“You have the wrong woman.” Keeping my cool has become much easier.
“Then you won’t mind me taking you into custody so we can get to the bottom of this.”
“I would, in fact, mind.” Just because my disguise seems perfect doesn’t mean I want to be paraded in the context of a prisoner in front of the enforcers who’ve all seen me before.That’snot worth the risk. “I am a law-abiding citizen of Oricalis, not some gutter thief.” I can barely say it with a straight face.
“Anyone who’s innocent would not object.” His grip continues to be unyielding.
“Is there a problem here?” Kaelis’s voice is as smooth as silk.
The enforcer stiffens, suddenly looking as if he’s staring down an apex predator. His grip on me finally relaxes, and his hand falls to his side. “No. Yes. No. Sir—I mean, your majesty…This woman matches the description of a petty thief we’re looking for.”
“I suggest you go and check the description again.” Kaelis’s tone leaves no room for questioning. “Given that there’s no possible way this woman was involved, as she has been with me for most of the morning.”
“But protocol says—”
Kaelis cuts him off with a soft sigh. Barely audible, yet the man’s spine goes ruler-straight when Kaelis’s eyes flick back to him and narrow slightly. “And who sets protocol?”
“Prince Ravin.”
Technically the right answer when it comes to Eclipse City enforcers. But definitely not the right answer at this exact second. I nearly wince on his behalf as I swear I hear a barely audible growl get smothered in the back of Kaelis’s throat.
“I—I mean the crown does.” The enforcer gets wise and quickly corrects himself.
“So, are you someone who can question the crown?”
“No, but…” His eyes dart between me and Kaelis. “I was just…”
I let out a sigh.What a harmless oaf.“My prince, I think this is a misunderstanding; this man is clearly just trying to do his job in keeping our city safe.”
My mind is moving at a swift clip. With my new face, I don’t want to immediately be seen with Prince Kaelis going out of his way to defend me. It’d start too many rumors. I need to soften this and give a plausible explanation.
“Good enforcer, I’m afraid that I cannot go with you, as the prince and I have business to attend to.”
“What sort of business?” He seems more curious than probing, and definitely much calmer when speaking to me instead of the prince.
I still had a few people I wanted to run my plan by first, but…Here goes nothing.“He was helping me purchase supplies I need as a new professor in Arcana Academy.”
Kaelis stiffens at my side. I only catch it because I know him so well.
Yet he speaks without missing a beat: “Obviously I did not wish to draw too much attention to myself as we went about it, hence these rags.” Kaelis picks at his clothes in disgust.
“Oh.” The enforcer pauses, then nods, as if this all makes sense.
“I think, given this context, you can agree that I wouldn’t dare steal in front of the prince, nor would I need to, seeing as professors at Arcana Academy have their supplies graciously paid for by the crown.” I finally let my smile out. “But if you would like to be sure, I am happy to turn out my pockets for you. Would that be sufficient, given the full circumstances?”
The enforcer hesitates. His gaze flicks to Kaelis, who’s gone utterly still beside me, his hands folded neatly behind his back. He radiates calm, but I can sense unease beneath the surface.
“I think so,” the enforcer finally says.
I pass my deck to Kaelis and then turn out my pockets as promised, opening my coat to demonstrate that the inside pockets are also empty. As I move, I make it a point to show that there are no other places I could be hiding any contraband, while still preserving my modesty.
“Are you satisfied?” I say when I’m finished.
“Yes.” The enforcer nods.
“Good.” My voice warms just enough to feel gracious without softening too much. “Then we can consider the matter resolved?”
“Yes. Apologies. Truly.” He bows quickly, then spins on his heel and all but dashes away into a nearby alley.
