between the ages of sixteen and forty, was off fighting in His Majesty’s army. I spent the war being sent back and forth between guarding the borderlands and fighting on the frontlines.”
“Oh.” I nodded slowly, calming down as I watched the gloved hand set over my own. I could feel it, like I still felt the echoes of his grip on my arms.
This was the most I’d felt in ages. Since that night I’d been with…
No. I wouldn’t think of Reynard. I couldn’t afford more confusion and frustration and hopelessness.
Shaking my thoughts back to this moment, I took hold of my incorporeal dress and curtseyed. “Thank you for your service.”
He snorted, bowing in turn. “It was my duty, milady. For King and Country—and all that nonsense.”
“Nonsense!” I exclaimed, mind snapping fully to him, ready to launch into a tirade on my father’s behalf. “It is an honor to serve the king, and to protect our land from our enemies!”
He huffed. “Indeed. And while thousands of us followed His Majesty to war, risking our lives for the safety and prosperity of Arbore, we left it in the hands of scum like Prince Jon, who oppressed the people, and almost destroyed the kingdom from within.”
It was treason to talk about any member of the royal family this way. But this was the second time I’d heard allusions that Uncle Jonquil had not merely failed to lead our kingdom in my father’s absence, but had actively abused his power.
And this man wasn’t alluding to it, but directly condemning Uncle Jonquil. So could this be a universal opinion of him? Had he been as bad as claimed?
Even if so, this man was a thief! He was the last person to condemn others.
“Who are you to judge,” I snapped. “You came to rob this place.”
“Who am I?” he scoffed. “I’m the man who spent years of my youth fighting to keep our kingdom safe, only to find out the man charged with protecting those we left behind was subjugating them instead.” He gestured to his bag of lethal loot. “And what if I’m robbing what hasn’t been of use to anyone in centuries, but will help save someone in danger? Tell me again how I compare to Prince Parasite.”
I gaped at him. Regardless of how corrupt my uncle might be considered, he was still a prince. And as regent, he’d had the divine right of kings. If he’d misused his power, so had many princes and kings across the continent before him, and would after him. He might have also had reason to, and I was hearing only one side of the story. The noblest of men couldn’t, and shouldn’t, be judged by the same standards as everyone else.
I folded my arms on my chest, glaring at him. “Say what you wish. People will remember Prince Jonquil, for better or for worse. They will not remember you.”
He laughed. “Oh, they will. They’re already committing my exploits to song and sonnets, ballads, and books, and I hope that, throughout the ages, I will always be the bane in Prince Jon’s narrative.”
And with those last words, that confusing familiarity I’d been feeling towards him finally crystalized. I hadn’t seen him before. But I’d heard enough descriptions to recognize who he was.
I stabbed a finger at him accusingly. “You’re that robbing hoodlum, the prince’s thief!”
He threw out his arms, as if to present himself to me. “I prefer Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves.”
Chapter Nine
After hearing about that robbing hoodlum for years, the conflicting reports of his appearance, actions, nature as man, beast, or a host of copycats, he stood before me in the flesh. Here of all places. Far more striking than the stories had ever portrayed. And so proud of his infamy.
I said so, and he only chuckled again. “A man takes pride in his accomplishments, and it is an impressive reputation—even if it doesn’t really do me justice.”
“You—you…” My offended splutter made him laugh harder, which in turn made me sneer, “Of course, it doesn’t. You must have committed too many crimes to document. Like this latest heist that no one would find out about. Though you miscalculated your potential loot this time, since there’s no treasure here.”
He waved dismissively. “I don’t care for treasure.”
“Sure, that’s why you regularly robbed all those noblemen, clergymen, and the prince regent.”
“I did it to give money back to the peasants they overtaxed!” he growled, losing all nonchalance. “People lost their defenders to the king’s cause, which made them easy