Love & Thieves (Book 2) ✓

𝓒𝓱.24 ~ 𝓕𝓻𝓸𝓶 𝓑𝓮𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮

Jezamine arrived at the mill factory to find the Guild in chaos, most of the place was destroyed and the thieves wandered aimlessly around. The first to notice her arrival was Finn, who ran up to her and hugged her tightly. He sobbed silently, shaking as he held her. She guessed Finn thought he would never see her again, she never thought she would make it out of the castle.

She revealed the Royal Crown to Finn, who smiled at her and she could tell that he was proud of her. The only question was would Caine be proud of her?

Speaking of her father, the man stumbled down the stairs with am empty bottle in hand. He stopped in his tracks when he seen Jezamine standing there with Finn. His face lit up as he stumbled towards them.

"Ah my daughter has returned!" Caine shouted in the centre of the destroyed Dining Hall. "and I see she is successful in retrieving the Jewels of Arondale!"

He spotted the crown in her hands, never taking his eyes off it as he spoke. Caine reached out as if to snatch it from her when he pulled away, his face turning pale as he began to tremble and sweat all at once.

Jezamine turned to find Kaleb and a woman standing in the entryway to the mill factory. Kaleb was still in the red and gold armour and the woman was wearing Royal Healer robes but that wasn't what made Jezamine's eyes tear up.

The woman whose name she was not allowed to ask anything about or even speak her name. The woman she imagined and dreamt of just so she didn't feel alone with just Caine. The woman who's painting hung on the wall above them but did no justice for Arianna's beauty in real life.

Jezamine couldn't believe her mother was standing next to Kaleb, healthy and alive after all these years of believing she were dead. Why would Caine lie about her mother in the first place?

"Why can't you just leave me alone, witch!" Caine said as he threw the empty bottle at Arianna. "Be gone with you!"

"What has become of you!?" Arianna gasped at the sight of him. "This isn't like you Caine. What has happened to you?"

Caine stood frozen, mouth agape with wide eyes, his whole body began to tremble uncontrollably. Jezamine stood speechless, not knowing what to say as the scene unfolded before her.

It was like a dream come true, her mother was alive and back at the Guild. Jezamine ran towards the woman, throwing her arms around her and sobbing into her green robes.

"Oh my baby girl!" Arianna squeezed her back. "How I have missed you! You have grown up so much! You were only a wee little thing when I last saw you!"

Arianna took a step back to admire Jezamine, tears slid down her heart shaped face as she smiled. Jezamine hugged her again, not wanting to ever let her go again.

"Arianna? You are real? You're not a ghost?" Caine said, the man looked like he was having trouble believing she was alive. "But how? How can you still be alive? You were captured!?"

Arianna let go of Jezamine, walking towards Caine to stand in front of him. She stared into his eyes for a couple of seconds before slapping him hard across the cheek.

"You sent me away to die! You never came to rescue me! Then you send our daughter on the same mission!" Arianna erupted and added. "You aren't the same man I fell in love with..."

Jezamine watched as her father's facial features changed in an instant, and she knew he was about to lose his temper at her mother. This was not good. Jez thought Caine would be happy to see Arianna again, not glare at her like she was a ghost from beyond the grave...

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Arianna didn't recognise the man standing in front of her, seeing his face again after all these years brought back bottled up emotions. Raising her hand she slapped Caine hard across the cheek, regretting her actions almost instantly.

Caine didn't react at all, instead he ignored her all together as his eyes returned to the crown which Jezamine held close to her for safekeeping.

The man she once loved unconditionally has fallen into a pit of darkness. His obsession for the Jewels of Arondale drove him to madness...

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Caine stared at Arianna unable to tell if the woman really stood in front of him, it wasn't until she slapped him hard across the face that he knew she was no hallucination. Arianna was real and she was alive. But how was she alive?

"Our daughter has proven herself quite well, don't you think?" He said, gesturing to the crown in Jezamine's hands. "I knew you wouldn't fail me Jezamine!"

He ignored Arianna like he had done over the years, pretending she wasn't there in front of him. He reached out his hand towards Jezamine. "You should give me the crown...I want to see the Royal Jewels with my own eyes!"

Jezamine hid the crown behind her, taking a couple of steps back from the man. "You sent my mother on the same mission you sacrificed others lives for? Including my life!?"

Arianna and Kaleb stood behind Jezamine, having the girl's back. Caine didn't care what Jezamine thought of him, he wanted his crown. "Give it to me!"

"No! Not until you tell me the truth! Why would you sacrifice your friends and families lives for some stupid, petty gemstones!" Jezamine yelled with tears in her eyes. "Tell me the truth old man!"

Caine admired his daughter's bravery and confidence as she stood up against him. She was a lot like her mother in that department. But what Caine wanted, he got. One way or another the crown will be his and no one would get in his way, not when the jewels were right in front of him. He has waited years for this moment, neither Jezamine, Arianna nor Kaleb would stop him from having the crown.

"Guilty as charged!" Caine laughed like a maniac. "I was willing to sacrifice the entire Guild! Your mother was one of the best thieves and I had hoped she would return just as you have daughter."

"I received news that your mother had been caught and faced execution. I couldn't save her and I couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth one day when you started asking questions about your mother's absence...so I told you she died at childbirth."

Jezamine just stared at him, her fist shook with anger but Caine knew she would never strike at him. Jezamine looked up to him and wanted him to say he was proud of her. Above all, Caine was the one who raised the girl, not Arianna. His daughter would not betray him nor withhold the crown from him knowing it was his utmost desire.

"Now you know the truth...give me the crown!" Caine took a step closer to his daughter, slowly removing a knife from his side pocket, making sure to keep it hidden.

Jezamine took another step back with the crown in her hands, taunting him. "No! You sacrificed my mother and lied to me about everything! I should never have accepted the mission! The crown does not belong to you!"

Caine growled furiously before launching at Jezamine with his knife in hand. He would pry the crown off her dead body if he had to.

"YOU WILL GIVE ME WHAT I WANT OR I WILL TAKE IT FROM YOU MYSELF!"