In the early morning, Cobalt enters the horse stable. He checks if he has everything he needs. He then approaches a horse, rubs its mane, before taking it out.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Kristoff stands before Cobalt with his arms crossed.

“The mountains. Did I not inform you?” Cobalt casually replies.

“You are aware of your duties as king, are you not?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back by then.”

“This isn’t about your dream, is it?”

“Partly.”

“I’ll come with you, then.”

“Woah, Kristoff. I need you to hold the fort.”

Cobalt didn’t want Kristoff to come with him for two reasons: 1) Kristoff was too overprotective when he goes on adventures and 2) he hoped to have alone time with Siobhan.

“I’ll have Siobhan accompany me,” he tells Kristoff.

“My king, you’re making poor decisions today.”

Kristoff is aware of the young king’s feelings towards the royal spy. When Cobalt was still a prince, Kristoff notices the way he looks at her and the effort he goes through to spend time with her. As a married man, he can tell when a young lad is in love. But Cobalt is king now. He can’t be fooling around with his servants. He needs to be looking for a princess to be his queen and mother of his heir.

“Look, I’m not trying anything. I just want to learn more about my father’s fixation on dragons. Siobhan is nothing more but a bodyguard.” Cobalt tries to convince himself more than Kristoff.

“And where is she?” Kristoff demands.

“Over there with her own horse,” Cobalt points to the open gate.

And Kristoff sees Siobhan, mounted on a horse, patiently waiting for Cobalt. He has more faith that Siobhan would stop Cobalt if he tries anything with her but more importantly, he also trusts in her skill to protect the king. As he turns back to Cobalt, he sees he already mounted on his horse. There was no stopping him, it seems.

“Very well. I wish you luck on your quest.” Kristoff sighs. “You have a meeting with your adviser and some of the staff regarding your future fiancé.”

Cobalt squints his eyes and groans, making it as obvious as possible how against he is of the idea. He believes he’s too young to be thinking of marriage. He gallops away towards the gate where Siobhan is. Kristoff watches as he sees Cobalt’s grin as he greets Siobhan. He sighs and retreats back to the castle.

It was still quite dark but enough to see where they are going. The sun is barely rising over the horizon. It’s quite a long trip to the mountains so they ride with haste.

“I hope you’ll take your meeting later seriously,” Siobhan suddenly says.

Cobalt looks at her in shock. “How could you have possible heard our conversation?”

She ignores his question. “Think about your kingdom, Cobalt. Obviously, you’ll marry for political purposes.”

“My father didn’t have to marry a princess.”

“Now, you have to. Your father’s death might have been the work of another kingdom. We’re going to need allies.”

“Can’t I form an alliance without marriage?”

“Why are you so against it?” there was irritation in her voice.

“Because I grew up seeing love in marriage,” he looks at her seriously.

She looks away from him. She doesn’t want to talk about it. At least not yet. Right now, she focuses on seeing Cobalt’s safety.

They arrive outside the cave and they their horses to nearby trees. They haven’t spoken a word to each other during the rest of the trip and it seems like no one will start a conversation again. They both focus their attention to the task at hand.

Just the entrance of the cave is filled with treasure. Piles of coins, scattered silverware, locked chests. A thieves’ den alright but no thief in sight.

“We should do something about this,” Cobalt proposes.

“What do you have in mind?” Siobhan asks.

“Find the leader and bring him to our prison.”

“That isn’t enough.”

“I’m not gonna kill him.”

“I can do it for you.”

“There will be no killing.”

Their conversation ends again. Cobalt stands strong on his morals but on the other hand, he’s not getting closer to Siobhan as he hoped. In both conversations they had, they argued.

Siobhan suddenly stops walking which catches Cobalt’s attention. They both turn around but Siobhan already has her sword out. She blocks an attack from a thief. It catches Cobalt by surprise but he quickly composes himself and brings out his own sword.

Siobhan slashes at the thief’s legs, bringing him down and unable to walk. He stays down and puts his hands up. Cobalt hears footsteps and turns around to see another thief coming at him. He blocks the attack and strikes the thief’s abdomen. The thief falls to his knees, dropping his sword.

