The Thief and the Sapphire

A thief trying to steal from the queen's palace gets turned into a princess instead. Mature.

It was the day of mourning for the dear, passed queen, and so Alex was wearing black. But, setting her apart from everyone else, Alex was currently making her way, brick by brick and handhold by handhold, toward the queen's balcony. With the queen dead, no one would be staying in her royal bedroom, so no one would notice if a couple of valuable gems and silks happened to vanish. And it wasn't as if the queen would care any more, either.

The leather-clad thief pulled herself onto the balcony that connected to the queen's room, and let out a long sigh. She'd made it, the hardest part was through. She stepped through the doorway, and into the grand bedroom, walls coated with tapestries, carpets muffling her quiet steps. There were gold and jewels and all sorts of expensive, easily carried things delicately arranged across dressers and desks and shelves. It was a thief's wet dream.

"Queenie, bless your dead little heart," Alex said under her breath.

She was grinning, biting and licking at her lips in eager anticipation. But if she got sloppy now, it would be disappointing to get captured and killed. She slid over to the door, and pressed her ear against the wood. No one was in the hallway, so she turned the lock. It would slow down anyone trying to get in, and by the time they'd gotten the key, she would be gone.

She didn't want to risk lighting a candle either, but luckily, the moon was bright enough that the room was lit up in pale bluish light by two strips of soft light coming in from the balcony doors.

There was a skillful selectiveness that Alex used to pick out the pieces to steal. Nothing absolutely identifiable and important—no royal pendants or crowns. And if she took something, she would just gently arrange other things, to ensure that there was no glaring whole that made it obvious something was taken. She had a keen eye. After all, you had to have some sort of skill to try to steal from the royalty.

It really was a shame that the sapphire pendant was one of the most easily recognized pieces in the whole room, because it alone would make the trip worth it. But it'd also be intensely obvious if it happened to be missing. So she just held it in her fingers for a moment, looking at the light dancing inside the skillfully cut gem. Moonlight reflected upon itself over and over until a tiny glimmering star shone in the center.

Alex closed her lips and blinked twice, then set the pendant back down where it had been. The cut of the stone had to be quite skillful to get it to shine like that. The whispering magpie inside of her made her consider taking it for herself, but that would be pretty silly, risking getting caught because she wanted the gem personally.

A few tiny tendrils of lighter brown were working their way across Alex's tidily swept-back hair and down her ponytail. Alex paused after packing up the last of the gems. There was more than just jewelry in here, after all. It might be a bit more challenging to find a fence for a fancy dress, but she was only coming in here once, so she might as well get as much as she could.

A small giddy feeling washed over her as she quietly opened the closet door. Inside were dresses, fine silks and velvets and all of the sort of fabric that Alex rarely even worried about, since her attire was more practical. Her thief's eye wasn't as closely attuned to clothing, but she picked out what she felt were a few choice accessories, and one dress. She'd have to carry it all back down, so she couldn't exactly bring an armoire's worth of clothes with her.

And then, a curious voice spoke in her mind. It was soft, understated, and in her own mental voice. And it said, 'I wonder what stockings feel like'.

Alex pondered the desire briefly, and decided it was couldn't hurt—no one had come to the door, so she didn't need to worry about getting caught yet. Just try not to rip them, of course. She reached down and pulled off her boots, which came off quite easily, feeling a bit loose, then unbuckled her breeches, which came off with a bit of squeezing and twisting, fitting her snugly around her hips.

The dark blue stockings she rolled up her legs, wiggling her toes slightly through the fabric. The hair on her legs was fading away as she pulled the stockings up, and her rough feet were soothingly smoothed and softened. Alex stood up, bent her knees, then took a few steps around. They felt warm and smooth and delicate, making her think more about how she was walking. But they were definitely good. Maybe she needed some of her own.

'I wonder if corsets feel good too,' that voice in her mind said.

The faintest tinges of a dirty blonde color were creeping into Alex's smooth hair, and her ponytail tickled the small of her neck gently. There was a little more swing in Alex's step, and more hips for her steps to swing.

