not bad,” he commented, swallowing.

     “Me, or the mushroom?” Veifira asked, unable to hide her exasperation. As childish as it was, she wanted praise from him.

     Astael cut in. “Do you need more food?” she asked Vatalyn jokingly, waving at the small bowl of cold soba noodles in front of her. “I know how you two have such appetites.”

     Vatalyn smiled. Was she making a reference to their hunger for thievery? “No thank you, princess. Charming, as always.”

     Astael smiled before resuming her conversation with the Emperor of Shenkuu and Princess Lunara.

     Veifira turned back to Vatalyn. “I’m to meet him –”

     “Midnight on the roof, I know,” Vatalyn said.

     “You were already a part of it?” Veifira asked, trying not to feel offended.

     “I asked him in the hallway earlier, before you arrived.” Vatalyn poked at his food. “Food always tastes better when it’s stolen from others, doesn’t it?”

     Veifira had to stop herself from laughing out loud. Vatalyn was a thief, through and through. The rest of dinner passed without incident. Veifira even joined the small talk going around the table, much to Astael’s delight. Out of the corner of her eye, Veifira kept vigilant of Thalse and his table, but it seemed courteous throughout the night. As the servers cleared up dessert plates, Vatalyn stood up.

     “I should be getting back. Thank you all for your company. Have a wonderful rest of your evenings,” he said, before bowing slightly and leaving, presumably back to his assigned table.

     “I guess that’s that,” Prince Orithian said, addressing the table. “Good evening, all. Your majesty, your highness,” he added, bowing to King Altador and the Emperor of Shenkuu respectfully.

     Veifira stood to the side as Astael finished up saying her goodbyes. It was half past ten now, which gave her enough time to rest and freshen up in her suite and then find her way to the roof. Astael waved politely to a few other representatives before joining her sister.

     “That was nice, wasn’t it?” Astael asked, her voice honey. “Vatalyn joining us.”

     “It made it more bearable,” Veifira grumbled. In all actuality, it was nice, but she didn’t want to admit that. It was nice to have someone who wasn’t playing politics nearby.

     The two returned to their quarters. Astael was exhausted from socializing the entire event. Even so, she could tell her sister was anticipating something. After getting ready for sleep, Astael sat on the edge of Veifira’s bed.

     “You have somewhere to be tonight, don’t you?” Astael asked, although it was clearly a rhetorical question.

     Veifira nodded. “I can’t say anything about it, though.”

     Astael shook her head, her glossy brown hair loosening from its bun. “You don’t have to. But stay safe, okay? For me?”

     Veifira nodded again. “Yeah, I will. I’ll be back soon. Good night, Astael.”

     After Astael had gone to bed and fallen asleep, Veifira quietly left out the window. She didn’t know which stairs would take her to the roof and she wasn’t going to risk being seen at this hour, either. She climbed the side of the building seamlessly, avoiding any windows. When she reached the top, she grabbed ahold of the ledge and flipped over, landing silently.

     The clock struck midnight.

To be continued…