Author's Note: I absolutely ADORE this sketch of Vandel and Ridley from @booberrys_art on Instagram. Their facial expressions are so cannon here. I think Vandel's in particular really matches his emotional state at this point in the story haha. 

James

I had just blown out the candle by my bedside table and was about to climb into bed when I suddenly heard the commotion outside.

"Are you shuuuuure dis is the right house-" This was followed by a loud crash which I assumed was most likely someone falling over and completely eating shit.

I sighed heavily. It was only a Tuesday night. How were the drunks already roaming the streets this early in the week?

I moved to my window and lifted the edge of the curtain to take a quick peek outside to make sure the drunk wasn't too close to my humble abode. What I saw when I looked out into the night made my blood boil. The drunk had indeed eaten shit and fallen...directly into my rose garden!!!! I had spent months trying to get those stupid plants to grow. His companion ran to help him up and proceeded to trample over even more of my flowers in the process. Furious I rolled up my sleeves, preparing to confront these garden trampling ruffians. Yes, perhaps I had committed a fair number of crimes in my day, but there are some crimes that can NEVER be excused and destroying someone's rose garden is one of them. As I was about to yell at them when the drunk suddenly stumbled back up to his feet, his hood falling back to reveal his face.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw it...and not in a good way.

I knew him...I had seen him before, though I couldn't seem to place where. You didn't forget a face like that. This had to be one of the handsomest men I'd ever seen with piercing blue eyes and golden curls that made him look like he was the knight right out of a fairytale...wait...knight. That was the knight Stefan had paid me to follow to steal the...OH SHIT. Panic seized my gut. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT. I was supremely FUCKED. How the hell had he found me? I needed to hide...or run...or SOMETHING.

"This was the address Skeever gave us," the voice of his companion rang out. "He's got to be in there, right?" There seemed to be a tinge of doubt in her voice.

Skeever that BASTARD. I was going to beat his giant fucking ass the next time I saw him. I swallowed hard—if there was a next time.

Maybe they'd think I wasn't here...or maybe that Skeever had tricked them. All I had to do was stay silent and maybe they'd go away.

"We can't just bust in the door," his companion said. "If 'you know who' is keeping an eye out for suspicious people snooping around where they shouldn't he'll know we're on to him."

"Wait..." the drunk knight slurred. "I think I have an idea."

"You're completely wasted. I think it's impossible for any idea from you right now to be a good idea."

"Nononono, wait. I got thishhh. I learned it from shhhomeone who alwayshh seems to know what he's doin'. I really think dis will work."

Panic seized my gut. Just what the hell was he going to do. With my heart pounding in my chest I prepared myself for the worst.

"Demon fire, demon fire yay yay yay. Demon fire, demon fire, yay!"

What the actual fuck? Was he...singing? Why the hell was he doing that? And Gods...he might look perfect but his singing voice was the exact opposite. It sounded like a cat getting mangled. My ears felt like they were bleeding.

His companion proceeded to vocalize the exact questions going through my head.

"Ridley...no offense but what the hell? What's this supposed to accomplish?"

"Trushht me. I got thish. Demon fire, demon fire, yay, yay, yay! Demon fire, demon fire, yay! DEMON FIRE, DEMON FIRE, YAY YAY YAY! DEMON FIRE, DEMON FIRE YAY!" I kept thinking it was going to end but each time the knight would just start again with another horrible rendition of the same verse, only slightly louder. "DEMOOOON FIRE, DEMOOON FIRE, YAY, YAY, YAAAAAAY! DEMOOOON FIRE, DEMOOOON FIRE YAAAAAAAYYY!"

It just went on and on. I couldn't tell if he'd been singing it for only a few minutes or a half hour. All I knew was that if he sang that stupid FUCKING song one more time I was about to slam my head into a wall. This was absolute torture. I was pretty sure my brain was about ready to implode.

"DEEEEEEEEEEMOOOOOOON FIIIIIIIIREEEEEEE-"

"FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!" I slapped a hand over my mouth the second the words escaped me.

Shit.

"AHA!" his female counterpart exclaimed. "I can't believe that actually worked!" She looked directly to my window now. "Good evening James Andrews!"

I stiffened, what the hell did they want?

