The Unknown Thief

Part 16

Chapter 16

Who is Annie?  The question flew through his mind.  Aubrey had many disguises, he knew, but who was this Annie?  Alin had sent him a large smile that had a great amount of deviance behind it.  Nathaniel could not help but wonder exactly who this Annie was.  Aubrey had said she wanted to wait for Daisy to shift into her smaller form before she did anything, but he knew she was just prolonging the process.  For some reason, Aubrey did not want Nathaniel to see the persona she had created.

The lights from the village became closer, and soon, they were standing on the outskirts of it.  Aubrey let out a deep sigh.  “Do I want to be Annie?”

Alin slung his arm over Aubrey.  “Yes, Brey, you really do.  They love Annie.”

“For a reason,” she mumbled before slinging his arm off her.

Nathaniel smiled at the action, but the smile quickly vanished as she began her transformation.  Her wavy brown hair turned a golden color and lengthened until it hit her hips.  Her height grew until she was the same height as him.  None of those things caught his attention though.  It was the way she suddenly held herself.  Instead of the slightly standoffish woman, he had known for a few days, she was now different in a way he could not explain.  There was a certain air around her that made him want to step closer, to grab her and hide her from any other eyes.

“That,” Alin whispered from his side, his eyes still on Aubrey, “is Annie.”

“What is that around her?”

Alin looked over at him and smiled.  “That is naturally an Aubrey thing, the urge to get closer to her.  The odd sensation floating about her, that is Aubrey.  She holds it back as much as she can unless she is Annie.”

“She’s always like this?” he croaked, thinking of the problems this would cause.

“Yes,” he mumbled while taking a step towards her, “why do you think that everyone loves her?”

Nathaniel watched as Alin slinked towards Aubrey.  She gave the man a large smile that would have made any man feel warm and then tucked her arm into his elbow.  Glancing back at him, she said, “Are you going into the village with us?”

He looked at her eyes and let out a disappointed sigh.  She had changed her once captivating eyes to a pretty blue color.  It was what others would have thought was beautiful, but he was more amazed by her eyes than her Annie’s eyes.  “Yes, I shall follow behind.”

Something flickered through her eyes, and she bit her lower lip.  “Do not get angry, jealous, or try to be my champion.”

His eyes narrowed at her.  “Why?”

“You will see,” Alin replied with that large smile still on his face.

Nathaniel could already feel the anger building up at the other man’s expression.  How was he going to do what Aubrey wanted of him when he could not even handle Alin’s smile.  Instead of voicing his thoughts, he nodded.  “I will do my best.”

“That is all I would ever ask.”

Again, he watched as the two walked away from him.  He thought of her words.  That had been the first time anyone had replied in such a manner.  He had been told that his best needed to be better, that the best he could do was not the best a king could do.  A smile crossed his face.  This was Aubrey; she never asked more than a person could give her.  For some reason, that made Nathaniel like her even more than before.  She was honest, but he needed to remember that she was dangerous too.

“Nate!”

His head snapped up, just realizing that they were waiting on him.  A sheepish smile crossed his face as he walked towards him.  “I was thinking.”