Summary: Raydan teaches his daughter Marcelline how to be a spy.
Author’s note: This is in response to the Take Your Child to Work prompt from laniquelove’s April Fanfic Challenge.
Raydan sat with his daughter Marcelline, enjoying some one-on-one father-daughter bonding time. The fourth of his and Kenna’s five children and the youngest daughter, Marcelline was quiet and reserved. When she became overwhelmed, she often hid in the shadows. She was especially close to Raydan, probably because of their similar temperaments.
“Tell me about being a spy,” said Marcelline, looking up at Raydan eagerly.
“It was my job to learn secrets. Sometimes I would do that by hiding and listening carefully. Other times I would have to pretend to be someone else, or to feel differently about things.” He deliberately didn’t mention the darker parts of life as a spy.
“I can hide! Could I be a spy?” she asked.
Raydan shook his head. “You’re a princess. I had to give up being a spy when I became king. We’re in the public eye. We’d attract too much attention.”
“What if I dressed up as someone else? You said you pretended. I could too,” she insisted.
Raydan recalled how easy it had been for him and his sister to go unnoticed when they were children. No one ever suspected them of gathering information. He suddenly remembered a conversation that he had overheard recently. Two of the servants were talking, and one mentioned that her brother, a local goldsmith, had noticed items missing from his inventory. He had recently taken on two apprentices, and suspected that one of them might be stealing from him, but he didn’t know which one. Raydan knew the man; he and Kenna had purchased many pieces from his shop.
“You know, that just might work.” Raydan smiled as he looked at his daughter. “How would you like to help catch a thief? Someone has been stealing from Alice’s brother. He thinks it’s one of the young men he works with. Maybe you can figure out who it is.”
Marcelline grinned. “Yes! Do I hide and watch?”
“Hide in plain sight,” he told her. “I’ll take you to his shop. You can dress up as a peasant girl. We’ll say you’re there to look for work. How does that sound?”
“Good! I can do it. I want to be just like you, Father!”
After Marcelline changed her clothes, Raydan brought her to Oliver Smith’s shop. “Wait outside for a few minutes,” he told her. “It can’t look like you’re with me.”
When Raydan entered the shop, he was greeted by Oliver. “Good day, Your Majesty! How may I help you today?”
“Could we talk in private? It’s about your sister Alice.” He walked to a corner of the shop, out of earshot of the two young apprentices, and Oliver followed him. “I heard Alice mention that you’ve had a problem with theft, and that you suspect one of your apprentices. My daughter is outside, in disguise. Can you pretend to hire her to help out in the shop? She can keep an eye on them. Maybe we could go upstairs and discuss some work that I’d like you to for us.”
Marcelline walked in and looked in their direction, and Oliver walked over to her. “How may I help you, little girl?”
“Is there anything I can do here to earn a few coins? Please?” She looked down. “I really need them. I’m poor.”
Oliver nodded. “You can sweep and clean. What’s your name?”
“Lucy,” she lied. She wasn’t about to blow her cover by using her real name.
He looked in the direction of his apprentices. “Roger, Henry, will one of you show Lucy where the broom and rags are? I’ll be back in a little while.” He walked back over to Raydan. “Follow me, Your Majesty.”
As Raydan and Oliver went upstairs, Marcelline began sweeping the floor. While she worked, she glanced surreptitiously at Roger and Henry. For a while, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be going on. The two young men worked their craft, ignoring her presence. Eventually, one of them picked up the goblet he had been working on and placed it on a shelf. Marcelline noticed him slip something into his pocket.
When Oliver and Raydan returned, Marcelline walked over to them. She pointed at the thief. “I saw him take something.”
Oliver walked over to the young man. “Roger, have you been stealing from me?”
“No!” replied Roger.
“Empty your pockets,” ordered Oliver. When Roger hesitated, Oliver glared at him. “Now!”
Reluctantly, Roger obeyed, and a gold ring fell out.
“You thief!” Oliver turned to Raydan. “Punish him!”
Raydan thought back to his childhood, when he had to steal to survive. Roger’s circumstances were more fortunate than Raydan’s had been, but nevertheless, he felt compassion for him. “I order you to return everything you stole.” He looked to Oliver. “Can you make a list of everything that was taken?” Oliver nodded, and Raydan turned his attention back to Roger. “I also sentence you to one week in the dungeon. If you are caught stealing again, you will be punished more severely. Is that clear?”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Roger said quietly.
Raydan looked to Oliver. “About the work I’d like you to do for us. I want you to make a necklace for my daughter. She deserves a reward for a job well done.”