Andrew had found himself running from guards across the kingdom. If that woman hadn't shouted for them, he would have been fine. If he had been more careful, the woman wouldn't have seen him. He held on to the few pieces of gold he managed to steal and ran. He felt his knife in its holster on his side, which was there in case he needed it. The guards were catching up to him when Andrew made a sudden turn, hoping to throw off the guards a bit. He looked back to see he had gained some distance on the guards, he was going to make it. When he looked forward he came to a sudden stop, he almost ran straight into a wall. Now the guards surrounded him ,there was no way to escape. He remembered his blade, but pulling that out would be suicide. "Dammit." Andrew sighed angrily.

It wasn't too long ago that she was named Queen of Hearts, less than a fortnight ago if you were precise about it. Though her father passed more than a month ago, and she had been indirectly taking care of the kingdom. Finally they decided to name her Queen, since she was the rightful heir to the throne with her mother gone and no brothers or elder sisters. For a long while they debated whether or not to make her the leader, since she wasn't a son and wasn't married, so they couldn't just have her husband be the King. It had, obviously, annoyed her quite a bit. But she had managed to keep her mouth shut for the time being, since she knew that if she spoke out it would just make them ever more eager to replace her father with a more suitable King. There was still requirements though, ones that had her being courted by nearly every man in the land. Queen of Hearts sounded more and more ironic by the day, since every man was offering their hand for her so they may become King.

Presently she was out riding in the lands beside the castle, land that was private for the royal family and the royal family only. Three men rode with her, two abreast her steed and one a bit a ways behind. They refused to let her out riding by herself, no matter how much she complained. Though she probably could have ordered them home, her right hand was also the man that raised her, and really still wasn't afraid to tell her what she could and couldn't do. Fortunately they all knew that she usually chose to ride to de-stress, so they were doing a fairly good job at staying quiet. One of the stable hands had tried to tack her horse for her earlier that day, the young boy had been quite surprised- and fairly confused -when Alys had actually gotten upset that she wasn't able to do it herself.

Shouts from the distance reached them and the men around her sat up straighter. Her right hand turned towards her, mouth open as if ready to tell her to go on back to the castle. Before he could say such a thing though, Alys tapped her heels to the chestnut horse below her sides, smoothing him into a steady canter towards the commotion. The first thing she saw was guards surrounding a man, and then one of the guards lunged at him. "Stop!" She yelled out, pulling her horse up beside the group before sliding off the side and making her way over. Strangely enough the woman was dressed in a mans attire, white button down and brown trousers.

"What has he done?" She asked, motioning for the guards to back away and she stepped closer to the man against the wall. Her right hand stepped in front of her though, and for once she listened and took a step back. The man could be dangerous after all. One of the guards relayed his actions to her and she nodded, thinking for a moment before sending the guards off. They all exchanged a look before slowly dispersing, quite reluctantly actually. "Well, go on Chev, recite the law to him." The young Queen made her way back to her horse, only a yard or two away. While Chev did as she said- New law states that any able-bodied man convicted of a crime may either suffer trial as a criminal or pledge loyalty to the new Queen, acting as a Knight in her army... -, she busied herself with patting her stallion and feeding him treats that she had brought from the stables.

Andrew fell to the ground as one of the guards leaped on him, but a voice from afar shouted for him to stop. He looked up as the guards parted for a man and a woman standing beside one another. Andrew stood up and continued watching the girl as she said something to the man next to her. The way the people treated the woman, it was obvious she was their queen. Andrew listened as the man referred to as Chev by the queen began talking. He listened to the man talk and was confused by what he said.

"Serve for your army?" Andrew shouted at the queen. "Fine." Andrew thought being a knight was better than going to prison, plus if he wanted too he could escape easily. "Your seem too young and naive to be fit for a queen." Andrew shouted grinning. "and isn't this man a bit too old to be your king?"

Alys only offered a laugh when she heard his comment, short and humorless. "Too young, perhaps. Naive though? Well, I guess we'll see." Without waiting for help, she pulled herself back on to the chestnut stallion, pulling back to settle the antsy horse. "And he isn't my husband," she and Chev actually shared a laugh at this, and she watched her right hand pat down the thief and confiscate any weapons that he had found. "Just my right hand." For a moment she seemed to be debating something, which really was her trying to figure out how they were going to fit five people on four horses. Though she could always offer for him to ride behind her- since she was sure he would protest if he had to ride behind another male -she was wary of him attempting to harm her horse, or her but she wasn't really concerned about herself when it came to her steed. And she certainly wasn't going to offer him his own horse, since it would make it much too easy for him to run off.

"I apologize but it seems you are going to have to share a horse with someone." Chev was still standing awkwardly near her new knight, obviously trying to figure out whether he should mount or make sure the man didn't try and run away. "I'm sure Chev wouldn't mind, if you wouldn't." Her right hand wasn't really that old, maybe thirty five at the most. "Once we get back to the castle I'll be able to accompany you to the stables, where you'll get picked and- well, let's get back before we go into details."