It was as Alex was pulling off her undershirt that she began to consider why she was doing this. And then her mind, which had been irritatingly sluggish for the last few minutes, willingly filled in the gaps. Her plan was, had been from the start or so she told herself, to steal some of the queen's clothes, too, wearing them underneath her leather on the way back down, in order to make a little extra money.

She wouldn't be able to wear a whole lot, but all the same, there was no reason not to get as much of a profit out of this as possible. And so, with the corset slipped down over her stomach, she began to lace it up.

The first feeling she had was mild shock at the snugness. It was pressed right against her toned abs, and she could feel the whalebone gently digging into her when she flexed her stomach. But with the constant pressure of the silky undergarment on top of them, her muscles there were fading, smoothing out her stomach.

The second, as she was lacing up the loops, was a bit like an embrace, slowly tightening around her. But it was warm and comforting even if tight, so she exhaled as the corset gently pinched in her waist, not just hiding the faint hints of fat, but in fact eliminating them entirely.

The third, as she felt it, was a tingling that ran up her spine as her posture was stiffened by the firm corset. As it was happening, the corset was fitting her body to its shape, pulling her waist into an elegantly slender form that curved back out into her widened hips just a short distance lower. The mass had to go somewhere, however, and it went up, filling a modest chest that could get something close to cleavage with a tight bodice into soft, respectably-sized mounds. Alex remembered being contentedly pleased with them for as long as she had them, though she'd never been able to go all Polly Oliver and wrap up her chest to make her look like a young man. She was a bit too feminine for that. Her memories of trying to join the militia as Alexander a few years ago were tidily swept away.

Alex peeked into one of the mirrors, then smiled at her reflection, standing there naked but for silk undergarments. Hah, she could have been some noblewoman's daughter for the way she looked. She reached back behind her and pulled her hair out of its ponytail, letting the gentle waves fall atop her shoulders. She pouted her lips for the mirror, fluttering her eyes and making a cheekily suggestive pose. A soft 'mmmm' passed through her lips as she relaxed, and in response, they spread slightly, more flush, redder, and more noticeably plump.

Alex let her hair flow behind her as she turned on her heel and headed back to the closet. Her plan, as it had been all along, was to dress up like one of the nobles and walk out the front door, with her haul right under the noses of the guards. It was sometimes useful to be a pretty thief.

She curled her lips into a plush 'o' to make a soft 'Oooh' as she picked out a dress in soft, sweet blue that looked just perfect. The top was trimmed with lace running down in two lines that ran right over her breasts, with a snug collar around her neck. But despite covering her chest, it still clung quite closely to her, and wrapped snugly around her waist as well. The frilly petticoat beneath the skirt helped to fluff it out to a nice size, though she noted that on her hips, where the fabric was elegantly draped and embroidered in layers, the dress fell out wider than it would on many women. Alex let out a soft giggle, wiggling her elegantly crafted and beautifully broad hips beneath her dress.

Wonderful, now she could get going, and get out of the palace before anyone found her. Except...would a lady like her go out dressed like this? Well, not like her, but like 'her'. She felt a sensation of something fuzzy and soft and warm and sticky in her mind for a second, and smiled with a faintly vacant look as the bust line of her dress gradually lost its slack.

Why of course 'she' wouldn't dress like this, she wasn't done dressing. With honey blond slowly pouring down along her long wavy locks, Alex sought out a pair of gloves to match her stockings, and pulled the shimmering satin gloves up her arms, until they nearly brushed against the shoulders of her dress, tipped with robin's egg blue lace to contrast against the darker satin.

She rubbed her fingers together and slid her hands along her arms to feel the irresistible smoothness to the fabric. A soft giggle, an octave higher than her normal boyish voice, left her lips before she raised a finger to them. They felt lush and soft, delightfully pouty and eminently kissable. What if she got some noble to kiss her before she got out of the palace? Ooh, naughty Princess Alex, ladies mustn't go making scandals unless it's absolutely necessary!

