The Lady Thief and the Tear-Stained Boy

The young girl was stealthy.

So stealthy she crashed through the window of the house she was trying to rob.

She landed lightly in a roll, straightening into a crouch that made the stiff leather of her boots cut into the back of her knees. To her surprise, by the time her eyes managed to adjust to the darkness of the room, she was met with the startled face of a boy staring back at her–one that looked to be around her age. The moonlight spilling through the window she broke made his dark hair gleam, highlighting the wet tear stains on his round cheeks as he sniffled.

"Eh…?" She managed, realizing she definitely broke into the wrong room.

"How did you get in here?" He demanded, his voice thick as he backed away from her. She cast her gaze behind her before blinking back at him.

"Through the window," she admitted offhandedly. She saw him focusing on the shards of glass scattered around her, taking the chance to sweep them behind her. It wasn't as subtle as she hoped, the shards clinking loudly against each other.

He didn't seem amused.

"What are you doing breaking through my window?"

"...So you noticed it was broken?"

"Yes," he said flatly.

"Would it help if I said that I didn't know it was your window?" She tried.

"No."

"What if I didn't?" She countered.

"Are you here to kill me then?" He wondered, tilting his head. When he did, the dark hair curling around his ear fell into his face, curving around his azure eye. She could clearly tell that he'd been crying. "You don't seem like an assassin. And if you are," he eyed his shattered window, "you're not a very good one."

"That's because I'm not an assassin," she agreed. "I'm a thief."

"No way," he breathed, stunned as he watched her stand up. She dusted off the skirts of her coat with a few quick swipes, figuring she was remarkably unharmed after just falling through a window. After a quick patdown of herself to confirm she was still in one piece, she grinned at her reflection in the vanity mirror.

"That's…," she tightened her grip on the dagger strapped to the inside of her sleeve as he stepped towards her, eyes flashing, "so cool!"

"Eh?" She let out after he finished. He grabbed on tightly to her hands, his blue eyes glimmering with excitement.

The sudden change he had from meek and cowering to bright and enthusiastic was like whiplash to her. He looked remarkably like a puppy, to the point where the girl could swear she saw a tail wagging back and forth behind him.

"You're a thief? Like an actual one? What are some of the things that you stole? Have you gone on lots of escapades? Have you made any daring escapes?" She started zoning out as he threw more and more questions at her, her eyes wandering around his room. She could see along his bed, his desk, scattered on the floor and tucked into shelves were books. Books upon books with titles reading about heists and thievery and fanciful trickery.

Ah, she got it now. She could work with this.

"I am the infamous lady of the night," she announced loudly, popping the collar of her coat. She leaned to the side with a hand on her hip, swishing her coattails dramatically behind her. "Wherever there are riches, wherever the thrill and excitement of a dangerous heist lie, I shall find my way there, running off with spectacular opulence and leaving not so much as a shadow behind me. For I am," she trailed off with a finger over her lips, giving him a wink. "Well, a true thief never shares their name."

"Ah," he squeaked in awe, falling for her act just like that. She found how excitable he was rather cute, figuring maybe she could use him.

"And you know," she eyed him as she walked in a slow, drawn out circle around him, examining him up and down, "I could use an assistant. Or, just maybe, perhaps a-,"

"Sidekick?" He interrupted her enthusiastically. He sniffled as he wiped at his eyes with his sleeves, shaking off whatever sadness seemed to be bothering him. His shirt was just a few sizes too big for him, his small fingertips only slightly peeking out from the fabric. "I can do it! I can do it! I've read every single book there is about being a thief. I won't slow you down. I promise."

"Well," she figured, "I was actually thinking more like an apprentice."

"Mm!" He nodded eagerly.

"But to be my apprentice, I have to make sure you won't betray me." She walked slowly over to his bookshelf, running her broken nail across the thick spines. With each small click of her finger dragging across a new book, he seemed to get more and more nervous. He tried to swallow down his nerves with an audible gulp. "You understand, right?"