Andrew was still confused by this kingdom's law. He didn't mind being a knight for a while, but he didn't know how long it would last. He could make a run for it now, but if he tried to get away again and got caught, he wouldn't be let off so easily. He almost stopped Chev as he took his blade away, but he decided it would be best not to. "I'm going to want that back, eventually." He said to the queen. The bandit was older then the queen, but not by much. A year or two at most. The queen told him he would have to share a horse, and he was surprised the queen trusted him so much. "I think you have some trust issues." He said grinning.

He walked with the queen back to the castle. "So, how long am I going to be forced to work for you?" He asked the queen. For all he knew he could be her slave for a year, or until he dies. "I want to know if I should kill my self now..."

A look of disdain was plastered on her face on the ride back to the castle. She was sure that she would get in trouble for this, they had hardly let her pass the law in the first place. And now bringing back a thief?- especially one with such a mouth. He was going to get her in trouble, no doubt about it. The others around the castle weren't going to be very pleased either, since she had already set her mind on whom was going to be taking care of him. Obviously there was enough people around that she had a wide choice of who to pick to show him around, even if someone was busy she could force them too. They'd be surprised to learn that the Queen wanted to help him herself. Perhaps because this was the first time the new law was going to be acted upon, she wanted a first hand experience as to how it would work out.

"You should really learn to bite your tongue," she scolded, the faintest of smiles passing her features. "Though I suppose that's a lesson only taught to girls." True, while she had been learning table manners her male cousins had been being taught to fight and hunt. An older cousin always took her out to train when he used to visit though, and she was actually rather good at some of the things. As they arrived in the courtyard, Alys slid off the chestnut and watched as stablehands quickly arrived to take the others steeds. She told to leave her horse and the one her new knight had been on before sending her guards away. Now it was only them and the usual stable staff, a few guards milling about. "You will serve as a knight until I care to let you roam free," she motioned for him to take the other horse and then to follow her as she led her own steed into the stables.

Until I care to let you roam free... Great, that could be a while. He might be able to persuade her to let him go earlier, but for now he was just going to have to deal with the consequences of being caught. He heard the queen's remark and decided not to reply to that one. Andrew walked with the queen until she motioned for him to get on a horse. He had stolen enough horses to know how to ride one, so he got on with ease and followed the queen. It was not hard to tell that the queen liked to ride. Andrew couldn't say he found any particular interest in it, but he couldn't say he had any reason to dislike it. Horses have provided several thrilling getaways for the thief, but Andrew hadn't grown close to any horse before, except for Elmor...

After a little while Andrew was riding next to the queen. "Forgive me, but I would like to know your name. Unless you want me to call you queen." Andrew stated. He started to wonder what he would be forced to do as knight. He would most likely be given an unfavorable position because he was in fact a thief, and looked down on by the kingdom. "What will be my duties as knight?" He asked looking towards the queen.

After the guards reluctantly shuffled off, Alys began to lead her horse into the stables, fully expecting the thief to follow. The royal stables were a lot larger than most stables in the city, but that was a given. There was at least two hundred stalls and the isle ways were wide enough to fit three horses through with people alongside them. It wasn't really a surprise though, considering most the city knew how much Alys adored the horses. Her whole entire childhood had been spent down in the stables, no wonder they didn't think she would be a good Queen- she hardly acted like a lady at all. Almost constantly being scolded for not wearing dresses or wearing her hair in messy ponytails and not letting them do it for her. The only reason she even wanted to take her fathers place was because the next man in line was, well he wasn't very pleasant to be around.

Luckily, both her horses and his stalls were only a few away from each other, making it easy for them to talk. She tied the horse to a ring next to his stall and pointed the man towards the other stall. "My name is Alys, and I'd really you rather not call me Queen. What may I call you?" While talking she began to remove the tack from her horse, lying it down gently on the floor before getting a brush out. "Duties?", for a moment she paused, trying to think of exactly what she trusted him to do. "Um, I suppose you'll just... accompany me places." She returned to the task at hand, the faintest pink coloring her cheeks. "Not that I need protection or anything."

Andrew gently put away the horse and brushed its mane with his fingers. "My name is Andrew." He said, resting his hand on the horses back. He was focusing mostly on the horse but then he turned around to face Alys. "Protection?" He asked, giving Alys a confused grin. "It hasn't been a day since I tried to steal from your people, and you are putting a sword in my hand and giving me access to a horse." The thief shouldn't really complain, he'd have Alys' trust in no time and would be far away from this kingdom.He watched Alys care for her horse and it amused him, he hadn't learned to love anything like she did for the horse. "Where will I be resting at night?" He asked, looking at the sky. It wasn't too late, but he would rather know ahead of time where he was going to be forced to sleep. Andrew still was, technically, a prisoner.

Alys stopped what she was doing to look over at Andrew, eyes narrowing slightly as she took in the sight of the thief. He was rugged, though she wasn't quite sure if it was in a handsome way or if it made him just like any other man in the kingdom. Honestly, if you weren't royal, you worked almost your whole life. There wasn't a single man over twenty that didn't have that rugged look to him, even the drunks got into enough fights to look a bit coarse on the outside. If you wanted to talk about the royal men though, well they looked about just as pristine and perfect as the princess's did sometimes. Her and Chev had loved to joke about that, before she became Queen. Now he attempted to treat her more like royalty, which really just annoyed her.

