{"id":5011,"date":"2017-02-27T00:01:42","date_gmt":"2017-02-27T05:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tellest.com\/?p=5011"},"modified":"2017-03-15T04:45:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-15T08:45:40","slug":"unusual-guardian-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/unusual-guardian-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"A Most Unusual Guardian, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Most Unusual Guardian
\n<\/strong>By Aaron Canton
\n\u2014Part Two\u2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cSweets!\u201d Jadie yelled, waving green and purple frosted candies at the crowds in the busy street. \u201cFrosted, freshly baked sweets! Perfect for boys and girls of all ages!\u201d<\/p>\n

A few passersby turned to glance at Jadie, who blushed. Her barker\u2019s costume had been thrown together in about five minutes when she\u2019d sprinted into the nearest clothier and grabbed the brightest, gaudiest, most barker-esque dress they had that fit her. Even then, she\u2019d had to steal a cap from a stranger in the crowd and a pair of gloves from a windowsill in order to finish the outfit. The candy was even worse, as she\u2019d lifted the first tray she could grab from a nearby bakery only to realize once she\u2019d rushed away from the store that the candies were too small to actually catch anyone\u2019s eye. But none of that mattered; the costume and candies were all she had, so she\u2019d just have to find some way to make them work and attract the attention of the girl who Gerard had robbed.<\/p>\n

And she needed to attract her attention, because she had to know if there was some kind of reason for what Gerard had done. Maybe the child\u2019s father used his daughter to hide his most valuable possessions in her pockets on the basis that most thieves wouldn\u2019t think to search a young child for a priceless treasure; Jadie had learned of that tactic in her training. Or maybe the father had stolen some present for his daughter and Gerard was trying to return it to its rightful owner, even if that upset the girl. Or maybe the kid was fine, and Gerard had simply gotten her to wail and carry on in exchange for a toy or a sweet, and he planned to rob the father blind during that distraction.<\/p>\n

Jadie knew none of this was likely. But as long as there was any doubt whatsoever, she couldn\u2019t make herself believe the great Gerard the Fang pickpocketed innocent children. And so she had to find out for sure.<\/p>\n

The entourage fixed the carriage and guided it down the street to Jadie\u2019s position, with Gerard no longer in sight. As the carriage began to move past her, Jadie shouted, \u201cFresh candies! Delicious, wonderful candies! Perfect to cheer you up if you\u2019re sad or make you feel even better if you\u2019re happy!\u201d She tossed a few candies around, \u2018accidentally\u2019 sending one through the window of the carriage. \u201cGuaranteed to bring a smile to your face!\u201d<\/p>\n

She beamed at the carriage as it rolled past, and moments later, there was a call from within, and the driver pulled back on the horses\u2019 reins to stop the vehicle. Then the door opened to reveal the daughter, with her cheeks red from crying, and the scowling father behind her. \u201cUm, ma\u2019am?\u201d asked the girl. \u201cCan I have a candy?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou certainly may!\u201d chirped Jadie as she tossed the candies from one hand to another and flipped one up so the girl could catch it. \u201cYou look like you could use one!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUh-huh.\u201d The girl pocketed the candy and gave Jadie a coin in exchange. Her pigtails were askew, and she wouldn\u2019t meet Jadie\u2019s eyes. \u201cThank you, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n

She turned to go, but Jadie quickly said, \u201cWhat\u2019s the matter? Why\u2019s a little girl like you so sad? Did you lose something?\u201d<\/p>\n

The father glared and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, the girl sniffed and nodded. \u201cMy heirloom amulet got lost.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh my. That sounds serious. Here\u2014you can have another.\u201d Jadie passed her a second candy, which brought a brief smile to the girl\u2019s face. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cViolet,\u201d sniffed the girl as she sucked on the candy. \u201cViolet Renatta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jadie\u2019s eyes widened slightly. There was a noble family with some land out in Western Raleigh called Renatta, and if Jadie remembered from her lessons correctly, the current heiress to that title was a little girl named Violet. So this was Baron Renatta\u2019s daughter, as well as presumably the baron himself behind her. \u201cAnd how long have you had your amulet, Violet?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll her life,\u201d said the father, with an air of trying to hurry the conversation along. \u201cThat\u2019s why it\u2019s an heirloom. They\u2019ve been passed down parent-to-child for centuries, ever since the House of Renatta was founded. Now if you\u2019re done, Violet\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI wore it every day. And I took real good care of it \u2018cause Daddy said it\u2019s one of two amulets the king gave my great-great-great-great-granddad way back when!\u201d Violet clutched her hands to her chest like she was hoping she could somehow feel the missing amulet where it had used to dangle. \u201cAnd he said I should always take care of it \u2018cause it shows the king really liked our family and so everyone should be nice to us. But the carriage broke and I lost it and Daddy says that\u2019s like losing the king\u2019s favor and\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

