Pretty, stolen Treasure [Cole]

[tam]

...before judge and jury next morning
both of us did appear
a lady claimed her jewellery
the case against us was clear....
- Black Velvet Band

The afternoon sun spilled through the trees, casting shadows and dancing light over the forest path. At a twist in the path, hidden from both directions, Tam Piper sat with her hood pulled over her head. It was not cold, but the hood made her feel better when she had done something stupid.
Today she had been stupid. In her thin brown hands Tam held one of the most beautiful necklaces she had ever seen. It was made of delicate silver links, each linking studded with a diamond or sapphire, alternating. It was the work of a master craftsman.

Tam poured the pretty thing from one hand to the other. The light glittered of the jewels and was almost hypnotising.
"Stupid," Tam softly cursed herself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."
Tam was not a jewellery thief. Normally, she was smarter than that. Money was the thing to steal, because when money was in your own hands, your own purse, it was impossible to prove that it was not rightfully yours. Jewellery was different, dangerous because it could be claimed. And to get rid of it you had to know someone secret, someone you trusted with your life. Back at home, Tam might have known such a person, but as a wandering thief... it was almost impossible.

Tam sighed. The whole of Camelot City probably knew about this theft, now. That was why she had left and was sitting here alone. Maybe she would head to Mercia, sell the pretty to some traveller on the way, or take it into Mercia's black underground markets, where no one would know where it came from.
She did not really want to. Camelot had seemed nice... she would have liked to spend some weeks there. But she had spoiled things now. The rich lady she had taken the necklace from was bound to kick up a fuss, and any stranger would be searched.
At least no one had seen her do it. Maybe she could....

Suddenly Tam froze. Someone had come round the bend in the path. Her fingers closed tight over the necklace - no time to hide it now! How stupid to sit in a double-blind bend! The other hand she rested on her dagger-hilt but did not draw the blade. She would not be hostile until she had too.

Timeline: ?
Tags: Cole
Notes: Tam is well disguised as a boy, and so will seem like a boy to your eyes.

[cole]

Cole's Day had originally started out with out any problems. That is until he left the castle; then all he was hearing about was the fact that a thief stole a minor noble woman's necklace. Cole spoke to the woman and calmed her down enough to explain to him what happened. Cole tried not to let out a laugh at the woman's flustered face as she told him that her necklace was just taken by a little street urchin and they took off towards the forest. She had demanded retribution by cutting of the boy's hand as a lesson but Cole had a soft spot and talked her down to just him getting her necklace back.

So here he was walking aimlessly through the forest down a path. He quirked a brow when he heard some rustling. Well, it seemed that he found the little thief. He casually walked around the bend and saw a hooded boy holding the necklace. Seeing his hand on his dagger Cole placed his hand 'casually' onto his sword. While he didn't want to be hostile he would use force if he had too. Cole placed a disarming smile on his face hoping to loosen the tension that seemed to escalate the longer the two were there. "Well...Hello there." Cole stated with a charismatic smile.

He was still being very cautious. Though, he was sure that the king and other nobles thought that he was just a goof off that didn't know how to be serious but he did. he just chose not to approach everything with a 'Everything-must-die' attitude. He chose to approach with a peaceful attitude, then turning into the serious knight that he was taught to be if things were not able to be dealt with in a peaceful manner. He glanced at the necklace in the boy's brown hand. "It seems that you have something that I've been looking for; something that isn't yours." He stated obviously his smile still in place, hi hand remained on his sword and his feet shifted into a ready position should he be attacked. Cole was very glad that he decided to wear his black armor that day it would help serve him and reduce the chance of injury.

[tam]

Tam stared at the knight. He rested his hand on his sword in the same casually threatening way she had her's on her dagger. Tam's quick brown eyes took in his amour. If it came to a fight... well, the length of his sword compared to her knives would give the knight an advantage, but the amour would make him slower than she. If it came to a fight, Tam supposed that she had better run.
She watched him silently, waiting for him to speak. Either he was just out for a wander in the woods, or he hunted her.

