"Where the hell have you been?" the Captain shouted, looking at his wits end.
Vilkas opened his mouth to speak, but shut it right away, thinking better of it. What was he going to tell the Captain?

"My apologies, Captain," finally said, feeling his face burn with shame.

Aldis took a deep breath while closing his eyes; trying to relax himself, Vilkas guessed.

He waved Vilkas off, sighing, "Well, you're here now. So lets just catch this piece of slime and be done with it, 'eh?"

Vilkas nodded, heading off to his position outside the palace where he would wait all night, like all other guards patrolling the grounds, to detect absolutely nothing.

-/\/|X|\/\-

The sky had finally turned a shade of sapphire, when the whelp, Jay, came to Vilkas.

"Uh, Vilkas?" he said weakly.

When Jay found the man, he had been standing perfectly at attention. Jay didn't know what to really think of this and wondered if he had stood that way all night. The young man wouldn't have been surprised if that were the case.
Vilkas snapped his head in the direction of the whelp, silently asking what he wanted.

Jay cleared his throat, "Cap- Captain Aldis is uh, calling for everyone to report to him. The stake out is over now."

Vilkas grunted and began to follow the boy back inside the castle.

"Any news?" he asked.

"None that I know of."

"Lets hope Aldis' extreme measures didn't scare the rat off, otherwise this whole trip will have been for naught."

Jay nodded, seeming as though he were trying to match Vilkas' erect posture as they walked.

Once inside the castle, they were directed by guards to the room which Aldis was awaiting them and other watch. They were also warned ahead of time that the Captain was not in a pleasant mood.

The guards did not lie. The pair walked into the room just as Aldis was slamming his fist onto a table.

"That's not a good enough explaination, mage," he shouted, red in the face. "You said those traps were invisible! Totally undetectable- that's what you told me! If they weren't detectable, why didn't the thief try stealing the gems last night?"

Sybille looked at the raging Captain, stone-faced as she sat daintily on her chair, drinking her morning tea.

"Because," she answered coolly, "they never entered the castle."

"Hogswash! They must have known! They must have! I have never in all my years ever seen or heard of a thief more ambitious than this! If they wanted those jewels, nothing would have stopped them from trying to get it!"

"Unless-"

"Don't waste my time, woman! If they had been caught outside the castle last night- I would have been informed as soon as it happened!"

"Oh, pardon me," she rolled her eyes.

"So," a deep voice resonated behind Vilkas, "where can the Jarl and I find this thief which has been plaguing this most grand city?"

The speaker appeared from behind Vilkas, just entering the room. The man had been Falk Firebeard, the Jarl's steward as Vilkas knew from the handful of times he had met him. Jarl Elisif followed behind her steward, her expression unreadable.

Falk went on speaking, his tone growing patronizing, "Oh, that's right. I can't, because the thief wasn't caught."

"Falk..."

The steward waved a hand at the Captain, "I don't want your excuses Aldis! And neither does the Jarl."

"We'll discuss what's to be done about this later," Elisif said in her annoyingly soft voice. "But for now, I want my jewels returned to me. I'm very disappointed in you, Captain."

"Er, yes, my Jarl." Aldis said, looking defeated.

The Captain moved to a safe placed at the end of the room. It took him only a few moments to unlock it and swing the door open. The whole assembly watched as he pulled another safe out, this one smaller. After he had turned it's three locks with the necessary keys, Sybille spoke up.

"Let me handle that one," she said as she crossed over to the Captain.

"Right, right," Aldis grumbled.

A moment later Sybille handed the Captain a strong box looking as if it had been constructed out of ebony. Jay and Vilkas shared a look as they watched Aldis pull one final box out of the ebony strong box, the narrow one they had seen the jewels in the day before.

Aldis made his way back over to his Jarl, presenting the box to her.

"Thank you, Captain," she said as her steward took the box.

"Of course, your grace."

Aldis walked past the Jarl and steward, all but dragging his feet to Vilkas and the whelp ten feet away.

"I think today is the last I shall be called 'Captain'," he sighed, pressing a hand to his temple.

Vilkas shifted uncomfortably, "Don't be so hard on yourself, Aldis. This is the first time something like this has happened to you... I'm sure the Jarl will look past it if you just give her some time."

Aldis scoffed, "I'm not so sure. Even if she does I'll never be able to hold my head-"

Aldis was interrupted by a sudden gasp from Elisif. All eyes turned to face the Jarl, who was staring at the box she had just opened.

"The jewels..." she breathed, "they're..."

"Gone..." Falk finished, as aghast as the jarl he served.

Aldis was pale with fright, "W-what?"

He hurried over to the other two, his eyes scouring the box similarly.

Falk was the first to gather himself.

"Where are the Petals, Aldis?" he fumed.

"Sire," Aldis gulped, "I- I can assure you that I had returned them all to Elisif's custody an hour after noon, yesterday. And no one attempted to break into this castle last night."

"Then explain how the Petals are missing."

"I- don't know, sire... I don't know."

"Aldis," Elisif said, her tone as firm as Vilkas had ever heard it. "I don't think I can trust you with the responsibility of Captain of Solitude's Sentinel any longer... I'm removing you from your post as of now. For the time being, Falk, I'll give the responsibility to you."

Aldis lowered his head, "Yes, my Jarl. I understand."

The man cleared his throat and excused himself.

Vilkas couldn't remember a time in his life when he had been filled with a more righteous furry. He was going to catch the fool who had done this to Aldis and he was going to be sure that they were sorry for what they had done.

"Jarl Elisif," Vilkas said.

"Yes, Companion?"

"I'd like to examine the box and safes, if I may?"

"Of course."

Vilkas took the small box from her, smelling nothing at that moment. He brought the container closer to his face, hoping to appear as though he was trying to get a closer inspection of it.

Nothing.

That couldn't be right. He sniffed again, this time as deeply as he could without looking odd to the jarl and steward. But still, nothing. Nothing at all! Vilkas didn't understand how this could be.

Perhaps this really is a phantom thief, he thought.

He remembered the safes and strong box suddenly, moving to the safe after passing the wooden box to Jay, who tucked his thumbs into the insides.

But it was the same case with the box for all three. Vilkas continued to peer inside the safe for several moments, utterly bewildered.

"Impossible," he whispered.

"Companion?" Falk asked uneasily.

Vilkas rose to his feet, enraged.

"Jay," he shouted, "did you tell anyone about the plans for last night?!"

"No! Of course not," Jay replied, starting.

"What is this about, Vilkas?" Falk asked.

"Someone must have let loose some information about last night's plans. There's no other explanation for how this thief managed to get the gems!"

"I'd sooner imagine that Aldis took them! Or that some blasted guard did! You expect me to believe a thief could manage to get past all our snares and watches without anyone at least noticing?"

"I'm not telling you I know how they did it," Vilkas roared as he stormed out of the room. "But I swear to you by Ysgramor's crown that it wasn't Aldis!"

"Um, I better go follow him," Jay said after a moment, handing the box to Falk.

As he walked out of the Blue Palace he noticed an odd shimmering powder on the tips of his thumbs which he wiped away on his leather bracers.

-/\/|X|\/\-

Vilkas was sitting on an old bench in a dingy alley set apart from the busy streets of the city. He was kneeling foward with his head in his hands, trying to get his temper under control.

"Are you usually this upset, or has this just been a bad week for you?"

Vilkas smiled to himself.

Selena.

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