Captain Tomas made a few sharp motions, directing his team to divide into groups, and the guards scattered obediently. Though I had no explanation for what had happened to my irritating companion, I knew he wouldn’t be found.
I suddenly felt lightheaded. I swayed, only kept upright by the captain when he leapt forward, his firm arm around my shoulders surprisingly gentle, unlike our last encounter. I heard his frantic voice asking after me, but the words jumbled, incoherent, making a response impossible.
I vaguely heard Captain Tomas bark orders to his comrades before turning a softer tone to me, such a contrast to his gruffness the last time we’d interacted. Darkness lapped my senses, gradually tugging me deeper. It was the last sensation I noticed before the fog swarming my mind rose and swallowed me whole.
I foundmyself swimming in thick, impenetrable blackness. Time lost all meaning, as if I was trapped in a prison of never-ending night with no hint of approaching daybreak. But unlike the cells comprised of bars and locks, this one almost felt safe—a cocoon free from the confusion of the waking world, where I would no longer need to run.
For a fleeting moment I was tempted to linger…before resolve stirred awake to force the seducing temptation away.
No. I was a thief, and no one would steal my freedom from me. If the world around me shifted, I would rise to the challenge and figure out a way to solve this newest riddle. This determination propelled me upwards, pushing through the consuming darkness to break through the surface of my consciousness. With effort, my eyes fluttered open.
The first thing I noticed was the heavy exhaustion weighing my senses. I blinked blearily up at the same violet canopy I’d woken up to on this surreal day, a prison of silk and sheets rather than chains…but this time I wasn’t alone. The Captain along with several guards stood at attention at the door, while a healer wrung a cloth in a nearby basin. And sitting at my bedside…
My breath hitched, a sound that alerted the queen. “Mirelle?” She leaned forward, anxiously taking in my weary expression. “Thank goodness you’re awake. I’ve been so worried.”
Her hands trembled in the cocoon around mine as they held me fast, as if afraid I’d slip away the moment she let go. I stared at her grasp—the delicate pale fingers adorned with jewels worth more than I’d stolen over my lifetime—then slowly back up at her face, before my gaze slid to the king sitting beside her.
What was happening? Why were Their Majesties at my bedside, worry etching their regality? I tried to force my mind back to the night I’d met them, replaying each of the few words they’d spoken when I was hauled before them.
“Mirelle?” The name I was rarely addressed by anymore drew my attention back to the queen, staring at me with wide, glassy eyes; fatigue shadowed her expression, as if she hadn’t slept for hours.
I wanted to wriggle my hand free from her tight grasp, but the concern filling her touch made it impossible to pull away.
“What…happened?” I managed weakly, hardly recognizing my raspy voice, laden with the same exhaustion weighing my limbs.
The queen rested an achingly gentle hand against my brow, slick with sweat. I subconsciously found myself leaning against the touch, as if the gesture could imprint the warmth of her fingers into my skin. “You fainted.” She spoke gently, as if afraid I might break.
Annoyance prickled at the insulting assumption.Fainted, like some damsel in distress?Me?That couldn’t be true; the very idea tarnished my otherwise impeccable reputation. Yet I couldn’t deny the memory of the heavy darkness suddenly engulfing me, pulling me deep into the depths of unconsciousness.
I barely had a chance to wrap my mind around this uncharacteristic development when the king rested a soothing hand on the queen’s shoulder and turned to me. “When we heard, we’d feared that the curse had claimed you again.”
I blinked. “Curse? What curse?”
The queen gave my hand an anxious squeeze. “Poor dear, fainting must have caused you to forget. You’re under a sleeping curse. You’ve been asleep for months.”
“Months!?” My gaze darted towards the window. Outside, the world was bathed in hues of approaching dusk, but I could faintly see the dark outlines of the pink, blossom-laden trees. My breath hitched as I realized what had been bothering me when I looked out my window—autumn’s golden hues and dropping leaves had been replaced by the fresh greens and buds of spring.
Was that the explanation for why reality had rearranged itself overnight, like props in a play? Or how time seemed different, the season outside changing as if months had been contained in a single night?
Lips trembling, the queen nodded. “When you fainted, we feared the curse had once more taken you from us. We’re so relieved that you’re awake.”
I yearned for nothing more than to deny I was under a curse, yet another sign of weakness I refused to allow in my thief’s arsenal. Exhaustion—heavier than any I’d ever experienced—pressed against my senses, confirmation of her strange tale.
How could I be so tired? I’d trained my body to go days without sleep, and often performed my heists in the deadof night. Yet amid my denial was a flicker of relief for an explanation for the confusing events that had transpired, leaving me one fewer mystery to untangle.
I had so many lingering questions that needed answering, but I no idea where to start. “If I’m truly under a curse, how did it happen?” I asked.
“We’re not sure.” But their gazes quickly darted away, a tell-tale sign of deceit—a trait that fit their characters far more than this strange concern, the first hint of the world before I’d fallen asleep. According to rumor, Their Majesties had been cloaked in suspicion ever since their son the crown prince had vanished without a trace…but this falter in their composure vanished almost as soon as I noticed it.
“Do you remember what happened after you woke up?” Gone was the king’s former gruffness from our first meeting, replaced with a tone that sounded almost fatherly.
I cocked an eyebrow. That was a trap if I ever saw one—they were trying to cajole me into a confession, the perfect explanation for their uncharacteristic behavior. I cycled through my collection of lies for the one that would best help me to avoid their carefully laid snare, but there was little point when the guards stationed at my door had discovered an empty room.
“I escaped through the window.”
Their eyes bulged. “Out the window?” Genuine surprise filled the queen’s exclamation, as if she’d forgotten since our last meeting that I was a thief. “Why would you do something so dangerous?”
“Slipping through windows and traipsing across rooftops is one of a thief’s greatest skills.”