And then his words told her that he was indeed hunting the thief.
That disarming smile he gave meant nothing. She had seen many guards and nobles act friendly to a kid, get them to confess and then take them away to be killed. But this knight did not need to know it. Let him think he had fooled her, perhaps.
Tam returned the smile with a sunbeam of her own. She would never admit to having stolen the thing, but it was all for the better if the knight thought she trusted him. Her mind was whirling, though you could not have known it from her easy face. If she resigned herself to loosing the treasure, she thought she could get away with her life and both her hands.

"You mean this?" Tam asked innocently, holding up the necklace. It glinted in the dappled forest light. "Guess you are mistaken, Sir Knight," the lies flowed from her lips as easy as truth. "Bought it myself, but few moments ago. Some man and his kid was passing this way, guess they'd been selling cheap pretties like this down in Camelot market and had one left over. Seemed glad enough to be rid of it!" Tam gave an easy grin. "Whatever you've been looking for, Sir Knight, it gonna be worth more coin than I paid for this! This pretty can't be more'n glass, though my sister will like it all the same."
Tam finished, in her mind replacing the truth with this new story. That was the secret to good lying. You thought up a story, made yourself believe to be true, and stick to it. That way you did not end up loosing yourself in your web of lies.

[cole]

Cole had to resist the urge to slap his forehead with his hand. The boy was being difficult and in all honesty if he would just give the necklace back he would be scott free and Cole didnt want a confrontation especially with a boy so young. Though through the entire time the boy was talking he didnt lose his smile.

When he said he had bought it. It was an obvious lie. There hadnt been many travelers on the rode for a while and if there had been you would have heard the heavy foot steps, a horse, talking, anything really. Cole knew a little about jewlery having had to inspect it in the market for presents and the like. The cut of the jewels was much different than the cut of glass. Yes they can be cut to similar styles this wasnt one of those styles. This was the necklace that he was looking for.
"Hmmm, just mere glass eh? Well then you wouldnt mind if i took a look then; if its not the necklace that I'm looking for then this little debaticle was for not." He smiled. "And if its as you say then I'll have to look for the thief and ask for the necklace back. I'm not one for violence and the lady that I spoke to earlier demanded retribution but that's not my style. I'll just let the boy (or girl) off with a warning." Cole said playing along with the line of thought that the younger male had decided to portray. Cole was not as blind as some he couldnt be not when the Prince and his family and friends were concerned one mere slip up on his part could mean life or death. But he could tell the difference when the boy made up the little story. That necklace was to finely crafted made of pure silver to have been made by a small traveling vendor (at least in his opinion.)

Cole rested the hand that was over his weapon on his side but close enough that should the boy attack it would be easy to grab and defend him self and hopefully the boy wont run. While many think that his armor was heavy it was quite the opposite. It being made of ancient dragon hide helped a lot.

[tam]

Tam gave another disarming smile, though still her mind was spinning like a hurricane. She was not quite sure the knight believed her. It sounded almost as though he were humouring a child with a story. Well, whatever he thought, her story was truth now.
Tam held out the necklace so he might take it if he wished. Of course he would know it for what it was, but how was she supposed to know it were stolen. It had looked like glass to her, and had been priced as glass when she had bought it for her sister. If he insisted, well, Tam might insist that he paid her for the coin she had lost. A little thrill of delight rushed through her. Maybe she would get something out of this, after all!

When the knight said that he would let the thief off with a warning, Tam did not believe him for a moment. That trick was oldest in the book. No one showed kindness to little thieves.

"Well?" she asked, waiting for his call on the necklace. "Is it your stolen treasure? Some fair idiot thief if he sold it to me for cheap." Tam added scornfully.

[cole]

Cole gratefully took the necklace and looked mree closely at it and sighed. It was the necklace that had been taken. He looked at the boy with a raised brow. "This is the necklace that was taken." He decided to humor the boy. "If you did indeed buy this necklace then how about I treat you to a meal back in Camelot; one so that I amy return this necklace to the rightful owner and so that I will be able to reimberse you if what you say is the truth" Cole stated holding the necklace in his hand. He had meant what he said about letting the thief off with a warning. If the other knights had caught him and hadnt talked the woman out of her thoughts for retribution then they wouldnt be so kind they would cut off his hand or maybe worse. It truly depended on the day and what had been happening and who was feeling the gracious mood.

