M. Lynn - Noble Thief: A Fantasy Romance

For Mom and Dad.

Your support is always the most important part of anything I do.

The Castle of Gaule

Amalie Leroy should have been used to spending her nights in the wild, but something about their mission still tugged at her. Darkness cloaked their movements as they passed through the shadowy trees.

It didnt feel right.

Not what they were about to dothat was the right thing, but she couldnt shake the feeling it was all going to go horribly wrong. Why this night? Theyd done this same thing many times before and returned home safely before the sun rose.

To the east lay the village on her estate. Yes, hers. She was Amalie Leroy, daughter of the traitorous duke who led his villagers in a battle against the crown in order to keep magic from their kingdom. Now, she was the only resident of their grand family home.

What was a noble lady doing skulking about in the night? Why was she surrounded by commonerssome of them once-crooks?

Because she had no other choice. She had to make up for the pain her family caused.

And that village to the east? They were starving. All of Gaule was starving while the fat nobles ate at their pleasure.

Pulling her hood up to hide her chestnut hair, Amalie glanced to the man at her side.

He shot her a grin as if this was all great fun.

John, she hissed. Weve come across no tracks in the last hour. Are you sure this was the route they took?

He gave her the same look hed been giving her since they were children running through the village. It was an eyeroll meaning think before you speak, Amalie.

Rain drizzled through the canopy overhead as Amalie scanned her surroundings. Shed been friends with John since she was six years old. Her father tried to stop the association with the orphan village boy, but at times, they were all each other had.

Until Tyson she shook her head, needing to erase him from her mind. At least for the night. She could think about him tomorrow, as she always did after nights like this one.

Her feet stuck in the mud with each step and it oozed around her boots as she tried to move. The mud is covering their tracks.

John nodded, pride showing in his eyes. He was a few years older and had always acted like a big brother, teaching her to track and to hunt. When shed decided to find a way to feed her people, he hadnt hesitated in joining her. In fact, it was his idea to feed them this way.

Theyll have ridden through the night. Tuck, positioned near the front of their group as he always was, bent down to examine something on the ground. He straightened and held up a curved metal horseshoe. With any luck, its one of the wagon beasts.

Amalie pushed through her band of men to Tucks side, reaching for the muddy shoe he offered. The young friar had joined them when shed needed someone to help her make sense of the life shed chosen.

She lifted her eyes to meet his. Weve got them.

Tucks mouth curved up in a smile, and he nodded. That we do, my lady. He sometimes insisted on the formal title, knowing it bothered her. After a year of having Tuck by her side, she realized it was just who he was.

Come on. Amalie led the band through the twisted woods. Theyll have made for the village for a new shoe. We need to catch them on the road. She pulled her bow from where shed strapped it to her back.

Over three years ago, shed had her first taste of battle when she rode through the Gaulean palace gates to face her father, to protect those with magic. And again, when she joined Alexandre Durand as he led a small group to Dracon to aid in the fighting there.

Shed had no skill, no knowledge.

But in the years since, shed trained until her fingers couldnt draw a bow any longer. Shed hardened her body and her mind. Shed become a warrior, fighting for her people, giving up everything dear to her to protect them.

The caravan they searched out carried an entire shipment of food to the Ferenz estate in the west. The Leroy lands were in the center of Gaule, positioned to pick off any shipments that passed through. And she enjoyed enraging Duke Ferenz, the man whod taken control of the Moreau lands, forcing the duchess from her ancestral home.

At the edge of the trees, they saw them. Four heavily laden wagons rumbled in the distance. The roads of Gaule werent safe for anyone so waggoneers no longer made camp each night. They slept in the back of moving wagons and ate on the road.

Do you see any guards? Amalie asked.

John shook his head. Thats strange, right?

Royal guards avoided entering the village. They received a cold welcome and suspicion. Amalie smiled to herself, enjoying the thought of her people keeping the guards away

As much as she once loved the royal family, shed never trust them or their guard again. Theyd allowed Gaule to descend into hunger and chaos.

Amalie lifted her bow, tracking the waggoneers with one eye closed. She lowered it, knowing they were too far even for her. Im just as likely to kill as wound at this distance.

Ames. John urged. We cant lose them. Before she could stop him, he lifted his own bow and released an arrow.

The moment froze in time as they watched the arrow arch through the sky, disappearing in the dark.

A scream echoed from the torch bearing waggoneers. Amalie didnt smile in satisfaction because worry gnawed at her.

Tuck released a string of curses. You might have killed someone.

He was right. There was no way to control where the arrow hit at this distance. But John wasnt one to play it safe. That trait had both endeared him to her and made her wary. They were all tired of waggoneers and guards and nobles who took advantage of her people, but her band of men operated under a code. They werent killers. Or, at least they tried not to be.

Come on. She jumped to her feet and took off, hoping the darkness would hide her approach.

Her men, following her every order, thundered after her.

Waggoneers, already on high alert from the arrow, yelled as they saw the oncoming horde.

Without slowing her steps, Amalie fired three arrows, each finding their target on the legs of men scrambling for their weapons.

John passed her, dropping his shoulder to ram into a man too slow to draw his sword. The pair dropped to the ground. John took the mans sword and rammed the hilt into his head. The guard stopped fighting and John leapt for another.