"How can I convince you that I won't betray you?" He wondered, clasping his hands nervously in front of him. She turned to grin at him in a way that showed she never really mastered how, her eyes crazed.

"Kneel," she demanded with a dark glee, putting her hand under his chin to lift his gaze to her. "Swear your fealty to me," she leaned closer to him, whispering into his ear, "and only me."

His azure irises trembled, his face flushing from her close proximity. He squirmed under her touch before taking a deep breath and staring her in the eyes, seeming to steel himself.

"I swear," his voice cracked and he cleared his throat, embarrassed. "I swear fealty to you," he gulped again, "and only you. As long as I shall live, my life shall be yours to love, to hate, to seize, and," he looked up through lowered soot black lashes, "to sacrifice."

"My," she pinched both of his round cheeks, making him whine, "you're far too young to be making such a serious proclamation. Now come along my apprentice, we've got a house to rob."

"...You do know this is my house, right?" He asked, rubbing his now stinging cheeks.

"Is there a problem with that?"

"No," he decided, following on her heels as she peeked her head out from his door, glancing down either end of the hallway before rolling out of his room. He simply walked behind her, shutting his door softly with a small click. He turned around in time to see her roll into a wall instead of around a corner. "So what is it that you're trying to steal?"

"I can't say," she waved him off, a little dazed as she laid on the floor. He thought then that she faintly reminded him of a mischievous pale furred cat he used to know that would steal his shoes if he left them out.

"How am I supposed to help you if I don't know what we're stealing?" He wondered.

"Intuition?" She suggested, continuing at his unconvinced face. "I guess we're just in for a long night of thievery together," she gave him that grin again from the floor before flipping up onto her feet.

He watched her look down two hallways, go down one, backtrack to go down the other, only to somehow find her way back in front of him again.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

"I honestly thought your room was the duke's room."

"You're trying to find my father's room?"

"Do you happen to know the way?"

"...Would that happen to be a joke?"

"Why would it be?"

"Ah, just follow me," he explained, turning clumsily on his heel to guide her the complete opposite way she had been walking.

"Lead the way, my apprentice," she soundlessly fell in step behind him. He suddenly felt self-conscious about how loud he was walking, taking care to slow down his steps until he was nearly as quiet as her. He didn't see her amused face behind him as she watched him waddle in front of her in an attempt to be quieter.

"So do you have any tips for being a thief?"

"I prefer to lead by example," she mumbled around a full mouth, munching on a brownie she snatched from his desk earlier.

"When did you take that?" He gasped, his azure eyes starting to sparkle again. She pushed him away before he started glimmering too bright.

"It's all about sleight of hand," she shrugged. While all the teacups in his room had been emptied, all the plates of food had remained uneaten. She figured that's why he was nearly half a head shorter than her even though if she were to bet they were around the same age. "Want a bite?"

"I'm not hungry."

The pale moonlight pouring out of the vast windows lining the halls was their only light, the copper candelabras set up along the way doused for the night.

With a final swallow, she took the moment of silence between them to study him, picking her teeth with her nail. He was well dressed, too well dressed to have been going to bed with a loose white shirt tucked into dark slacks. Both were made from high quality fabrics, showcasing there was clearly enough money here to go around. His hair, though rumpled, still looked styled, a few loose strands curling around the nape of his neck.

"The way you're staring is making me uncomfortable," he let out, closing his eyes for a moment. He'd been able to feel her intense, cat-like stare on him for a bit, feeling like she was about to devour him.

"Would you prefer if I were to take the lead then?" She bounced ahead of him without waiting for an answer, leading to him tilting his head at her.

"You clearly don't know where you're going," he tried reasoning with her, but she waved him off.

"Trust me, my apprentice, I think I've figured this out now."

He said nothing as he watched her turn and walk down the wrong hallway.