Emma had been having a good time, really, dancing with everyone at the ball, stopping to chat with maids there who were all too happy to see her again and tell her funny things about their king; for once, one of the princes there had actually captured her attention, with piercing blue eyes and a firmer hold, and she had found herself laughing as they waltzed and she shamelessly explained that the cut over her temple that the makeup couldn’t hide was from climbing a tree to rescue a kitten forgetting that a dress wasn’t the best attire for that.
He had been lying to her, that much she knew, and despite her constant travelling she had never seen him before, which made her think he might be only acting prince. He was probably a thief.
And the heir of the throne had interrupted them, looking at her with far too interest, asking her to dance.
“Of course, I love dancing with friends.”
“My dear, a dance with you is worth more than hours spent with friends.”
“Because… we are almost close friends, yes,” Emma agreed with a cringing smile, excusing herself from the maybe-prince and making sure she’d be barely touching the hand that the heir had offered her, keeping as much distance as possible.
She had conceded him one dance, before claiming she needed to re-touch her makeup and to take a break from dancing, and had sneaked out, painfully aware that that was exactly why she hadn’t expected to spend a good night in that castle. But she had done her part, she had been seen, she had spoken to the prince, she could go now.
With a quick change of clothes, leaving her gown to a servant who had done this before for her and would send it to the right place, she had gone back to the room where most of their belongings were, gotten her bag, and was just about to go over the window, one leg already on the other side of the railing, when the man with blue eyes caught her.
“Oh, hello! This is not what it looks like!” she exclaimed cheerfully, sitting on the railing, straddling it, really, and very aware of how she had no excuse. “I… thought… I saw another cat? So I’m going to… check on it. Outside.”
Infiltrating the palace was an easy task, a rather disappointing easy task. Those that were trained to spot shady individuals had not so much as shifted a glance in his direction the entire time that he was making his way slowly threw the ballroom. All his years in the Royal Navy had given him plenty of opportunity to attend affairs such as this. It had given him the knowledge and know how of presenting himself of someone with higher rank. Even minor things that should have given away that he was not a prince had gone unnoticed. For instance his rough hands that indicated physical labor and not a royal. Not even the lovely women he had pleasure of dancing with seemed to notice the condition of his hands and even more so the lack of one not being real.
Each of the women that he had danced with, he had slipped a trinket away from. A ring here. A bracelet there. The only woman he had not taken anything from was a Princess from the Charming royal household, the one with a small cut upon her temple. It wasn’t as though he hadn’t wanted or even planned too. It was simply that his dance with her had been interrupted by one of her suitors and thus his window to snatch the bracelet from her wrist. However, the hinted bitter smile that played over his lips was not for his missing the opportunity as she departed to dance with another. There was something about that princess that struck a cord with him and he had found himself feeling bitter that he would not have more time in her company.
Pushing the feelings deep down now, he saw the state of the coming night, in a few hours the celebration would come to an end and surely by then some of the royals would finally notice their missing jewels. He knew it best that he be far at sea by the time that were to occur, thus before the current melody shifted into a slightly different tune he made for his departure. Retrieving his satchel that he had stashed away in a corridor off the main hall, he relinquished the jewels her had stolen into its safety and then let the satchel drape from one shoulder and hand across to the opposite hip.
It wasn’t long before he was on his way out of the palace and taking the path near the far side of the castle where the courtyard laid. As he was passing one of the balconies on that side of the palace something smacked down upon the side of his head. Taking one stumbled step back, he blinked in utter surprise as his gaze searched the ground where he soon found the culprit that had smacked his head, a shoe. Soon his gaze was shifted quickly upward where he then spotting the princess he had last danced with, straddling the railing of the balcony above his head.
A smirk tugged lightly at the corner of his mouth as he let out a small breathed of a sound, “ Heh. ” he was about to fold his arms over his chest, when he silently reminded himself that he still had a charade to uphold. Though unaware that this princess had seen threw his charade during their dance earlier. Holding his posture straight and square, he placed his ‘hands’ behind his back and let his tiny smirk play into a smile. “ Oh? Is tha’ the story yer choosing to go with, m’Lady? ”
Soon warning bells began to ring throughout the palace grounds, this resulted in Killian releasing his hands from behind his back, turning his head and letting his gaze scan his surroundings quickly. “ Bloody ‘ell. ” he grumbled under his breath. It was entirely likely someone had noticed the theft of the jewels earlier than he had anticipated. Which meant guards would very soon be searching the grounds.
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