The Queen's Girl

The Queen

Finnula liked this thief. She wanted to know more about her. More about her life and background. She walked the young woman into the warmth of the home. Anyone that had a suspicious eye was glared down by their Queen.

As they walked, she ordered things of the servants who came to fulfill her wishes. The Queen asked for a hot bath drawn, for night clothes to be gotten, for clothes to be procured. She wanted her thief to enjoy at least one night in comfort and style to thank her at least for whatever honesty she was about to enjoy.

She had a feeling it would be amusing. Even if it was hard to hear.

Lonnie was waiting on them when they reached the Queen's parlor. She did not look happy, but the Queen didn't care. "Ma'am, your meal awaits."

"Thank you, Lonnie. You are dismissed for the evening." That was Finnula's code for "you're being annoying, leave me be" and was the one way she could make the valet bugger off. Lonnie shut the door behind them, and the Queen gestured to the little feast set out on the small table before them. "Go on, little thief. Tuck in."

Kal looked uncertainly at her, from her to the food, from the food to her. There was so much food. She couldn't possibly eat it all. She wanted to pocket half of it upon sitting down. What were polite manners in front of a Queen? She had no idea. She picked up the fork and knife that were in front of her. "I can eat any of this?"

"You can eat any of it, as much as you want. Afterward I have a bath and clothes ready for you. I would like for you to stay the evening in comfort and style if you'd like that."

Kal looked at Finnula suspiciously. "What's the catch?"

"Perhaps I want to thank you for the conversation we're having. Perhaps I am entirely too busy all the time and you are a strange breath of fresh air. Perhaps you still owe the Crown." The Queen sat down opposite of Kal and began to put food on her plate. "Worry not about manners. Eat."

Kal didn't have to be told twice. Finnula watched, pleased, as she filled her plate from end to end with food. She ate a little, herself, and poured them both cups of tea.

"In all my livelong life I never thought I'd be served a cup of tea by a queen," the thief mused. She took the cup, toasted tbe Queen, and said, "to your health." She tipped back the tea and made a happy sound of satisfaction.

"I never thought I would sup with a thief," Finnula replied, bemused.

Kal grinned wryly. "What are you talking about? You dine with them all the time! Noblemen are the worst kind of thieves. No scruples, no guilds, no humanity. They thieve from the common folk shamelessly."

The Queen raised her brows. "Many of them are my cousins."

"Then you're cousins with assholes." Kal sat back and wiped her mouth with her hand. "'They hang the man and flog the woman that steals the goose from off the common, but leave the lords and ladies fine who take things what are yours and mine.' My mother taught me that."

"Where would you be sleeping tonight, were it not for here?" The Queen asked suddenly, changing the subject.

Kal blew out a long exhale. "A number of places depending on what's available. Up somewhere high, as high as I can get, usually. It's harder to be attacked when you can see what's coming. I like to choose places with quick escape routes that keep me above reach."

Finnula was quiet. She observed that answer for a long while. Long enough that Kal asked curiously, "Have I upset you?

"No. But—I want to know, have you been attacked recently?"

Kal paused eating and pushed away her plate. She lifted up her threadbare tunic and showed Finnula the bruising she had sustained from a handful of days before. "Yeah, the local crew saw I got lucky one day and made an example of me. You don't get lucky on another crew's turf, not here, not without being exceptionally unlucky afterward." She tugged her shirt back down. "It's the life."

"What did they do to you?"

"It's nicer not said."

"No wonder you were in pain when the tree dropped you."

"Hey, yeah. Why did that tree drop me? I'm a fabulous tree climber and it shook me out!"

Finnula smiled. "As Queen I work a considerable amount of energy to keep the country running. I sometimes use it for mischief, like finding thieves in the royal orchard."

Kal smiled. "I'm glad I was found. It's not every day you go out to get dinner from the refuse pile and end up the guest of the Queen."