"You'll be resting in the barracks, just like the rest of the guards." She finally replied, untying the horse and letting him go back into his stall. After making sure neither horses would be able to get free, she motioned for Andrew to follow her as she began towards the exit. Instead of going towards the barracks though, she began to lead him up to the castle. Guards positioned at the doors immediately opened them for the pair, sending skeptical glances towards Andrew. The only response from her was to thank them as she led the new knight into the castle and a bit of the ways in before pointing to a room. "You can get washed up in there. A new pair of clothes will be waiting for you when you get out." Again she paused, stepping away from the door and beginning to turn to leave. "You'll find me in the dining room when you're done. I hope you're hungry," and with that, she left him to do as she had instructed.

Andrew followed Alys up to the castle, where the guards flashed him a dirty look. Andrew was just happy he wasn't going to be forced to sleep in a prison cell. Alys showed him to a room and told him to wash. She showed him where new clothes would await him and told him to return to the dining room when he was ready. Before he could complain, she was off. He sighed and began to rinse his face with water. He stood still for a second, realizing how tired he was, it had been a long day. He woke up a little when he heard something outside. He peeked out the door to see a shirt and a pair of pants, that looked ridiculous. He decided to put on the clothes out of respect, and the outfit didn't look too bad.

After a few minutes Andrew started heading down to the dining room where Alys told him to meet him. He saw her sitting down from down the hallway. He shouted "Hello." and there was a small echo that followed. He probably looked ridiculous in the outfit he was wearing, he wasn't meant to wear these types of clothes.

In the time that it took Andrew to wash up and get changed, Alys had time to stop in the dining hall and tell a few servants to set out lunch and then run back up to her own room to get changed. Maids immediately starting fretting about, picking out dresses and preparing a bath for her. They weren't accustomed to the Queen's current behavior- requesting food be made early and going up to get changed. Apparently, word of the thief hadn't gotten to them either and they thought she just had a visitor. Alys just laughed and brushed them off, instead changing into normal daytime apparel- the mens clothing that everyone just hated.

She headed down towards the dining hall in high spirits. Andrew didn't seem that unmanageable, he almost seemed nice at some points. Perhaps this wouldn't be as hard as she thought. If he played his cards right, he could be a free man in a fortnight. Of course she wouldn't disclose this information to him, then he would know and just act on his best behavior. No, he had to believe that he would be here for a good while. Her thoughts were disrupted by the very man she was thinking about as he came striding into the hall, and she motioned for him to take a seat across from her as the servants began bringing food out. "Are the clothes okay? I'm sure we can find you something else if we must."

Alys walked out into the hall and motioned for Andrew to take a seat. Andrew sat down across from Alys, and her servants started to bring food out. "The clothes are fine." Andrew lied. Anyways, it was probably the best clothes they had to offer him that suited him. He watched the servants bring out food, then Andrew looked towards Alys, who had a grin on her face. It made Andrew smile too.

"Um, I'm not that hungry." Andrew said hesitantly. He hated to make Alys go through all this trouble, or her servants anyway. But Andrew just wasn't hungry "You can eat, but I'm not hungry right now."

Alys frowned, "I figured since you were recently trying to steal from me," perhaps not directly from her, but the kingdom was hers. "That you might be hungry. Excuse my mistake." The last part was said bitterly, as she was clearly annoyed. It took a moment- and a gulp of the glass of wine in front of her -but she was able to brush it off. Standing, she once again motioned for him to follow. "Might as well show you the barracks then, come along."

The barracks were large- almost as large as the stables and three stories high. The first floor was just a large room in which the knights ate and conversed in at night, long wooden tables filled the room and the smell of food, alcohol, and smoke was almost always present. Not unbearably so though, it wasn't all that terrible. The next two floors were where the knights slept, rooms on each side of the hallway that went around in a square. Each room had the normal closet- filled with armor and night clothes -, a bed, and a dresser. It was rather simple, in a comfy way. After leading him to an empty room, she pushed the door open with her foot and then stepped back, letting him enter first. "This is your room, it's exactly like the rest of them. No lock on the door or anything, I'm sure another knight will hear if you attempt to run off."

Andrew could see Alys wasn't happy with him not being hungry. He followed her to the barracks, not saying anything. Upon entering the barracks, Andrew was surprised. Usually the barracks were smaller and tighter, just a place for knights to rest at night, but these were nice. There were a few nights that they passed, some exchanged looks as they walked by. When they got to the room that was going to be Andrew's, Alys opened the door and let him enter first. It was nice enough. She even reassured him that the doors wouldn't be locked.

Andrew looked around his room a bit then looked at Alys. "It's nice, and you don't have to worry about me running off, I don't think you'll be this nice the next time I try and run off." Andrew said, grinning. He was tired, but it wasn't late enough for him to sleep, and he figured Alys would have something planned for him. "Is there anything you want me to do now?" He asked leaning against the wall.