Quoted By:
<span class="mu-r">“A thief. A ne’er-do-well who was well versed in the kingdom’s criminal underworld. The exact type of person that her parents had warned her of, many times before.”</span>
<span class="mu-b">“Did they hurt her?”</span>
You laughed, turning to swing towards an unoccupied carousel.
<span class="mu-r">“No. Quite the opposite, actually.”</span>
Ester gave you a confused look, but it quickly turned into one of excitement when she realized where you were headed.
<span class="mu-r">“The Princess and the Thief met at a truly strange time. The Thief had just gotten into a fight and was recovering from his injuries, when the Princess happened upon him. But rather than being wary of him, the Princess judged him to be trustworthy. His charm and wit appealed to her, but more than that, his kindness towards her stood out. They sat together and spoke for a while, but her parents eventually found her.”</span> you explained, removing Ester from your back and lowering her onto the saddle of a plastic white pony.
<span class="mu-b">“Were they mad?”</span> she asked.
<span class="mu-r">“They were mad, but mostly relieved. They quickly dragged the Princess away from the Thief, saying that she shouldn’t associate with such folk. But the Princess didn’t listen. Something about the Thief had piqued her curiosity, and she snuck out to see him again. Only to find him besieged by a looming of vultures after one of his daring escapades.”</span>
<span class="mu-b">“Vultures?”</span>
You nodded, using your webs to manipulate the carousel controls and get it started.
<span class="mu-r">“That’s right. Vultures. Big, angry birds that stole from the other thieves. This time, though, the Thief had stolen from them. For that, they followed the Thief back to his hideout and ambushed him. And if not for the Princess being there, he might not have made it out.”</span>
Ester smiled, partly because the ride had started, and partly because she was getting invested in the story.
<span class="mu-b">“She saved him?”</span>
<span class="mu-r">“She did. Right when the Vultures were preparing to strike, the Princess provided a smokescreen that allowed the Thief to slip away.”</span>
Now, this part was just you providing a likely theoretical scenario, because you were never able to confirm whether it was Cindy who threw the Moonrang that night. But since you had no connection to Moon Knight prior to this, you thought it was safe to assume that Cindy had secretly saved you during the Vulture ambush.
<span class="mu-r">“But that wasn’t the end of it.”</span> you said, flipping onto a nearby inanimate gray cat with a fish in its mouth. <span class="mu-r">“Enraged by this ploy, the Vultures destroyed the Thief’s hideout and continued to pursue him. The Thief knew that he could not outpace the Vultures forever, so he fled into the tunnels beneath the city. But little did he know, he was trespassing on the Under Queen’s domain...”</span>
<span class="mu-b">“Who’s she?”</span>
(Cont.)
