Page 60 of If The Crown Fits
Cai’s expression appeared as I imagined it would if I’d told him I was a fairy of some kind.
“Wait, who are you?”
I stuck out my hand towards him. “You may call me Lara. Though some refer to me as theMasked Bandit.”
Cai didn’t shake my hand. In fact, instead, he started laughing.
“There’s no way you’re the Masked Bandit.”
I placed my hands on my hips. “And why ever not?”
“You mean to tell me that the best bandit in Levernia convincingly played the part of a princess?”
“I’m not just the best bandit in Levernia, I’m the best bandit in the kingdom.”
“Then why on earth are you working with Lance?”
“It’s complicated.”
Cai tilted his head questioningly.
“Lance hired me to take the necklace from Eloisa, play dress-up and pretend to be her in order to get you to trust me, so that I could steal the jewel from you — if only we had figured out sooner that it was in the necklace.”
“So Eloisa doesn’t even know about this?”
“No one knows.”
“But why did he hireyou?”
“I just told you, I’m the best bandit in the kingdom.” I held up the necklace. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be holding the one thing everyone wants. And I’m a woman, so it worked out well for Lance, well... at least until he got stabbed.” I looked back to Cai, his face as pale as a sheet. “Wait, who did you think I was?”
He swallowed hard. “Just a court lady, I suppose. I didn’t think Lance would go as far as bandits. Guess I was wrong.”
I stowed the necklace away in my pocket again. “We can’t stay here. It won’t be long before they start combing the woods.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“There’s only one place we would be safe now,” I said.
“And where is that?”
“Home.”
Chapter 16
The Evernean Forest
Cai
Our footsteps crunched the leaves as we trudged wearily through the forest.
Every part of my body was aching at this point and if it wasn’t fear driving me forwards, I probably would have passed out a long time ago, though I hardly knew how much longer I could keep walking.
“So you’re a bandit?” I stated the obvious, once more hoping that she would tell me more about herself. But I only managed to earn a scowl from Lara, or something that appeared to be close to a scowl.
“It’s not by choice, so you can stop giving me that judgemental expression, Your Highness.” She spat out the last part.
“What judgemental look?”