“What brings the young king to the den of thieves?” A deep voice comes from above.

Cobalt and Siobhan looks up. A figure drops down and lands perfectly on the ground. He removes his hood to reveal his face. The scar across his left eye is a defining feature. This is a wanted man, the leader of the thieves.

“Hector, king of thieves” Cobalt calls.

“I see you received a warm welcome,” Hector observes. “Finally came to do what your old man couldn’t?”

Cobalt remains on his fighting stance and says nothing. He needed to bring this man to justice but he doesn’t want to do that by bringing him to death.

“What about we negotiate?” Cobalt offers. “Surrender yourself and you’ll live.”

“Cobalt!” Siobhan reprimands him.

“You better listen to your little friend. You’re gonna bargain with a thief? You’re no better than your father.”

The mention of his father ticks Cobalt. He remains his distance but his grip tightens. This doesn’t go unnoticed by Hector.

“Why don’t we just cut to the chase?” Hector draws his sword. “A fight to the death sounds more interesting, aint it?”

“Like hell he’ll fight you,” Siobhan starts to run forward but Cobalt stops her.

“Put a leash on that puppy, will ya?” He scoffs. “This is between men, sweetheart.”

Siobhan scowls. Oh, how she wants to slit his throat or run her sword through his stupid mouth but she is loyal to Cobalt and he wants no killings. She can see the internal struggle he’s going through.

“Look, I’m already being nice here. I could kill you both right here and now but I’m giving you a fighting chance.” Hector says.

“Alright,” Cobalt takes a step forward. “A duel to the death.”

Hector grins. He jumps at Cobalt without warning but Cobalt blocks the attack easily. Hector jumps back and Cobalt attacks forward. The sounds of swords clashing echoes through the cave. Hector aims to pierce through Cobalt but he dodges easily. They’re both formidable swordsmen. No one is getting injured and no one is getting tired.

It takes a lot of Siobhan’s will power to not interfere. She feels multiple presences surrounding them but none of them makes a move. They’re surrounded by thieves. This is a fight to the death.

Hector attacks and manages to scratch Cobalt’s face. Siobhan is restless and is about to get between them but Cobalt instead uses the opportunity to strike at Hector’s sword and it flies away. Cobalt points his sword at Hector’s neck and Hector puts his hands up.

“I win,” Cobalt declares. “Now surrender and I’ll spare your life.”

“I said this is a fight to the death, aint it? Go ahead and run that sword through my throat.” Hector says.

Cobalt grits his teeth. He can’t kill him. But he can’t let him get away. Siobhan stands behind him prepared to do what he can’t if asked to.

“You can’t win wars like this, king. If you can’t do it, let your puppy do it. She seems more prepared than you.”

Cobalt remains his position and doesn’t order Siobhan to do anything. When Hector thinks the king won’t kill him, he makes the move himself.

“I’d rather die than be a prisoner. Let this serve as a lesson to you, king.” Hector snaps his fingers then a thief jumps down behind him and stabs him at the back.

Hector coughs up blood. Some of the thieves kill themselves, and others run away. Siobhan doesn’t chase after them. She stays near Cobalt, just as shocked as he is.

“Kings live like kings or they don’t live at all,” Hector says with his last breath.

Cobalt steps back as Hector falls. He stares at Hector’s lifeless body. Why? He keeps asking himself. Why did he kill himself? Why did they kill themselves?

Siobhan approaches Cobalt and puts a hand on his shoulder. He turns to her with eyes still wide open.

“Why?” He asks her.

She shrugs.

“Is this some kind of oath they took? Did they really believe death is the only option?”

“I don’t know,” She says. “What do we do now?”

Cobalt looks back at Hector and the other dead bodies surrounding them. He takes a deep breath. Finally, he turns back to Siobhan.

“The thieves ran away and their leader is dead. This is the best time to return what they have stolen.”

“And of the portal?”

“It’s going to have to wait.” Cobalt looks at the treasure. “I have to think of my kingdom.”