Page 8 of The Thief
Chapter Two
Scarlett stood in the middle of the small outdoor courtyard and kicked the dirt, muttering to herself about everything. It had been a week and Scarlett became impatient and irritated with their lack of progress. Alastair had warned her that it would take time but Scarlett was sure they would had heard something by now.
There was nothing for them to go on. No ransom note had arrived at Ciomodors Garden asking for a large amount of Royal Litas. No one had claimed responsibility for the disappearance.
Alastair had told her that the chief guard Bradford had told him he felt personally responsible for the loss of the queen, but Alastair had assured him that the queen had acted for her kingdom, not for herself.
Scarlett was sure that was no comfort to him. It would not have been for her either.
She kicked the ground once again and threw her hands up in the air. Scarlett had implored her uncle to let her search all the castles, but he had told her not to, as he didn’t want to offend anyone.
Alastair had offered to let her search his castle to make her feel better and she had done so.
It hadn’t been much of a search but he had opened every door and had made sure to not hide anything from her so she would know she was safe.
Feeling another wave of frustration coming on, she stopped moving and closed her eyes, feeling the morning sun bathe her in warmth. She focused on the positive things in her life and breathed deeply, feeling the frustration drain away and her body relax.
Opening her eyes, she looked right at Alastair as he walked into the courtyard, a smile on his face.
“Are you all right, My Lady?” he asked.
She nodded and said, “I am. I still have worries about what is going to happen. I am frustrated though by not having any information. Did anything come this morning?”
He shook his head. “There were no messages about the abduction. I received a message from your uncle asking me if we had any information about the abduction.”
She looked at him, curious. “Did you send anything back to him?” she asked.
“I did not. I was going to talk to you first,” he replied.
A bright smile came across her face and he felt like the sun shined brighter than before.
“I think that we should send him a brief message letting him know that we are still working on it,” she said, walking over to a small bush and leaning down to smell a small white bloom.
“I can have one drawn up for you to look at. I want to make sure that you see everything so nothing can make it out without your approval.”
Scarlett laughed. “Thank you. I appreciate it,” she said, handing a bloom to him.
Alastair chuckled and sniffed the small bloom.
“With this situation you must take any and all precautions; no one has come forward and said it was them. Right now, we don’t know who we can trust.”
Scarlett had to agree.
“I don’t know who to trust right now apart from yourself, My Lord. If the kidnapper is one of the island leaders, who do you think it might be? I have heard only good things about you, Brigid, and Owyn, but not so much about Cyrus Gray. What is your opinion of him?”
Alastair looked her directly in the eye and said, “I think that there has been a great wrong done to him and his family, making them bitter. I know that when Cyrus was born, his mother’s husband had already been dead several years and his mother ruled Obsidian Ridge. No one has any idea who the father of the prince is, and the princess wouldn’t give his name. Even when the Counsel threatened to dethrone her for her brother, she still did not waver. I admire her for that; it is rumored that had she told, the entire kingdom would have collapsed into chaos.”
Scarlett listened to the story, her heart going out to the young woman who ended up a widowed mother to a fatherless baby. It was no wonder that the boy was bitter.
“Finally, the Counsel gave up their search and left her alone, but not before the nasty whispers began. Even though she was a widow, she was still ridiculed harshly by many people. The princess had married her husband when they were both young so they thought they would live a long happy life but he got sick and died. My mother told me she was a beautiful woman. I am not surprised that a man would find a way to charm his way into her bed. We men are fickle that way.”
Scarlett smiled and nodded. “Take heed, however; that woman can be just as fickle as man,” she said, the look on his face making her laugh.
“Women are fickle? Imagine that to be true. I have heard much on the fickleness of women but never believed it until now,” he said, walking the opposite direction around the courtyard.
Now it was Scarlett’s turn to look astounded by his statement.
“So, My Lord, you mean to tell me that you never believed women could be as fickle as men until right now when I said it to be so?”