Alex giggled at her own joke. She had intended it to be dripping with thick irony, but it had come out teasing instead, like she was talking dirty to her reflection in the mirror. And the thought that she looked a bit like a princess was remarkably sincere. The chest of her dress was starting to feel snug, but that was unmistakably the good kind of snug, like your waist in a good corset or your feet in...oh, of course!

She knelt gently on the soft carpet, picking through a variety of shoes before she found just the right ones to match her dress. Open enough to show off her stockings, and with a high enough heel that her walk would be a teasing strut. If she wanted to get past the guards, she needed to look exactly the part of the pretty noblewoman.

The shoes nearly squeezed her into walking on her tiptoes, and made her feet curl in a way that if her tendons hadn't accommodated quickly, she would have found them quite difficult to wear. It just went to show her nobility that she could wear something so elegant all day and...oh, right, 'her' nobility.

Alex practiced walking back and forth in front of the mirror a few times, then stopped, looking at her reflection, and curling her gently glossy, reddening lips into a smile. Her eyelashes felt a little ticklish as she blinked, but she just wasn't used to them being so long yet. And the delicate dye she used to outline her eyes made her look so pretty and striking.

And now she was ready to...oh, what was she thinking, forgetting her jewelry? She daintily swept her dress forward as she sat down in front of a small desk, with a mirror and an assortment of drawers. She loved her body, of course, but even with her makeup, she still could look so girlish. She wanted people to take her seriously as a lover. Er, thief.

Two droplet amethyst earrings, gently hanging from her ears. They were so pretty, she wondered what their worth in gold might be. But how was she supposed to know that? She giggled, pausing to straighten her lengthening hair.

Five golden rings, two with inlaid gemstones, distributed between her fingers and glittering in the pale light. The red one was, um. And the green was... Well it didn't matter what they were called, being pretty was far more important than that. She splayed her fingers out over the top of her swelling chest, and smiled at the sparkling stones.

Two golden bracelets to dangle from her slender wrists. Those she definitely knew. Gold! Which was the prettiest and most expensive, because pretty things were the best. There, see, now she didn't feel so weird and light-headed so much. She licked her lips, her plump thick lips that delighted in curling into pouts, so tender and flush and ohhh.

But there was something that was missing. And she saw it instantly, and she felt like telling herself off for not seeing it sooner. The sapphire pendant, of course! It was the prettiest piece of jewelry, so it was definitely the best, and she needed to wear it. Her slender fingers picked it up, draping the chain around her, and hooking it together behind her neck, underneath her glowing bright blonde hair.

Alex's eyes rolled back, her lips falling open into the perfect O, her hands trembling slightly. Slow inches were added to her height, and the faint touch of time tempered her brightly youthful look into something no less brainless, but faintly older—higher cheekbones, firmer jawline, eyelids lightly lidded. Her voice was high, soft, airy, impossible to be taken seriously, yet unmistakably more intensely feminine and sexual.

"Oh...oh my, that felt amazing!" she said in her new, sensual rush of a voice. "Mmm, hee hee. I must find one of my courtiers right now!"

Queen Alexandra's body swayed and bounced with royal pride and refined breeding, heels muffled on the carpet and lips already pouting. Her Highness was excited, and there was one thing that always worked to calm the empty-headed matriarch down.

 

The next day, the news went out through the kingdom that the queen's heir was ready to be coronated on the coming Sunday. No one questioned why they had never seen Queen Theodora's daughter; over generations, the nobility had simply learned that it was rude to ask. Besides, with the queens' appetites it would be hard to say who was the father of the heiress apparent.

A set of thin black leather armor was brought to the mayor of the palace that afternoon by a servant, having found it in the queen's room and not knowing where it had come from. The mayor of the palace told the servant that he would take care of it, and not to worry or tell anyone about what she had found. And that night, as Queen Alexandra took a few of her courtiers back to her royal chambers, the armor was buried in the gardens, to be grown over by beautiful flowers, to fade away and be forgotten.