Kings and Thieves

Chapter 24

**yay early update!! If the whole posting twice a week thing ends up working out, I think I'll probably continue doing Tuesday/Friday updates. just FYI.**

Chapter 24

They stopped at a tea shop for breakfast, for which Ari was tremendously relieved. He hadn't eaten supper the night before, and besides; fried dough paired well with mysteries.

"I still don't understand," Eli was saying. They were sitting outside in the central part of the square, just in the position of the sun and oncoming passerby, and Ari wondered if they should have been speaking a bit quieter. Then again- this was Eli. "I mean, why would Tristran say in the note that it was his fault? Was he involved somehow?"

Ari made no effort to hide his snickering. "Are you suggesting Prince Tristran kidnapped himself?"

Eli's cheeks turned pink. "No, I'm just saying, he obviously seems to think he shares some of the blame in this."

"Well, he's Lyla's cousin," said Ari, effectively turning everyone's attention to the blonde royal who sat primly in her chair. "What sort of person is Tristran? Does he have any enemies you might know of?"

Lyla's fingers drummed on the table as she thought. "Well, he doesn't have much in the way of manners, and his activities primarily include gambling and breaking the hearts of every woman in the kingdom. He isn't very popular at court, but all of the ladies simply adore him," she explained with a small shrug.

"He sounds like a complete knob."

Aveline set her knife down. "You know, I've never understood the appeal of a scoundrel. Is it because they're unattainable? It is as if people say: 'Ah. Here is someone who will underestimate my worth and treat me horribly. I must have him.'"

"Or her," said Eli, jerking his thumb out to the side. "I've met plenty of scoundrel women in my day."

Aveline's answering grin was like a feral animal. Beautiful, but feral. Ari regarded her with amusement as she nonchalantly dumped sugar into her tea.

"Since we have a few days until we have to leave for Diviel," Lyla began again, stirring her oats, "what will we do in the meantime?"

"We still have a lot of work to do," Ari reminded her. "Like finding out who the hell the Hapsburgs are." He had no idea how they were connected to the royal kidnappings... if they were connected. If they weren't, well... then that would be a rather embarrassing waste of time.

"Perhaps we could take a short break," Eli suggested.

"No," Ari and Aveline chorused.

"No breaks. We don't stop until the job is done," Ari said sternly.

Lyla's forhead creased. "But you two haven't slept in days."

Ari was suddenly aware of Jamie's shrewd stare as she looked him in the eye for the first time since the night before. He was briefly surprised by how much that had bothered him, even though he knew their argument had been his fault. Things like this usually were.

"You need a break," said Eli, looking at Aveline as he said it. Ari curiously wondered what was going on there. Although if he asked Aveline, she'd be likely to say something about how it was none of his business, which was A) ridiculous, and B), largely hypocritical on her part.

Ari turned to Aveline, who shrugged.
"We have time to kill."

"We have people to kill," he pointed out, ignoring the disgruntled glances he received from the others in return.

"Patience."

"What's that?" Ari followed Lyla's stare to the square in front of them, where the villagers had gathered into lines. A few of them propped fiddles on their shoulders or held wooden flutes.