Jadie managed not to scowl at Baron Renatta, who was doing enough scowling for the both of them. \u201cIt was priceless,\u201d the baron muttered in a voice he clearly intended only Violet to hear. \u201cWe will talk about this\u2014at home. Now come along. And miss?\u201d He caught Jadie\u2019s eye. \u201cIt would be wise for you not to mention an amulet was missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The thief quickly nodded. \u201cOf course, sir. I wouldn\u2019t dream of it.\u201d And then, as both Renattas turned to go, she realized she had to know one more thing. \u201cBut you still have one amulet, right? So surely the people will still know the king supports your family?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I can\u2019t show it to anyone!\u201d Violet wailed. \u201cDaddy put it in this super-secure vault last month, and I can\u2019t get it! And Countess Essett\u2019s daughter is visiting next week, and I just know she\u2019ll say all kinds of mean things if I don\u2019t have it. She\u2019ll say the king took it back and doesn\u2019t like us anymore or\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cViolet!\u201d snapped Renatta. \u201cEnough!\u201d He took a long breath. \u201cYou know it is vital to our family fortunes that we retain at least one amulet, if only so we can show it to the king when he visits and prove we still value his ancestor\u2019s gift. That is why it will remain in the vault, guarded by the best protection spells money can buy, where nobody can steal it… or lose it… or see it at all except when I come down to get it for him. Yes, the other noble families will talk when they observe you no longer have your amulet. Yes, the family will suffer for your carelessness.\u201d Violet\u2019s eyes welled up at that, but the baron didn\u2019t seem to notice. \u201cBut so long as the king knows we value his favor, we will still endure. Now. Let us get home before you lose anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jadie watched them go, struggling not to say anything. Baron Renatta was a louse, and ordinarily she\u2019d love to take him down a peg, but right now she had bigger problems. If the Renatta family was seen as less legitimate on account of the theft, that could blow back onto other members of the family who weren\u2019t completely obnoxious. That wasn\u2019t fair to them. And even setting that aside…<\/p>\n

Gerard had robbed a child. He hadn\u2019t paid Violet to throw a fake fit; he wasn\u2019t trying to get anything back to its rightful owners; he had no decent motivation Jadie could see. He\u2019d just wanted a rare and valuable amulet and so had taken it. And if that made an innocent little girl cry… Apparently that was a matter of no concern to Gerard the Fang.<\/p>\n

Jadie flushed red with anger. She stole from rich adults who had so much money they\u2019d never notice the loss or from bad people who deserved to be taken down a few pegs. Sure, it might be wrong in some strict ethical sense, but she wasn\u2019t really hurting anyone. This, though, was different. This was nothing but naked greed and a complete disregard for innocents that might be hurt.<\/p>\n

And it wouldn\u2019t end here. Baron Renatta had mentioned a high-security vault with the other amulet. If she knew anything about Gerard the Fang, she knew he\u2019d be going after that next, both to complete his set as well as to say he\u2019d beaten the best security systems on offer yet again. In fact, Jadie guessed that Gerard might even have done this deliberately to raise the challenge for himself\u2014rob Violet and get the baron into such a tizzy that he\u2019d boost his own security measures. Then it\u2019d be even harder to break in… and even more glory would go to anyone who could manage it. That seemed like the kind of thing Gerard would want.<\/p>\n

Jadie knew she had a responsibility to stay out of trouble for the next few days so she could go on her trip to Warus and resume her actual duties for the thieves guild. If she was arrested trying to stop Gerard, she would be fired from the ambassador delegation and would have no chance at stopping the anti-Raleigh conspiracy she was trying to root out. But despite all that, she couldn\u2019t let this go. She didn\u2019t know how, but she would get that amulet back for Violet. If that was the only thing that would dry her tears, then that was what Jadie would do.<\/p>\n

And the only person standing in her way was the best thief she\u2019d ever heard of.<\/p>\n

Jadie\u2019s heart sank. This, she thought, would be tough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Most Unusual Guardian By Aaron Canton \u2014Part Two\u2014     \u201cSweets!\u201d Jadie yelled, waving green and purple frosted candies at the crowds in the busy street. \u201cFrosted, freshly baked sweets! Perfect for boys and girls of all ages!\u201d A few passersby turned to glance at Jadie, who blushed. Her barker\u2019s costume had been thrown […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[145,146],"tags":[1302,1496,273,837,149],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Jadie-Finished.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1UVey-1iP","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5011"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5012,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5011\/revisions\/5012"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5011"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5011"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tellest.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5011"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}