Robbed by a woman.

Leo stared down at the woman in front of him, feeling his blood boil at their situation. He was only wearing a shirt under the black vest so he knew if she pressed harder, the knife would stab straight into his heart.

"What is it Reuben?" He asked his guard without breaking eye contact with the woman. His jaw clenched as his eyes bore to hers, but the woman seemed unfazed. Instead of cowering in fear, she stared back at him with a warning glare, the hand fisting his collar moving to grab the side of his vest instead.

"Uh… I… I–"

"What?" He snapped, his eyes tearing from Hazel to the startled man.

"F–forgive me your highness. I only meant to ask if you saw a young man passing by. He tried to rob me," Reuben said in a shaky voice.

Leo turned his attention to Hazel again, his eyes narrowing at her. As soon as he had spotted her running towards him and undoing part of her clothing, he had already guessed that some people must have been chasing after her.

His gaze swept over her features. Onyx black hair cascading down her back, thick feathery eyebrows arched just perfectly. His eyes lowered to her amber eyes, glowing a certain yellow under the bright sunlight. His piercing gaze lingered longer on her scars, then lowered further to her hollowed cheeks and high cheek bones. He refused to look at her lips. Everything about her screamed roguish.

The sharp jab of a knife pulled him back from his thoughts and he found her glaring at him. His lips twitched with annoyance.

"I didn't see anyone," he responded to Reuben, his eyes never leaving hers. He didn't doubt for a second that the woman before him would stab him if he as much as dared to fight back.

Even after receiving an answer, Reuben and his men didn't leave immediately and remained frozen on the spot. Reuben had only wanted to catch the thief who dared to steal from him in broad daylight, but who would've thought he would catch the prince in such a compromising position with a woman.

Feeling the men's eyes still on them, Leo broke the intense stare off with Hazel and glared at his men. They bowed their heads and quickly scurried away.

Before they could even turn a corner, Leo felt the grip on his clothes loosen and the woman's presence start to disperse. But he wasn't planning on letting her go so easily. Did she think she could hold him hostage in the middle of an alley and leave just like that?

Leo grabbed her blouse shirt and pulled her back towards him, pinning her against the wall behind her.

Her eyes widened in surprise, then she swung her fist at his chin and Leo leaned back to evade the punch. The woman took the chance to swing her knife at the hand holding her in place and Leo instinctively let go. Before he could regain his footing, the woman had already ran off and all he saw was her black hair and her retreating back.

Leo drew in a long breath, his jaw clenching. His father was right, people in Hawksley were damn daring.

He stood there for longer moments just staring at the buildings towering over him, then eventually turned around and started walking towards where his men had disappeared to.

The incident with the woman disguised as a young lad left him a little disoriented.

By the time he got back to the inn they were staying at for their visit to Hawksley, it was already evening and he was more annoyed than he'd thought and his jaw wouldn't stop clenching from time to time.

"You're back early," his brother Sebastian pointed out.

Leo ignored him and walked towards the bed, untying the sword belt around his waist.

Hearing no response from his brother, Sebastian looked up from the scroll on the small table at the corner to Leo's face. He looked exhausted, and he could already guess he wasn't successful again.

Sebastian picked up the map he was studying and moved closer to the bed, tapping Leo to sit up.

"What?" Leo groaned, annoyance still evident in his voice and his dark eyes.

"Get up. I managed to get a map and I don't think we're even close to find the person we're looking for."

Leo finally sat up, raking a hand through his dark brown hair. He took the map from Sebastian and studied it carefully with a serious expression. There were red crosses on certain spots, which were possible hideouts for the person they were looking for and red lines marking shortcuts to the possible hideouts.

Neither the two brothers or their men from the palace knew any places out of the capital, and it was hard enough that they had such limited information on a person they were supposed to find as soon as possible.

"When are we going back?" Sebastian suddenly asked.

"We've only been here for three days, Sebastian," Leo reminded, his eyes sweeping over the map as if trying to memorize every little detail.

Sebastian groaned, his upper body falling back on the bed. "That is long enough. I have things to do and I want to go back."

"What things?"

"Personal things." Sebastian sat up on the bed, walking towards the desk on the corner and sat facing his brother. "You should've let father take care of these his way. I don't understand how you're supposed to find someone you don't even know if it's a man or woman."

Leo sighed, ignoring his brother's nagging. He understood more than Sebastian what was at stake and he didn't want to sit around in the palace and let other people do the dirty work for him. He would find this person and he would fix the problem before it became a disaster.

"Where did you find this map?" He asked Sebastian who was playing with some things on the desk.

"A pawnshop somewhere near the black market. I thought they were trying to rob me. Everyone here looks suspicious."

At the mention of the word rob, Leo's mind drifted back to the woman he had encountered earlier. His lips twitched and he tried to push the incident at the back of his mind.

"Oh, where's your necklace?" Sebastian asked, holding a microscope in his hand directed at Leo's chest.

Subconsciously, Leo reached around his neck, panic rising inside him when he didn't find the necklace. His hands searched his clothes until it finally hit him and his face hardened. She stole it from him. He didn't even realise the necklace was missing or when she had taken it from him. Damnit!

"Well…" Sebastian probed, his eyebrows raised quizzically at his brother.

"I was robbed. By a woman," he bit out coldly, forcing the words between gritted teeth.

"Oh," Sebastian managed to say as he tried to suppress the laughter that rose to his throat.

A glare from Leo made him raise his hands as he gave in to his laughter.

"It's not funny," Leo snapped angrily.

"No, no it's not. I'm just wondering how a woman robbed you. You didn't even realize your necklace was missing until I pointed it out," Sebastian continued making fun of him. "It's a brave act though," he added amusedly.

Leo didn't bother to relate that apart from robbing him, the daring woman had held him hostage in front of his men to avoid being caught. His anger only increased as he thought of how to get the necklace back. It was important to him but how on earth would he catch such a cunning woman?

"I want you to take me to that pawnshop you were talking about," he changed the subject, folding the map and taking his coat.

Together they left the inn, earning curious glances as they walked by the local people of Hawksley.

"We won't be taking guards?" Sebastian asked when they were out of the inn. He wasn't a particularly trusting person, and Hawksley just seemed to be filled with deceitful people. Who knew if anyone would try to take advantage of them without any kind of extra security.

"No. It will only draw attention to us," Leo explained.

Sebastian led him towards another side of the busy town where he had found the pawnshop. They weren't even surprised at how alive the town looked at night. Business was still going on normally and the streets were filled with people, oil lamps and lanterns from shops and taverns lighting up the night.

Luckily for them, the pawnshop was still open. They found a scrawny middle-aged man counting his money and he seemed surprised to see them but a pleasant smile soon curved his lips.

"Welcome, welcome. It's nice to see you again," he said to Sebastian, bowing his head respectfully. Leo's lips twitched at the little action.

"How may I help you gentlemen?" The man asked.

Sebastian stepped away to give Leo the space since he was the one who suggested to visit the man. Leo was about to start asking something when his eyes landed on an eagle with yellow eyes carved onto a handle and he stopped.

The two other men followed his line of sight and stared at the dagger he was staring at with confused expressions.

"What is that?"