"If you're here to kill me," I said slowly, "I promise anything I ever did was under someone else's orders. So please...I've turned over a new leaf...please spare me..."

"We're not here to kill you," his female companion said. "We just want to talk."

The knight nodded. "Yeshh, we just wanna have a lil chat, that's all. It's extremely important."

"Why should I trust you," I stammered.

His female companion shrugged. "Well, you don't have to but just letting us in to talk is going to be a lot easier than the alternative." She jerked her head towards the knight. "I know you're just a thief, not a fighter, so I think I can confidently assure you that even drunk this one could take you in a fight. So let's just talk, okay?" She lifted a hand, bowing her head. "On my honor I promise you we truly mean you no harm."

Shit...I really was between a rock and a hard place on this one. The girl at least seemed sincere and I hoped the knight was too drunk to properly lie. As much as I hated it, inviting these two in seemed to be the only option I had.

I sighed heavily, bowing my head. "Alright, come in."

Nervously I made my way down the stairs and undid the large brass lock on the door, opening it with a creak. The knight's companion quickly brushed past me followed by the knight, Ridley, who even in his drunken state tried to politely give me a little half bow but somehow only managed to slam directly into the door frame.

Finally the girl turned to me. "You're the one who stole the corisathium from my friend here, right?" She gestured to Ridley.

I shook my head. "Corisathium? Never heard of it."

"Don't play stupid," the girl said sharply. "I don't usually have a short temper but we're working under a pretty massive time restraint. You realize what your little crime has cost, haven't you? You must know that by getting Stefan that little blue vial you practically handed him the reins to the kingdom."

I swallowed hard, a horrible feeling of guilt twisting into my chest like a dagger. It was true, I had never thought a stupid little job I'd taken for a large sum would result in the murder of the king and princess. I would have loved to keep myself in the dark and pretend it was all just an awful coincidence but deep down I always knew...I was partly responsible. That's why I had been trying to leave this world of crime behind me.

I looked at my two guests now, slowly shaking my head. "So what if I did? You two clearly know what happened. There's nothing we can do about it now. Stefan is king. In fact...it's only a matter of time before he'll probably come to kill me too just to tie up loose ends."

The girl flashed me a little half smile. "Then it's a good thing we found the loose end first." And with that she tugged off her hood, letting her brown curls cascade down around her shoulders. She stuck out a hand. "One loose end to another, it's nice to meet you, I'm princess Annette."

My heart nearly leapt from my chest. "B-But you can't be...s-she's dead."

Ridley shook his head. "We faked it."

The girl...the princess...nodded. She dug into a pouch tied loosely around her waist to reveal a golden ring with the Alterian's royal seal engraved. "According to Alterian law as long as I'm alive Stefan still isn't the legitimate heir to the throne."

It felt like my head was going to explode. It was as if my world had been turned upside down.

"B-But if Stefan finds out you're alive then who's to stop him from simply putting you on trial and executing you again?"

Annette smirked. "We demand a retrial, one voted on by the people. That's why we need you. With you as our evidence we can prove Stefan's the one behind the king's murder. We have the papers to prove he hired you and with your testimony and the highly respected Ridley there to solidify your story there's no way the people of Alteria won't see the truth."

"Beshiiides," Ridley slurred. "Any day now Shhhtefan is gonna haf to announce his marriage to the demon prince which will most certainly turn the people againsht him. Once we have Alteria behind ushh there's nothin' he can do."

My eyes widened in shock, hardly able to comprehend all I was hearing, my blood turning to ice water. "You're saying...he plans on handing power over to the demons?"

Annette nodded. "Between Queen Victoria's spells and the extreme possibility that if he marries Vandel they'll well...fraternize, if you know what I mean, the demons will have complete mental influence over him."

Ridley paled at those last words, flinching back.

"He probably thinksh he's gonna be able to out shmart them," Ridley said softly. "But he's just playin' into Victoria's plan."

"That's why we need you to willingly join us." Annette said. "We need to stop him."

I took a deep breath. She was right. Stefan couldn't get away with this. I thought as only a petty thief I was powerless to make up for the horrible things I had let come to pass. Finally the opportunity was here. The Gods must have heard my prayers. Finally I could have redemption.

I bowed my head. "I'm at your service princess."