Cole looked around and noticed that the boy had traveled a good distance from the town. It would take a bit of time to get there but they would be able to go and get some food and he could always drop the necklace off at another time that would be more convinient. He waited for the boy's answer patiently but knew that the boy was lieing through the skin of his teeth. As he thought about earlier. No one had traveled the road recently; to say the least the boy's story had many holes that were to big to fill in. But since this was his first time catching him he wasnt going to go to hard on him and like he said earlier this would be his only warning next time he steals he would not be so gracious but should it be about necessities like food all he would have to do was ask the vendor to create a credit until he was able to earn some money to pay it off. Cole let out a barely audible chuckle he does that himself quite a bit though he is often told that he didnt have to but he liked being able to pay off what debts he gains by working for the people and just living life with them showing them that nobles arent just the rich people who impose taxes on them and protect them. But that was just Cole's thoughts and the other knights have told him that he was not normal at all. He was not what people would think of being a knight if they did not know him. That's usually how he got into some trouble with other lords for being near their daughters and wives.

[tam]

Tam blinked, as though in surprise.
"Some cursed luck I have..." she began, before Cole stated he would treat her to a meal. Then Tam stared in real surprise. This was as good as him offering to pay her for her 'loss.' No, it was better! If Tam's story were true than the amount she would have paid for a cheap glass necklace would be less then the price of a good meal. Tam bit her lip. She desperatly wanted to take this knight up on his offer... but what if it were a trap? She should run away now, while she still had her life and both her hands.

"I don't tell lies," Tam lied with righteous indigence, playing for time. She knew was she should do, but Tam had grown up as a street urchin and so food was a big weak point for her. Even now as an older street-thief, she only ever got enough food to live. She was always hungry. She was hungry now, and the offer of a good meal made her stomach growl. At last she smiled like the rising sun.
"If you'd buy me food, sir knight, would more'n make up for my loss."
After all, she reasoned, if it looked like a trap when they returned to Camelot, she could run away then and nothing the worse. A knight might beat her in a fair fight, but she knew she could escape if she ran. Knights were not trained to run away after all, and thieves so often found themselves running for their lives that they had to be good at it.

"My name is Tam," she said as they began to walk. "Thomas the Piper, really, but everyone calls me Tam."

[cole]

Cole smiled as they walked towards Camelot."My name is Cole." he stated sticking out his hand for the boy to shake. "Now then ,Tam was it? Why were you hiding in the bend?" He was truly curious if Tam was really that unobservant to not notice that there were many blind areas to where he was hiding or if he had just stopped to rest there.

Now Cole wasnt malicious. No, more often then not he was called to kind-hearted to be a knight but when it came down to the important things he was one to be more serious and if not more deadly than he was normally. He ignored the fact that his own stomach was growling. He had decided to forgo food in order to track down the thief. "How had your stay in Camelot been? Met any new people?" He was honestly just making small talk. It wasnt because the boy was lower than him or anything he just didnt know what to say for the first time in his life. Well wont that just shock everyone back at the castle. he thought sarcastically. The great Cole Barrera has finally run out of things to say.

[tam]

Tam grinned at his name, paused in her walking to make the knight a slightly mocking bow.
"Sir Coal," she smiled at him. For that was how she thought it was. The pronouncing was the same and Tam was from a world where people wore fake names, descriptive names. Her own chosen name 'Thomas Piper' to shorten as 'Tam' was by no means chance. She could play songs on the flute to make the minstrels cry. And it was musical boys with the names 'Thomas' and 'Tam' who the Queen of Faeries would carry away into her own world... so the ballads said, anyhow. In a way Tam's very name was a dare.
"I was not hiding," she continued with righteous dignity. "I was resting. I was thinking it was a lovely day, thinking how happy my sister would be when I gave her my gift... but," she added lightly. "What she does not know cannot hurt her, hey?"

She almost laughed aloud when Coal asked who she had met. She had met thieves and cheats and those against the law, that was who!
"The stay has been comfortable and not quite clean," Tam said evasively. "I have met market-goers and music-players and those who tell stories for a penny or a drink."